"It's time to work even harder" - Former WWE Tag Team Champion ready for another shot at first singles title

Former WWE Tag Team Champion Xavier Woods is ready to get back to work and earn another shot at his first singles title in the company.

Woods was given a shot at the Intercontinental Championship by Gunther after he defeated LA Knight on the April 14 edition of SmackDown. The New Day member hyped up the WWE Universe ahead of his first singles title match on the main roster.

However, Gunther prevailed over Woods in the highly-anticipated match last Friday. The reigning Intercontinental Champion retained despite the efforts of the 11-time tag champ, who was without Kofi Kingston and Big E by his side.

The 36-year-old superstar recently posted a photo of himself before and after his match against Gunther. The second photo showed his battle scars from The Ring General's vicious chops. Woods said that he will have to work harder if he wants the Intercontinental Championship on his shoulder.

"The intercontinental championship should be with me in the second picture," Woods tweeted. "But it's not. That means it's time to work even harder."

Xavier Woods has been in WWE since 2010. He was called up in 2013, but has never found much singles success in his WWE career. He did win the 2021 King of the Ring tournament with Kofi Kingston still at his side.

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WWE Hall of Famer thinks Xavier Woods' storyline with Gunther is not finished

Mark Henry discussed Xavier Woods' Intercontinental Championship match with Gunther on a recent episode of the Busted Open podcast. The Hall of Famer praised both superstars, but thought that the storyline between Woods and Gunther is not yet over.

"If I was producing that show, I would have him and Xavier at some point next week cross paths," Henry said. "Then him looking at him, he'd look back and give him the nod like, 'Alright, I see you.' And he could look, 'Yeah, it's not over.' Have them like just two ships in the night because it was so good that they need a round of applause." (4:25 - 5:09)

With Big E still recovering from a neck injury and Kofi Kingston having no timetable for his return, Woods is primed for the first real singles run of his WWE career.

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