“I was a little angry, I’ll be honest” - Xavier Woods opens up about being overlooked for WWE tournament

Xavier Woods, the WWE King of the Ring winner, believes that the persistent talking of his desire to compete in the tournament developed a bond with the audience, allowing them to associate him with the KOTR concept.

Woods' lifelong dream of becoming a King of the Ring winner came true at WWE Crown Jewel 2021 when he defeated Finn Balor in the tournament finals.

Speaking on the Out of Character podcast with Ryan Satin, the New Day member explained how being vocal about his dream of winning the King of the Ring for a long time played a huge role in his coronation in Saudi Arabia.

"This is probably going to sound really weird. In my head, it legitimately belongs to me. I know that sounds weird and doesn't make any sense. To me, it's like the idea of kids calling 'dibs.' That's how I feel. When I say speaking your truth into reality and existence, it's not necessarily, 'just say things are going to happen and they'll happen.' You have to work towards them and luck is the intersection of skill and opportunity. You have to be ready and make the opportunity for yourself," Xavier Woods said. (H/T- Fightful)

He also shared his thoughts on being left out of the 2019 edition of the tournament.

"For me, I felt like I was keeping my blade as sharp as possible and I thought I was going to land in the tournament in 2019 because I had already been jazzing it up and I wasn't in and I was like, 'These mother... I am the only one talking about this.' There's that idea of people in the tournament, there's an opportunity for them to win something they didn't have before. For me, it's winning something I always wanted, so it's different. Every since yelling about it, especially when I didn't make the tournament in 2019, I ramped it up a good bit. I was a little angry, I'll be honest, I was a little upset. Legitimately hurt. I was like, 'Let me tell people about my hurt and maybe they'll understand why I like this so much.' In doing that, it started to bleed more and more into all of my socials," Xavier Woods added.

Xavier Woods is on the hottest run of his career in WWE

While Woods has been a prominent tag team performer in Vince McMahon's company for over six years, his current stint is the first time that fans have witnessed him on a significant run as a solo WWE star.

Since winning the tournament, Xavier Woods has received the biggest push of his singles career. Last Friday, he took on Roman Reigns. While an interference from The Usos prevented what could have been one of the biggest upsets in WWE history, The Tribal Chief was surely taken to his limits.

King Woods will be a part of the SmackDown team in the traditional 5-on-5 elimination match against Team RAW at WWE Survivor Series 2021.