Xavier Woods

Xavier Woods is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE on Monday Night RAW as a member of The New Day. His birth name is Austin Watson, and he makes appearances outside professional wrestling under the name Austin Creed. He is a 12-time Tag Team Champion, King of the Ring, and a WWE Tag Team Triple Crown match winner. Besides wrestling, he also runs the YouTube channel UpUpDownDown since 2015.

Early life

Austin Watson (Xavier Woods) was born on September 4, 1986, in Columbus, Georgia, United States. He attended Sprayberry High School from where he graduated in 2004. Woods then studied psychology and philosophy at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. During his time at Furman University, he started training for professional wrestling and began wrestling part-time in the Ultimate Christian Wrestling Promotion.

Xavier Woods' wrestling career

Beginning years (2005-2007)

Xavier Woods made his pro-wrestling debut in Rob Adonis’ Ultimate Christian Wrestling Promotion in 2005. He also worked in the promotion World Wrestling Council (WWC) where he developed his Austin Creed moniker. He also worked in NWA allied promotions and was voted the most popular NWA wrestler in 2006. Woods applied to be a wrestler at Deep South Wrestling that year, which was a developmental territory for WWE at the time. He also met Kofi Kingston for the first time that night, the man with whom he went on to win multiple tag team championships. DSW signed a contract with him, but WWE cut ties with DSW before Woods received his contract. He continued with the promotion and became the DSW World Heavyweight Champion, the last wrestler to hold the title before the promotion was shut down in October 2011.

TNA Wrestling and NJPW (2007-2010)

Xavier Woods made his first appearance at TNA Bound for Glory 2007 and teamed up with Ron Killings (R-Truth). He wrestled in TNA under the name Rasheed Lucius Creed or Consequences Creed before officially signing a contract with TNA in October 2007. Woods' team with Killings was known as Truth and Consequences.

During his first year at TNA, Creed performed alongside Sonjay Dutt while also facing wrestlers such as Jimmy Rave, Shark Boy, Kaz, Petey Williams, and more. In October 2008, he became a founding member of The Frontline, a faction of young wrestlers formed to rival The Main Event Mafia. The other names on The Frontline were Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Jay Lethal, Petey Williams, Eric Young, The Motor City Machineguns, and ODB. Jay Lethal chose Creed as his Tag Team partner and cashed in his Feast or Fired briefcase. The duo became the TNA World Tag Team Champions in January 2009. Their team went on to be known as Lethal Consequences.

He spent around three years in TNA before being released by the promotion on March 29, 2010. In less than a week from his TNA departure, he was signed on New Japan Pro Wrestling and they announced his arrival on April 4 under the name Consequences Creed. He spent a few months in NJPW and shared the ring with the likes of Kushida, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomasso Ciampa, and more.

WWE (2010-present)

Following a short stint with NJPW, Austin Watson joined WWE in July 2010. His signing with Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), the developmental territory of WWE, was pretty much the same as his signing with DSW. He showed up unannounced at the FCW Office to apply for the job and was eventually hired. Moreover, his future tag team partner, Kofi Kingston, happened to be at DSW and FCW at the same time when Xavier Woods showed up.

WWE offered him a full-time contract which Watson turned down as he had only six months left for graduation. The promotion allowed him to work part-time for six months before signing a full-time deal. He made his debut on FCW under his real name, Austin Watson, in July 2010 and was soon added to FCW Roster on the official website under the name Xavier Woods. He teamed up with Wes Brisco during most of his FCW career, including winning the Florida Tag Team Championship. Woods also made a few appearances on NXT after FCW was discontinued. He was promoted to the main roster in November 2013.

Woods made his main roster debut on the November 18, 2013, episode of Monday Night RAW. He teamed up with his former TNA tag-team partner R-Truth to defeat Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal. He teamed up with R-Truth until July 2014. At that time, Big E and Kofi Kingston were working together as a tag team but were on a losing streak. After another loss at RAW on July 21, they were addressed by Xavier Woods who said the three of them needed to bring change and offered to make a faction. While the three of them joined forces, they went their separate ways for a few months. In November 2014, WWE announced the trio would be returning as The New Day.

On April 20, 2015, they became the Number 1 Contender for the WWE Tag Team Championship, which they won for the first time at Extreme Rules after beating Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. While Kingston and Big E had been the two winning partners, Woods is also considered the champion under the Freebird rule. They lost the title to Prime Time Players (Titus O’Neil and Darren Wood) at Money in the Bank before winning it back on SummerSlam. They went on to defeat the likes of The Dudley Boyz, The Lucha Dragons, The Usos, The League of Nations, The Vaudevillains, Enzo Amore and Big Cass, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Cesaro and Sheamus and other teams in their reign.

The New Day became the longest reigning Tag Team Champions and held the gold for a then-record 483 days. They lost the gold to Cesaro and Sheamus at Roadblock: End of the Line and failed to reclaim it in a rematch. Woods, alongside Kingston and Big E, then hosted the WrestleMania 33. The New Day was drafted to SmackDown in April 2017 and defeated The Usos at Battleground to become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions. They lost it to The Usos at SummerSlam before winning it back in September of that year and then losing it again at Hell in a Cell.

Xavier Woods then competed in a tournament for the vacant US Championship where he lost to Jinder Mahal in the semi-finals. At WrestleMania 34, The New Day competed against The Usos and The Bludgeon Brothers in a triple-threat match in a losing cause. Later, they won a tournament to face The Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam for the titles and defeated them to claim the title. They lost the Tag Team Championship to Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) on SmackDown 1000.

The year 2019 saw the rise of Kofi Kingston. However, he could only have a chance at the title if Big E and Xavier Woods could defeat Gallows & Anderson, Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura, The Bar, The Usos, and Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan in a Gauntlet match. Big E and Woods did just that allowing Kingston to compete at WrestleMania 35 and win the WWE Championship. Woods suffered a legitimate injury in October and was out of action for a year.

Woods returned on the October 9, 2020, episode of SmackDown, and teamed up with Kingston to defeat Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, grabbing their 7th SmackDown Tag Team Championship. They were drafted to RAW while Big E remained in SmackDown. The New Day then switched titles with The Street Profits, who were drafted to SmackDown, marking the beginning of Woods’ third RAW Tag Team Title reign. They lost the belt to Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin in December before winning it back in March and losing it again at WrestleMania 37, this time to AJ Styles and Omos.

Xavier Woods then took part in the King of the Ring 2021 tournament. He defeated Ricochet, Jinder Mahal, and finally, Finn Balor at Crown Jewel to be crowned the King. Woods and Kingston were then drafted to Friday Night SmackDown. Later, Kingston organized a coronation to crown Woods as the King. His ring name was changed to King Woods, which he used until an injury sidelined him in January 2022. He returned as Xavier Woods in March 2022 and lost to Sheamus and Ridge Holland at WrestleMania 38.

Kingston and Woods partook in sporadic matches throughout the rest of the year and faced Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) at NXT Deadline on December 10 for their NXT Tag Team Championship. They won the match and the title for the first time in their careers. With the victory, Woods and Kingston also became a WWE Tag Team Triple Crown Champion. Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston were drafted to Monday Night RAW in the WWE Draft in May 2023, where they remained after the 2024 Draft. They began feuding with Karrion Kross and The Final Testament, culminating in a victory alongside Odyssey Jones in a Six-Man Tag Match on August 19. Tensions arose between Woods and Kingston after a failed attempt to win the World Tag Team Championship from The Judgment Day on September 16, with disagreements escalating in subsequent weeks. On December 2, during The New Day's 10th anniversary celebration, Big E returned to manage the team but was rebuked and kicked out after being accused of abandoning them. Woods and Kingston reconciled and turned heel for the first time since 2016.

Xavier Woods awards and achievements

Xavier Woods' wife

Xavier Woods (real name: Austin Watson) has been married to Jess Watson since 2015.

Also read: Xavier Woods Wife

Xavier Woods' physical attributes

Xavier Woods height

Xavier Woods has a billed height of 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) in WWE.

Xavier Woods weight

Xavier Woods is billed at a weight of 205 lb (93 kg).

Xavier Woods age

Xavier Woods is 38 years old. He was born on September 4, 1986.