Xavier Woods Talks The Origin Of His Ring Name, Why New Day Should Stay Together, Promo Improv
WWE Superstar Xavier Woods spoke with The Post and Courier about the origin of his ring name, how much of the New Day's promos are improv, and why it's best for the group to remain together. Here are some of the highlights:
The origin of "Xavier Woods":
"[TNA referee] Earl Hebner used to call me 'Tiger,' so I went with the last name Woods because I thought it was funny. I'm a huge fan of X-Men, and just intelligence in general, and the leader in charge is named Prof. Charles Xavier. I took Xavier from him, and put together the two names. Luckily it got through creative and everything, and my name is now Xavier Woods."
How much of New Day's promos are improv:
"We have a great team of writers who are amazing. If we're having trouble thinking of something, they've got ideas on deck. It's all a big family, group effort. A lot of what we do is improv. We just always want to be in touch. We talk about stuff that's funny to us. We feel like if it's funny to us, hopefully it's funny to other people. If not, at least it's funny to us."
Why it's best for New Day to stay together:
"More importantly, it's the best career move for all three of us [to stay together]. New Day's staying together forever. In the easiest terms, it's the most fun option for us. ... Obviously Kofi was killing it already. E was doing well. I wasn't really doing much. The group has helped me become more recognized and things like that. But you also think about the things that Kofi and me were doing. [We've] gotten way more opportunities as well because of being part of the group.
"It's helped all three of us make sure that we're on TV, make sure that we get microphones in our hands, and possibly the most important thing in the company, it's helped us with opportunities to have amazing matches with other teams that are just as amazing. So when you get to have a Hell in a Cell match, none of us had ever been in that position before. By having this group effort and being able to attack this as a group, we've been able to do a lot more than if we were just doing this alone."
Woods also talked about making history as The New Day became the longest reigning SmackDown Live Tag Team Champions in history, along with earning his Bachelor's Degree, and entering the WWE. You can view the rest of the interview by clicking here.