Early Life

Austin Watson was born on September 4, 1986, in Columbus, Georgia. After graduating high school, Austin began studying psychology and philosophy at Furman University in South Carolina. He graduated with a master’s degree in psychology and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. In 2015, Austin announced that he would be furthering his education by working toward a PhD in educational psychology from Capella University.

TNA Tenure

During his time in college, Austin began training to be a professional wrestler. He made his debut in 2005 and began wrestling across the southern American independent circuit. He gave himself the ring name Austin Creed, heavily inspired by Apollo Creed of the Rocky franchise.

Austin made his TNA debut at Bound For Glory 2006 by coming to the aid of Ron Killings. He went by a new ring name, Rasheed Lucius “Consequences” Creed. He competed mostly in the X Division and as a tag team alongside Jay Lethal, dubbed Lethal Consequences. They became the TNA World Tag Team Champions on January 8, 2009.

WWE Debut

On July 22, 2010, news broke that Watson had signed a contract with WWE. He was then sent to work in the company’s developmental territory, FCW, where he made his debut on July 29. Shortly after his debut match, Watson was added to the FCW roster page under the ring name Xavier Woods. During his time in FCW, Woods became a Florida Tag Team Champion alongside Wes Brisco.

On the November 18, 2013, episode of Raw, Xavier made his WWE main roster debut alongside his former TNA tag team partner R-Truth. The two competed as a duo until the following May when the team was quietly disbanded.

The New Day Is Born

On July 21, 2014, Woods confronted the tag team of Big E and Kofi Kingston. He offered to form a faction with the two, which they accepted. Xavier served as the duo’s manager for the next several weeks.

On November 28, Kofi, Big E, and Xavier made their debut as The New Day. Their gimmick was inspired by gospel choirs and preachers; they were intended to work as babyfaces, but turned heel on April 6, 2015, following negative fan reception.

However, the WWE universe soon came around on The New Day. Their impressive in-ring performances along with their team chemistry and outlandish sense of humor made them fan favorites despite their initial unpopularity.

The New Day began to find immense success with this newfound popularity; as of writing this, The New Day are four-time WWE Raw Tag Team Champions, seven-time Smackdown Tag Team Champions, and one-time NXT Tag Team Champions.

King Woods

In addition to their success as a trio, The New Day are all accomplished singles competitors. Big E and Kofi Kingston are each former WWE Champions, and Big E is a former Intercontinental Champion in addition.

Xavier has unfortunately not gotten as much time to shine as a solo star, but remains a beloved competitor in his own right. In 2021, Xavier accomplished his lifelong dream of becoming WWE King of the Ring. He was henceforth known as King Woods among his subjects in the WWE universe.

In addition to competing in the ring, Xavier hosts WWE’s gaming show and YouTube channel, UpUpDownDown.