With WrestleMania 39 rapidly approaching, WWE has found a fun way to give performers who aren't booked on the biggest show of the year a chance to have their big Mania weekend moment in Los Angeles in the form of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where the winner earns not only the largest trophy in the sport but also an elevated spot within the promotion.
While the match doesn't guarantee its winner a title shot per se or instantly turn the lucky performer into a made man destined for a championship – as the match's 2022 winner, Madcap Moss, will eagerly tell you – it does present an interesting opportunity for the victor moving forward, as the match is being held on the final SmackDown before WrestleMania 39, instead of at “The Showcase of the Immortals” like in previous years.
One of the 20 stars in the match who would like nothing more than to secure the straps and add another trophy to his case is Xavier Woods, the 10-time WWE Champion and lone member of New Day who hasn't secured singles gold on RAW, SmackDown, or NXT. Fortunately, Woods took some time out of his Tuesday to cut an impassioned promo on Twitter to let his peers and the rest of the WWE Universe know that this is his time to shine, and he's not going to take it for granted.
“This Friday night, I have a chance to be in a huge match,” Woods said. “Now this match is so huge, that it cannot be contained. It can’t even be contained by two full nights of WrestleMania. This match is so huge it needs its own spotlight, it needs to be seen on a world-wide stage by millions. And that’s exactly why this Friday night on SmackDown, from Los Angeles, California, Xavier Woods will be winning the Andre the Giant Battle Royal.
“And you might be saying ‘Woods, Woods, what makes you think you have a chance to win this match?' Well, I’ll tell you, because when I look at this match, I see a bunch of guys that simply want to add something else to their resume. I see a lot of guys who want to take the shiny trophy home so they can show the family. What I don’t see, is anyone else who has ever won the King of the Ring Tournament. What I don’t see is anyone who works as hard as I do in or outside of the ring. What I don’t see is another workhorse. So what I’m gonna do is win The Dre this Friday, I am going to use that momentum to become number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship so I can have the match I should have had when I won King of the Ring. This Friday Night, at the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, Xavier Woods wins.”
Can Woods pull out the win in a 20-person match that also features the likes of LA Knight, Santos Escobar, Karrion Kross, and former WWE Champion Bobby Lashley? That's certainly a tricky proposition for even the most unflappable WWE Superstar, but hey, few expected Woods to win the King of the Ring Tournament either; why can't he overcome the odds here too?
This Friday night on #Wrestlemania #Smackdown i’m winning #TheDre https://t.co/l5GiJ5fn2G pic.twitter.com/VUXGoTjFLS
— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) March 28, 2023
Xavier Woods has dreams outside of the WWE ring.
While Woods is one of the most decorated WWE tag team specialists of all time, with 10 reigns and 859 combined days with one title or another on RAW, SmackDown, or NXT, the man known to UpUpDownDown fans as Austin Creed has aspirations outside of the ring, including working for movies and video games, as he noted in an interview with Catch Club.
“For movies, yes. Movies and video games, yes, 100%,” Woods said via Fightful. “If the opportunity arose and it made sense, then yeah, but what I've been working towards is making sure that I have something else as well. I love wrestling, it's my first love, I'll love it until the day that I die, but for me, it's important to be diverse in things that we're doing. A lot of my focus has been in the games industry, has been in hosting. I want to focus on the fact that professional wrestlers aren't just people with muscles that scream and punch each other in the face. That's an aspect of it, yes, but you have to understand that we're so much more than what you see on TV. One of my skills is being able to go out and do what I can to change people's perspectives of professional wrestling. I'm used well in that space. I would love to work creatively in anything. If it had to do with wrestling, great. If it's video games, cool. TV, movies, awesome. I just want to do something where I can create things.”
Now, for fans in the know, this shouldn't come as too big or a surprise, as Woods was a commentator on the relaunched G4 before it was canceled once more, but hey, it's certainly nice to know that even when his current gig is done, the New Day's most musically gifted in-ring performer has plans to keep entertaining fans long into the future.
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