Xavier Woods Reflects On King Of The Ring Victory

#HailKingWoods! New Day member Xavier Woods fulfilled his childhood dream yesterday (October 21), when defeated Finn Balor at WWE Crown Jewel to become the 2021 King of the Ring.

Woods spoke to the New York Post, where he discussed his big moment at Crown Jewel and what it means to him. Woods was asked how he was feeling after his big win, and he explained:

“I feel royal. I can tell you that. On a real note, this is what I cared about in wrestling. This is the first thing that I ever wanted. This is the only thing I ever wanted. So obviously we’re going to use this king situation to take over (WWE) and gain as much control as humanly possible, which will be total control because the SmackDown kingdom belongs to me now. But as a kid, this is what I was obsessed with. It’s so cool to be part of a tournament because every match matters, every match means something. The fact that I even made it to the finals, it means so much in itself. But then to win and be crowned king, something I always dreamed of and it’s just surreal that it just happened.”

The King of the Ring tournament was a rare chance for Woods, who is known as a tag team competitor in WWE, to shine in singles action. Woods said that he loves being a tag team wrestler, but it mwant everything to him to shine in singles action as well. He said:

“It means everything. Because as you stated, this was a chance to break out and show everybody in the company that I have worked in whatever capacity that I can be put in. I’m not just a tag team wrestler. I very much am a tag team wrestler, but I very much believe that singles competitors have a harder time transitioning into tag team wrestlers because tag team wrestling is so complicated and so intricate and there are so many more bodies. I feel like tag team wrestlers have a much better chance at becoming incredible single performers because they are used to so many more bodies and so many more things coming at you. You got to keep your head on a swivel at all times. You don’t know if you’re going to get hit from the left or the right. So for me to be able to translate my tag team success into singles success into becoming royalty is for me, in my career, literally the best case scenario.”

Woods spoke about he and Big E sharing a moment backstage after his big victory, as well as the one former WWE star he wishes was there with him. He said:

“I got to see E. Kofi unfortunately was not here, but I’ll see him very, very soon. E’s match was next, so yeah, just waiting there with a big old hug and his heavyweight title around his waist ready to go out and do some damage. It was fantastic to be able to see him. There really was like one other person I wish was here and he knows I’m thinking about him. Tyler Breeze. That’s my guy. We were in developmental all the way together. We lived together. We were like attached at the hip for so long and everything that I’ve done in my career he’s been there and was right next to me when I did everything. I was there next to him and when did everything. That’s somebody that I wish was able to be here and share this with me. But I’m going to go call him right now after I go call the family. Call the wife and kids, let them know they’re royalty, too.”

Xavier Woods is set to bring his royalty to the SmackDown roster starting with tonight’s episode of the show.

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• Crown Jewel
• king of the ring
• Xavier Woods
• tyler breeze

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