Xavier Woods is an adequately talented worker, athletic and agile with a decent moveset and a fairly good look (except for that horrible moustache). He showed some promise during his time in TNA when he wrestled under the name Consequences Creed, and is one of the few former TNA talents that WWE has shown an interest in. Not long ago, Triple H decreed that he didn't want to bring anymore NXT talent up to the main roster without an idea and a specific role for them. That sounded like great news for wrestlers and fans, as it's very frustrating to just be spinning your wheels with no real direction. So naturally when Woods was called up we assumed they had plans for him. The company seemed eager to promote Xavier's academic prowess, touting the young man's Masters degree in psychology and his pursuit of a PhD. His first few weeks involved a mini-feud with Brodus Clay, where he basically stole Clay's gimmick, including the Funkadactyls, but that quickly went nowhere. Now he's been relegated to Rusev fodder and has become nothing more than a jobber. Also, whenever WWE doesn't have something in mind for an African-American performer it seems creative's go-to move is to have them dance. It's probably a little offensive to some people and does nothing for anyone in the long run. It's not hard to picture the braintrust sitting around the table at creative meetings: "Wait, he's black, right? We'll just have him go out there, do a little shimmy and entertain the folks. They'll love it!" Sure the fans have a little fun with it, but rarely has anyone with a similar gimmick been taken seriously. Unfortunately it appears Woods has danced himself into permanent irrelevance.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
