10 WWE Storylines That Saved Wrestling Careers

9. It's A New Day (Xavier Woods)

New Day Debut
WWE

Pre-pancakes, trombones and Booty-O's, Xavier Woods was going nowhere in WWE.

Before launching The New Day gimmick with Kofi Kingston and Big E, Woods had been hanging around with no-hoper R-Truth and looked like the kind of peripheral performer WWE might cut during the next spring clean. Then, out of nowhere, Xavier started showing some serious personality.

In truth, it wasn't until New Day were given some freedom by creative that Woods began to shine. Allowed to make pop culture references aplenty, display the real friendship he had with his partners and start having fun for the first time in his run, Woods found his calling as part of the comedic trio.

Since then, everything has fallen into place for Xavier and he's a made man. His gaming YouTube empire is growing, and he's managed to prove himself as a scrappy underdog babyface. Without the New Day experiment (and, crucially, that latitude to express himself) Woods would probably be back in TNA working the Consequences Creed gimmick.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.