10 WWE Superstars Who Need To Go Back To Developmental
9. Xavier Woods
Xavier Woods is an odd one. He debuted on the main roster earlier this year to very little fanfare. While his NXT peers like Bo Dallas and Adam Rose were debuting with defined gimmicks, characters and motivations, Xavier Woods was just some dude happy to be there. His character was never really defined, he likes to dance, hes into nerdy stuff, hes getting his phD... all solid things to hang a gimmick on, but nothing was ever defined. Fans got excited when it seemed WWE were committing to a character with him as he joined up with Kofi Kingston and Big E. They were disgruntled midcarders upset about being held down, the gimmick was never overtly about race, but the subtext was there. It was unceremoniously dropped from TV, but the so-called Smart Athletic Friends stuck around at house shows portraying both faces and heels, seemingly testing out what works and what doesnt before coming back to TV. Now, it seems the Smart Athletic Friends are truly over as Xavier Woods seems to be coming back with a James Brown/preacher gimmick. While its awesome to see Woods get something to sink his teeth into, it might not be wise to debut it untested on Raw. A months worth of tapings at least at NXT could be enough to iron out any kinks and get the gimmick ready before bringing it to Monday Night Raw.
