7 Things We Learned From ESPN's WWE Special "Behind The Curtain"

7. Xavier Woods Has A Lot Of Confidence

If there's one thing we know about wrestlers is that they have to believe in themselves. It's just part of the business to be confident in nature. Xavier Woods believed in himself when he got to WWE and it's paying off today. They mentioned Woods' gimmicks earlier in his career including his run as Consequences Creed, which was in TNA, but they didn't mention TNA by name. That's typical of a lot of wrestlers that have to go through different incarnations before they can make it. When discussing Woods, they also mentioned his education. He said that he wanted to be the first active wrestler to get a PhD while he's actively wrestling for WWE. It was cool to see he had a picture frame on his wall that said "PhD goes here" on it. It sure sounds like he's going to get it done, which is definitely inspiring for younger viewers. We were shown a glimpse of what it was like for him leading up to his Raw debut, which was a few years ago when he was paired with the Funkadactyls. That gimmick ended up being a flop and he did nothing for a while after that, but in a show like this you felt good for a guy just getting to that Raw stage. Woods has come a long way in his career. His current reign as a Tag Team Champion with The New Day was noted. That's why WWE believes in guys like him. It's not always about being signed, then debuting within a few months. It takes a bit of time for people to get there. Woods is an example of a younger guy who WWE signed up when he was in his early 20s after he had experience elsewhere, gave him time to develop as an all around performer and now all of that hard work is paying off. He doesn't have a family yet like the other two wrestlers profiled in the piece, but his education is a full time commitment for him and the fact that he's able to get through it while also wrestling is incredible.