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Austin Watson (born September 4, 1986) is an American professional wrestler and YouTuber. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Xavier Woods and is part of The New Day. Watson also makes public appearances outside of wrestling under the name Austin Creed.
Watson previously worked for Impact Wrestling (TNA) as Consequences Creed, and was a one-time TNA World Tag Team Champion with Jay Lethal as Lethal Consequences. After signing with WWE in 2010, he was assigned to its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and adopted the ring name Xavier Woods. FCW was later closed and rebranded as NXT, where Woods worked until he was called up to the main roster in 2013. In 2014, Woods formed The New Day alongside Big E and Kofi Kingston, and has since become a record seven-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion, five-time World Tag Team Champion, and one-time NXT Tag Team Champion, making him an overall 13-time tag team champion in WWE. New Day's second reign with the Raw Tag Team Championship was the longest tag team title reign of any male tag team championship in WWE history until that record was broken in February 2021. In October 2021, Woods became the 22nd winner of the King of the Ring tournament and briefly went by the name of King Woods. With his NXT Tag Team Championship win in 2022, Woods also became a Tag Team Triple Crown Champion.
Since 2015, Watson, as Austin Creed, has hosted a gaming YouTube channel titled UpUpDownDown, where he invites fellow WWE performers, gaming personalities, friends, and guests to play games. He was also a host on the G4 television network, which covers video games, following its revival in 2020 until its end in 2022.
During his time in NWA Anarchy, Creed was part of a tag team called Awesome Attraction with Hayden Young. The pair had one of the longest title reigns in the promotion's history after defeating Justice Served (Jason Justice and Mike Free) in Cornelia, Georgia on April 7, 2007. In 2006, Creed won NWA's Most Popular Wrestler, voted for by the NWA fans.
In 2007, Watson took a day off from college to show up unannounced at the main building of Deep South Wrestling (DSW), then a developmental territory of WWE, and apply for a job as a wrestler; coincidentally, his future New Day partner Kofi Kingston (then using the ringname "Kofi Nahaje Kingston") was working in the ring the exact moment he arrived, marking the first meeting between the two. DSW accepted to give Creed a tryout, although WWE would officially cut ties with DSW shortly before he received a contract. On July 12, 2007, Creed defeated Murder-One in a tournament finals to win the vacant DSW Heavyweight Champion, becoming the first wrestler to hold the title without the company being affiliated with WWE; the company closed its doors the following October 11, making Creed the final DSW Heavyweight Champion.
On October 21, 2007, it was reported that Creed had signed a contract with TNA. The signing was reported when Creed appeared on the radio show Trash Talking Radio on October 23 with Tommy Cairo and Sabian. His signing was also confirmed later at a NWA Anarchy show where Creed was presented with the contract by TNA Booking Director Bill Behrens. Following Bound For Glory, Creed was not seen on TNA television for months after Killings asked for and was later granted his release from the company.
On February 10, 2008, Creed wrestled in a dark match before Against All Odds. He teamed with Sonjay Dutt defeating The Rock 'n Rave Infection. On the March 13 episode of Impact!, a promo video with the words "prepare to face the consequences" showed Creed training and announced that he would make his return at the Lockdown pay-per-view on April 13. The following week, the return date was changed to April 10. On the April 10 episode of Impact!, Creed made his in-ring return and defeated Jimmy Rave of The Rock 'n Rave Infection, thus qualifying for the Xscape match at Lockdown. During the match, Creed eliminated Shark Boy, but was later eliminated by Curry Man. Creed later wrestled in the first ever TerrorDome match at Sacrifice, which was won by Frankie Kazarian.
At Hard Justice, Creed faced Petey Williams for the X Division Championship, but lost after interference from Shawn Daivari. On the September 4, 2008, episode of Impact!, he won a number one contenders match against Bashir for the right to face Williams again at No Surrender for the X Division Title. However, the match was later changed to a triple threat after Bashir repeatedly attacked Creed and ultimately, Bashir won the match and the X Division title. At Bound for Glory IV on October 12, 2008, Creed was defeated by Bashir in another match for the X Division Championship.
On January 8, 2009 (taped December 16, 2008), fellow Frontline member Lethal chose Creed to cash in his Feast or Fired briefcase with, and the pair won the World Tag Team Championship from the champions Beer Money, Inc. (Bobby Roode and James Storm). Creed and Lethal went on to be named Lethal Consequences, a combination of their respective names. Beer Money, Inc. regained their titles in a three-way match at Genesis. At Against All Odds, Creed and Lethal got their rematch but failed to regain the titles.
For the next few months, Creed and Lethal teamed with the Motor City Machineguns to try and unmask Suicide. At Against All Odds, Lethal Consequences lost to Beer Money, Inc., At Destination X, Creed competed in an Ultimate X match for the TNA X Division Championship which was won by Suicide. At Lockdown, Creed competed in a Xscape match for the X Division Championship which was won by Suicide. At Sacrifice, Lethal Consequences and Eric Young defeated The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) and Sheik Abdul Bashir. At Slammiversary, Creed competed in a King of the Mountain match for the X Division Championship which was won by Suicide. At Hard Justice, Creed competed in a Steel Asylum match which was won by Daniels.
On the October 1, 2009, episode of Impact!, Creed and Lethal were part of a 5-man ladder match for a future X Division Title match. During the match, Amazing Red, who ended up winning the match, performed a hurricanrana driver, which caused Creed to projectile vomit after his head hit the mat.
At Bound for Glory, Lethal Consequences (Consequences Creed and Jay Lethal) lost to The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) on the preshow. at Final Resolution, Creed competed in a Feast or Fired match but failed to win the match.
Watson was released from TNA on March 29, 2010.
On July 10, Creed defeated Brian Milonas, Nick Dinsmore and Tommaso Ciampa to win East Coast Wrestling Association's 2010 Super 8 Tournament.
Watson, using his real name, made his debut for FCW on July 29, 2010, in a tag team match, where he and Percy Watson were defeated by Brodus Clay and Tanga Loa. Following his debut, he was then added to FCW's official website under the name Xavier Woods. In October, Woods began to team up with Wes Brisco and they took part in a tag team turmoil match on October 14, where they defeated three other teams. On November 4, Woods and Brisco defeated Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman to become the Florida Tag Team Champions. On December 1, Woods and Brisco vacated the Tag Team Championship after Brisco was sidelined with an injury. With Brisco sidelined with an injury, Woods teamed up with Marcus Owens to take on Damien Sandow and Titus O'Neil for the vacant Florida Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. Following this, Woods began performing as a singles competitor throughout 2011 and 2012, though without much success.
After WWE Rebranding its developmental territory, FCW, into NXT, Woods made his televised debut on the October 31, 2012, episode of WWE NXT with a loss to Adam Rose. While picking up wins on NXT over the likes of El Local and Jake Carter, Woods began using the gimmick of a fanboy of 1990s popular culture that saw him implement his legitimate fandom of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Dragon Ball Z, and other 1990s pop culture into his matches and attire. He stopped using this gimmick once he was called up to WWE's main roster.
On April 6, 2014, Woods made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania XXX, where he competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but failed to win the match. Woods and Truth then began a feud with the debuting Alexander Rusev, and were defeated by him in singles encounters. At Extreme Rules, Woods and Truth was defeated by Rusev in a handicap match. After that loss, Woods and Truth's team quietly disbanded.
From the November 3 episode of Raw, WWE began airing vignettes for Woods, Big E, and Kingston, with the stable billed as The New Day, and presented as overly-positive-minded babyface characters. They made their in-ring debut as a stable on the November 28 episode of SmackDown in a winning effort against Curtis Axel, Heath Slater, and Titus O'Neil. They started a brief feud with Gold and Stardust, which Kingston and Big E defeated Gold and Stardust at the pre-show on December 14. At WrestleMania 31, Woods competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he was eliminated by eventual winner, Big Show.
On the April 6, 2015, episode of Raw, The New Day turned heel, after fans responded negatively to the group. During this time, Woods especially would trash-talk with their opponents and the crowd during matches. On the April 20 episode of Raw, The New Day defeated The Lucha Dragons via countout to become the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship, after Woods held onto Sin Cara's feet to prevent him from re-entering the ring. At Extreme Rules, Big E and Kingston defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to win the WWE Tag Team Championship, after a distraction from Woods. Woods was then given a share of the title and the trio defended the titles under the Freebird Rule. Big E and Kingston retained titles against Kidd and Cesaro on SmackDown and at Payback, with Woods interfering in both matches. At Elimination Chamber, The New Day retained the title in the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match, where all three members were allowed to compete. At Money in the Bank, Woods and Big E lost the titles to The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young), but regain the titles at SummerSlam for the second time. The next night on Raw, The New Day were attacked by returning The Dudley Boyz, which ended with Woods being put through a table with a 3D. The New Day retained the titles against The Dudley Boyz at Night of Champions and Live from Madison Square Garden events by disqualification, and at Hell in a Cell by pinfall. The New Day retained the championship at in a triple threat tag team ladder match against The Lucha Dragons and The Usos. They retained their title against The Usos at Royal Rumble.
Despite portraying heels, New Day's strong in-ring performances and entertaining segments garnered positive reactions from critics and live audiences and the trio turned face after mocking The League of Nations (Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett, and Rusev), as the crowd was starting to get behind them. The New Day retained the titles at Roadblock, after defeating Sheamus and King Barrett, but lost against them at WrestleMania 32 in a six-man tag team match. The New Day then retained their championship at Extreme Rules against The Vaudevillains and at the Money in the Bank against The Vaudevillains, Enzo Amore and Big Cass and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in a fatal four-way tag team match. On July 19, Woods, along with his fellow The New Day teammates, was drafted to Raw brand as part of WWE draft. On July 22, The New Day became the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history, breaking the record of 478 days previously set by Demolition. After SmackDown established the SmackDown Tag Team Championship after the brand split, the titles held by The New Day were renamed the Raw Tag Team Championship. They retained the titles against Gallows and Anderson at SummerSlam and Clash of Champions. On the October 31 episode of Raw, The New Day revealed that they were made captain of Team Raw for the Survivor Series tag team elimination match at Survivor Series. At the event, they were the first team eliminated although Team Raw still went on to win the match. On the November 21 episode of Raw, The New Day successfully retained their titles against Team Raw's sole survivors, Cesaro and Sheamus. At , The New Day lost the Raw Tag Team Championship to Cesaro and Sheamus, ending their record-breaking championship reign at 483 days. The New Day then received a rematch, but failed to reclaim the championships. The New Day would then go on to host WrestleMania 33.
On April 11, 2017, The New Day were moved to the SmackDown brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up. They started a feud with The Usos, facing them for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Money in the Bank, which they won by countout. At Battleground, Woods and Kingston defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship for the first time, but lost the titles back to The Usos at SummerSlam. On the September 12 episode of SmackDown Live, The New Day defeated The Usos to win back the championship in a Sin City Street Fight, but lost them again to The Usos at Hell in a Cell. The New Day failed to regain the titles from The Usos at Clash of Champions in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving the team of Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin, and Aiden English and Rusev. On the December 26 episode of SmackDown Live, general manager Bryan Danielson revealed a tournament for the vacant United States Championship. In this tournament, Woods defeated Aiden English in the first round, but lost to Jinder Mahal in the semi-finals. On January 28, 2018, Woods entered the Royal Rumble match at number 12, but was eliminated by Mahal. At Fastlane, The New Day faced The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship, but went to a no contest after inference from The Bludgeon Brothers. At WrestleMania 34, The New Day would face The Usos and The Bludgeon Brothers in a triple threat tag team match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, but failed to capture the titles. On July 21, general manager Saraya Bevis scheduled a tag team title tournament, with the winning team earning the right to challenge The Bludgeon Brothers for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam. The New Day defeated SAnitY in the semi-finals and Cesaro and Sheamus in the finals. At SummerSlam, The New Day won the match by disqualification, meaning The Bludgeon Brothers retained their titles, but two days later on SmackDown Live, The New Day defeated The Bludgeon Brothers in a no disqualification match to capture the titles for a third time. On October 16, Woods and Big E lost the titles against The Bar on SmackDown 1000.
On January 27, 2019, at Royal Rumble, Woods entered the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Drew McIntyre. In the lead-up to WrestleMania 35, Woods's teammate Kofi Kingston was attempting to earn a shot at the WWE Championship and after many attempts, Vince McMahon granted him the title shot after Woods and Big E defeated Gallows and Anderson, Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura, The Bar, The Usos, and Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan in a tag team gauntlet match. Following WrestleMania, Woods and Big E later earned another SmackDown Tag Team Championship opportunity at Extreme Rules. At the event, Woods and Big E defeated Daniel Bryan and Rowan, and Heavy Machinery to win the titles. Woods and Big E lost the titles to The Revival at Clash of Champions. During a WWE live event on October 21, Woods suffered a legitimate achilles injury and it was reported that the injury would sideline him for six months to a year.
On the October 9, 2020, episode of SmackDown, Woods returned from injury, where he teamed with Kingston to defeat Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, winning their seventh SmackDown Tag Team Championship. After the match, as part of the 2020 Draft, Kingston and Woods were drafted to the Raw brand, splitting them from Big E, who remained on the SmackDown brand. On the October 12 episode of Raw, New Day would exchange tag team titles with Raw Tag Team Championship holders The Street Profits, who were drafted to SmackDown. This would mark Kingston and Woods' third reign with the Raw titles as a team (fifth for Kingston individually), New Day's 10th tag team championship reign in WWE as a team, and Woods' 10th tag team championship reign individually. On December 20, at , Kingston and Woods lost the Raw Tag Team Championship to The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin). Woods and Kingston then would win back the titles from Alexander and Benjamin on March 15, 2021, during the live broadcast of WWE Raw, marking Woods' fourth reign with the Raw Tag Titles, and overall 11th Tag Team Championship reign in WWE. They would hold the championship until WrestleMania 37 where they lost the titles to AJ Styles and Omos.
As part of the 2021 Draft, Woods – along with his tag team partner Kingston – were drafted to the SmackDown brand, which took effect on October 22. Before that, Woods entered the 2021 King of the Ring tournament, representing Raw, where he defeated Ricochet in the first round and Jinder Mahal in the semi-finals. At Crown Jewel on October 21, Woods defeated SmackDown's Finn Bálor in the final to win the tournament and become "King of the Ring"; his first individual accolade in WWE. On the following episode of SmackDown, with the team now officially members of the SmackDown brand, The New Day had a coronation for Woods. Kingston introduced Woods and adorned him with a cape, crown, and scepter, and Woods' ring name was changed to King Woods. On January 14, 2022, edition of SmackDown, Woods was diagnosed with a torn plantaris, rendering him unable to compete for 4–6 weeks.
On the March 25, 2022, edition of SmackDown, Woods returned, reverting to Xavier Woods, defeating Ridge Holland in a match. Kingston & Woods then challenged Sheamus & Ridge Holland to a match at WrestleMania, but lost. On December 10, at NXT Deadline, Woods and Kingston defeated Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) to win NXT Tag Team Championship for the first time and also the third WWE Tag Team Triple Crown winners by winning NXT Tag Titles.
As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Woods, along with teammate Kingston were drafted to the Raw brand. As part of the 2024 WWE Draft, The New Day remained on Raw. Woods and Kingston began feuding with Karrion Kross and his stable The Final Testament. Kross attempted to form a wedge between the two tag team competitors, claiming that Kingston was holding Woods back from having a successful singles career, leading to several on-screen and backstage bouts between the two factions. The feud concluded on the August 19 episode of Raw when The New Day and Odyssey Jones defeated The Final Testament in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. On the September 16 episode of Raw, Woods and Kingston failed to defeat The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh) for the World Tag Team Championship after the referee was distracted with the remainder of The Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio and Carlito with Women's World Champion Liv Morgan) brawling with Latino World Order (LWO; Dragon Lee, Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde) at ringside. After the match, Woods was livid that Kingston had approached LWO without being consulted, driving a bigger wedge between the two. On the November 25 episode of Raw, after losing to Alpha Academy (Otis and Akira Tozawa) and many weeks of disagreements, the pair had an extremely heated argument, attacking each other's achievements in WWE. On the December 2, 2024 episode of Raw during the 10-year anniversary celebration of the formation of The New Day, Big E made an in-ring reunion with Woods and Kingston for the first time since his injury. Due to the dissension between the two throughout the year, Big E announced that he will return to manage them. However, Woods and Kingston lashed out at Big E for abandoning them after his injury in March 2022 and kicked him out of the stable, turning heel for the first time since 2016, and reconciling with one another in the process.
On Night 1 of WrestleMania 41, Kingston and Woods defeated The War Raiders to win the World Tag Team Championship. On the June 30 episode of Raw, Kingston and Woods lost their titles to The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh), ending their reign at 72 days.
Woods's life was spotlighted, along with Adam Rose and Corey Graves, on ESPN's special on WWE titled "Behind the Curtain", which aired May 5, 2015. He made an appearance in fellow wrestler Emma's short-lived YouTube cooking show channel Taste of Tenille in 2015. Woods was featured playing tambourine and trombone on the Postmodern Jukebox cover of "What is Love" music video.
In 2017, Woods made his voice acting debut as the character Vincent Mensah in the PlayStation 4 video game . He also published The Book of Booty: Shake It. Love It. Never Be It with fellow New Day members Big E and Kofi Kingston.
In 2015, Woods, under his Austin Creed moniker, started a YouTube channel called UpUpDownDown, where he invites fellow WWE performers, gaming personalities, friends, and guests to play games. In August 2018, it won a Guinness World Record for Most Subscribed-to Celebrity Video Gaming Channel, with 1.6 million subscribers.
Woods is a recurring cast member of Penny Arcade's live Dungeons & Dragons campaign Acquisitions Incorporated as of 2019. He performs at various PAX conventions playing the role of Bobby Zimmeruski, a Goliath Barbarian with an obsession for violence and a deep love of cheese. Watson, along with Big E and Kofi Kingston, appeared in an episode of Adam Ruins Everything where they did a rendition of their catchphrase during a segment about Mount Rushmore.
Woods and Kingston appeared on an episode of Smosh Pit's Try Not to Laugh YouTube series.
In February 2020, Woods announced his partnership with Riot Games to create Esports experiences.
In November 2020, Woods, alongside fellow The New Day members Big E and Kingston, was added as playable DLC characters in the video game Gears 5, sporting custom armour in the colors of The New Day's ring attires; the three recorded dialogue specifically for the game.
On November 24, 2020, Woods was announced as one of the new hosts for the revival of G4.
In 2023, Creed featured on Raheem Jarbo's song "The Sunset Flip" as part of the "Wrestling is Real, People Are Fake" album.
In 2024, he appeared as a background extra in Season 6 part 2 of Cobra Kai.
In 2025, Woods and Kingston appeared in Dropout's Dimension 20 series Titan Takedown, along with Bayley and Chelsea Green.
| 2021 | Escape the Undertaker | Himself | Main star |
| 2025 | Dimension 20 | Julius Mortem | Cast member, Titan Takedown |
Watson is an avid fan of video games. He has a tattoo of the Wingcrest from The Legend of Zelda series on his left forearm. He also has a Twitch account under the username AustinCreed. He won the annual WWE 2K tournament in 2015.
Watson married his girlfriend Jess in 2015 and their son was born in 2017.
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