Xavier Woods Austin Watson ( September 4 , 1986 ) is an American professional wrestler , better known by his former ring name Consequences Creed . He is signed to WWE , where he competes under the ring name of Xavier Woods . Watson was formerly one - half of the FCW Florida Tag Team Champions with Wes Brisco . He previously worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he was a two - time World Tag Team Champion ( once with Adam " Pacman " Jones and Ron " The Truth " Killings , as Team Pacman , and once with Jay Lethal , as Lethal Consequences . Watson has also worked for NWA Anarchy and other independent promotions . His Creed persona was based on Apollo Creed from the " Rocky " movie series . Early life . Watson was born in Columbus , Georgia in 1986 and graduated from Sprayberry High School in Marietta , Georgia in 2004 . That same year he began studying psychology and philosophy at Furman University in Greenville , South Carolina . Watson graduated from Furman University with two degrees a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and philosophy on May 29 , 2008 . At his time at Furman University , Watson had a brief stint as an accomplished cheerleader . Career . Early career and NWA Anarchy ( 2005 – 2007 ) . While attending Furman University , Creed began training for a career in professional wrestling and , in 2005 , began wrestling part - time with Rob Adonis ' s Ultimate Christian Wrestling promotion . While in the Greenville , South Carolina - based World Wrestling Council , run by former NWA professional wrestler Brodie Ray Chase , he developed his current ring persona based heavily on the character Apollo Creed from the " Rocky " series . 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 . Deep South Wrestling ( 2007 ) . On July 12 , 2007 Creed defeated Murder - One to become the first DSW Heavyweight Champion since the split from WWE . He also worked with The Assassin while in Deep South Wrestling . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Pursuit of the X Division Championship ( 2007 – 2008 ) . Creed appeared at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ' s Bound For Glory pay - per - view event , teaming with Ron Killings as the replacement for Adam " Pacman " Jones . Creed wrestled under the name Rasheed Lucius " Consequences " Creed . His union with Ron Killings was made to be a play on words , with Killings ' nickname " The Truth " being combined with Creed ' s nickname " Consequences " to form Truth and Consequences , which is similar to the name of a town , ( Truth or Consequences , New Mexico named for an old game show ) . 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 the contract by TNA Booking Director Bill Behrens . Following Bound For Glory , Creed was not seen on TNA television for months after Killings asked 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 edition 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 edition 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 would later wrestle in the first ever TerrorDome match at Sacrifice , which was won by Kaz . At Hard Justice , Creed faced Petey Williams for the TNA X Division Championship , but lost after interference from Sheik Abdul Bashir . On the September 4 , 2008 edition of " TNA 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 . The match was changed to a triple threat after Bashir repeatably attacked Creed . Bashir won the match and the X Division title . Lethal Consequences ( 2008 – 2010 ) . On the October 30 , 2008 , episode of " Impact ! " , Creed , along with Samoa Joe , A . J . Styles , Jay Lethal , Petey Williams , Eric Young , ODB and The Motor City Machineguns formed a faction of younger wrestlers , known as The Frontline , to oppose The Main Event Mafia . On January 8 , 2009 , fellow Frontline member Lethal chose Creed to cash in his Feast or Fired briefcase with , and the pair won the TNA World Tag Team Championship from the champions Beer Money , Inc . ( Robert 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 just three days later at Genesis . For the next few months , Creed and Lethal teamed with the Motor City Machineguns to try and unmask Suicide . 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 as his head hit the mat . Independent circuit ( 2010 ) . On April 4 New Japan Pro Wrestling announced Watson , using his Consequences Creed ring name , as a participant in the first Super J Tag Tournament . On May 8 Creed and his partner Kota Ibushi were eliminated from the tournament in the first round by the team of Gedo and KUSHIDA . Creed returned to New Japan on June 28 , 2010 , teaming up with IWGP Heavyweight Champion Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma in the J Sports Crown 6 Man Openweight Tag Team Tournament . After defeating Tamon Honda , Kentaro Shiga and Makoto Hashi in the opening round , the trio was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Shinsuke Nakamura , Masato Tanaka and Tomohiro Ishii . On July 10 Creed defeated Brian Milonas , U – Gene and Tommaso Ciampa to win East Coast Wrestling Association ' s 2010 Super 8 Tournament . World Wrestling Entertainment ( 2010 - present ) . Florida Championship Wrestling ( 2010 ) . On July 22 , 2010 , it was announced that Watson had signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment . Watson , using his real name , made his debut for WWE ' s developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling on July 29 in a tag team match , where he and Percy Watson were defeated by Brodus Clay and Donny Marlow . He has since been added to the company ' s official website under the name Xavier Woods . On November 4 , Woods teamed with Wes Brisco to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship by defeating Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman . NXT ( 2012 - 2013 ) . He competed for a time on NXT where he would promote himself as an appreciator of 1990s culture , such as thick cellphones . Teaming with R - Truth ( 2013 – 2014 ) . On the November 18 , 2013 episode of " Raw " , Woods made his main roster debut as he teamed with fellow TNA alumnus and former tag - team partner R - Truth to defeat 3MB ( Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal ) after Woods pinned McIntyre . The following week on " Raw " , Woods defeated Heath Slater in his singles debut match while being accompanied by R - Truth and The Funkadactyls ( Cameron and Naomi ) and using Tons of Funk ' s entrance music . On the November 29 episode of " SmackDown " , Woods began a feud with Brodus Clay after Clay took offense to Woods using his entrance music and The Funkdactyls as his managers earlier in the week on " Raw " . Later that night , Woods suffered his first loss when he and R - Truth lost to Tons of Funk ( Clay and Tensai ) after Clay pinned Woods . On the December 2 episode of " Raw " , Woods and R - Truth defeated Tons of Funk in a rematch after Woods pinned Clay . On the December 9 episode of " Raw " , Woods faced Brodus Clay in a losing effort . On the December 11 episode of " Main Event " , Woods and R - Truth defeated Tons of Funk . On the January 8 episode of " SmackDown " , Woods and Truth faced The Real Americans ( Cesaro and Jack Swagger ) in a losing effort . On the January 10 episode of " SmackDown " , Woods defeated Fandango . On the January 31 episode of " SmackDown " , Woods faced Fandango in a losing effort , Woods and R - Truth then competed sporadically in the first quarter of 2014 . They started a feud with the Bulgarian newcomer Rusev and were defeated by him in singles and handicap encounters . On the February 3 episode of Raw , Woods , Truth and Dolph Ziggler faced The Wyatt Family in a six - man tag team match where they lost . On the March 21 episode of Superstars , Woods and R - Truth defeated 3MB ( Mahal and McIntyre ) . On the April 3 episode of NXT , Woods faced Brodus Clay in a losing effort . At WrestleMania XXX , Woods competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal , but failed to win the match . On the April 14 episode of " Raw " , Woods faced Rusev in a losing effort . On the April 28 episode of " Raw " , Woods faced Rusev again which ended by disqualification when R - Truth interfered . At Extreme Rules , Woods and R Truth faced Alexander Rusev in a 2 - on - 1 handicap match but lost the match . On the May 5 episode of " Raw " , Woods competed in a 20 - man WWE United States Championship Battle Royal which was won by Sheamus . On the May 30 episode of " Smackdown " , Woods faced Bo Dallas in a losing effort . On the June 9 episode of " Raw " , Woods faced Bo Dallas in another losing effort . On the June 16 episode of Raw , Woods competed in a WWE World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match Qualifying Battle Royal but was eliminated by Rusev . On the June 24 episode of Main Event , Woods and R - Truth faced Curtis Axel and Ryback in a losing effort . At Battleground , Woods competed in a 19 - man battle royal for the vacant Intercontinental Championship but was eliminated by The Great Khali . The New Day ( 2014 – present ) . On the July 21 episode of " Raw " , after Big E and Kofi Kingston suffered another loss as a team , Xavier Woods confronted them , declaring that they could not " get ahead by kissing babies and shaking hands " . Instead , it would be " their time " to " take " . The duo accepted Woods ' offer , and on the next day ' s " Main Event " , Woods managed Big E and Kingston to a decisive victory over Heath Slater and Titus O ' Neil . On the July 29 episode of " Main Event " , Woods ' filled a commentary role while he and his group observed a match wrestled by the WWE Tag Team Champions , the Usos . However , Woods ' group quickly and quietly disbanded , as on the August 8 episode of " SmackDown " and on the August 12 episode of " Main Event " , both Big E and then Kingston reverted to wrestling singles matches with no sign or mention of the other two members of the group . Despite being disbanded on WWE television , Big E , Kingston and Woods continued their alliance at live events . On the September 26 episode of Smackdown , Woods competed in an Intercontinental Championship No 1 Contender Battle Royal which was won by Cesaro From the November 3 episode of " Raw " , WWE began airing vignettes for Woods , along with Big E and Kingston , with the stable now being billed as " The New Day " . The New Day made their in - ring debut on the November 28 episode of " SmackDown " in a winning effort against Titus O ' Neil , Heath Slater and Curtis Axel . On the December 5 episode of " Smackdown " , Woods and Kingston defeated Cesaro and Tyson Kidd . On the January 12 , 2015 episode of " Raw " , Woods and Kingston defeated Cesaro & Tyson Kidd . On the January 13 episode of " Main Event " , New Day defeated Cesaro , Tyson Kidd & Adam Rose in a six - man tag team match , After accompanying his New Day mates Kingston and Langston in the pre - show of the 2015 Royal Rumble ( they lost against Masters of the WWE Universe ) Xavier tweeted support during the Rumble for Curtis Axel , saying he was never eliminated . On the February 16 episode of " Raw " , Woods and Kofi Kingston defeated Gold and Stardust . On the February 19 episode of " Smackdown " , Woods and Big E faced The Ascension in a losing effort . On the March 9 episode of " Raw " , Woods and Big E defeated the WWE Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Tyson Kidd in a non title match with Woods pinning Kidd . Woods made his Wrestlemania debut at WrestleMania 31 in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal where he was eliminated by Big Show . On the April 18 episode of " Main Event " , Woods faced Jimmy Uso in a losing effort .