Former WWE star Xavier Woods, who also goes by the name Austin Creed, is enjoying his first full break from professional wrestling in 22 years.
Woods, who enjoyed a 16-year run with WWE, was released by the company in May 2026 alongside his longtime New Day teammate Kofi Kingston. Their departures came after both reportedly turned down proposed salary changes to their contracts, bringing an end to one of WWE’s most successful tag teams.
Now using his old independent wrestling name, Austin Creed recently spoke about life away from wrestling during a gaming interview with AEW World Champion Kenny Omega on Giant Bomb.
Xavier Woods AKA Austin Creed is loving life away from wrestling
The interview started with Omega jokingly asking Creed what had changed over the past few months. Creed replied, “I mean, a few things are different now.”
Omega kept the joke going by acting like nothing major could have happened in such a short time. Creed replied, “Well… So I’ve had some free time recently.”
Kenny Omega then joked that Creed had finally taken the vacation he had always talked about.
“Yeah, about that… you could say I pushed for a pretty permanent vacation,” Creed answered.
Once Omega realized what he meant, he jokingly acted shocked, and Creed confirmed it.
Creed said taking time away from wrestling has been a completely new experience after spending most of his life constantly traveling.
“Taking a full ass break for the first time in 22 years. It’s been great getting to relax. It’s summer, kids are out of school, have been going on hella vacations, and are enjoying just existing and sleeping well,” he said.
Later in the interview, Omega joked that he wanted to ask the question everyone was waiting for about Creed’s future. The former WWE star quickly laughed it off and made it clear he wasn’t ready to talk about what’s next.
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