Xavier Woods Injured, Likely to Miss Royal Rumble

Xavier Woods of The New Day revealed on G4’s Attack of the Show that he is dealing with a leg injury suffered during a tag team match on WWE SmackDown last week.

During last Friday’s broadcast, Woods teamed with Kofi Kingston to take on the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The Usos, in a Street Fight. The Usos were victorious and Woods tore his Plantaris muscle beneath his calf in the process.

Woods revealed that the injury occurred when he delivered a Tornado DDT to Jey Uso. Woods is expected to miss between four and six weeks of action due to the injury, meaning he would miss the Royal Rumble and also possibly the Saudi Arabia event in mid-February.

Despite suffering the injury in the middle of the match, Woods was able to carry through until the finish. He took a Samoan Drop moments after hurting his leg on the Tornado DDT.

Woods discusses the injury in this video at the 24:45 mark.

WWE has not officially commented on the injury. The Royal Rumble takes place two weeks from now in St. Louis, Missouri. The next event in Saudi Arabia is on Saturday, February 19th. The Rumble is three weeks from when the injury first occurred, making a Woods appearance in that match all the more unlikely.