Current Champion in WWE NXT Not Medically Cleared to Compete

It may be some time before fans see the New Day defend their WWE NXT Tag Team Championships as Xavier Woods is reportedly injured.

Woods, alongside Kofi Kingston, won the titles at WWE NXT Deadline, dethroning Pretty Deadly and ending their reign at 97 days.

With their victory, the New Day becomes the third team to capture the WWE Tag Team triple-crown, after The Revival in 2019 and the Street Profits in 2020.

Since winning the titles, the New Day has had just two matches: a title defense on the December 14, 2022 episode of NXT, and a six-person tag-team match at the December 27, WWE live event.

PW Insider reports that Woods is “banged up” and “not yet 100% cleared,” which is why New Day hasn’t been seen more inside the ring.

Details of his injury remain unclear, but he is not expected to miss much more time in the ring.

The expectation within WWE is that the UpUpDownDown host should be good to go by this month’s Royal Rumble, if not sooner.

While he has not been wrestling, Woods has continued to appear at WWE events, and was in Kofi’s corner for a house show in Huntsville, Alabama.

If the backstage talk is right, Woods will be healed in time for the Rumble, and would likely be a member of the Men’s Royal Rumble match.

The Men’s match is coming together, with Kingston, Ricochet, and Santos Escobar coming from SmackDown.

On last night’s Raw, it was confirmed that Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, and WWE United States Champion Austin Theory will also be in the Men’s Rumble match.