Two WWE Raw tag team wrestlers, Xavier Woods and Erik, were absent from the World Heavyweight Championship number one contender’s battle royal on the October 20 episode of WWE Raw because they were on previously scheduled vacations. Both of their tag team partners, Kofi Kingston and Ivar, participated in the match.
Bryan Alvarez reported the reason for the absences, stating to his subscribers: “Both Erik and Xavier Woods were on scheduled vacations this week, hence them not being in the battle royal”.
Xavier Woods, who is part of The New Day team with Kofi Kingston, was vacationing in Italy. Woods reacted to the news on social media that AJ Styles and Dragon Lee defeated The Judgment Day for the World Tag Team Championship in an earlier match on the show.
Woods posted a video about the title change with the caption: “Yall somehow fell in love with moments over logic and made us out to be the bad guys. Insane… so glad im in Italy right now”.
Erik, who is one-half of The War Raiders with Ivar, last wrestled on the October 13 taping of Main Event. In that match, The War Raiders defeated The Creed Brothers. Woods’ last in-ring action was a dark match at the October 3 SmackDown taping, where The War Raiders defeated The New Day.
Literally zero lies told. Yall somehow fell in love with moments over logic and made us out to be the bad guys. Insane… so glad im in Italy right now#ThankGodForTheNewDay https://t.co/9WHIPFg3Zq pic.twitter.com/z7cQjTsHK5
— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) October 21, 2025
Picture it, Italy, 2025 pic.twitter.com/jI4wpb7ZpH
— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) October 20, 2025
