Xavier Woods: I Originally Played The Trombone For Fun, But Vince McMahon Loved It, So I Kept Doing It
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One week after Xavier Woods’ trombone made all the difference in Kofi Kingston’s match with Randy Orton, many fans have wanted to know how the instrument became part of Woods’ character in the first place. For years, he’s been carrying the trombone to the ring and playing it during matches.
In a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Woods shared the origin story of the most famous trombone in sports entertainment. He admitted that, at first, the New Day was just trying to see what they could get away with, like their affinity for pancakes. Of course, both items went on to become defining accessories of the New Day.
“At that point we were trying to see what they would say yes to and things that we could do,” said Woods. “And so they had an idea, I think it was like after we won the titles and we were in New York, I think, they were like, ‘Hey, you know, we want you to come down and sing a song, maybe like ‘New York, New York.’ And we were in the car, and we got this text at the same time. And I go to the guys like, do you think they’ll give us a trombone? Because I can figure out how to play that on trombone. And the guys are like, ‘Yeah, let’s try it, let’s see. We’ve had a good streak of getting yes.’
“And so we texted them back and we all kind of waited with bated breath, and they go, ‘Yeah we can get you a trombone.’ And it was like, ‘[Gasp] what are we doing? What door did we just open?”
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Woods then described how he learned how to play the song on the trombone, and while he was supposed to give the instrument to a member of the crew, he decided to keep the fun going.
“In my head, I was like, man, I’m literally never gonna be in this situation again, where I’m able to take my passion of professional wrestling and my passion for music and trombone and experience this feeling again,” said Woods. “So I’m gonna keep this trombone, and I’m just gonna play with it during the match and see what happens.”
The former tag team champion then described how a cameraman encouraged him to keep playing because Vince McMahon thought it was funny. The Chairman then made it clear that the trombone was Woods’ thing from there on out.
“And so I started playing it during the match, and one of the camera guys is like crying trying to record what’s happening,” Woods recalled. “And then we go to commercial, and then he goes , ‘You gotta keep playing that trombone.’ And I was like what? He’s like, ‘Vince is losing his mind crying, laughing, like he’s loving this.’
“I was like perfect, and so we got in the back and the whole, everybody in Gorilla [Position] was laughing. And Vince was like, ‘That’s yours now, I never wanna see you without a trombone now.’ So then it just went from there. Legit one of the most happiest days that I’ve had in my career, being able to go oh you now get to like add a piece to what Xavier Woods the character is.”
To this day, Woods’ trombone remains one of the most recognizable aspects of the New Day’s presentation. Clearly, Woods enjoys playing the instrument and incorporating it into his character.
Please credit WrestleZone for the transcription and link to this article if you use any of the above quotes.