WWE's Xavier Woods Credits Games With His Own Human Development

WWE superstar Xavier Woods is known for his affinity for gaming. He hosts the UpUpDownDown YouTube channel, and he's even made appearances on Kinda Funny Games and GameSpot sister site Giant Bomb. In an interview with ESPN, Woods credited video games with helping him become the person that he is today.

Woods talked about how video games helped him overcome social awkwardness and make friends. He said his mom would set up playdates, which would help him express himself more often.

"Without video games, I don't think I'd be where I am today with anything else in life," he said. With UpUpDownDown, Woods said he wants to show kids that they can find a place where they can fit in and be accepted, just like he did.

"I always want to make sure that I'm able to put a spotlight on that for kids who might be in the same position and might feel a little awkward or might get made fun of for reading comic books and staying up till 4 in the morning playing Sonic," he said. "I want to show them that, no, that stuff is awesome and fun and that look, you can go be CEO and make a ton of money, and you can be in an awesome fighting game community."

Woods added that gaming has inspired the way he acts in the WWE and life, saying he wants "to be heroic like Cloud" from Final Fantasy VII and "funny like Crash Bandicoot and Sonic." Additionally, Woods talked about how gaming has brought members of the WWE together. You can read the full article over on ESPN.

Woods has implemented video games into his WWE appearances. He's played the Final Fantasy fanfare song on the trombone and even performed a Street Fighter hadouken to attack his opponent.