WWE Superstar Xavier Woods' incredible gaming journey that transformed in the ring

If you've been told to put the controller down and step outside you might want to reconsider if you have hopes of becoming a WWE superstar.

WWE celebrities are known for their jaw-dropping aerial acts and charismatic skills on the microphone.

With larger than life personalities, they boast to a live audience a character on a never-ending fight for greatness.

Which is what makes the case of Xavier Woods so intriguing. His personality flies in the face of the archetypal professional wrestler, with passions that you don't immediately associate with most. 

The star of a YouTube gaming channel titled 'UpUpDownDown,' Woods has entered an entirely new medium that's claimed Guinness World Record honours for 'Most Subscribed Celebrity Video Gaming Channel' with over 2 million subscribers. 

It's a passion for gaming where Woods' career took off and transformed him into the superstar and pop culture icon he's become today. 

On WWE's NXT brand, which at the time was considered just a development league for wrestling prospects, Woods used his old tag-team partner Tyler Breeze to bring his love of gaming to the ring in hopes of kick-starting his professional wrestling career. 

"Myself and Tyler Breeze tried everything to get on the main roster by making DVDs on our matches and we cut promos on everyone in the company," Woods told Wide World of Sports.

"We weren't hearing anything and no one was telling us anything. I got sick of it and went another route.

"I made a full storyline in WWE 2k on how we could debut in the form of a tag team tournament where we show up. 

"I would put that story on the internet and hoped people would download it and it would spread through Reddit and the internet.

"I don't know how many hours of my life I dumped into these creative modes of the games, but I've used them to advance my actual wrestling career." 

Despite suffering a serious Achilles injury just last month, Woods is a regular on WWE's Smackdown brand.

He features alongside superstars Big E and Kofi Kingston on tag team called 'The New Day.' 

The New Day are a pop culture phenomenon successful in bringing to their on-screen characters a unique sense of humour and ability to have fun while performing the breathtaking stunts of a professional wrestler. 

Woods credits his love of gaming as the prime reason he's been so successful in bringing to life his WWE persona. 

"I used to play the older WWE games and I would design my wrestling gear in the game and then show that to my gear guy so he could make it," Woods said.

"I would spend months making my gear.

"When I first debuted on the roster I was wearing this black jacket with diamonds all around the arms which I made in WWE2k and showed my guy gear who sewed it and made it in real life."

The lifestyle of a WWE superstar consists of hours in the gym with flights every week to destinations all around the world. 

Before Woods' gaming channel took off on YouTube he would bring his devices on the road with the travelling WWE rosters taking part in the fun. 

"Before the YouTube channel, I was already bringing consoles on the road," Woods said.

"We used to have Madden tournaments.

"I'd have my consoles, my PC and I'd be trying to get people to play games."

Outside of the ring Woods has gone on to graduate university with a master's degree in psychology.

But it's his YouTube channel that has the university graduate thankful for the lessons he's learned from previous WWE superstars. 

"Wrestling takes a toll on your body, you can't and shouldn't do it forever," Woods said.

"I always wanted to make sure there was some avenue for me to be able to take care of my family and make money and survive post wrestling.

"Being in this current generation, one thing we're very lucky with is the fact the generation prior to us and generation prior to them, was able to teach us so many lessons.

"I know lots of guys in the 80s and 90s and they didn't try set up for life after wrestling."

For Woods, it's not just a passion for video games that brought to life his successful YouTube channel. 

A passion for visiting arcade bars is where the idea started, with Woods declaring his original idea for a channel was centred around visiting the gaming establishments. 

"I wanted to do a show because every city I go to, I try to the find the arcade bar," he said.

"I go to arcade bars in every place that I can find one and so I wanted to do a show that was like a travelling thing and show these places off.

"At the time, I thought this could be a WWE network show but they didn't want to do it.

"It became a full year of trying to get the WWE to let us to do the YouTube channel before we got the green light."