WWE Is Not Taking Xavier Woods-Led Stable Seriously Enough

WWE forged a great weapon in the form of Xavier Woods leading a group of frustrated wrestlers but has since left it to rust outside.

A great opportunity to better utilize Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E is being wasted. After a slight push a while back, the group has mostly disappeared. It has still performed together on house shows, but WWE is hemming and hawing too much with the outfit, not making it enough of a priority.

Woods had quickly become a bottom-feeder after moving up from NXT. He was often the first man thrown out of Battle Royals and had no momentum or connection with the crowd.

Kingston had been running in place for a long time. Remembering the last significant rivalry he had requires one to reach far back into the memory banks.

After a solid run with the Intercontinental Championship, WWE didn't seem to know what to do with Big E.

Then came a solution to not only those three men's issues, but the lack of depth in the tag team division. Woods approached his peers, inspiring them to join him in pursuit of an as-yet-unstated goal.

Suddenly each separate entity had a singular purpose. Woods looked great in the manager role, light years ahead of his previous work. Kingston showed off a newly aggressive side that promised to remove him from bland territory.

Before Woods and company could get rolling, they were pushed aside. The faction appeared a few times, lurking at ringside during other people's matches, but then quickly went away.

WWE didn't abandon the idea. It just stuck it on house shows.

When the company visited the Carolinas, for example, the group worked together. Woods posted Instagram photos of the trio in Salisbury, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina:

Clearly, it exists but only away from the cameras. It's as if WWE is unsure what it thinks of the group and so is experimenting with it at live events.

The last TV appearance the team made saw it united only in the form of color coordination. On last Friday's SmackDown, Woods, Kingston and Big E were among the many Superstars vying to be the No. 1 contender for the IC title.

They wore matching ring gear, but there was no mention of their alliance.

Why be so trigger-shy with these guys? Why bypass the chance to establish the group by having it do more damage in this match?

While those three men are relegated to house shows, The Bunny is getting TV time.

It's not like we're dealing with NXT rookies who need to refine their work under dimmer spotlight. Kingston and Big E can contribute to a tag team division that is sorely lacking in numbers right now.

Big Show and Mark Henry's team is on hiatus to allow for a feud with Rusev. That leaves Los Matadores as the second-best babyface team around. That's not a recipe for success.

Goldust and Stardust need some competition beyond The Usos. The division needs variety. That comes with adding new teams.

Inserting Woods, Kingston and Big E into the mix makes perfect sense, so it's frustrating to watch WWE be so indecisive about committing to them.

Taking fan questions on PWInsider.com, Dave Scherer was asked about the stable. When asked for an update of the group, he responded by saying it was essentially "a house show act" and added that "WWE creative gave it no chance to get over as a group. I don't get why they give guys a two-week push and then drop them."

Scherer is not alone. The move makes little sense.

In the category of baffling things, the group's proposed name is mind-blowingly bad. Woods has taken to referring to his crew as "Smart Athletic Friends."

As he clarifies on Twitter, there are also different names for specific pairings within the group. Woods and Kingston together are "Speed Force." Big E and Woods are known as "Muscle Bomb."

These all sound like they were pulled from badly translated Japanese cartoons.

If WWE didn't dawdle so much with the group, Woods wouldn't have to be experimenting with these goofball monikers.

Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns didn't have to come up with their trio's name while wandering in house-show purgatory. The Shield, like Bray Wyatt and his clan, was well-packaged and presented as a threat right away.

Not doing the same with Woods, Kingston and Big E is a mistake.

There's no need to play this test-run game with them. Put them in matching gear, give them a non-laughable name, a clear purpose and let the athletes do the rest.