WWE RAW Absences of Xavier Woods, Erik Due to Preplanned Vacations

WWE Raw stars Xavier Woods of The New Day and Erik of The War Raiders missed the October 20, 2025, episode due to prearranged vacations, as confirmed by wrestling journalist Bryan Alvarez. While their tag partners, Kofi Kingston and Ivar, competed in the World Heavyweight Championship number one contender's battle royal, Woods was vacationing in Italy and Erik last wrestled on the October 13 Main Event taping. Woods reacted on social media to a title change on the show, expressing his perspective on the storyline shift while away. Both wrestlers are expected to return to WWE programming soon. Meanwhile, another WWE star, Austin Theory, remains part of creative plans despite injury-related storyline changes and is anticipated to make a significant return, although his exact comeback timing is unknown. Theory’s tag team breakup led his former partner Grayson Waller to align with The New Day and publicly criticize Theory’s current status.