A summer break helped him reset before his AEW chapter
Summary
– Austin Creed said time at home helped him address burnout
– He described AEW as a refreshing creative environment
– A DaParty reunion remains possible, but nothing was confirmed
Austin Creed says stepping away from WWE allowed him to rethink his schedule, spend a summer with his children and rediscover the balance he had been missing.
Speaking at PAX Australia, the former Xavier Woods explained that wrestling, appearances and his gaming commitments had left him exhausted. After spending more than two decades working through the summer, he found that being home with his family helped him establish clearer boundaries.
“I was very burnt out.”
Creed said the break helped him decide which opportunities were worth leaving home for and which he could turn down. He still wants to build a future beyond his wrestling career, but now has a better understanding of how to pursue that without sacrificing everything else.
His move to AEW has also brought renewed enthusiasm. Teaming with Kofi Kingston and Swerve Strickland in The New Level has given him a different experience, with Creed describing the crowd’s energy and the locker room’s drive to improve as creatively rewarding.
He compared that feeling to his independent wrestling days, when the challenge of finding bookings and developing his craft provided its own sense of fulfillment.
Creed also welcomed the opportunity to work a different wrestling style. He said AEW offers more room to experiment, including the chance to try ideas that might fail and learn from the response.
The conversation then shifted to leaving UpUpDownDown behind. Creed expressed confidence that he could create something else rather than treating that departure as the end of his gaming ambitions.
“I believe in myself creatively enough that if I want to, I just build something else.”
A possible DaParty reunion remains part of that conversation. Creed confirmed that none of the group’s members were currently signed to WWE, leaving an opportunity for them to create something together.
However, he stopped short of announcing a reunion or another channel. He playfully declined to confirm or deny whether filming or preparations had already taken place.
For now, building relationships within AEW is his priority. Creed explained that UpUpDownDown benefited from friendships developed over many years, and he wants the same familiarity before bringing new colleagues together to create gaming content.
His comments leave the door open for another project, but Creed made clear that the relationships behind it matter as much as the games themselves.
