Xavier (wrestler)

Johnny Bedoya (December 28, 1977 – August 16, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Xavier. He was best known for his appearances with Ring of Honor between 2002 and 2004, where he was the second ROH Champion.

Xavier
Xavier in 2007.
Birth nameJohnny Bedoya
Born(1977-12-28)December 28, 1977
Queens, New York, United States
DiedAugust 16, 2020(2020-08-16) (aged 42)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Johnny Jirus
John Xavier
Juan Xavier
Xavier
Billed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Billed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Billed fromHartford, Connecticut
Trained byTony DeVito
Debut1997
Retired2011[1]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1997-2002)

Bedoya trained under Tony DeVito before debuting in 1995. He wrestled for various independent promotions in New York City, adopting the ring name "Xavier".

Ring of Honor (2002-2004, 2006–2007)

Xavier appeared on the first ever Ring of Honor (ROH) show, The Era of Honor Begins, on February 23, 2002, defeating Scoot Andrews. Throughout the following months, Xavier feuded with Andrews and James Maritato. He took part in the Road to the Title tournament, attempting to become the number one contender to the ROH Championship, but was eliminated in the first round by Amazing Red. After decisively defeating Andrews on several occasions, Xavier requested, and was granted, a shot at the ROH Championship. He faced the incumbent champion, Low Ki, on September 21, 2002, and defeated Low-Ki in a match which saw extensive cheating on the part of Xavier and interference from Christopher Daniels.[2] Following his victory, the newly crowned champion joined Daniels' heel stable, The Prophecy. With the help of The Prophecy, Xavier successfully defended his title against Jay Briscoe, A.J. Styles and, on two occasions, Paul London, before losing to Samoa Joe at Night of Champions on March 22, 2003.[2]

Following his defeat, Xavier was absent for several months. He returned to ROH at Death Before Dishonor on July 19, 2003, and subsequently turned his back on The Prophecy. He lost to his former partner, Christopher Daniels, in a match for the number one contendership on August 16 at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies. Throughout the remainder of the year, Xavier took part in the Field of Honor tournament, losing to Matt Stryker in the semi-finals, and feuded with John Walters, culminating in a "Fight Without Honor" at Final Battle 2003 on December 27 which was won by Walters.

In 2004, Xavier joined The Embassy, a heel stable led by Prince Nana. He remained in The Embassy until April 2004, when he was sidelined for six months with a shoulder injury. He recovered from his injury in December 2004 and returned to the independent circuit.

Xavier returned to ROH on February 11, 2006, challenging Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Championship after Embassy member Alex Shelley missed the event due to weather conditions. He lost to Danielson by disqualification following interference from Jimmy Rave, another member of The Embassy. On February 16, 2007 Xavier returned to ROH to replace an injured Davey Richards in a "four-way fray" match involving SHINGO, Jack Evans and Jimmy Jacobs. He was eliminated first. Xavier was set to return in March 2020 for ROH's "Past vs. Present" event against Jay Lethal but the plans were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Independent circuit (2002-2011)

Xavier competed for numerous independent promotions throughout his career, including USA Pro Wrestling, UXW, Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling (3PW), East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA), MXW, Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW), New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC), Northeast Wrestling (NEW), and Chaotic Wrestling.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007)

Xavier first appeared in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on January 18, 2003, losing to Chuck Palumbo on an episode of WWE Velocity. He made further appearances on Velocity on March 8 and June 28 of that year, losing to Bill DeMott and Spanky respectively. Over the following two years, Xavier made several appearances with WWE as an extra in angles. On the December 31, 2005 episode of Velocity, he lost to Paul Burchill in a match that saw him use the name "John Xavier". On May 11, 2007, Xavier teamed up with Scotty Charisma to take on Eugene and Jim Duggan.[3]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010)

On July 26, 2010, Jirus wrestled in a tryout dark match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), losing to Douglas Williams.[4]

Mixed martial arts

Xavier began competing in mixed martial arts in 2009, fighting under the name John Xavier.[5] He won his first fight via 14-second knockout. In his second (and, as of January 2013, final) fight he lost via decision. Both bouts were under amateur rules; he never competed in a professional MMA bout.

Death

Bedoya died on August 16, 2020.[6]

Championships and accomplishments
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gollark: I can't tell if you're serious.
gollark: §8[195,73,94][PM] §5[ §nSELL SHOP§5 ]: §bHey gollark, you've been standing in the cabin for a while now. Make sure than after you're done, you'll make place for others. Excessive §4afking§b in the cabin is §alogged§b, and you may be §4denied access§b to Wolf Mall when you're unneccesarely obstructing the SELL SHOP for others! Thank you kindly for understanding!
gollark: It's an internal API which I expose for reasons, like skynet.URL.
gollark: skynet.connect is I think done in skynet.listen too.

See also

References
  1. NBC 10 News (August 17, 2020). "Former Ring of Honor champion Xavier dies at 43". Fox Baltimore. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  2. "Ring of Honor Title". Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
  3. "WWE Heat Video Xavier with Scotty Charisma vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Eugene". WWE. 2007-05-11. Archived from the original on May 14, 2007.
  4. Csonka, Larry (2010-07-26). "TNA Xplosion Taping Results (SPOILERS)". 411Mania. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  5. "John Xavier Official MMA Record".
  6. Heel, N. (2020-08-16). "Former ROH World Champion John 'Xavier' Jirius Passes Away". Heel By Nature. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  7. "Jirus' Bodyslamming profile".
  8. "ICW Tag Team Championship". Cagematch. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  9. "Impact Cup 2010". Cagematch. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  10. "Independent Wrestling Results - December 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  11. "Jirius' Bodyslamming profile".
  12. "Jirus' OWOW profile".
  13. "Independent Wrestling Results - May 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
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