Xavier was a former ROH Champion (Twitter)
Xavier is a former Ring of Honor (ROH) champion but passed away recently
The wrestling world was in shock after Xavier, one of the best from the independent circuit, passed away on 16 August 2020.
The 42-year-old was best known for his time on Ring of Honor where he was the second person to lift the ROH Championship.
Xavier, real name Johnny Bedoya, was born in Queens, New York. The 42-year-old had many aliases under which he fought and was trained by Tony DeVito.
He made his debut in 1995 and performed across various independent promotions in New York City. Xavier had a few stints at Ring of Honor and defeated Scoot Andrews in the first-ever show for the promotion.
The 42-year-old won his ROH title by defeating Low Ki in 2002, but he had faced off against some of the best in WWE and other promotions too.
Xavier faced the likes of AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Amazing Red, Christopher Daniels and Paul London during his early years in ROH.
He also fought Daniel Bryan during his early years in ROH but was set to return in March 2020. Xavier was to face Jay Lethal in ROH’s “Past vs Present” event, unfortunately, that event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Xavier also competed in MMA bouts and he had a 1-1 record in his amateur career. He never clashed in a professional MMA fight.
While Xavier didn’t make it to the biggest TV promotions, he was cherished and loved by many.
Many of the current crop of WWE, AEW and TNA stars seem to have faced off against Xavier sometime or another.
Several posted their thoughts on the passing away of the 42-year-old, and the former ROH Champion will be missed by many across promotions.
A few WWE stars also shared their messages after learning about Xavier’s untimely passing away:
Iron Sheik promises to beat “F***” out of Logan Paul after $10,000 wrestling match challenge
Rusev recalls hilarious moment where he thought Lana was a stripper
Edge promises there is more to come as he continues return from injury
Follow our dedicated WWE page for instant WWE news and updates
