On Sunday, August 16th, former Ring of Honor World Champion John ‘Xavier’ Bedoya has passed away. It was reported by the family of Bedoya that the 43-year-old had died. With little details shared about his passing but the wrestling world has come to mourn the loss of this former champion. Competing as Xavier, Bedoya was slated to make his return this past March competing in ROH’s Past vs Present event slated to take place against Jay Lethal.
Ring of Honor also released the following statement on the former champion’s passing.
Ring of Honor is saddened to learn of the passing of former ROH World Champion Xavier (John Bedoya). He was 43.
A product of the New York independent wrestling scene, Xavier defeated Low Ki on Sept. 21, 2002 to become the second ROH World Champion. He held the title for 182 days before losing it to Samoa Joe on March 22, 2003.
Xavier made his ROH debut on the company’s first show, The Era of Honor Begins, on Feb. 23, 2002, defeating Scoot Andrews. He last wrestled in ROH in 2007 and retired from pro wrestling in 2011. Xavier also competed in several mixed martial arts fights, beginning in 2009.
Xavier was scheduled to come out of retirement to face Jay Lethal at the ROH Past vs. Present show this past March in Las Vegas, but the show was canceled due to the pandemic.
ROH extends its deepest condolences to Xavier’s family, friends and fans.
Ring of Honor is saddened to learn of the passing of former ROH World Champion Xavier (John Bedoya). https://t.co/GOdCjKTZa0
ROH extends its deepest condolences to Xavier’s family, friends and fans. pic.twitter.com/eNUlbW10yu
— ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) August 17, 2020
John ‘Xavier’ Bedoya Passes Away at 43
Bedoya debuted in 1997 and competed fairly regularly until 2011. He remained fairly inactive between 2012 until 2016 but he made his mark in Ring of Honor’s early days. His longstanding feud with Low Ki is not only ROH but ICW have long been what Bedoya is remembered for. In fact, Xavier and Low Ki have competed in a match either with or against one another in 18 matches. Their final documented time in a ring together was in 2005. A former trainee of ECW alumni Tony DeVito, Xavier was a member of Christopher Daniels The Prophecy faction and Prince Nana’s The Embassy faction a few years after that.
As the second person to ever hold the Ring of Honor title, he was bestowed the honor and doing so was the consomant champion.
Rest In Peace Xavier. Thank you for the matches, both as opponent and partner. You will be missed.
— Christopher Daniels (@facdaniels) August 17, 2020
Executive Producer of The Wrestler & 350 Days and Pro Wrestling Post contributer, Evan Ginzburg shared the following about Xavier.
“I met him through the late, great Tiger Khan. They were from that same late 90’s NYC indie scene. The times we talked and few times we rode together he was always polite, warm, humble and serious about his craft.
He was also in tremendous shape and a topnotch competitor, often on top of indie cards here. He later was an early ROH champ. The East Coast wrestling community is shocked and saddened by the tragic news. RIP.”
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