John Jirus

Infobox Wrestler


names=John Jirus
Xavier
Juan Xavier
John Xavier
height=5 ft 9 in
weight=215 lb (98 kg)
birth_date =
death_date =
birth_place =Queens, New York
resides=
billed=Hartford, Connecticut
trainer=Tony DeVito
debut=1997
retired=|

John Jirus (born in Queens, New York, New York) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Ring of Honor between 2002 and 2004 as Xavier.

Career

Jirus trained under Tony DeVito and debuted in 1997. He wrestled for various independent promotions in New York City, adopting the ring name Xavier, before joining Ring of Honor in 2002.

Ring of Honor

Xavier appeared on the first ever ROH show, "The Era of Honor Begins", on February 26, 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 The Amazing Red. After decisively defeating Andrews on several occasions, Xavier requested, and was granted, a shot at the ROH Championship. He faced the incumbent, 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. 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.

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 16th 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.

World Wrestling Entertainment

Xavier first appeared in 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 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. [cite web |url=http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/webshows/heat/4647756/4685852/drm-heat051107seg1_ | title=WWE Heat Video Xavier with Scotty Charisma vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Eugene. (WWE.com)|date=2007-05-11] . He was most recently seen backstage at the SummerSlam PPV.Fact|date=January 2008

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves
**"Xclamation Point" / "450° of Fear" (450° splash)
**"Kiss Your X Goodbye" (Pumphandle sitout facebuster)
**"X Breaker" (Jumping hangman's neckbreaker)
**"X Slam" (Backbreaker rack flipped and dropped into an inverted fireman's carry drop)
**"X Twister" (Swinging side slam)
**"X Clutch" (Cobra clutch)
**Cobra clutch suplex
**Sitout suplex slam
**Muay Thai-style knee smash
*Managers
**Simply Luscious
**Allison Danger
**Lollipop
**Prince Nana

Championships and accomplishments

*Defiant Championship Wrestling
**DCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*East Coast Wrestling Association
**ECWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**ECWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Low Ki

*Impact Championship Wrestling
**ICW Heavyweight Championship (3 time)

*Jersey All Pro Wrestling
**JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*NorthEast Wrestling
**NorthEast Wrestling Championship (1 time) [cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/other/2006-12.html | title=Independent Wrestling Results - December 2006 | accessdate=2008-07-04|publisher=onlineworldofwrestling.com]

*Ring of Honor
**ROH Championship (1 time)

*Ultimate Championship Wrestling
**UCW North Eastern Championship (1 time)

*USA Xtreme Wrestling
**UXW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**UXW United States Championship (1 time)
**UXW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Low-Ki
**UXW X-treme Championship (2 time)

*Wrestling Superstars Unleashed
**WSU Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/other/2006-05.html | title=Independent Wrestling Results - May 2006 | accessdate=2007-07-04|publisher=onlineworldofwrestling.com]

References

External links

* [http://www.bodyslamming.com/other/xavier.html Xavier at Bodyslamming.com]
* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/x/xavier.html Xavier at OWW.com]
* [http://www.myspace.com/xavier450 Xavier's MySpace]