Wrestler: 'Excellent' Xavier Cross

Wrestler Name: 'Excellent' Xavier Cross
Real Name: Xavier Cross
Birthday: January 23, 1956
Hometown: Oxford, MS
Marital Status: Married
Alignment: Face
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 257
Theme Music: "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith
Debut: March 09, 1978
Debut Opp: Seth Greeley
Last Match: February 28, 1995
Last Opp: Mississippi's Most Wanted
PriDistrict: MidAmerica
Style: Technically Skilled Brawler
Finishing Move: Excellent Execution
Notable Feuds: Greeley, Executioner
Image: Bret Hart

His Story:

Xavier Cross was born to Victor and Veronica Cross on January 23, 1956. He is the second of two sons, his brother Walter died as an infant in 1954 of what is now called SIDS. After Xavier's birth, Victor and Veronica were unable to have any more children. They considered Xavier as their greatest blessing and spoiled him rotten as a child. Xavier believes that his family can trace its roots back to Pennsylvania colony's first governor William Penn, but it has not been substantiated yet.

Victor was an assistant to the Athletic Director at Ole Miss. Xavier grew up believing the world revolved around Ole Miss sports. Xavier was a fixture at every football, basketball and baseball game. He picked up each sport and played each one well. He played wide receiver in pee wee football, second base in Little League and shooting guard in intramural basketball.

He shocked his parents when he announced his acceptance of a basketball scholarship to the University of Alabama. He spent one year with the squad before he had personality issues with the head coach. He left Alabama in 1977 and returned to Oxford. Once he got to Ole Miss, he was paired with Tanner Greeley (Grappler) as his roommate. Ole Miss wouldn't let him play basketball because of his father's position in the Athletic Department.

When Tanner approached him with the idea for the MVW, Xavier jumped at the chance. He became the first Mississippi Heavyweight champion on the first card. Throughout his wrestling career, he made good use of his English Literature degree. Many of his promos (much to Seth's chagrin) were peppered with quotations from various English classics. When asked what made him want to study English Literature, Xavier would simply reply, “Beowulf.” And Beowulf would form the basis for many of his promo lines.

From March 1995 to September 1996, Xavier toured with NWA Hammerlock Wrestling. He made quite a few acquaintances while in the UK. Four of the most prominent were Marco Buchel, Vlad Ghimpu, Viktor Lukashenko and Didier Leutharol. Having met these guys, Xavier started working on the Friends in Low Places storyline. It wasn't until all four men obtained their work visas and signed with the MVW that it came to its full potential. The two prominent non-wrestling acquaintances made were Dan McCafferty and Pete Agnew of the band Nazareth.

After he returned to the MVW, Xavier began teaming with Seth Greeley again against Mississippi's Most Wanted. The nearly two-decade-long feud ended when Sensational Excellence lost a Loser Leaves MVW Tag Team Title match against Mississippi's Most Wanted. Xavier left the ring and didn't return.

He accepted a teaching position at Greeneville High School. There, he has become well-respected as the teacher you don't want to mess with and the teacher you DEFINITELY don't want to show up not having done your homework.

Xavier married Sonja Johnson on June 14, 1977. She played volleyball for Ole Miss. They have two children: Rebecca (Gold Kard) and Jonathan (Johnny Reb). Despite his wishes to keep them out of the life of professional wrestling, both of his children joined the MVW after they finished their college degrees.