Joseph Byrd grew up watching pro wrestling and following his favorite performers.
Now, the Goodrich resident, 22, has a chance to follow in their footsteps.
Byrd currently attends Oakland Community College and Oakland University, and is studying communications and liberal arts, with hopes to attend film school. However, he also is a professional wrestler, and has been for about three years.
He was trained by Andrew D’Arcy of Blue Water Championship Wrestling (BWCW) in Port Huron for about eight months, and wrestles every weekend in arenas throughout the Midwest under the name Xavier Justice.
D’Arcy said Byrd started training with him in May 2003, and was with him for about a year. Byrd’s first pro match was on May 31, 2004 in Alpena.
Later, Byrd worked as one of D’Arcy’s assistants while training prospective wrestlers.
‘I first met him at Basketball America in Lake Orion,? D’Arcy said. ‘I told him if he was serious (about getting into pro wrestling) to give me a call. It was kind of funny ? Joe first took part in backyard wrestling, which I don’t endorse. He wanted me to train him, and he wanted to take his pro career seriously.?
D’Arcy said Byrd was one of an initial group of 30 people in his training class, with six making it through the whole program.
In the future, Byrd is anticipating a tryout with Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, an Orlando-based promotion that airs programming each week on the Spike TV cable channel. Byrd said Terry Taylor, a TNA talent scout, will be traveling to a BWCW show later this year, probably in Port Huron, and check him out in action.
D’Arcy also said Byrd has talked to a promoter from the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion when they came to Detroit ‘not too long ago.?
‘Joe has a great, marketable look,? D’Arcy said. ‘He’s one of the most booked independent wrestlers in Michigan. His in-ring style is ‘old school? with a twist ? he likes to try innovative things, so he has some ‘new school? in him.?
Growing up in Goodrich, Byrd said his favorite wrestlers to watch were Bret ‘Hit Man? Hart, Triple H, ‘Ravishing? Rick Rude, Ricky ‘The Dragon? Steamboat and Jeff Jarrett. However, he said he’s trying to bring his own style into the business.
‘I don’t try to copy anyone else,? he said. ‘I try to do original things. I watch stuff from overseas and from Japan. I still watch World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). I think wrestling was going downhill, but it’s starting to come back. I also watch TNA and the indies (independent shows).?
He said he has been fortunate enough to meet such wrestlers as Hart (who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in April), Jake ‘The Snake? Roberts and Marty Jannetty while working various shows. He said all three performers were ‘real cool.?
Byrd recalled his most memorable match coming this May, after his father, Donald, died the previous month. He competed against Chris Sabin, a current TNA competitor, and Scott Steiner, another current TNA competitor who used to compete for WWE and the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
‘I had wrestled Sabin earlier in the night, and I was at a promotional table selling some stuff, with my gear off, when the promoter asked me to wrestle in a tag match with Steiner,? he said. ‘It was a handicap match, three against two, and I was on the heel side going up against him. I was going in expecting to be beat up and destroyed. When I was ready to lock up, I was nervous as heck, but to my surprise, it ended up being a lot of fun. He was real safe, and he gave me a lot of good, stiff stuff. My chest was a little red ? he gave me the hardest chops I ever took.?
In addition to his BWCW and other wrestling duties, Byrd owns his own promotion, Pure Pro Wrestling. To that end, he is promoting a show at the VFW Hall in Davison (on the corner of M-15 in Lapeer) at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12.
The show will benefit Paradise Animal Rescue, which Byrd said is a nonlethal animal rescue agency. He said there will be a lot of wrestlers from Michigan and Ohio on the card.
‘The wrestling will be really good,? he said. ‘It will be really family oriented.?