CBS/APMarch 22, 2015, 8:13 AM
Flying kick apparently leads to death of Mexican luchador
MEXICO CITY - The son of a Mexican wrestling legend died early Saturday from a blow suffered in the ring, the Baja California state prosecutor's office said.
Pedro Aguayo Ramirez, known as Hijo del Perro Aguayo, fell unconscious on the ropes, apparently after receiving a flying kick from fellow wrestler and former WWE superstar Oscar Gutierrez, known professionally as Rey Mysterio Jr., according to a chilling YouTube video of the match in a municipal auditorium in Tijuana.
The match continued for almost two minutes before other participants and the referee realized Aguayo was seriously injured and tended to him.
He was taken to a hospital a block away and died about 1:30 a.m., prosecutor's spokesman Raul Gutierrez said.
"I have no words for this terrible news," Joaquin Roldan, director of the AAA wrestling federation, said through his Twitter account. "My sincerest condolences for the Aguayo Ramirez family."
The state prosecutor's office said the cause of death, based on the autopsy, was trauma to the neck and a cervical fracture. It has opened an investigation into possible manslaughter.
After news of Ramirez's death spread, Gutierrez took to social media to express his shock and sorrow at the event, and to express condolences to the deceased wrestler's family. In a tweet showing a picture of the two, Gutierrez said he was honored to have been in the ring for Ramirez's debut, calling him a "brother" and a "great legend."
Tube el privilegio de compartir por primera ves un ring con el Hijo Del Perro Aguayo en su debut como luchador profesional y el Honor de estar en el Ring por ultima ves con esta Gran Leyenda! Te Extrañare Perrito RIP Perro Aguayo Jr.
I had the privilege to share a ring for the first time with Hijo Del Perro Aguayo in his debut as a professional wrestler & an Honor to be in the Ring with this great Legend for the last time! You will be missed Perro:: RIP Perro Aguayo Jr.
The company that reportedly organized the event, The Crash, couldn't be reached for comment. The Tijuana Boxing and Wrestling Commission called the death an unfortunate accident like those that occur in other high-risk sports.
Even though the match continued as Aguayo hung listless on the ropes, commission President Juan Carlos Pelayo said people moved immediately to check his condition. He said the doctor in charge was not at ringside because he was treating another injured wrestler, but paramedics and a doctor who was a spectator attended to Aguayo.
"The reaction for medical attention was quick, in my opinion," Pelayo said in a news conference Saturday.
Mexico is famous for its colorful characters and costumes in professional wrestling, popularly known as lucha libre, where fighters perform daring aerial maneuvers inside and outside the ring.
Aguayo, 35, had wrestled for 20 years and was the son of the legendary Pedro "Perro" Aguayo, now retired and a member of the Aztec lucha hall of fame.
The younger Aguayo was also popular and led a group called "Los Perros de Mal," or the bad dogs. He won numerous titles, including national pairs with his father, a national heavyweight championship and the Consejo Mundial Lucha Libre world trios championship.
"It makes me very sad because he was a professional colleague and I have great affection for his father," the wrestler Hijo del Santo said in a telephone interview. "I think the fans in Japan, the U.S. and Mexico, of course, where he was very popular, must be in mourning, especially because of his youth. He had much ahead of him."
After news of his death spread, the wrestling community took to social media in an outpouring of grief.
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