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Home , AAA Hall of Fame, Brian Cage, Cardiac (comics), Juventud Guerrera, Konnan, Lucha libre

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Deathon the Ropes The death of a luchador in the ring sends Mexican to the mat By Thomas Golianopoulos

Marisela Peña, president of AAA Wrestling, has a tradi- tion: She brings an urn, a vase made of gold and silver so ornate it practically glows, to every major AAA event. The urn contains the ashes of the company founder, her brother Antonio, who died in 2006. Backstage at the Arena Ciudad de México, 20 min- utes before the start of Triplemanía XXIII, the biggest show of the year, here is Peña in a poufy baby- blue evening gown more appropriate for the Met Ball than a wrestling match, holding the urn and delivering a pep talk to her roster—her children, as she calls them. She stands next to Luz Ramírez, who also clutches a memorial—a modest carved mahogany box with a tiny gold crucifix secured near the lid. It contains the ashes of her son Pedro “Hijo del Perro” Aguayo Ramírez, one of tonight’s inductees into AAA’s Hall of Fame.

Illustration by Jason Holley

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On the night of Friday, March 20, 2015, Aguayo wrestled in Tijuana in a four-person match that, when compared with the bloody brawls he was known for, appeared fairly sedate. “Everything was normal,” says T.J. “Manik” Perkins, 5 Aguayo’s tag-team partner that evening. “Up until the moment we were both on the ropes, everything was totally normal.” 1. Hijo del (right) faces Rey in his final match. 2. About five minutes in, Aguayo charged Aguayo slumps on the ropes before one of his opponents, Óscar “Rey Myste- the match is stopped. 3. Aguayo’s rio” Gutiérrez Rubio, in the corner, where mother with the press. 4. Rey Mys- Mysterio delivered Aguayo a double boot terio. 5. Aguayo with his father, wrestling legend Perro Aguayo Sr. to the face. Aguayo then rolled forward 6 and took a flying head scissors to the out- 6. Father and son in the ring. side, resulting in an awkward bump on the ring apron. When Aguayo reentered says through her own tears. Bring the physicality up,” the ring, Mysterio drop-kicked him in the “After he died, I swear I saw him in the directs. “I need it to be pure and crisp.” shoulder. He crumpled into the middle dressing room. It still feels like a pres- Before exiting, he remembers a big stunt rope, the perfect position for Mysterio’s ence is missing.” planned for the match. “Listen, there’s signature move, the 619. Manik fell next Aguayo’s death has been called a freak something you need to know about the to Aguayo. Both were supposed to duck accident. It is also a tragedy with more particleboard. The best way to break it when Mysterio swooped in, but Manik, than one victim. is to fucking flip into it. If you go into it sensing something was wrong, whispered, shoulder first, it will just break in half. If “Perro, Perro, down!” As Mysterio flew • you flip, it will blow up, and the fucking over him, Aguayo lay still, then slumped to A few minutes before Peña’s address, crowd will blow up. I watched the match the bottom rope and, finally, to the canvas. Konnan, director of AAA’s Creative between Perro and Myzteziz, and when He died at a nearby hospital. The cause of Department, lumbers between dressing Myzteziz threw Perro into the particle­ death was arrest, likely the result rooms, providing last-minute instruc- board, Perro did a full flip and the of a cervical stroke that occurred when his tions to the luchadores. A 51-year-old fucking thing exploded.” neck was broken. He was 35. Cuban born Carlos Ashenoff, Konnan Konnan thinks of Aguayo often— Peña’s speech outside the locker room was the biggest star in Mexican wrestling and not just because he was ringside in is brief, a few words on the company’s suc- in the early 1990s. He now walks with Tijuana. He remembers meeting—and cess and the tragic circumstances of this a slight limp after hip-replacement sur- threatening—Aguayo when the boy was evening. It ends with another AAA tradi- gery; he’s also had a kidney transplant. 11 years old. At the time, Konnan was tion: a cheer for the departed. His concern at the moment is the hair battling on-screen with Pedro “El Perro” “Perro! Perro! Long live Perro! Rah, vs. hair match between Alberto El Patrón Aguayo Sr., possibly the most popular rah, rah!” and , an American with Wol- nonmasked wrestler in ’s history. When Peña talks about Aguayo, the verine sideburns and an “ ” It was the hottest feud in the country, and son of a legend who became a legend ­gimmick—he wears a VOTE FOR TRUMP: during an appearance on Y Usted…¿Qué himself following a decade-long stretch MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN T-shirt. Opina?, a long-running talk show, Kon- as the most popular rudo (heel, or bad Konnan listens as Cage runs through nan told Aguayo Sr., “I hope your son guy) in Mexico, she still aches. “I feel a the outlined finish. “Super kick, one, two, gets in the wrestling business, because pain in my heart,” she says. “The peo- that’s the slow count, DDT, slow count, we once I’m done whupping your ass, I’m ple of Mexico feel a pain in their heart.” head to the top rope, I catch him, power going to whup his ass.” Later, in the dress- The mourning spread across borders. “I bomb off the ropes, false finish, low blow, ing room, Perrito, as the younger Aguayo was just in Colombia and there were fans he takes me into the chair that’s set up in was nicknamed, refused to shake Kon- with tears in their eyes, holding pictures the corner the whole time, then arm bar.” nan’s hand. He was terrified. His father, 52 of him,” Aguayo’s on-screen girlfriend “Just so you know, I talked to Alberto. an old-school type, (continued on page 138) more versatile performer than his father. He could chain wrestle on the mat or dive from the top rope. He was very athletic, and he was polished on the microphone. His greatest attribute, though, was his cha- risma, especially when working as a heel. “I’ve seen a lot of good wrestlers, but not all of them have that charisma—in Span- ish we call it an angel, as in ‘the grace of an angel,’ and that’s what Perro had,” Peña says through an interpreter. “He always took m over. He was that bad guy who, when he came onto the scene, he just took control LIFE & DEATH ON THE ROPES of the audience.” Aguayo was a true rudo. He knew how to Continued from page 52 get heat, how to conjure villainous energy. had yet to reveal that wrestling—and all the He was a throwback to a time when bad guys violence and rivalries within it—is scripted. could whip fans into a frenzy. No matter the It wasn’t until Konnan visited the Aguayo town, no matter the opponent, he identi- home and played with the family dog, a fied every trigger point for the crowd. He chow chow named Bola, that Perrito felt registered emotions well with his face. His safe around him. timing was perfect—he recognized how and Konnan and Aguayo Sr. were tag-team when to suppress a babyface (a good guy or partners when Perrito made his profes- hero) trying to mount a teased comeback. sional wrestling debut in June 1995 at the A low blow was one of his finishing moves. age of 15, a rarity even in Mexico. But in Aguayo was a different person outside front of 19,500 fans at the Río Nilo Coli- the ring. He was humble and well-spoken. seum in Tonalá, Jalisco, Aguayo lived up to Whereas his character was a blood-licking the high expectations that came with being thug, Perro was fresa—Mexican slang for his father’s son. “The younger Aguayo is “preppy.” He wore suits. He lived near his such a natural in the ring,” gushed Wres- parents in Tala, Jalisco, a town 30 minutes tling Observer Newsletter, which awarded three west of Guadalajara. And though he was and a quarter stars to Aguayo’s match with fiercely private, it’s known he was divorced. . Afterward Konnan told He got his big break after leaving AAA Aguayo Sr. he would look after his son for in 2003 for CMLL, the world’s oldest run- him once he retired. ning wrestling promotion, where he formed “Those words haunt me sometimes,” a heel group called Perros del Mal (Dogs Konnan says today. of Evil). In the tradition of such antiheroes­ as the N.W.O. and D-Generation X, Perros • made it cool to be bad and became the hot- Aguayo Sr. was fearful and reluctant to act in the company. (Their catchphrase allow his son to follow in his footsteps. was “God forgives; the Dogs…no!”) A 2007 He knew the dangers of the business, the turn on the highly rated reality-show compe- wounds and broken bones that could be tition Los 5 Magníficos heightened Aguayo’s inflicted inside the ring. A botched pile- popularity. Later in his career he was a reg- driver had almost left him paralyzed. ular on the telenovela Qué Pobre Tan Ricos. Today, Aguayo Sr.’s forehead is mutilated, Business was booming. Aguayo often a calloused mass of scars. This is the result wrestled 10 times a week and regularly of decades of blading, a long-standing headlined Friday-night shows at Arena wrestling routine of using a small blade to México. Wrestling Observer called it “as far cause intentional bleeding during a match. as a singular arena…one of the greatest The Mexican media have speculated that ­attendance runs in pro wrestling history.” Aguayo Sr. suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. And Aguayo capitalized on his popular- His current condition and his son’s fate are ity. He was a shrewd businessman who reminders that even though wrestling is exploited each opportunity. After forming scripted, it’s not exactly fake. Perros del Mal, he hired professional artists Perrito began training young. Playtime to design a logo, which he test-­marketed was forward rolls and running the ropes after before unveiling to the public. The black his father’s matches. By the age of eight he shirt with red slashes over white letter- was learning tae kwon do, as well as Greco- ing became the first wrestling T-shirt to Roman and . His passion go mainstream in Mexico. He understood was evident. Eventually, his father relented. marketing redundancy, wearing the T-shirt With his debut match a success, Hijo del everywhere—in the ring, in photo shoots, Perro Aguayo was brought along slowly in even on Los 5 Magníficos. He created a AAA, often wrestling in tag matches with brand and even opened a brick-and-mortar his dad. Father and son looked similar, and store in La Roma, a trendy neighborhood early on they wore matching ring gear. As in . Between the clothing line time passed and Aguayo Sr. crept into retire- and his construction company, Aguayo ment, Perrito, unlike many other “Juniors” made a fortune. “He didn’t have to wres- and “Hijo dels” in wrestling, created his own tle, I’ll put it that way,” Konnan says. “He persona and legacy. wrestled because he loved it.” Like his father, Hijo del Perro Aguayo was Predictably, WWE, the billion-dollar a brawler who would spill his own blood promotion headed by Vince ­McMahon, in the ring to heighten drama; “red equals approached Aguayo. He declined an audi- 138 green” was Senior’s motto. But he was a tion. “Perro had charisma, definitely had the ability, and I think he could have gotten supposed to fall into the middle rope for know him. You know everything. You know over [with the crowd],” says former WWE the 619 . When he reentered, Mysterio’s when something is wrong.” writer Court Bauer, now a consultant for dropkick put him in the correct position, but AAA. “The language barrier was the only Aguayo’s body went limp after hitting the • issue he would have faced.” ropes. Video shows him bleeding from his “Is this going to be on camera?” Aguayo saw the foreign market as chal- eye at this point. Still, the match continued asks. “No? Okay, then we can take the lenging. Another concern was that because for 70 seconds with Aguayo languishing on off.” Mysterio, 40, unzips the red-and-blue of licensing rights, WWE likely wouldn’t the canvas. It took another 80 seconds for mask to reveal a still boyish face. He lounges bill him as Hijo del Perro Aguayo. He was emergency personnel to arrive. on a couch in the locker room of the Arena proud of his name and had worked too hard With other injured wrestlers already Ciudad de México on the night before Triple- building his brand to abandon it. Instead, he occupying all the gurneys, a decision manía, wearing a Cassius Clay T-shirt, dark m gambled: He left CMLL in 2008 to bankroll was made to place Aguayo on a piece of denim and construction boots. At five-two, his own independent promotion, Produc­ plywood. He was carried to the back, lifted he can barely scrape the floor with his feet. ciones Perros del Mal. The market, however, onto a stretcher and then, six minutes Having departed AAA in 1995 for the wasn’t kind to start-ups. The recession had after the injury occurred, loaded into an Philadelphia-based promotion ECW, then ravaged the world economy, and the pro- ambulance for the quick ride—two blocks ultimately thriving in WCW and WWE, Mys- motion struggled to land sponsors and a west—to the hospital. As EMTs attended to terio missed Hijo del Perro’s rise. And so he television deal. So in June 2010, Aguayo, Aguayo, Kahn and Konnan removed the was thrilled that after leaving WWE in Feb- along with Perros del Mal, invaded AAA, tape from his fingers and wrists and unlaced ruary 2015 his first matches in Mexico were where he wrestled until his death. his boots—anything­ to stimulate a reaction. with Aguayo. Mysterio and Aguayo changed Kahn noticed Aguayo’s chest wasn’t moving. in the same locker room that night in Tijuana • He squeezed his hand. There was no and spoke about life, family and their recent Aguayo had an agreement with AAA that response. Doctors worked on Aguayo for 90 match in Guadalajara. “I told him, ‘You blew permitted him to make sporadic appear- minutes at the hospital before pronouncing my mind. You are on another level,’ ” Myste- ances for other promotions. Now 20 years him dead at 1:30 A.M. rio says. “That was the last thing I told him into his career, he didn’t wrestle as often, Could Aguayo’s life have been saved? before we went out to the ring.” but the March 20 show in Tijuana was a With two ambulances and a doctor present, Mysterio has seen the footage from homecoming for Rey Mysterio, the former CRASH’s medical provisions were higher Tijuana. “I had doubt in my mind if I had WWE superstar. than the industry standard for independent done something—that I could have caused Aguayo started the day with a workout in wrestling shows. And though the optics were it,” he says. “I probably went over it a hun- the hotel gym before meeting the promoter appalling—the match continuing; the make- dred times trying to find what I could have of the event, CRASH owner Ignacio Delgado, shift plywood stretcher—Aguayo’s longtime done different, if anything. Apparently for lunch at the Golden Palace, Aguayo’s family doctor has said that no medical treat- not.” He first realized Aguayo was injured favorite Chinese restaurant in Tijuana. Once ment could have kept him alive. Aguayo while in midair, attempting the 619. When Aguayo’s cousin Kahn del Mal, a fellow wres- fractured his C1, C2 and C3 vertebrae; a he swung around and saw Aguayo on the tler, returned from a shopping trip across C2 fracture is called a “hangman’s fracture.” ropes, he thought Aguayo had suffered a the border, they left for the sold-out show. Everyone has a theory about which concussion or been knocked out. Breaking Backstage, the mood at Auditorio Munici- move—the kick in the corner, the bump on character, he nudged Aguayo. When there pal was calm. As is tradition in lucha libre, the the ring apron, the dropkick, hitting the was no response, Mysterio and Manik called younger performers stopped by Aguayo’s ropes—caused the injury, but it couldn’t be an end to the match as quickly as possible. locker room to shake the veteran’s hand. He determined. We will never know. Kahn says Mysterio spent the night at the hospital with then went over the match with his tag-team Aguayo had no preexisting neck or spinal Konnan and Kahn. partner, Manik, along with Mysterio and his injury and that in fact his wrestling license With more than 25 years in the business, partner, Xtreme Tiger. Aguayo gave Manik was renewed less than a month before Mysterio has seen too many wrestlers—too a Perros del Mal T-shirt before the masked his death. In his career Aguayo had suf- many friends, including and wrestler departed. It was almost bell time. fered a broken leg and a knee injury, and Edward “” Fatu—die young. This hurt On their way to the tunnel entrance, Aguayo, it was reported he had a cancerous tumor even more, Mysterio says, because it hap- Manik, Konnan and Kahn saw doctors treat- removed from his stomach in 2011. Kahn, pened in the ring. “It has affected me to this ing a wrestler for a broken collarbone. the family spokesman, believes a blow to the day. My preparation for matches, sometimes I Aguayo employed his trademark heel tac- chest earlier in the match felled his beloved feel blocked. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t tics to start the match—he swung a chair, cousin. “I was ringside. From that point for- be doing this. Sometimes I think I should threatened to tear off Mysterio’s mask and ward, I noticed there was something odd throw in the towel,” he says, his raspy voice then climbed the ropes, arms outstretched, about him. His legs weren’t sturdy. His breaking up. “Being around my wife and kids, to bask in the jeers. In the final sequence, the vision looked different,” he says through I think that’s my biggest fear. For my kids not only unplanned bit was when Aguayo exited an interpreter. Kahn then switches to halt- to have a father—that really scares me.” the ring following the head scissors—he was ing English. “You know your brother. You Mysterio’s name was the most-searched

140 item on the internet on the morning after dedicating everything you do to them. The games, hiring a PR agency and spending Aguayo’s death. He received death threats night after Perro died, we were devastated, big to bring home former WWE stars. AAA, on Twitter. Adding to his woes, the deputy but we did a great show for him.” which now stages 800 shows a year world- prosecutor of Baja California announced he wide, is also nearing a potential windfall with would open an investigation into Aguayo’s • the loosening of the Televisa and TV Azteca death, meaning Mysterio could face man- At the time of his death, Aguayo was slated duopoly in Mexican broadcasting. At the slaughter charges. Mysterio tells me the to star in the main event of August’s Triple- moment AAA does not receive compensation prosecutor’s office hasn’t contacted him; manía XXIII, a hair vs. mask match against for its television rights from Televisa. That the president of the Tijuana and either Myzteziz or Rey Mysterio. Instead, will soon change with more competition. Wrestling Commission (yes, such a position those two masked wrestlers clashed in what Roldan also has one eye on the U.S. (“We exists) has said no one is to blame for the was billed as a dream match. But illogical really hope Donald Trump doesn’t become m incident but also stated that wrestling should story lines, sloppy action throughout the the next president,” he says.) Triplemanía be regulated much like boxing is. A senator and technical problems that caused XXIII was the first AAA pay-per-view event from Baja California later proposed a bill audio issues for the pay-per-view audience to air stateside since 1994, and the company that would establish a protocol for medical turned Triplemanía into a bust—“Pretty is a majority stakeholder in Lucha Under- attention at wrestling events. much a disaster,” wrote 411mania.com in ground, an acclaimed wrestling program There have been at least 15 documented one of many dreadful reviews. produced by Mark Burnett (Survivor and, incidents of wrestlers dying in the ring, the After the show, Dorian Roldan, AAA’s ironically enough, The Apprentice) on the El majority from a heart attack or a brutal neck executive vice president of business devel- Rey Network. “One of the things America bump. Aguayo, however, died following a opment, sat in the control room, looking understands really well is superheroes,” series of routine moves, leaving many on exhausted. As the son of Marisela Peña, Roldan says. “And wrestlers are like the the AAA roster shaken. “When I saw how it Roldan plays a familiar character on-screen: Mexican superheroes.” But he is now with- happened, it was like, Oh God, that can hap- the sniveling, privileged scion. Behind the out his greatest —and also trying pen to me. It made me feel so vulnerable,” scenes, though, he’s part of a team respon- to recover from the stunning October depar- says El Hijo del Fantasma. He’s a 31-year- sible for much of AAA’s recent growth. tures of Myzteziz to CMLL and Alberto El old graduate of Universidad Anáhuac with When his uncle Antonio Peña passed away Patrón to WWE. “The wrestling business a degree in international relations who in 2006, Roldan says, AAA had two sources is complex—negotiations, new players are speaks perfect English and plans to one day of income: gate receipts and two spon- changing every day. Of course, we are clos- enter politics. How does he, a thoughtful sors (Corona and Comex). Roldan and his ing new deals with really important talent,” guy, block out the risks in his profession? mother expanded the company, focusing Roldan says. “I am really confident that we “By wrestling, by doing more lucha,” he on marketing (Mission: Impossible—Rogue are still the most powerful company in Latin says. “We have this tradition that if some- Nation sponsored Triplemanía), licensing America and really soon AAA will have two one passes, the way we honor them is by products such as sticker albums and video big new stars on our roster.” The show-must-go-on credo is perva- sive in . Hours after Aguayo’s death, Konnan traveled to Los Angeles for a taping, the first of many tributes to Aguayo. He says Aguayo would likely have appeared on the show in 2016, exposing the American audi- ence to his talents. He tries not to consider hypotheticals, though. He just knows that his friend is gone. “It’s very hard, bro. I cried. I dealt with it. I thought about leaving the business. But at the end of the day you can’t let it consume you—that’s the best way you can explain it,” he says. “I understand at this juncture in my life that tragedies are a part of life and it’s just how you handle them. Everything isn’t going to be good, and you have to be prepared for times like this. This isn’t the first time that’s happened to me. It probably won’t be the last.” Rey Mysterio is also attempting to move forward. On the Thursday before Triple- manía he had a heart-to-heart talk with Angie, his wife of nearly 20 years and the mother of his 18-year-old son, Dominic, and 14-year-old daughter, Aalyah. He told her he was nervous about . He had doubts. He doubted whether he should still be wrestling. He thought of his uncle, who spent 30 years in the ring and is now in a wheelchair. He thought of his friend WWE superstar , out of action and lucky to be alive after suffering a horrific neck injury in June. He thought of Perro. “I ask myself, Do I really need to be out here still grinding it out?” Mysterio says. “But those emotions go away as soon as I make eye contact with the fans. It’s magi- cal, and then all the fear is gone.” And so he heads to the ring again.

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