Pedro Aguayo Ramirez, Perro Aguayo Jr., passed away early this morning. He was 35. Perro suffered fatal injuries during Friday night’s match in Tijuana. Reports indicate a ring rope snapped into his throat or head, and he fell to the mat unconscious. It was originally believed he was just selling, but he’d actually been knocked unconscious. Perro was rushed to the Del Padro hospital, and pronounced dead early Saturday morning.
There is video. I’m not going to be watching it or linking to it.
Perro is the second AAA employee to pass away tragically within days. Perro was a lynchpin of AAA, the led heel, the man all the big feuds for the future were built around and leader of the biggest heel group, a group that had spanned both CMLL and AAA. Perro was a person who had way too much life left for him to leave now – as a individual, as a family man.
This is a nightmare.
Update (11:48): MedioTiempo has an article with quotes from the Tijuana lucha commission doctor. Everyone watching the video, and watching live, observed there was no doctor’s aid right away and a makeshift stretcher. (In the video, Konnan appears to be the first to notice something’s horribly wrong.) The doctor explains there had been two other injuries on the card, including a spinal one, and the doctors were still treating them. The doctor says there were two ambulances present. It sounds like the spinal injury person was still on the stretcher, so the idea was to get Perro out of the ring as quick as possible with whatever they had. Perro was moved onto a stretcher before they got him into the ambulance.
Perro was worked on for an hour at the hospital, with a team of doctors trying to figure out what they could do, before they declared him dead. The official cause of death is “raíz de un golpe que tuvo en la región cervical”, which I believe translates to a spinal stroke.
Updated (2:00): Wrestling Observer says the doctor at the hospital called the injury as “cervical spine trauma”, believed to come from one of the two impacts of the rope into his throat. The doctor was unsure which one, though it appears it’s more likely the first.
Updated (3:30): A fan in attendance says he never saw someone taken to the back on a stretcher, which would dispute the commission’s claim about having adequate medical coverage. It’s still possible someone could’ve made it to the back and then put on a stretcher due to an injury.
This story has understandably gotten mainstream and worldwide attention, largely due to the videos of Perro’s death being available. There’s a lot of people looking into this; I think we’ll know the truth of the medical situation quickly.
Updated (4:00): Record reports the Baja California Attorney’s General has announced an investigation into the death. It’s exactly what you’d expect for this high profile of a death.
Updated (6:30): AAA’s TV show was preceded by a news report from Televisa Deportes, talking about Perro Aguayo Jr.’s life and death. Footage for the Tijuana was used. The show led off with a brief tribute to Irma. Perro Jr.’s match is still scheduled to air as the TV main event.
The Crash promoter says Perro Aguayo Sr. has not been informed of his son’s passing, for concerns of his own health. There has been a consistent rumor for months that Perro Aguayo Sr. is in bad physical and especially mental shape, and this would be the first time someone’s acknowledged the situation publicly.
The Crash also maintained that what happened an accident, and had nothing to do with the wrestlers. The promoters expect to be interviewed as part of the investigation, but believe everyone did their job properly.
The funeral will take place tomorrow in Guadalajara, by request of the mother. The Crash says they are paying all expenses to transport Perro’s body.
An ESPN medical doctor, observing the situation only from video, believes Perro died instantly on hitting the ropes, his vertebrae dislodged by the impact.
Updated (7:00): The Tijuana commission laid out a timeline claiming it Perro Aguayo Jr. was taken to the hospital within six minutes of the injury. The hospital is two streets away from the arena. That report says Perro technically died of cardiac arrest. I assume that came about because of his other injury, but I’m not a doctor.
The commission also says, previously on the show, three luchadors had previously been taken to the hospital.
Updated (9:10): MedioTiempo’s latest report includes the doctor stating Perro Jr. still had vital signs when he was taken to the hospitals. Theories from others about Perro being instantly dead when the rope hit him appear to be incorrect.
The confirms the commission report that the Perro Jr. officially died in the hospital of a cardiac arrest, likely brought on by the neck injury. (The article also mentions respiratory arrest. I’m unsure if there’s meant to be difference.)
The attorney general has ordered an autopsy, which includes standard drug tests. It’s unknown how this affects plans to transport his body back to Guadalajara ASAP.
Updated (Sunday 12:30): The funeral wake was held earlier this morning. Perro Sr. was in attendance. Contrary to earlier reports, luchador Medico Asesino Jr. says he tried to contact Perro Sr. to tell him about Perro Jr.’s injury during the hour he was being treated in the hospital, looking for advice on what they should do, but saying he only got as far as Perro’s secretary.
Miguel Fonesca, while explaining that the Crash was an independent show which had nothing to do with AAA outside of using two of it’s wrestlers, said there will be a tribute show to Perro Aguayo Jr. at some point. It’s too soon to say when that’ll happen.
Universal has a story with Perro Sr.’s half brother, Juan. He talks about the death, and says Perro Jr. wanted to be a luchador since he was seven. His father tried to push Perro Jr. in other directions, but he was set on it.
Lawyers are trying to get involved. Even regional politics at this point; the Tijuana newspaper is carrying the word of the commission that everything was done as it should, and the Guadalajara papers are bringing in experts to talk about all the things which were done wrong in Tijuana.
There are various infographics and pictorials of Perro’s death, with so many people weighing in on what happened. It’s reached the point of diminishing returns.