There’s not much news left at this point.
This week’s MLW Radio didn’t include Konnan, of course, but Court Bauer mentioned he had talk to Konnan in the last couple of days. There’s been a criticism directed at Konnan for moving Perro after he was injured. Court relays that Konnan, in that moment, believed Perro had been only knocked out and was trying to revive him. Konnan wasn’t even thinking about a neck injury. “In that moment” is the key – it’s much easier to have to think things thru when you already know the outcome and can watch it on infinite loop, it’s a lot a harder when a person you care about has just suddenly fallen unconscious right in front of you. Konnan did the best he could in the moment, and nothing he could’ve done would’ve changed the outcome.
That’s the problem. Everyone’s understandable very emotional about the situation and wants to direct that emotion at something. The Rey stuff is just utter garbage and blaming Konnan is just as misguided. It’s a situation where people want to, need to, find something the doctor did wrong or the commission did wrong so all that emotion can go towards them. There are a lot of problems with lucha commissions and doctors, but, from what we know what right now, there’s no medical treatment which would’ve stood much of a chance saving Perro once he was hurt. There’s a lot of problems with extreme wrestling and criticism of wrestlers taking too many big risks. That’s just not what happened here. This was a man falling out of the ring, and falling into the ropes, two things which have been done since the start of wrestling, things that could’ve easily have happened in a safe sterile WWE match or a 40 year old ring on a dirt floor in the tiniest show in Mexico.
Perro’s death just appears to be a freak accident that could’ve happened any time, any where, and nothing about the context of the rest of the world really mattered. It’s a completely unsatisfying answer. It’d be so much better if there was just someone or something we could just get angry at, and maybe new information will come out in the next few days to give us that. This answer we have today doesn’t give us a solution so we can go on believing (pretending) this sort of thing won’t happen again. Unless you’re willing to ban lucha libre – and there are columnists asking for that today – it’s going to remain just dangerous enough that this danger exists. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again for a long time, but everyone lives with the knowledge that it might again some day.
The one missing piece is the state of Perro Aguayo’s neck prior to the match. There’s been speculation that maybe he had neck problems, but no one close to him has come out and said Perro had neck issues. It might be that no one does. Neck examinations, as part of actual medical exams to license luchadors, would be a nice forward step no matter the circumstances, but it seems unlikely to happen unless someone close to Perro specifies that as the issue.
The funeral service is happening as I write this. It looks like there’s a massive amount of people who could not even getting in. There are people covering it with more detail; Info_AlanR has pictures and video from the ceremony.
Silver King led a tribute to Perro Aguayo Jr. at a show in Satillo. Silver King talked about all those he had lost – Perro, his old tag partner Texano Sr., his father among them. Gronda XXX noted to the reporters that if everyone knew how many injuried wrestling had caused him, no one would ever want to do it.
Matt Farmer has a look back at Perro Aguayo Jr.’s career.
Cronicas and Leyendas looks back at Perro Aguayo Jr. breaking the Leyenda de Plata trophy in 2004. That was really the moment where he became the Perro del Mal character he’d be known as for the next ten years. That incident introduced the personality, that match where he utterly destroyed poor Rey Bucanero set up the wrestling style. SuperLuchas reprints it’s article naming Perro as wrestler of the year in 2004, right when that ascension was happening and just before the Perros del Mal name become official.
Other Links
Black Terry Jr. has a ton of photos from Sunday’s ChilangaMask show.
CMLL has highlights of Dos Leyendas.
Segunda Caida continues it’s Hechicero review with a Monterrey trios.
A show in Veracruz is listed as being taped for TV – in Japan. Because it’s a main event Japanese trio (Kamaitachi, Dowki, Hanaoka) and probably not because it’s actually airing.
Muneca de Plata wrestled in the main event of a mixed trios match in Puebla; she replaced Goya Kong and appears to have wrestled unmasked. A Tiffany led trio won.