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 Oscar Gutierrez, known as Rey Mysterio Jr., according to 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.
The state prosecutor's office said it has opened an investigation into possible manslaughter. The company that reportedly organized the event, The Crash, couldn't be reached for comment.
"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."
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.
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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."
Former WWE star Mysterio is a long-time resident of San Diego's South Bay community.
He posted several messages to his Twitter page Saturday in Spanish about the loss of his fellow wrestler and friend, including this post:
In the tweet, Mysterio sends his condolences to the Aguayo family and asks God to give Aguayo's loved ones strength.
NBC 7 contributed to this report.
