13 Wrestlers Who Died In The Ring 3

3. Oro

                                                                       

In Mexican Lucha Libre wrestling, the masked wrestler is king and the vast majority of ‘luchadors’ at least start their careers under a mask. Whether they finish it still with their mask intact is another thing entirely. Jesús Javier Hernández Silva was a young man who wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a luchador. Both Jesus and his brother Esteban became professional wrestlers, initially against their father’s wishes. Jesus took up the name Oro (meaning gold in Spanish), wearing a black and gold mask, while Esteban became Plata (silver), wearing a mask that was identical except that the gold was replaced with silver. They were joined by a Lucha veteran who went under a new mask as Platino (Platinum) to form a trio called Los Metalicos (The Metals) to compete in the six man tag matches that are the staple of Lucha Libre.
Success came quickly to the team, and one year after their debut, Los Metalicos won the Mexican National Tag Team Championships. Oro also caught the eye of Japanese veteran Gran Hamada, who invited him to travel to Japan and work for his new promotion, which fused Japanese style and Mexican style. Oro even teamed up with the legendary Mil Mascaras and Ultimo Dragon. Upon his return home to Mexico, he was being groomed for singles stardom in his native EMLL promotion. In May 1993, the foundations of this push were laid when he won his only singles title, the NWA World Middleweight Championship, a title later held by Ultimo Dragon, Chris Jericho and Mistico (Sin Cara).
                                                           

On October 26th 1993, Oro was featured in a six man tag match, teaming with Brazo de Plata (not to be confused with his brother, Plata) and La Fiera against Kahoz, Jaque Mate and Dr Wagner Jr. Oro had said ahead of the match that he wanted to take a dramatic looking bump on his head to help build the storyline of the match. During the match, Kahoz clotheslined Oro, who, as planned, span around and landed on his head. Kahoz attempted to pick him up, but his body had gone limp. He collapsed and his pulse faded. As he lay on the floor at ringside, the match continued without him, as the other luchadors just assumed he had been knocked out. He was taken out on a stretcher while his brother shouted to him to not fall asleep and maintain consciousness. However, Oro died before he could even be placed into an ambulance. He had passed away, with his death believed to have come from a brain aneurysm aged just 21.
His brother Plata continued to wrestle, but took up the Oro mask and wrestled as Oro II in honour of his brother. In 2011, his son, the original Oro’s nephew, started wrestling as Oro Jr, ensuring that the name of Oro contnues to live on in Lucha Libre.