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Funeral held for Mexican wrestler killed during match

Pedro Aguayo Ramirez died from injuries sustained during a match in Tijuana.

Mexico City — The funeral was held on Sunday for Mexican wrestler Pedro Aguayo Ramirez, known as Hijo del Perro Aguayo, who died from injuries sustained during a match in Tijuana.

Aguayo, 35, was the son of the legendary Pedro “Perro” Aguayo, now retired and a member of the Aztec lucha hall of fame.

The father didn’t speak to reporters at the funeral in Guadalajara in central Mexico, but Aguayo’s mother released a statement which came amid a debate over how the wrestler died and whether he received adequate medical attention following his injury.

“We, as relatives of Pedro, want to thank all of you for the affection and respect you have shown for Pedro, and you will understand that we are in no condition to comment with respect to the death of Pedro,” Luz Ramirez said.

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.

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. Saturday, according to Raul Gutierrez, a spokesman for the attorney general of the state of Baja California.

The state prosecutor’s office said the cause of death, based on the autopsy, was trauma to the neck and a cervical fracture. It has opened an investigation into possible manslaughter.

The Tijuana Boxing and Wrestling Commission called the death an unfortunate accident. Commission President Juan Carlos Pelayo said the doctor in charge was not at ringside because he was treating another injured wrestler, but paramedics and a doctor who was a spectator attended to Aguayo.

“The reaction for medical attention was quick, in my opinion,” Pelayo said on Saturday.

On Sunday, Gutierrez said that no arrest order had been issued for the other wrestler, though he did not discount that he would be called in for questioning.