Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
In July 1994, AAA came to New York City for the first time and for what seemed like forever, the only time. The main event of the sold out show saw the hottest heel team in the world, Eddy Guerrero and Art Barr teaming with evil American interloper heel Jake Roberts to face the unique six-man dream team of Konnan - the Hulk Hogan of the company at the time, Cien Caras, the veteran heel that was respected for what a great worker he was, like a less flamboyant Ric Flair and Perro Aguayo, who could only be compared in terms of stature and by the reverence shown to him that night, to the late Bruno Sammartino or to Terry Funk in the original ECW.
Aguayo, at this point in his career, was the grizzled old veteran with scars emblazoned across his forehead from decades of blading and bleeding. He fought like this life depended on it, and that night in NYC was no different. He came out wearing his iconic fur vest, hit the ring and yelled, “Viva Mexico!” NYC exploded.
That show was an incredible experience to take in at the time. It was a 99% Latin crowd and they hated Los Gringos Locos, with cups and even a diaper raining down towards the ring. They were electric for Konnan, who was at the height of being one of the most charismatic performers of the era, but with Aguayo, the audience treated him like they were in the presence of a dignitary. Aguayo was greeted with a huge pop, almost as big as Konnan's, if my memory serves me correct.
When Aguayo was beaten down, you could feel the heat rise in the building as the disrespectful Americans beat down the national hero. It didn't matter that we were in the center of New York City. In that moment, we were in Mexico City. When Aguayo, bleeding, finally fired back with punches, the building was jumping for joy.
After the match, which I believed ended in a DQ with a ton of run-ins, Konnan and others gave passionate speeches about coming back to New York soon. In that moment, after a great show, you'd have thought AAA was about to take over the world. Aguayo was a big part of that. He wasn’t flashy, even by 1990s standards, but there was a realistic, gritty, true pro wrestling brawling style that made Aguayo still stand out during the same time period where Heavy Metal, Rey Mysterio Jr. and Psicosis were blowing away the minds and imaginations of fans with their futuristic bumps and high flying at the time.
Aguayo was a constant in professional wrestling for Mexico, a tree that had stood the test of time and weathered every storm, still standing tall as the reminder of what once was and what always should be. It cannot be understated here, he was one of the best of all time, with a reported 100 wins in hair matches and for generations, he was one of the definitive personalities who was one with their nostalgic love of professional wrestling.
Aguayo was a living, walking foundations of lucha libre. While the announcement this evening that he has passed away at 73 years old is indeed a sad one, he leaves behind an incredible legacy that will likely never be touched, much less surpassed.
There is a reason why Pedro Aguayo Damián was seen as a national hero in Mexico. He was one of the last remaining living connections to the days of El Santo (who Aguayo feuded with towards the end of Santo’s career) and brawled and bled across every major Mexican promotion, from the UWA to CMLL to AAA with even a few appearances in the WWF. If you were a pro wrestling fan with even a passing interest in lucha from 1968, when he made his original debut until today, chances are at some point, you watched Aguayo work or even more likely, watched a match or talent that was heavily influenced by his work.
Aguayo was a top heel for the majority of his career until the 1990s, where his stature and longevity in the business forced him to be turned babyface out of respect, similar to Ric Flair towards the end of his career. He was one of the longest running top heels in the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) and is credited with inventing the double stomp that a variation of stars, from Low Ki to Andrade to Alberto el Patron to Finn Balor, all use today.
When Antonio Pena formed AAA in 1992, it was mostly built around younger, newer stars, with Aguayo being one of the legends who helped found the company and lay the foundation for it become, legitimately, one of the hottest promotions of that time period with his work in a great three-way feud with Cien Caras and Konnan. The feud was so hot that when AAA came to the United States to run Los Angeles, where AAA aired on Galavision, thousands of fans were turned away the day of the show. In November 1994, Konnan vs. Aguayo in a steel cage headlined by the AAA When Worlds Collide PPV.
Outside of lucha libre, Aguayo, representing AAA, appeared at the 1997 WWF Royal Rumble PPV in San Antonio, teaming with El Canek and Héctor Garza to defeat Fuerza Guerrera & Heavy Metal & Jerry Estrada. Never acknowledged on commentary and probably unknown to all but the most die-hard fans was the fact that Aguayo was the first-ever WWF Light Heavyweight Champion, a title he would hold seven times.
Although rarely acknowledged in the States, the belt was created as part of a working relationship with Vince McMahon Sr.’s WWF and the UWA in Mexico with Aguayo beating Gran Hamada in Japan to be christened the original champion. With the belt mostly defended in Japan and Mexico, Aguayo feuded with the likes of the late Chris Adams, Fishman, Hamada and Villano III for the title between 1981 and 1986 before the title was dropped.
Aguayo and Hamada also had a short run for Gran Hamada's Universal Lucha Libre in Japan in 1991, billed as the WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Champions when the company has a short working relationship with WWF at the time. It should be interesting to see if WWE opts to acknowledge those title runs if they address Aguayo’s passing.
Although he was rightfully inducted into the AAA Hall of Fame in 2012, Aguayo made waves when he jumped from AAA to CMLL towards the end of his in-ring career, continuing his feud with Cien Caras, taking Caras’ hair and feuding with Caras and Los Hermanos Dinamita, also taking Mascara Año 2000’s hair before losing what was billed at the time as Aguayo’s retirement match in 2000 to the third member of the trio, Universo 2000.
Like all wrestling retirements, Aguayo returned to the ring in 2005 and wrestled for several more years before finally exiting in the ring in 2007.
Aguayo’s son, Perro Aguayo Jr., passed away in the ring in 2015 following an accident in the ring. From that point on, Aguayo Sr. had pretty much cut himself off from appearing publicly.
In the first of what will be countless tributes in the days to come, AAA paid tribute to Aguayo at tonight's event San Luis Potosi City, Mexico at Auditorio Miguel Barragan, which streamed live on Twitch, showing a memorial tribute video, with a memorial wreath inside the ring as the AAA roster surrounded the ring.
On behalf of everyone at PWInsider.com, I’d like to express our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of Perro Aguayo.
Thanks to Cesar Ornelas, Shannon Walsh, Lucha Central and everyone else.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
