Professional wrestler and actor Silver King poses during a photo call at York Hall in Bethnal Green in London, England, on July 1, 2016. Jack Taylor/Getty Images
A professional wrestling star and Hollywood actor collapsed during a show in Britain and died.
Silver King, whose real name is Cesar Barron, was performing in a match on Saturday, May, 11 at the Roundhouse in London, when he died from what the Guardian reported was cardiac arrest.
Barron, who at one time was a star competitor in the World Championship Wrestling (WCW), a U.S. federation, was 51 at the time of his death.
Disturbing footage shows the moment the iconic wrestler, who also starred alongside Jack Black in the film “Nacho Libre,” struggles to lift himself from the mat, visibly distressed.
King’s opponent, Juventud Guerrera, or Youth Warrior, is seen in the video trying to keep the match going, apparently unaware Barron was experiencing a medical emergency.
Guerrera is seen in the footage delivering a final kick to the downed fighter, after which King collapses and never rises again.
Youth Warrior tugs at King’s bodysuit and shoulder, rolling his opponent over for a final pin, before celebrating his victory. Meanwhile, Barron lies motionless in the ring.
Roberto Carrera Maldonado, who was at the show, told the BBC that he thought Barron’s collapse was part of the performance.
“It felt like it was staged,” he said, according to the BBC. “Obviously it was quite normal in the fight.”
But when the referee’s efforts to revive Barron failed, people jumped into the ring to help.
“All of us were really shocked—it wasn’t clear what was happening,” Carrera told the BBC. “I had the impression they didn’t know what to do.”
Barron was rolled into the prone position and lay in the ring surrounded by people until medical responders arrived.
The rest of the show was called off.
Scotland Yard was cited by ITV News as saying the wrestler’s death was being treated as “non-suspicious.”
Condolences
The venue expressed condolences on Twitter, saying: “Last night Silver King sadly lost his life during an event at the Roundhouse. At this stage, the details are still being investigated so we don’t have more information we can share.”
People attending tweeted their condolences.
“We watched in disbelief from the 3rd row. Such a sad end to an amazing show. He went doing something he loved. Rest in peace big man #SilverKing #Luchadores #LuchaLibre,” wrote one commenter.
“Saddest news. We were there at the afternoon performance.
Our thoughts are with his loved ones. Descanse en Paz,” wrote another.
Stuart Hughes, the BBC’s senior world affairs producer filmed Barron performing at an earlier matinee show.
The official Lucha Libre Twitter account posted a picture of the wrestler captioned, “Rest in Peace.”
The tweet read, “Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide joins the grief that the Luchistica family has for the death of Cesar Cuauhtemoc Gonzalez Barron ‘SILVER KING.’”
Lucha Libre is a Mexican professional wrestling federation that involves masked competitors, or luchadors, facing each other in choreographed fights.
Luchador El Hijo del Santo wrote in his tribute that Silver King, “died as he wanted: fighting!”
“Deeply saddened at the death of my great rival and companion at so many battles,” he wrote.
Other tributes have flooded in from elsewhere in the wrestling world.
The American WWE federation wrote on Twitter, “WWE is saddened to learn that Lucha Libre legend and former WCW star Silver King has passed away at age 51.”
Barron competed in the World Championship Wrestling Federation from 1997 to 2000.
He came from a wrestling family, with his father being a popular Lucha Libre fighter.
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Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this article.
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
