El Hijo de Fishman is a Mexican lucha libre wrestler, the 36-year-old son of the legendary Fishman. Wednesday night in Hidalgo, Mexico, he headlined a card against Mascara Sagrada, and the referee was 75-year-old Gerardo Germán Pineda, known as El Búho (“The Owl”), a former wrestler who had been reffing for decades.
During the match, Fishman hit Pineda with a double underhook piledriver, called a martinete. That move has been banned in Mexican wrestling for years because of how often it wrecks necks. Pineda went limp. The crowd and even the other wrestlers thought he was selling it. Minutes went by before anybody checked on him.
When paramedics finally got to him, they confirmed he was dead. Reports say there was no ambulance or medic at the building at all, even though Hidalgo requires them at wrestling events. The venue got shut down too, for running without permits.
Police detained Fishman in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The Hidalgo prosecutor’s office is investigating involuntary manslaughter, which carries five to 15 years. A court hearing in the next 48 hours decides whether formal charges stick. The promotion, El Patrón Espectáculos, said they are cooperating and have reached out to Pineda’s family.
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