Professional wrestler Silver King, real name César Cuauhtémoc González Barrón, died after collapsing in the ring during a match in London, he was 51 years old, according to a report from FOX News.
Silver King was performing in the Lucha Libre show at the Roundhouse when he died and the promotion took to Twitter to issue the following statement:
“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,” Roundhouse tweeted. “Our thoughts and condolences are with his family, friends and all of the Lucha Libre team.”
According to the promotion, Silver King was to perform as the villain Ramses, the character he portrayed in the 2006 film Nacho Libre, which starred Jack Black and went on to have notable success.
Silver King collapsed to the floor after a kick to the side of his body and other performers participating in the match did not notice anything was wrong initially.
“It seemed to be part of the show at first, but then he didn’t get up – and then the medical team was on the stage,” members of the audience said, according to the Camden New Journal. “Everybody was cleared out and lots of police and ambulances were there.”
The London Ambulance Service said that while paramedics arrived on the scene only five minutes after the 12:01 am call, Silver King was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a report from Sky News.
S I L V E R K I N G
? 1968 – 2019 ?️ pic.twitter.com/LJJSyrwyfM
— Lucha Libre AAA (@luchalibreaaa) May 12, 2019
WWE released the following statement regarding his passing:
“A champion luchador in his native Mexico, Silver King, real name César Cuauhtémoc González Barrón, entertained audiences across the globe, and was a standout in WCW’s Cruiserweight division in the late ’90s,” WWE said int he statement. “Outside the ring, he appeared under a mask as the villainous Ramses in the popular 2006 comedy “Nacho Libre.”
“WWE extends its deepest condolences to Silver King’s family, friends and fans,” WWE continued.
Jack Black took to his Instagram page to issue the following: