Former WCW Wrestler Silver King Dead at 51

Lucha libre icon and actor Silver King died on Saturday in London, England when he reportedly [...]

By Connor Casey

Lucha libre icon and actor Silver King died on Saturday in London, England when he reportedly suffered a heart attack during a wrestling match. He was 51.

Video from the bout with Juventud Guerrera, another former WCW star, showed King hit a jump clothesline then struggle to make his way up off the mat. The match ended shortly after once Guerrera and the referee realized something was wrong, but according to TMZ King died at the venue.

King, real name César Cuauhtémoc González Barrón, debuted in November 1985 and worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Lucha Libre AAA World Wide, All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling throughout his career. He starred in the 2006 wrestling comedy Nacho Libre opposite Jack Black as the villainous Ramses.

Numerous wrestlers took to Twitter over the weekend to pay tribute to King.

"Very sad to hear of the death of another Mexican #SilverKing legend," Rey Mysterio wrote (translated from Spanish to English). "My heartfelt condolences to your family and I ask God to 🙏🏼 have it in his blessed glory and to fill his family with strength..."

"It was an honor to have been friends & shared the ring with the great Silver King," Sean Waltman aka X-Pac wrote. "He & Tejano were an amazing team. He truly was one of the greats & I'm heartbroken to learn of his passing."

"César González...vaya con dios, hermano," Black wrote, posting a photo of King from the set of Nacho Libre on Instagram.

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