Referee Dies After Banned Piledriver at Mexican Lucha Libre Show

Overview

• A veteran referee, Gerardo Germán Pineda, known as El Búho and 75 years old, died after receiving a martinete — a piledriver move banned for its high risk to the neck — during a show at Deportivo 11 de Julio.
• Video circulating online shows the wrestler El Hijo de Fishman placing Pineda headfirst and driving him to the mat, with paramedics called to the ring and Pineda later confirmed dead.
• Authorities detained El Hijo de Fishman on Wednesday and the Procuraduría-Geral de Justiça of Hidalgo opened a preliminary investigation into culpable homicide.
• The event venue was partially interdicted and promoter El Patrón Espectáculos said it would provide legal assistance to the wrestler while cooperating with investigators.
• The incident spotlights long-standing safety rules that ban the martinete because it often causes severe cervical injury and could prompt tighter enforcement or new oversight of live lucha libre events.