Mourning The Tragic Death Of An Unnoticed International Wrestler

Andres Alejandro Palomeque Gonzalez, better known as Abismo Negro, was declared dead on March 22, 2009.

Never heard of him? I hadn’t either until I did some research and I found out that he worked for WWF, TNA, CMLL, and AAA throughout his career.

Palomeque was found face-down in a river in the town of El Rosario, Sinaloa. According to the bus driver that was driving him to Mexico City on Friday March 20, Palomeque had some form of a panic attack and insisted on being let off the bus at around 1:30 in the morning.

At some point after Palomeque got off the bus, he sent a text message to his wife telling her that he had gotten lost in the hillside. After receiving the message, his wife contacted a local wrestling promoter, who then organised a search party. It wasn’t until the morning of March 22 that Palomeque was eventually found in the river.

Medical experts thought the only reason for the panic attack would have related to steroid abuse, but after Palomeque’s autopsy the cause of death was revealed to be drowning and no further investigation into the steroid abuse claims were taken.

Palomeque originally debuted when he was 16 years old and later wrestled a year's with CMLL before jumping ship with Head Booker Antonio Pena and joining the new wrestling promotion Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion in 1992.

As a member of the AAA roster, Palomeque was known as Winners and took part in the first-ever Triplemania, AAA’s version of Wrestlemania, and his continued success led to having a match at the next year’s Triplemania in a Tag Team Match with Rey Mysterio Sr. and Rey Mysterio Jr. against Los Destructores.

Five years after his debut for AAA, Palomeque’s Winners character was repackaged into his most successful gimmick, Abismo Negro. Part of his new entrance was to create a flamethrower from a lighter and an aerosol spray can. It was shortly after this change of character that Palomeque made his first appearance for WWF.

His first match was in the 1997 Royal Rumble pre-show in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. Palomeque’s last appearance came during an episode of Monday Night Raw in March 1997.

In 2000 Palomeque, along with several other AAA stars, toured Japan, competing for the relatively unknown wrestling promotion Michinoku Pro Wrestling. He also won AAA’s Rey de Reyes—King of Kings—tournament in that same year.

By 2004 Palomeque was one of the top wrestlers in AAA when the company went to TNA and represented Mexico in the America’s X Cup Tournament. Palomeque and the rest of AAA’s stars were very successful and ultimately won the tournament. After the tournament in TNA, Palomeque returned to AAA and was involved in multiple feuds with high-profile stars. He also had a brief stint with Pro Wrestling Noah in 2006.

Palomeque was married to his wife Martha for 15 years and he leaves behind four children. His memory will forever live on as a member of the roster in the new AAA wrestling video game that will be coming out soon.

You can click here for a teaser trailer of the AAA: El Videojuego video game.