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Brian Damage
Grappling with Tragedy is a series of articles that deal with unfortunate, tragic incidents that have occurred throughout the history of professional wrestling. It is unlike the ‘Wrestling with Sin’ series that deals more with the seedier side of wrestling like arrests, murders and suicides. Grappling looks more at particular tragic incidents that have in some instances altered pro wrestling in some way.
Pasión Kristal
José Gabriel Zentella Damián grew up in Mexico a big fan of Lucha Libre. He knew he always wanted to become a luchador himself one day. His cousin wrestled on the Mexican indie circuit and he started training with him at the age of 12 years old. As Damián got older, he sought out more formal training at a neighborhood gym. The wrestlers there took the youngster, brutally beat him up and threw him out of the gym. Damián returned the very next day and the wrestlers were impressed by his determination and agreed to train him.
Damián made his official debut in 1994 under the ring name of Nemesis 2000 and stayed with that gimmick until 2004, when he transformed into the Exotico luchador named ‘Pasión Kristal.’ Damián was an openly gay man in a country that wasn’t very receptive to homosexuality. Despite that, Damián used his Pasion Kristal character to gain acceptance in and out of the ring. Pasión Kristal became an extremely popular luchador who wrestled all throughout Mexico and was eventually signed by one of the bigger promotions in the country…AAA.
While in AAA, Kristal teamed with fellow Exoticos Cassandro and Pimpinela Escarlata. Kristal would eventually form his own promotion called LLES in 2012. Kristal formed another successful trios group called ‘Las Shotas’ which consisted of Kristal, Jessy Ventura and Diva Salvaje. On the morning of June 2, 2021…Pasion Kristal along with his trios partners Ventura and Salvaje went swimming at a beach in Alcapulco. They were scheduled to wrestle at an event that evening. A large wave crashed upon Kristal while was in the ocean and he got swept up by the currents. His body was discovered hours later in a nearby harbor.
Pasion Kristal had drowned…he was 45 years old. Many wrestlers and promotions took to social media to offer their condolences to the fallen Exotico. All citing his tremendous skills as a wrestler, but also for his bravery and trailblazing spirit as a gay man in pro wrestling.