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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.
La Parka
Jesús Alfonso Escoboza Huerta began is wrestling journey back in 1987. Huerta hailed from the city of Hermosillo. While other luchadors have been produced from that area in Mexico, none proved to be a bigger star than Huerta became. He wrestled under several different characters including Maligno, Crater and Karis la Momia before getting the gimmick that would take his career to brand new heights. It all started in 1996, when La Parka aka Adolfo Tapia Ibarra wrestled for WCW. AAA owner Antonio Pena who created and owned the rights to the La Parka character decided to capitalize of La Parka’s exposure in WCW by bestowing La Parka Jr to Huerta.
Huerta remained wrestling as La Parka Jr until 2003, when La Parka joined CMLL…Pena’s biggest rival promotion in Mexico. An irate Pena stripped Ibarra of the name and made Huerta the brand new La Parka. That led to lawsuits and bad blood between Pena and Ibarra. For Huerta, he was pushed as one of AAA’s top Technicos or Babyfaces in the promotion. Huerta went on to capture several AAA titles including winning the Rey de Reyes (King of Kings) tournament a record 5 times. The tournament is very similar to WWE’s King of the Ring tourney.
In 2010, a dream feud between Huerta’s La Parka and Ibarra (the original La Parka) now known as L.A. Park took place when Ibarra returned to AAA after the death of AAA owner Antonio Pena. The two would wrestle each other on and off for a few years. La Parka would appear for Impact Wrestling and challenge Eli Drake (WWE’s LA Knight).
On October 21, 2019, La Parka wrestled Rush, Murder Clown and his nemesis L.A. Park in a four way match for an independent promotion called KAOZ. During the match, Huerta attempted a ‘suicide dive’ on to Rush and missed…hitting the steel barrier instead. Huerta suffered both neck and cervical fractures. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where was paralyzed from the neck down. He was sent in for emergency surgery and was able to regain feeling in his upper and lower extremities and was listed in stable condition. Sadly, just a few months later, Huerta began having breathing issues and was placed on a respirator. He later died on January 11, 2020 of both kidney and lung failure.
Jesús Alfonso Escoboza Huerta was 54 years old at the time of his death. Numerous luchadors sent their condolences via social media including L.A. Park. AAA sent this message…“We are very sad to report that our friend and idol of Mexican wrestling Jesús Alfonso Escoboza Huerta ‘LA PARKA’ has passed away. We extend our support and condolences to his whole family and raise our prayers for his early resignation. Rest in peace.” AAA would posthumously induct Huerta into AAA’s Hall of Fame in 2020. Since his tragic death, Huerta’s son has taken the identity of the La Parka character.
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