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, which deals more with the seedier side of wrestling, like arrests, murders, and suicides. The Grappling with Tragedy series looks more at particular tragic incidents that have, in some instances, altered pro wrestling in a way.
Javier Vargas Lopez
Javier Vargas Lopez was a longtime ring announcer for the world’s oldest wrestling promotion CMLL in Mexico. Vargas went by the nickname of ‘Vitorino’ which translated means the Conqueror. Vargas grew up a big fan of Lucha Libre and started his announcing career in boxing. His deep, booming voice got the attention of EMLL/CMLL owner Paco Alonso and was brought in to the promotion.
Vargas was known as “La voz de oro” or the golden voice and instantly became a fan favorite of the luchadors and fans alike. Vargas created unique introductions for many of CMLL’s luchadors such as “Por el pasillo de la verdad”(Down the aisle of truth!) “¡Rudo de rudos!”(Baddest of the bad) and “¡Científico, pero no loco!” (Scientific, but not crazy!)
As with most things in professional wrestling, Vargas also had a legitimate rivalry with another CMLL ring announcer named Armando “Mucha Crema” Gaitán. The two competed with one another to announce the biggest shows in the biggest arenas in Mexico. While Gaitán was very popular with the younger generation of Lucha fans, Vargas was an institution for old school fans. Despite their competitive rivalry, both Armando Gaitán and Javier Vargas Lopez had a mutual respect for one another’s abilities.
On May 4th, 1996…Vargas was the ring announcer for a CMLL show at the Pista Arena Revolucion in Mexico City. Vargas did the introductions for the entire show. During the main event, Vargas sat in his ringside chair to watch the match. After the show had ended, and fans were exiting the arena…members of the ring crew noticed that Vargas was still sitting in his chair motionless. It appeared as if he had fallen asleep. As they tried to wake him up, they noticed he wasn’t breathing. CMLL’s doctor rushed to ringside to check on Vargas, but he had already passed. While no official cause of death was released, it was believed to be a heart attack that killed him.
‘Vitorino’ Javier Vargas Lopez was just 37 years old at the time of his death. A few years after his death, the the arena where he died was torn down and a gas station was built in its place. There is a legend that every morning when the gas station opens…the ghost of Vargas briefly appears in some form to haunt patrons.
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