Oro Jesús Javier Hernández Silva ( December 24 , 1971 – October 26 , 1993 ) , was a known under the ring name Oro ( " Gold " ) , a Mexican " luchador enmascarado " , or masked professional wrestler . Hernández died in 1993 as a direct result of a wrestling match . He was a second generation wrestler , with several of his brothers and cousins being wrestlers as well . His nephew currently works for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ( CMLL ) as Oro , Jr . as an homage to his uncle . Personal life . Born in Guadalajara , Jalisco , he and his brother Esteban Hernández Silva wanted to become professional luchadores like their father , Esteban Hernandez , who wrestled as " Calavera II " ( " The Skull II " ) , forming a tag team known as " Los Hermanos Calavera " ( " The Skull Brothers " ) with his brother " Calavera I " . His father was initially reluctant to his sons becoming professional wrestlers , but finally agreed to teach them some basic moves before sending them to the Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre ( EMLL ) run gym at Arena Mexico , where they would be given further training by Diablo Velasco before they were allowed to make their in ring debut . Professional wrestling career . The two brothers made the professional wrestling debut on November 23 , 1990 . Jesús Javier , at the age of 18 , worked under the ring name " Oro " and his brother used the name " Plata " ( Silver ) with identical masks , only one had a gold pattern and the other had a silver pattern . The two were soon joined by a wrestler known as " Platino " ( Platinum ) to form a trio tag team known as " Los Metalicos " ( The Metals ) . The team was quickly matched up against another trios team , a " rudo " ( " Bad guy " ) trio known as " Los Destructores " ( " The Destroyers " ) , with whom they had a series of very good matches . The fans quickly responded to the young team , vocally supporting the team when the wrestled , showing appreciation for the fact that Plata and Platino were really skilled , high flying wrestlers and Oro had an aerial wrestling style that was unusual for the time . Oro ' s frequent and skilled execution of moves off the top rope , helped usher in a style change in Lucha Libre as wrestlers started to incorporate more moves like planchas and topes , inspired by Oro ' s performances . Jesús Hernández was very dedicated to his profession , always looking for opportunities to innovate or improve , at times disregarding his own health while executing high risk moves such as leaping over the ring ropes onto the floor . Los Metalicos ( Oro and Plata ) was given their first professional wrestling championship just over a year after their debut , defeating " Los Destructores " to win the Mexican National Tag Team Championship on December 4 , 1991 . The following week a match between the two ends in a controversial manner and the titles are vacated . The following week " Los Destructores " regains the vacant titles . " Los Metalicos " also captured the Distrito Federal Trios Championship at some point in 1991 , but would later lose the Championship to " Los Guerreros del Futuro " ( " The Warriors of the Future " ; Damian el Guerrero , Guerrero del Futuro and Guerrero Maya . Oro ' s popularity earned him an invitation to travel to Japan in 1992 , to work Gran Hamada ' s Universal Lucha Libre promotion , a promotion that showcases the Lucha Libre wrestling style in Japan . His skill and charisma made him an instant hit in Japan and upon his return Oro started to break away from the rest of Los Metalicos , being groomed for a top role in EMLL . He even teamed with two of the biggest names in Lucha Libre , working with Mil Máscaras and Último Dragón . As Oro moved away from Los Metalicos EMLL replaced him with Bronce ( Bronze ) , a wrestling character patterned on Oro ' s image , replacing gold with Bronze . EMLL put Oro in a storyline feud with veteran wrestler Mano Negra ( " The Black Hand " ) . On May 23 , 1993 , Oro would defeat Mano Negra to win the NWA World Middleweight Championship . This would be the only singles title Oro would hold during his short but memorable career . Mano Negra would regain the title three weeks later , on July 3 . EMLL ' s plans was to escalate the storyline , ending with the two wrestlers meeting in a " Luchas de Apuestas " ( " Bet Match " ) where both wrestlers would wager their mask on the outcome . At the time Oro expressed a desire to spend more time with his family and travel less , wanting to retire no later than 1994 , with Oro ' s desire to stop wrestling EMLL replaced Oro with Atlantis as the wrestler to unmask Mano Negro , giving Atlantis a boost since he would be around for the long run . Death and memorial . On October 26 , 1993 , Oro teamed up La Fiera and Brazo de Plata to face the team of Kahoz , Dr . Wagner , Jr . and Jaque Mate at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City . Before the match , while going over the plans for the match Oro said he wanted to take a " Kobashi bump " during the match , a reference to a head first backdrop driver which Kenta Kobashi took in a match in All Japan Pro Wrestling . That particular bump had a dramatic effect , as it looked like Kobashi had broken his neck and Oro wanted to use the shock effect to help build the drama for their match . During the match , Kahoz clotheslined Oro , who spun and landed on his head as he had planned . His opponent tried to pick him up , but soon thereafter he collapsed and his pulse became weak . Oro was put on a stretcher at the start of the second fall while his brother screamed , " Don ' t fall asleep ! " , warning him to remain alert so that he wouldn ' t lose consciousness . Oro died before being placed in an awaiting ambulance . He was twenty - one years old at the time of his death . Oro ' s family requested that an autopsy not be performed ; however , it was believed that he died of a brain aneurysm . The following day the news of Oro ' s death headlined every lucha libre publication in Mexico and even the rival promotion AAA paid a tribute to Oro during their show , something they had rarely done for a worker of their rival promotion . In 1994 and 1995 close to the date of Oro ' s death EMLL held a " Copa de Oro " tournament , a tag team tournament where the winners would be presented a trophy by Oro II . The 1994 tournament winners were Apolo Dantés and El Dandy and the 1995 tournament was won by Chicago Express and Pierroth , Jr . . Each year , around the anniversary of Jesús Javier Hernández Silva ' s death the Lucha Libre community organizes a religious mass in memory of Jesús Hernández as well as other major names in Lucha Libre that has died in the previous year . The mass takes place in Arena Coliseo , the arena where Oro died . A number of wrestlers have cited Oro as their inspiration for becoming a wrestler or an inspiration for them adopting a faster , more high flying , high risk style by the work he did in the ring . Oro in Lucha Libre . Jesús Javier Hernández was such a popular wrestler and in ring character that the name has been used by a number of other wrestlers over the years . The Hernández wrestling family . The Hernández family has been in the professional wrestling business for three generations , starting with the brothers collectively known as " Los Hermanos Calavera " ( " The Skull Brothers " ) , their six sons and one grand son who either is or has been professional wrestlers .