MEXICAN STAR HECTOR GARZA PASSES AWAY

By Mike Johnson & Jose Perez on 2013-05-26 22:34:37

Lucha star Hector Garza, who had runs in both WCW and TNA, passed away earlier today following a battle with lung cancer. Garza would have turned 45 next month.

Son of Mexican legend Humberto Garza, Hector was a really good in-ring performer who knew how to get the crowd into his matches with his wrestling style and his high flying skills.

A native of Monterrey, Mexico, Garza broke into Monterrey independent FILL. He worked as a babyface for EMLL for several years, putting over heel talents while winning the promotion's Trios championship.

He jumped to AAA several years later, paving the way for an appearance in the 1997 Royal Rumble PPV. The show was held in San Antonio, Texas and WWF had brought in several Lucha talents as part of a planned talent agreement with AAA that didn't last long as well as attempting to draw Latin fans to the Alamodome that housed the PPV.

During the height of the Monday Night Wars, Garza was one of many top Lucha talents brought into WCW at Konnan's suggestion. He defeated Scott Hall in a forgotten bout but was cast, like many Lucha talents were, as mid-card and undercard workers who had solid matches but were never, ever pushed, although they ended up in the mix as part of the Latino World Order.

When WCW fell apart, Garza was among the Mexican talents who returned to their home country. In AAA, Garza feuded with Latin Lover, losing his hair for the first time in his career.

In 2004, TNA began using Garza among other Mexican talents in the World X Cup tournaments. Team Mexico, featuring Garza, won the tournament as part of an attempt to build a relationship with AAA. The idea was to showcase TNA as an international force and get media attention in Mexico while also tapping into the AAA talents. AAA's relationship with TNA prevented Garza from returning to the States when he instead jumped back to CMLL, citing money issues with AAA.

When TNA and AAA's working agreement unofficially ended, the door was open for Garza to return to the promotion. He was brought in for TNA's first major three hour PPV, Victory Road and won a Gauntlet bout. The idea at the time was to create a Latin star. Garza was pushed hard underneath and even challenged Jeff Jarrett for the NWA title on an episode of Impact.

That all ended one eventful day in Houston, Texas. Garza flew into the United States and was found to be carrying steroids that he purchased legally in Mexico but were not allowed here in the States. The belief among those I spoke to at the time was that Garza was likely bringing them into the States as a favor for some of the TNA talents. In the end, Garza was deported from the country, ending his run with TNA and his careers here in the States. He may have worked some Lucha shows in the States but never returned to a national platform here.

Garza remained a full-time star for CMLL until 2011, where he announced he was joining Perros del Mal, an independent promotion that worked at times with both CMLL and AAA doing invasion angles. That run led to him winning the AAA Mexican National Championship.

Garza disclosed in October 2012 that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, immediately retiring to begin chemotherapy to combat the disease.

Hector's brother, Humberto Garza Jr. will announce of where and when the funeral will take place, as he is working on finalizing all the details.

World Wrestling League announced this evening that their 7/7 event in Monterrey will be dedicated to Garza's memory.

On behalf of everyone at PWInsider.com, we'd like to express our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of Hector Garza.

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