Gino Hernandez: Marked For Death?

I was recently watching an episode of the "Vice On TV" show "Dark Side of the Ring," and I started to wonder about mysterious events in the history of pro wrestling. There are unanswered questions and unresolved conflicts. My curiosity requires a closer look at one of these controversies.

During the 1980s, Gino Hernandez was a rising star for the Dallas based "World Class Championship Wrestling" promotion. As part of the "Dynamic Duo" tag team, he and partner Chris Adams developed an intense rivalry with the Von Erichs (Kevin and Kerry). With his in-ring popularity growing, Hernandez was beginning to make other promotions take notice of him (1).

Outside of the ring, Hernandez was known to be a chronic drug user. According to the documentary, he would frequently visit various nightclubs in the Dallas area, where the wrestler would hang out with a "heavy and dangerous crowd". Eventually, Hernandez began to fear for his life, (perhaps mistakenly) believing that he was being stalked and followed.

"Gino was attached to some heavy people. He was running in some pretty big circles...that maybe he didn't belong in" - Wrestling personality Jake "The Snake" Roberts

After unsuccessfully attempting to contact Hernandez, World Class officials became concerned for the well-being of their star. Hernandez had not been answering his telephone, and on February 4 1986, local police were dispatched to check on him. They found the wrestler dead; his decomposing body had lay in his bedroom for "three to five days" (1, 2).

Shortly after the discovery of the body of the deceased, a man named Jon Royal (who was friends with Hernandez) paid a visit to Hernandez' mother, one Patrice Aguirre. Discussing the grappler's death, Royal (a reputed drug trafficker) said that he would pay for and arrange Hernandez' funeral. This made the family uneasy; many of Hernandez' relatives had never heard of Royal, nor been aware of his association with the wrestler.

Now, let's delve into the circumstances surrounding Hernandez' death.

At the time of his passing, investigating police found a loaded gun near Hernandez' body, but no other evidence of foul play. Subsequently, an autopsy revealed that the wrestler had a large amount of drugs present in his system. Based on this evidence, a coroner concluded that Hernandez died due to an overdose of cocaine.

The official conclusion notwithstanding, there are numerous questions about this case that are still unanswered. For instance, what was Hernandez' connection to Jon Royal, a man who later would serve a thirty-year prison sentence (3)? Did Hernandez owe Royal money, as some have claimed that he did?

Also, being that it was a habit of Hernandez to lock his apartment door, why was the dead bolt on such door found to be unlocked? And why did the official autopsy report contain "troubling inconsistencies", including the condition of Hernandez' body at time of discovery?

With the preface that I am not a lawyer or crime investigator, allow me to explain what I think happened.

• Hernandez, through his involvement in drugs, owed a large sum of money to Jon Royal. The wrestler ran into troubles regarding paying this debt.

• Wanting to receive the debt owed him, Royal became impatient and angry.

• On the night of Hernandez' death, he was visited by Royal. An argument ensued, during which Royal shot Hernandez, leaving him to die.

• Some days later, police found the decomposing body of Gino Hernandez, in such a condition that the coroner made mistakes on the autopsy report.

Of course, I could be mistaken in my theory. Interviewed by show producers, Mr. Royal claims that Hernandez "never owed (me) any money" (1). It is entirely possible that the ex-convict could be telling the truth. There is also a chance that the coroner had connections to the people involved in this affair, and so deliberately falsified information in an attempted cover for such.

Finally, we come to the question of Hernandez' state of mind.

Could it be true that the wrestler was, so to speak, "marked for death"? Or was this simply the paranoid delusion of a man who, fueled by drugs, partied too hard and lived too fast? We may never learn the answer to this mystery.

One thing about the story of "Gorgeous Gino" is certain; thirty-five years later, it serves as a cautionary tale of drugs, fame, and excess. Perhaps it is something that we all can learn from.

Sources:

1. "Dark Side Of The Ring: The Mysterious Death Of Gino Hernandez". Vice On TV, 2019.  Accessed via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boNibGd0WZ4.  

2. "Gino Hernandez - Wikipedia". En.Wikipedia.Org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino_Hernandez. Accessed 11 Apr 2021.  

3. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. United States Of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, V. Jon Harold Royal, Defendant-Appellant. 972 F.2d 643, 1992.