The Big Terrific

Mexican Wrestler "La Gran Fabuloso" did not go quietly after his untimely death during the Estadio Olimpica's main event on July 28th, 1962.

Approximately nine minutes into the bout, a  folding chair crashed into Fabulosa and he fell against a  poorly padded turnbuckle that seriously gashed his forehead.   The greatest champion Lucha Libra had ever known bled to death screaming to the uncomprehending crowd,  "Estoy herido!  Estoy muy lastimado!"   "I am hurt!  I am really hurt!"

A month later, as matches were again to be held, arena workers discovered a reddish liquid that kept seeping up from the corner of the ring.    No matter how much they scrubbed, the peculiar substance always returned. 

A local priest was summoned and after making a thorough examination he stated that he believed it was Fabuloso's blood, and that it still ran red from the turnbuckle that took his life.  

As word spread,  fans from all over Mexico flocked to the arena to see and touch the blood of  their fallen hero.   But even with the Priest's statement and hundreds of eyewitness accounts, the Catholic Church dismissed the happening -- blaming an unscrupulous promotor with swabbing the corner with chicken blood just to up ticket sales.

Years later, long after the the promotor had been jailed and most everyone had forgotten about La Gran Fabulosa, something very odd happened.    The Olimpico was being demolished to make way for a new arena when construction workers, using a crane, pulled up a turnbuckle post and suddenly gallons of blood  began to spew from the moorings.    

In reports forensic experts concluded the blood was indeed human but could not verify where it had come from.  

                                                            (water color, acrylic on board  12" x 22")