Former CMLL luchador and booker Franco Colombo, real name Javier Esparza Coronado, died at the age of 73 on Sunday.
Coronado’s niece took to Facebook to break the news, writing:
“Today, a legend passed away, my uncle Javier Esparza Coronado. I ask for your prayers for the whole family. My uncle was very loved by everyone. When we were little, we enjoyed taking walks together as a family. God has called him to his side; he is now with my father in heaven. We will always remember you, Uncle. Say hi to everyone who has gone before us.”
Coronado trained under Diablo Velasco and wrestled with CMLL whilst it was called EMLL beginning in the 1970s, working the majority of his career unmasked save for a stint as “La Silueta” and holding the Mexican Welterweight title for 92 days as 1980 became 1981.
He departed the promotion in the late 1980s before returning in a backstage capacity, overhauling its developmental system and being credited for hiring much of CMLL’s current trainers or having trained them as they were wrestlers. Coronado and CMLL parted ways for the final time in 2021.
Per “LuchaBlog” the reasoning for his departure varied from him being asked to take a pandemic-related pay cut and choosing to leave, to being pushed off the programming committee by someone implied to be Julio Cesar Rivera.
Despite spending decades with the company, CMLL has yet to address Coronado’s passing at the time of writing.
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