More sad news from the world of lucha libre, as Andrés González, who competed under many masked personas throughout his life as El Impala, Blackman II, Arana Negra, and Bello Incognito, passed away from heart failure on Sunday, June 7. He had been previously hospitalized on May 30 for COVID-19. He was 68 years old.
With great sadness we learn of the death in the Lucha world of Don Andrés González, better known as El Impala. Author of the book "Promise Fulfilled", a great rudo who also used the names of Black Man II, Arana Negra and Bello Incognito. Our deepest condolances to his family pic.twitter.com/PH4YX9Ytnc
— CauliflowerAlleyClub (@CACReunion) June 7, 2020
González began competing in 1975, originally under the name Garryk, before switching to his most famous moniker, El Impala. As El Impala, he became one of the top lightweight stars in the Mexican circuit, even competing with Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL, the precursor to CMLL).
By the mid-80s, he was convinced to turn exotico by promoter and wrestler Raúl “El Moritas” Reyes, becoming the more flamboyant Bello Incognito. Working as an exotico wasn’t something González was entirely behind, and he once again returned to the masked life as Blackman II, but that character change was even less successful. He would also try a Spider-Man gimmick, Arana Negra (Black Spider). While he continued to compete as Bello Incognito with CMLL, in the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) he would continue to compete as El Impala.
As his wrestling career wound down in the late 1990s, he found himself appearing more and more on Legends shows and also working as a motivational speaker. El Impala marks the latest lucha passing linked to complications from COVID, with recent passings like Super Bracito (June 5), Matemático II (June 4), and Dragon Chino II (June 2) all being ruled due to COVID complications.
LWOPW sends out our deepest condolences to the entire González family, as well as El Impala’s fans, friends, and colleagues. Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
