Death Of Freddie Gomez

Freddie Gomez, real name Eliseo Lerma, passed away this June at the age of 79, in Wisconsin, where he had moved to work in the concrete business.

In the 1970s, Gomez was known as a referee and later a wrestler, following a heel turn in which as a ref he shafted Kurt Von Steiger in a title match with Chris Colt. When announcer Pat Malone interfered, this led to a tag team match with Gomez and Colt vs. Malone and Von Steiger. What few people knew was Gomez had actually wrestled before this.

Gomez continued to wrestle in Arizona until the late 1980s before moving to Texas and then to Wisconsin to work in the concrete trade, as noted.

In the 1970s, Freddie has notable feuds with Cowboy Bob Yuma, Nano Ortega, Jeff Hodge  and Benny Mendeblis. For a brief time, he held the Arizona Jr. Heavyweight title.

Though usually a singles wrestler, he also teamed with the late Chuck Karbo on occasion.

Gomez wa known for heavy reliance on foreign objects in his matches. Just like fans knew The Sheik would eventually pull his pencil out of his boot, the Arizona crew knew Gomez would use something illegal in his matches and it was a question of what rather than when.