Fact checking 'Cassandro': Is Bad Bunny's character in the lucha libre film a real person?

Embracing one’s true self can be a lifelong lucha, but Cassandro is a cat-eyed contender.

The wrestler, born Saúl Armendáriz in El Paso, Texas, is an icon in the colorful world of lucha libre, a style of Mexican professional wrestling known for its masked performers and dramatic aerial moves.

Armendáriz’s flamboyant wrestling persona is the subject of “Cassandro” (streaming now on Prime Video), a sweeping new biopic that chronicles Cassandro's rise from indistinct amateur to pioneering queer figure in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

“He’s such an inspirational character. He has this incredible inner confidence and radiance that just blew me away,” says director Roger Ross Williams, who co-wrote the screenplay. “There are not enough positive stories about the LGBTQ+ community. So many of those stories are depressing, and I want to tell uplifting stories about people who were outcasts who’ve overcome great adversity.”

Here’s what’s fact and fiction in the movie.

Did Cassandro previously perform as a masked wrestler named El Topo?

Armendáriz “turned the lucha libre world upside down” when he began performing as Cassandro, a leotard-wearing femme who challenged the stale tradition of exóticos, drag-inspired novelty acts, with his authentic identity and ambition to win matches.

Prior to competing as Cassandro in the film, Armendáriz (Gael García Bernal) finds himself in a rut performing as a masked character named El Topo.

The real Armendáriz, however, briefly competed as Mister Romano – a character created by trainer and fellow wrestler Rey Misterio – before adopting his Cassandro persona, per The New Yorker's 2014 profile of Armendáriz.

“He hid who he was, but everyone could see through that mask,” Williams says. “And when he decided to take off his mask and wrestle as an exótico – but an exótico who wins – it was transformative.”

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Was Cassandro's name really inspired by a soap opera character?

As Armendáriz prepares to reinvent himself as an exótico in “Cassandro,” the struggling wrestler takes inspiration from a soap opera character named Kassandra while watching the show at a restaurant.

The real Armendáriz was also influenced by television when he was crafting his exótico persona, referencing the Venezuelan telenovela “Kassandra” with his moniker.

“It’s about building those ah-ha moments in the movie where he’s developing this character of Cassandro,” Williams says. “When he’s in the diner and he sees that (character) and the light goes off in his head, and as he begins to develop that persona, it’s just a beautiful thing to watch.”

Did Cassandro crowd surf during his real match against El Hijo del Santo?

Cassandro receives the career opportunity of a lifetime when he’s tapped to perform in a Mexico City match against El Hijo del Santo (who plays himself), a top wrestler in lucha libre.

The film’s depiction of the fight sees Cassandro and El Hijo del Santo duke it out in a tense match, in which fans boo Cassandro off the stage with homophobic slurs. Cassandro later finds redemption when he dives off a balcony to crowd surf in the audience.

Williams says the scene pays homage to Cassandro’s signature wrestling move, the balcony dive.

“It was important to have that really powerful, beautiful moment in the film where he wins over the crowd and (they) literally carry him through the arena,” Williams says.

Did Cassandro have an affair with a lucha libre wrestler?

In “Cassandro,” Armendáriz has a tempestuous affair with a lucha libre wrestler named Gerardo (Raúl Castillo), who is married to a woman.

Williams says the onscreen relationship was based on a “very passionate affair” Armendáriz had with a wrestler in real life.

In his New Yorker interview, Armendáriz said he had an affair with a straight married man when he was between the ages of 18 to 30.

“It was very damaging,” Armendáriz told the magazine. “He was a luchador. We both went to Mexico City. But only my career went up and up and up. He was with his wife in Juárez, (Mexico).”

Was Cassandro thanked by a gay fan on El Hijo del Santo’s talk show?

When Cassandro’s wrestling career takes off following his match against El Hijo del Santo, Cassandro makes an appearance on his former opponent’s talk show. During the appearance, Cassandro is thanked by a young gay audience member, who reveals the wrestler gave him the courage to come out to his father.

Although the real Cassandro appeared on El Hijo del Santo’s talk show “Experiencias” in 2011, Williams says the scene broadly illustrates how Cassandro has “inspired countless gay, queer people to come out.”

“You go to a match of Cassandro’s, and there are endless young queer men with signs and headshots to autograph,” Williams says. “Many, many people have found their strength to be who they are through Cassandro, so that scene just represents one of many.”

Was Bad Bunny's character Felipe a real-life love interest for Cassandro?

Puerto Rican singer and reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny appears in “Cassandro” as Felipe, an assistant to Cassandro’s wrestling agent Lorenzo (Joaquín Cosio).

Despite his affair with Gerardo, Armendáriz and Felipe share a flirty banter and kiss after Gerardo tells Armendáriz they can’t see each other anymore.

Felipe is a fictional character who helps give texture to Armendáriz’s love life in the film, Williams says. “He's this ambiguous thing that’s available and unavailable.”

Did Cassandro confront his father about abandoning him as a child?

Armendáriz reveals in the film that his father Eduardo (Robert Salas) abandoned the family after Armendáriz came out to him as gay at age 15. He reconnects with Eduardo after establishing himself professionally as Cassandro.

The father-son reunion quickly sours when Eduardo, a devoutly religious man, indicates he doesn’t approve of Armendáriz’s flamboyant wrestling persona.

Williams says the characters’ interaction is “based on many conversations Saúl had with his father” and also speaks to the self-acceptance many queer people must rely on as they navigate relationships.

“He learned to love himself, and as gay people, we all need to love ourselves. We can’t look for acceptance outside of ourselves,” Williams says. “That is a joyous, happy ending because there’s nothing more rewarding than self-love.”

Does the real Cassandro still wrestle?

Armendáriz, who entered the lucha libre ring at age 17, was performing as Cassandro as recently as 2021.

Williams recalls attending a Cassandro match with the film's production designer J.C. Molina as the two scouted locations in El Paso.

“J.C. lost it and he started crying hysterically, and then I started crying,” Williams told the Los Angeles Times. “We realized how powerful it was for us as gay men and how inspiring Cassandro was for us.”

Armendáriz, 53, suffered a stroke in May 2021 that left him unable to speak. He no longer wrestles.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Cassandro' movie fact check: How accurate is Saúl Armendáriz biopic?