Lucha libre legend Cassandro greets fans, family at Plaza Classic Film Festival

In a white suit and perfectly coiffed yellow-blond hair, Saúl Armendáriz walked onto the stage at the Plaza Theatre’s Kendle Elizabeth Kidd Performance Hall to a standing ovation on Saturday afternoon.

Armendáriz, more famously known by his lucha libre name, Cassandro, is close to non-verbal after a 2021 stroke. His energy and personality, though, loom just as large as during his days in the ring, when he captivated audiences in Juárez, Mexico, and the world with his elaborate costumes and wrestling prowess.

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El Paso’s Plaza Classic Film Festival, with the Border AIDS Partnership, screened the 2023 Roger Ross Williams film based on his life for an audience made up of both old and new fans.

With his face illuminated only by the glow from the screen, Armendáriz nodded, laughed, and moved in time to music during the film. The movie, however, leaves out important true parts of his life — such as his family structure and the supportive roles that some family members played.

"We were all a part of it, we were at every match and everything," said Jasmine Herrera, one of his nieces. "He was never alone."

"He took my quinceañera dress and cut it to make his first cape," added Laura Galindo, Armendáriz’s sister, as he laughed. Galindo helps him elaborate on the stories and emotions that are locked behind his aphasia. Neither she nor their other four siblings were portrayed in the movie.

Armendáriz was born in El Paso in 1970 and began lucha libre wrestling in 1987, usually crossing the border to Juárez to participate in matches. Openly gay from this young age, he first played the role of the rudo or villain and then decided to move into the role of exótico . Exóticos were wrestlers who dressed in drag and performed as effeminate or gay characters, though the wrestlers themselves were often not gay. In the scripted world of lucha libre, the exótico was destined to lose to the manly strength of the hero.

Sitting at the Plaza Theater, Armendáriz described his first appearance as an exótico, in his sister’s remade quinceañera gown, as a "happy" moment. Herrera and Galindo said he felt free and like himself, and Armendáriz nodded in agreement. But when he entered the ring as an exótico decades ago, he didn’t just want to openly express himself. He also wanted to win.

He invented Cassandro as an exótico who leaned into extravagance and flamboyance while performing wrestling moves with skill, gradually gaining fans locally in Juárez. He was sensitive to the reactions of the audience. When asked if the energy of the crowd was important to him, he nodded emphatically.

"A lot," he said, then repeated, "a lot."

He was invited to a match with El Hijo del Santo, the son of Mexico’s lucha libre icon, in 1991. He then won the Universal Wrestling Association World Lightweight Championship in 1992 — the first exótico to ever win a world title. He also won the National Wrestling Alliance World Welterweight Championship title in 2011. Cassandro paved the way for gay wrestlers and exóticos to gain acceptance and appreciation not only for their costumes and makeup but also for their talent and strength as wrestlers.

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Armendáriz now spends time on causes important to him, advocating on behalf of people with aphasia and people in substance abuse recovery. He continues to inspire old fans and win over new ones. As audience members lined up to greet and take photos with him after the film, some were in tears and nearly all of them thanked him for his example of courage.

“We are new to this area and did not know that there was this icon (Cassandro)," said Estefania Villalobos as she waited in line. "It’s inspiring to see how he opened this gap for the LGBT community."

"I loved it," fan Jesús Olivas said of the film. "El Paso has this famous history of wrestling, and to see that combined with the history of the gay community of El Paso and Juárez, it was great."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Lucha libre legend Cassandro greets fans, family at Plaza Classic Film Festival