Meet Cassandro, the Drag Queen Star of Mexico's Wrestling Circuit Tim Dowling - The Guardian
go to original December 12, 2014

Cassandro, The Gay Wrestler Who Changed Lucha Libre (Fusion)

As Cassandro climbs the stairs, post-match, to the darkened balcony above the wrestling ring, his huge smile precedes him: it’s irrepressible; almost incandescent.

“I just bought my teeth for the third time,” says the Mexican wrestling star and NWA world welterweight champion, showing off his new, perfect gnashers. Because they were knocked out, you mean?

“Yeah, three times now,” he says. This, it transpires, is the least of a long list of injuries.

“I’ve had four surgeries,” he says. “I just had the last one 12 weeks ago on my knee, to remove a plate with eight pins.” Cassandro has suffered torn cruciate ligaments – anterior and posterior – in both knees, as well as a left tibia fracture. His right shoulder is on its fifth dislocation. This litany is a reminder that even if the punches are pulled, the falls rehearsed and the outcomes of matches predetermined, the stakes are still extremely high. “You can say it’s fake,” says Cassandro. “People say it’s choreographed. You can say whatever you can say, but when the body gives up, the body gives up.”

Read the rest at The Guardian

Photo: Frantzesco Kangaris/The Guardian

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