Energetic, flamboyant, over-the-top, and camp, the movie Cassandro tells the uplifting, often emotional story of Saúl Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso who rose to international stardom by embracing his true nature and finding success adopting the persona of Cassandro. It was entirely filmed in Texas and Mexico City, bringing authenticity to the filming locations.
After struggling in the wrestling community as a lowly side character destined to be defeated at every turn, Saul would take inspiration from another wrestler and shock and delight the wrestling community with his outrageous new creation.
Cassandro Filming Locations
Mexico City, Mexico
Reports indicate that filming started around May 2021, so there was a bit of a delay in post-production due to the pandemic. Perhaps they were waiting for the right time to drop the film, but whatever the reason, most of the filming was done in Mexico and, of course, Mexico City.
For a film that embraces its origins and authenticity, it makes sense that the location work would become an integral part of its premise, and the film has certainly managed to recreate not only the timeline of the movie but also the environment in which the events depicted occurred.
The architecture, arenas, and sometimes foreboding exteriors all add to Cassandro’s production values.
Mexico City (Credit – Context Travel)
El Paso, Texas
With much of the film set here, it makes sense that the crew would head out to El Paso to shoot on location, keeping the production’s sense of authenticity alive. El Paso County is the westernmost county in the state of Texas.
You can see some images on the Instagram page of director Roger Ross Williams, including one with the hashtag the border wall, referring to the wall between Mexico and the US.
Arena Mexico, Mexico City
It looks like the Arena Mexico was used for many wrestling scenes. The arena has long been a beloved venue for pro wrestling, becoming known as “the cathedral of lucha libre.”
The venue is located in the Colonia Doctores area in the borough of Cuauhtemoc.
Arena Mexico (Credit – Lucha Mexico Experience)
Arena Coliseo, Mexico City
It also looks as if another arena in the same area may have been utilized for some scenes in the movie.
This arena was built by Salvador Lutteroth, who was the founder and owner of CMLL, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre.
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