Cassandro Says He Had To Turn The Channel During Beating Seth Rollins Gave Dominik Mysterio

Iconic Exotico Luchador Cassandro sat down with Wrestling Inc.'s Nick Hausman on The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast to explain the history of Exoticos as well as his own history with the Misterio family. He talked about his close bond with Rey Misterio Sr. who trained him, as well as about when he first used the name Cassandro.

"It came about in 1988 when I was going to do my first tour to Tijuana, and Rey Misterio Sr. took me to my first adventure," Cassandro explained. "I was going to go for two weeks and train with him, and I lived in his house with his wife and kids. And then I lived with his mom, and then I [stayed] for a little over a year, but it was the best thing that I could have ever done because he like really shined my skills to another level.

"And that's the first time that I was going to use the name Cassandro. I was gonna wrestle as Cassandro and in Tijuana, CA, and that was in late 1988 when I started being Cassandro. And I've been Cassandro ever since."

Cassandro originally went by the name Mr. Romano before changing his name. He said the name came from a burlesque dancer by the name of Cassandra who spent her life helping survivors of abuse as well as doing charity work for children. Cassandro said that history is something he aspires towards as he tries to give back as much as he can.

"You know Cassandra, Rey Misterio Sr. told me that my name was going to be Cassandra, and I was like, tell me who's Cassandra first. And he told me this story about this lady that she was a burlesque dancer," Cassandro recalled. "She's was close with a lot of politicians, and she did a lot of good things. One of the gifts that I got from her is the gift of of serving, and and she served a lot of beat up women. She made a house for the battered women. She did a shelter home as well for the kids from the street, and she fed them, but she also was this big, pretty burlesque dancer.

"I love the story because she used her name, her dance and her talent to do something creative and something positive to help people, and that's my message. I'm always like to help others and give back and do charity work because we can only keep what we have by giving it away and the form that we give it away, we receive it as well."

Rey Misterio Sr. is the uncle of WWE Superstar Rey Misterio, thus making him Dominik Mysterio's great uncle. Cassandro revealed that he has known Dominik for a very long time since he was a baby, and he talked about his close bond with the Misterio's especially Misterio Sr. whom he considers to be a father figure in his life.

"That baby was in pampers when I met him. Back in '88, when I went to Tijuana, we used to train Psicosis, Rey Misterio Jr. and myself with Rey Misterio Sr.," Cassandro said. "We're all like in the same class. We all have been wrestling almost for 32 years if I'm not mistaken. We're all in the 50 age range, us three, and then we're all beat up, trying to handle all these beatings and surgeries and injuries that we've been through the years of wrestling. I think we're paying off the consequences of being a wrestler. It's not forgiving.

"I was very close to them. I'm very close to Sr. I mean, I've met Jr. I met his mom [and] his parents. Back then, they used to sell pizzas back there in Tijuana, and I used to go and help them make the pizzas and deliver them and it was fun. It was fun times. The first time I rode on a bike, Rey Misterio Jr. and Sr. taught me how to do it, and the first airplane I got on was from San Diego to El Paso, TX. It was with them. So I'm very close to them. Rey Misterio Sr. was like the father figure that I was lacking. I always thought of him like a role model, and to this day, he's like a father for me."

Cassandro also revealed that Mysterio Jr. and his current wife had been dating since they were teenagers. As mentioned before, Cassandro has known Dominik since he was a baby, so the segment where Dominik got a kendo stick beating from Seth Rollins was not a pleasant viewing experience for Cassandro to the point where he had to change the channel because Dominik will always be a baby in Cassandro's eyes.

His mom and his dad were boyfriend and girlfriend, and I believe they were like 15-16 years old," Cassandro recalled. "Then I found out they got married and everything. I found out about Dominik and everything else, and I'm glad to see Dominik. I didn't like what I saw yesterday, how badly they beat him up. It hurts so bad. Now I get why my father doesn't even go and watch me live because he can't take the pain, and it's very hard when I get involved like when I become this big fan and I was almost about to cry last night.

"I was like, oh my God, because I know the kid. I know their parents. I know the family, the grandmothers [and] the great grandmothers, and I was like, I don't think this is a good idea, so I had to change television, I couldn't see it. He's such a baby. He's such a baby. He is such a baby in my eyes, and I'm always gonna see him like a baby."

To follow Cassandro and keep up on his many projects please follow him on Twitter @CassandroLucha. He has also recently signed with Masked Republic's Legends of Lucha Libre for IP representation. For more information regarding his signing please visit HERE.

Cassandro's full interview aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.