The Incredible True Story of the Real Priest That Inspired ‘Nacho Libre’

The 2006 cult classic sports comedy-drama film Nacho Libre was inspired by a real-life Mexican Catholic priest called Fray Tormenta.

“Friar Storm,” a.k.a. Father Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, had a 23-year long career moonlighting as a masked luchador.

Why did Father Benítez fight at night as Friar Storm?

As a lucha libre wrestler, he was able to raise funds to support the orphanage he founded.

Read below the incredible true story of Father Benítez that inspired Nacho Libre!

Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez was born to José Gutiérrez García and Emilia Benítez on May 9, 1945, in San Agustín Metzquititlán, Hidalgo as the sixteenth of their seventeen children. He had long been inspired to become a masked luchador after watching two 1963 Mexican films, “El Señor Tormenta” (Mister Storm) and “Tormenta En El Ring” (Storm In The Ring) both of which featured the story of a poor Mexican priest who supported the children of his orphanage by fighting as a lucha libre wrestler at night. At age 22, Gutiérrez, at the time a drug addict and alcoholic, became interested in the priesthood and was inducted into the Piarists Order. His theological training took him to Rome, and then Spain, and for a while he taught philosophy and history at Roman Catholic universities in Mexico. He later became a secular priest in the Diocese of Texcoco, where he founded an orphanage named “La Casa Hogar de los Cachorros de Fray Tormenta”, which would serve as the home of 270 children. In need of money to take care of the children, the father became the masked wrestler known as Fray Tormenta.

In July of 2011, Benítez retired completely from wrestling.

However, he still works at the orphanage and occasionally wears the mask of Fray Tormenta.

His character lives on through one of the children from his orphanage who was inspired to become a lucha libre himself and now fights as Fray Tormenta Jr.

Photo credit: CoffeeEngineer via Wikimedia; Writing credit: Fray Tormenta via Wikimedia