Priest’s Orphanage Dream Comes True When He Becomes A Masked Wrestler!

Quick Smiles:

• A former drug addict turned priest became a masked wrestler to fund an orphanage.
• Fray Tormenta, the wrestling persona, entertained crowds in Mexico for 23 years.
• His orphanage, La Casa Hogar de los Cachorros de Fray Tormenta, has nurtured over 2,000 children.

In a tale that seems straight out of a movie script, a Mexican priest’s life journey took him from the depths of addiction to the heights of the wrestling ring, all for a cause close to his heart.

Sergio Gutierrez Benitez, known in the wrestling world as Fray Tormenta, was born in 1945 as the second-youngest of 18 siblings. His early life was marked by struggles with drug addiction and crime.

“I started when I was 11 or 12. In this country [Mexico], drugs have always been very present,” Benitez once shared.

By the age of 20, he faced murder charges, but a fortunate alibi saved him from imprisonment.

This brush with the law led him to seek spiritual solace, eventually joining the seminary and becoming a priest in the Piarist Order. His newfound faith inspired him to help the homeless children and orphans of Texcoco.

However, the financial burden of building a shelter was daunting. Drawing on his past experiences in street fighting, Benitez donned a lucho libre mask and became Fray Tormenta, wrestling to fund his dream.

For 23 years, from 1977 to 2000, Fray Tormenta thrilled audiences with his wrestling prowess, all while keeping his identity a secret. It was only when officiating a wedding for a fellow wrestler that he revealed his dual life.

At the turn of the millennium, his dream came to fruition with the opening of La Casa Hogar de los Cachorros de Fray Tormenta. This orphanage has since provided a nurturing environment for over 2,000 children, many of whom have grown into successful professionals.

The legacy of Fray Tormenta lives on, as some of these children have even followed in his wrestling footsteps.

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