Rodríguez also found himself appraised in English when he and his craft were described by Ernest Hemingway in his non-fiction work Death in the Afternoon, along with many other Spanish bullfighters of the early 20th century.

[11] Other interpretations of "Cagancho" have been scatological, with one critic, believing Rodríguez's nickname to be thus derived, refusing to use it in his work because, as he said, such an outlandish bullfighter's way of defecating did not interest him.

[12][note 2] Other writers, though, were somewhat less respectful, even going as far as to write and publish rhymes that referred to the nickname in this way, like this one, for example: Porque, vamos, francamente, ese apodo impertinente es una ofensa al olfato, por lo nuevo y maloliente, no le cuadra dignamente a un artista de boato.

Rodríguez was also sometimes called "el gitano de los ojos verdes" ("the green-eyed Gypsy"), which drew a parallel with Villalón bulls' eyes.

[14] There is disagreement over whether Rodríguez was the one who won the prize of 200 pesetas that was being offered for whoever performed best,[8] with at least one source saying that he did not win, but was nevertheless contracted to come back the next week after the good impression that he had made.

The contrast prompted one writer to wonder "Which is the legitimate Cagancho, the one of the third bull, fearful, cowering, clumsy, or the one of the sixth, upright, a great bullfighter and brave?

Standing as "godfather" for the ceremony was the Madrid bullfighter Rafael Gómez Ortega "El Gallo", while Manuel Jiménez Moreno "Chicuelo" bore witness.

César Jalón, in his book Memorias de Clarito, waxed rather metaphoric in his account of Rodríguez's afternoon in Murcia in which he describes the bullfighters' "flight":It is already time and the train does not start.

And when he seems determined to give the signal to leave, they invade the platform, matadors, subalternos and piqueros, escorted by the triumphant sword boys.

"[note 3][14] Clarito, another famous Spanish Romani bullfighter recounts in his memoirs a story in which he confirms Rodríguez's reputation as one unskilled in slaying bulls.

[14] Eight days later, on 16 May – the Feast of Corpus Christi that year – Cagancho achieved a resounding triumph in the same Toledo bullring with the bull Rondeño from the Marqués de Guadalest ranch, which was pulled round the bullfighting ground before being dragged out.

Standing as "godfather" this time was the Madrid bullfighter Victoriano Roger Serrano "Valencia II", while Marcial Lalanda bore witness.

[4][8][9] He appeared at 46 corridas in the 1927 Spanish bullfighting season, and knew both triumphs and humiliating defeats: ten of the bulls that he faced were sent back to the bullpen after he had failed to slay them.

This triumphant return to Spain's bullrings was, however, cut short by a goring that he sustained in May 1931 when a bull from the Alipio Pérez Tabernero ranch thrust his horn into Rodríguez's left thigh,[note 5] not only wounding him badly, but also dampening his spirits.

He was one of Juan Belmonte's contemporaries and was considered one of the greatest exponents of verónica bullfighting (a reference to a move with the muleta in which the matador draws it over the bull's face as he passes).

[9] At his Mexican presentation on 2 December 1928, mentioned above, Rodríguez slew the day's fourth bull, Merenguillo, from the La Laguna ranch to enthusiastic shouts of "¡Torero, torero!".

He was deemed "superb" at his appearance on 5 January 1930 with the afternoon's fourth bull, Tirano ("Tyrant"), likewise from the La Laguna ranch, and it was reckoned one of the best faenas ever performed in Mexico, and the crowd's response was very enthusiastic.

[14] On 10 January 1932, the faena that Rodríguez performed with the afternoon's fifth bull, Guerrita ("Little War"), from the San Mateo ranch, the crowd stood up to watch.

On 29 December 1935, with the afternoon's fifth bull, Moñudo ("Mexican Eagle" — although the bird is actually a kind of falcon), he performed a masterful faena, and his volapié was deemed magnificent.

[14] Slowly, Rodríguez's appearances in Mexico grew until the Proclamation of the Republic and, five years later, the Spanish Civil War's outbreak led to him spending more time on the far side of the Atlantic.

"[note 6][9] Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, a famous Spanish rejoneador, bought a horse for his own professional use whom he named Cagancho, after Rodríguez.

Cagancho's career ran from 1991 to 2002, when there was a "farewell tour" of sorts, with the by now very famous horse appearing together with Hermoso de Mendoza at several bullrings in Spain, which even included a trip out through the main gate at Pamplona.

Writer Néstor Luján once said of Rodríguez:The important thing in him is the movement, the luxurious gesture, the superb ease with which he creates the most unexpected adornments, his way of walking, his almost liturgical passes, the uncanny and inexplicable fascination of his personality. ...

Possibly Cagancho, in an unconscious way, has been in his art a sumptuous translation of all that bullfighting has by way of intelligence and fantasy, of attempting to fascinate gold with magical and ritual acts.

[14] On the other hand, Ernest Hemingway mentioned Rodríguez in his non-fiction book Death in the Afternoon, and most of what he said was not complimentary:Cagancho is a gypsy, subject to fits of cowardice, altogether without integrity, who violates all the rules, written and unwritten, for the conduct of a matador but who, when he receives a bull that he has confidence in, and he has confidence in them very rarely, can do things which all bullfighters do in a way they have never been done before and sometimes standing absolutely straight with his feet still, planted as though he were a tree, with the arrogance and grace that gypsies have and of which all other arrogance and grace seems an imitation, moves the cape spread full as the pulling jib of a yacht before the bull's muzzle so slowly that the art of bullfighting, which is only kept from being one of the major arts because it is impermanent, in the arrogant slowness of his veronicas becomes, for the seeming minutes that they endure, permanent.

It arises from a corrida that was held on a very hot day, 25 August 1927, at the Almagro bullring in which Rodríguez shared billing with Antonio Márquez and Manuel del Pozo "Rayito".

He came out for the tercio de muerte bearing the biggest muleta that anybody had ever seen, and only showed the bull its outermost point as he passed (Hemingway observed this same behaviour from Rodríguez at other bullfights[5]).

The Guardia Civil took the bullfighting team to the town hall, for they were rightly in fear for their lives, and arrested Rodríguez and took him off to jail for causing a public scandal.

On 7 August 1933, the old Havas news service (a forerunner to Agence France-Presse) reported an unseemly incident that took place in a cabaret in Cádiz involving Rodríguez.

[28][note 7]An anonymous artist for the weekly publication L'Illustré du Petit Journal et son supplément agricole deemed the incident worthy of expression in visual art.