Of course, another major factor there is that just about everyone subject to the Aztecs hated them for a variety of reasons, but most obviously all the raiding/kidnapping and blood sacrifice. That's not to say the Spanish Empire was necessarily better, but their opportunities would have been much slimmer if the Aztecs had been even a little bit less all-around cruel.
Obviously cruel and exploitative what the conquistadors did, but it's an example how fact can be sometimes more incredible than fiction.
How a small band of soldiers got in way over their heads and had to bluff and bully their way through, or would have certainly been killed.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108490.The_Conquest_of_N...