| Vampiro | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Canadian Vampire Casanova[1] El Vampiro Canadiense[1] El Vampiro[1] Gene Anderson[1] Ian Richards[1] Vampire Vampiro Casanova[1] Vampiro[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 255 lb (116 kg) |
| Born | May 31, 1967 [1] Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada[1] |
| Billed from | "The Depths of Hell" |
| Trained by | Abdullah the Butcher[1] |
| Debut | 1984 |
Ian Richard Hodgkinson (born May 31, 1967), better known by his ring name Vampiro, is a Canadian professional wrestler currently working for Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and both as a wrestler and a consultant for Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW).[1] Hodgkinson is semi-retired and is a member of the citizen crime patrol organization Guardian Angels, acting as head of the group's chapter in Mexico City.[2]
Hodgkinson has wrestled for various wrestling promotions, but is best known for his time in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre during the early 1990s. He later wrestled for World Championship Wrestling, where he held the WCW Tag Team Championship with The Great Muta. In his professional wrestling career, Hodgkinson is a three time World heavyweight champion having won the NWE World Heavyweight Championship once, WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once, and UWA World Heavyweight Championship once. In addition to these championships, he has won numerous other heavyweight and light heavyweight championhsips.
Hodgkinson used to be a bodyguard for the pop group Milli Vanilli.[3] He also claims to have been drafted by Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League
Hodgkinson got his start in the business working for International Wrestling out of Montreal, Quebec. He often set up the ring before events and would train with the wrestlers before their WWC Umatches. He made his debut as a jobber in 1984 at the age of 16 with little training, although he has credited Abdullah the Butcher as his trainer. Vampiro's first match was a tag team victory with Pierroth, Jr. over Mogur and Huracan Sevilla in 1985.
In 1998, after nearly spending his entire career at that point in Mexico, Vampiro was signed by WCW. His first match was on the June 29, 1998 episode of WCW Monday Nitro, defeating Brad Armstrong. He would not return to WCW, until the March 18, 1999 edition of WCW Thunder, when he defeated Prince Iaukea.
Later that year, he formed a stable with the Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and Raven called 'The Dead Pool' (initially called 'The Necro-Ward'). Even though the stable was short-lived, they gained popularity and had a heated feud with Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Jr., and rival Konnan.
Vampiro would then feud with Berlyn. This feud began when Vampiro beat Berlyn in the WCW World Title tournament on Nitro. To exact revenge later in the night, Berlyn cost Vampiro his match against Buff Bagwell and, as a result, Vampiro was eliminated from the tournament. This feud let into the Mayhem event in 1999 when the two fought in a Dog Collar match and Vampiro made Berlyn submit to the Camel Clutch.
Vampiro would later bring The Misfits into WCW, and began a feud with Oklahoma and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Vampiro had a match with Dr. Death at Starrcade, in which the stipulation was if Vampiro won, he would get five minutes alone with Oklahoma in the ring. Williams was disqualified, and Vampiro fought Oklahoma. Surprisingly, Oklahoma was able to mount a bit of offense. The ending came when Vampiro took Oklahoma's cowboy hat and then pinned him following the Nail In The Coffin.
In early 2000, he formed an alliance with Sting, as the "Brothers in Paint," after he helped Sting to defeat Lex Luger in a lumberjack match. This didn't last too long, with Vampiro turning on Sting when he pulled Sting underneath the ring one night. WCW split into the New Blood and the Millionaire's Club. They feuded throughout the spring, with Sting getting the upper hand on Vampiro in nearly all their encounters. This set up the Human Torch match, in which Vampiro won by setting Sting on fire. Vampiro then focused on The Demon due to his defection from the ICP formed stable, "The Dark Carnival." He would kidnap his fiancee, Asya, in a skit resembling the 1988 film Spoorloos. Afterwards, he challenged him to a Graveyard Match, which sparked the return of Sting.
Vampiro entered into the vacant WCW United States Title tournament, with his first round opponent being The Great Muta, whom Vampiro lost to. Vampiro later joined up with Muta to attack Ernest 'The Cat' Miller. Vampiro won his first and only title in WCW with The Great Muta, by defeating KroniK in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on August 13, 2000. This reign was very short lived, however, as they lost the Tag Team Championship the very next night to Rey Mysterio Jr. and Juventud Guerrera in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Vampiro later turned his back on Muta, setting up an 3 Way match at Fall Brawl with himself, Sting and Muta, which was won by Sting. Vampiro then took time away from the sport as his wife had a baby.
He returned a month later, where he defeated Crowbar in a Hardcore Match. Vampiro then challenged Mike Awesome at Halloween Havoc, losing via pinfall after a top rope Awesome Bomb. He was put out with an injury and, unfortunately, didn't recover before WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation. Thus, his final WCW appearance was on the November 1, 2000 edition of WCW Thunder when he was teaming up with Jeff Jarrett to take on Sting and Mike Awesome, which led to a loss for Jarrett and Vampiro after Awesome did a running powerbomb on Vampiro and pinned him.
With WCW out of business, Vampiro headed back to CMLL. He also took tours with All Japan Pro Wrestling, teaming with his idol, The Great Muta. Vampiro also wrestled in Puerto Rico between tours of CMLL.
In 2001, Vampiro made several appearances in Rob Black's XPW. He debuted on May 26, 2001, teaming with Insane Clown Posse member Shaggy 2 Dope. He unsuccessfully challenged for the XPW World Heavyweight Championship several times, including his final appearance with the company in January 2002 when he lost to then-champion Johnny Webb.
On September 17, 2003, Vampiro made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and assisted Shane Douglas and James Mitchell in shaving Raven's head. They than feuded and eventually leading to a hardcore match in which Vampiro was defeated.
In 2005, he jumped with Shocker to the AAA promotion, in which both he and Konnan hold booking positions. During that time, he stated that he had no plans to return to TNA or work for WWE.[4] He stated in interviews with the UK's Power Slam Magazine that he had no objection to joining TNA - although he suspected it would not happen due to the presence of Sting on their roster.
When not working for AAA, Vampiro was seen wrestling in the US for the Southern California promotion Full Contact Wrestling, in Puerto Rico for IWA, IPW: UK in the United Kingdom and Nu Wrestling Evolution across Italy. On March 10, 2006 Vampiro became the Rey de Reyes (King of Kings) of AAA by winning a 12-Man-Elimination Match.
He is wrestling in his hometown of Thunder Bay Ontario for the first time ever on May 15 at Fort William Gardens in a hardcore match against Hannibal with Terry Funk as the special guest referee. The match is being promoted by Great North Wrestling.
On July 5, after a violent, bloody and controversial Super P Battle Royale, Vampiro became the first Super P Battle Royale Winner and First Time Super P World Heavyweight Champion.
On January 26, 2007 he was featured in a pilot for a new wrestling show produced for MTV called Wrestling Society X. He competed in a 10 man Battle Royal Death match, eventually securing one of two contracts earning him a shot at the inaugural Wrestling Society X Championship against Syxx-Pac (Sean Waltman). He won the WSX Championship on the February 6 episode after sending Waltman into an exploding coffin with a Tombstone piledriver, defeating Syxx-Pac.
Vampiro was involved in a what MTV claimed was a controversial angle which led to MTV canceling the fourth WSX show, due to air on Tuesday February 20.[5] In the (pre-taped) show, he was the recipient of a fireball to the face thrown by Ricky Banderas which resulted in Vampiro's head momentarily catching fire. The footage has since been leaked onto the internet. Later in his debut WSX match, Ricky Banderas defeated Vampiro to claim the WSX Championship.
In addition to appearing as an on-screen talent, Vampiro held a backstage position as the main booker.
In April 2008, Vampiro made his return to AAA by challenging El Mesias to a match at TripleMania XVI. The match took place on June 13, 2008 in Mexico City, Mexico. The two fought each other in a Hardcore match which ended in a draw. Vampiro defeated Konnan at Rey de Reyes (2009) with the help of Marco Corleone. At Triplemania XVII Vampiro represented Team AAA in a match where they defeated Konnan's La Legión Extranjera to regain control over AAA and force Konnan out of the company.[6] On April 17, 2010, Vampiro turned rudo and aligned himself with El Zorro of La Legión Extranjera.[7][8] On August 15, 2010, at Verano de Escandalo Vampiro unsuccessfully challenged Dr. Wagner, Jr. for the AAA World Heavyweight Championship in a three–way match, which also included Silver King.[9] After not appearing for the promotion again for four months, Hodgkinson gave his notice and quit AAA on December 20, 2010.[10]
In January 2011, Vampiro was a guest at WrestleReunion 5 in Los Angeles, California.
On February 23, 2011, Vampiro officially came out of retirement and returned to Juggalo Championship Wrestling as both a wrestler and a company consultant.[11] He raised hopes of developing talent, taking the company international, and, more specifically, bringing it to Latin America.[11] At Monster's Island, he was placed in a rivalry with giant wrestler Kongo Kong.[12] Raven interferred in the match and attacked Vampiro, resulting in him losing by pinfall.[12] Vampiro lost his rematch with Kong at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's first internet pay-per-view Hatchet Attacks.[13]
On December 16, 2011 Vampiro Returned To AAA in the event Guerra De Titanes On Puebla Mexico City. In his return Vampiro helped Mesias and attacked the TNA wrestlers Rob Terry and The Pope, joining by AAA against the society of Konnan The Barbarian.
Hodgkinson grew up in a single parent home with his mother and two sisters.[14] Hodgkinson is divorced from Kitsu with a daughter named Dasha, whose godfather is Norman Smiley.[14] Hodgkinson is a self-proclaimed juggalo, which is a fan of the record label Psychopathic Records.[15]
The documentary film Vampiro: Angel, Devil, Hero was produced by Odessa Filmworks and Zed Jamaica and screened in Canada on November 12, 2008.[16][17][18][19] He was involved in a relationship with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán and Mexican/US rock singer and Songwriter Ana Sidel co-star of the movie The Dead Sleep Easy. He has a tattoo on his left arm that reads "Mexico City", citing where he had many of his matches. He is fluent in Spanish.
During the height of his wrestling career in Mexico, Vampiro starred in an action film entitled Guerrero De La Noche, which was not unlike the El Santo films of the 1960s and 1970s. He has also made a cameo appearance on Vanilla Ice's Bi-Polar as well as being a short lived member of Psychopathic Records' supergroup Dark Lotus and recording an intro to Twiztid's "Maniac Killa".
In July, 2009 Vampiro reportedly had a break-in at his house, he got startled and then jumped 15 feet to the ground from his bedroom window, which broke his back. The Sun reports that he broke four vertebrae in his back and will need several months to heal.[20]
1Even though CMLL still uses the NWA initials in the title's name, the National Wrestling Alliance itself no longer recognizes or sanctions the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship since CMLL is no longer an NWA affiliated promotion.
| Wager lost/won | Winner | Where | Date | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hair | Vampiro | Bestia Negra II | Xochimilco, Mexico City | March 21, 1992 | - |
| Hair | Vampiro | Rick Patterson | Monterrey, Nuevo León | June 28, 1992 | Triple threat match involving Sangre Chicana |
| Hair | Vampiro | Pirata Morgan | Mexico City | July 17, 1992 | - |
| Hair | Vampiro | Aaron Grundy | Monterrey, Nuevo León | August 23, 1992 | "Relevos Suicidas" match with Vampiro teaming with Grundy against Brazo de Plata and Sangre Chicana |
| Hair | Vampiro | Sangre Chicana | Monterrey, Nuevo León | December 10, 1992 | - |
| Hair | Vampiro | Pirata Morgan | Houston, Texas | September 1, 1998 | - |
| Hair | Vampiro | Rey Bucanero | Mexico City | December 13, 2002 | - |
| Hair | Shocker | Vampiro | Mexico City | April 4, 2003 | - |
| Hair | Cien Caras and Máscara Año 2000 | Vampiro and Pierroth, Jr. | Mexico City | December 17, 2004 | - |
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