VAMPIRO

'Ian Richard Hodgkinson' (born May 31, 1967) is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name of 'Vampiro'. He is currently competing in Wrestling Society X, where he became the first WSX Champion. Hodgkinson is perhaps best known, in the United States, for his time with World Championship Wrestling between 1997 and 2001, where he held WCW World Tag Team Championship, along with The Great Muta.

Contents

Early life

Career

Early career

CMLL

World Championship Wrestling (1997-2001)

CMLL, XPW, TNA, AAA

WSX

Wrestling facts

Championships and accomplishments

Luchas de Apuestas record

Personal life

Notes

References

External links

Early life

For a brief period of time, Hodgkinson was a bodyguard for the pop group Milli Vanilli. He was also drafted by Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League.

Career

Early career

Ian 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 with little training, although he has credited Abdullah the Butcher as his trainer.

CMLL

After a few years in Montreal, Hodgkinson headed down to Mexico City, looking for work in the CMLL promotion. He met with Paco Alonso and Antonio Peña, who took him as a joke because of his unique look (he had long dreadlocked blue hair and several tattoos). They decided to throw him in the ring as 'Vampiro Canadiense' (Canadian Vampire). He became an overnight superstar, as his rock star appearance and natural good looks caught on with the young Mexican women in the audience. He quickly became the biggest superstar in the promotion. He won many hair matches during the height of his popularity.

World Championship Wrestling (1997-2001)

In the late 90s, Vampiro was signed by WCW. He formed a stable with the Insane Clown Posse and Raven called the '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, 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 tourmament. This feud let into Mayhem '99 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 '99, 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 good 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 helping Sting defeat Lex Luger in a lumberjack match). This didn't last too long, with Vampiro turning on Sting when WCW split into the New Blood and the Millionaire's Club. They had several encounters, including a First Blood match, where gallons of blood fell from the top of the arena to drown Sting. 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. However, this reign was very short lived, as they lost the Tag Championship the very next night to Rey Mysterio 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, facing Awesome was his last match in WCW.

CMLL, XPW, TNA, AAA

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.
Vampiro had a short run in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He made his debut with TNA on September 17, 2003 following a match between Raven and Shane Douglas. Vampiro joined Father James Mitchell and The New Church in their attempt to rid TNA of Raven. After losing to Raven in a Blood Gallows of Retribution match, Vampiro left TNA.
In 2005, he jumped with Shocker to the AAA promotion in which both he and Konnan hold booking positions. During this time, he stated that he has no plans to return to TNA or work for WWE.^[1] He has stated in interviews with the UK's Power Slam Magazine that he has no objection to joining TNA - although he suspects it will not happen now that Sting is on their roster.
When not working for AAA Vampiro can be seen wrestling in the US for the Southern California promotion Full Contact Wrestling, in Puerto Rico for IWA, IPW in the United Kingdom and Nu Wrestling Evolution across Italy.
On March 10, 2006 Vampiro became the Rey de Reyes of AAA by winning a 12-Man-Elimination Match.

WSX

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 after defeating Syxx-Pac on the February 6 episode after sending him into an exploding coffin with a Tombstone piledriver.
Vampiro was involved in a what MTV claimed was a controversial angle which led to MTV canceling the 4th WSX show, due to air on Tuesday February 20. ^[2] 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.^[3] 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.

Wrestling facts

★ 'Finishing and signature moves'
:
★ '''Nail In The Coffin / Vampiro Spike''' (Michinoku driver II)
:
★ '''Super Nail In The Coffin / Super Vampiro Spike''' (Top rope Michinoku driver II)
:
★ '''Vampiro Bomb / Nail in the Coffin Bomb''' (Pumphandle sitout powerbomb)
:
★ Tombstone piledriver
:
★ Powerbomb
:
★ Flying spinning leg lariat
:
★ Chokeslam
:
★ Sidewalk slam

★ 'Entrance themes'
:
★ "Play With Me" by The Insane Clown Posse - WCW
:
★ "Take It" by The Insane Clown Posse - WCW
:
★ "Kong at the Gates" by The Misfits - WCW
:
★ "Dead American" by Lars Frederiksen And The Bastards - Indy Feds
:
★ "You Eclipsed By Me" by Atreyu - WSX and is now wrestling for JCW.

Championships and accomplishments

★ 'Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
:
★ Rey de Reyes (2006)

★ 'Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
:
★ NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

★ 'Federación Internacional de Lucha Libre
:
★ FILL Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

★ 'International Wrestling Association'
:
★ IWA Hardcore Championship (3 times)

★ 'Juggalo Championship Wrestling'
:
★ JCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

★ 'Nu-Wrestling Evolution'
:
★ NWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

★ 'Pro Wrestling Illustrated'
:
★ ''PWI'' ranked him # '294' of the 500 best singles wrestlers in 1995.
:
★ ''PWI'' ranked him # '305' of the 500 best singles wrestlers in 1996.
:
★ ''PWI'' ranked him # '199' of the 500 best singles wrestlers in 1998.
:
★ ''PWI'' ranked him # '119' of the 500 best singles wrestlers in 1999.
:
★ ''PWI'' ranked him # '31' of the 500 best singles wrestlers in 2000.
:
★ ''PWI'' ranked him # '216' of the 500 best singles wrestlers 2003.
:
★ ''PWI'' ranked him # '162' of the 500 best singles wrestlers in 2005.
:
★ ''PWI'' ranked him # '128' of the 500 best singles wrestlers in 2006.

★ 'Universal Wrestling Association'
:
★ UWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
:
★ UWA World Tag Team Champion (2 time)

★ 'World Championship Wrestling'
:
★ WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Great Muta

★ 'World Wrestling Council'
:
★ WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

★ 'Wrestling Society X
:
★ WSX Championship (1 time, also the first WSX champion)

Luchas de Apuestas record

Wager lost/won	Winner	Loser	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 & Máscara Año 2000	Vampiro & Pierroth, Jr.	Mexico City	December 17, 2004	-

Personal life

★ Ian grew up in a single parent home with his mother and two sisters. Vampiro comes out of the shadows Mark Keast

★ Ian is divorced from Kitsu with a daughter named Dasha, whose Godfather is Norman Smiley.

★ A documentary following his life is due for release in 2007 and is being produced by Zed Jamaica.^[4]

★ Vampiro is a dual citizen of Canada and Mexico.^[5]

★ In Tribute to Mexico, he has a tattoo on his left arm that reads 'Mexico City', citing where he had many of his matches.

★ Vampiro 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.

Notes

1. http://www.ipwuk.com/newsboard/headlines/132957108.shtml
2. http://www.wrestlemag.com/news/index.php?p=4579
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3oK6e2xyqY
4. http://www.vampiromovie.com
5. http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/wsx/series.jhtml?source=TLD_wsx.mtv.com#/ontv/dyn/wsx/cast_member/bio.jhtml?personalityId=8451

References

★ Wrestlemag.com news site article on Vampiro fireball angle controversy

★ Wrestlemag.com news site article featuring leaked video of Vampiro fireball angle

External links

★ VampiroMovie.com - a documentary about Vampiro

★ Wrestling Society X Profile

★ OWW Profile