Vampiro Ian Richard Hodgkinson ( May 31 , 1967 ) is a semi - retired Canadian professional wrestler , better known by his ring name Vampiro , who is currently working as a color commentator for Lucha Underground . He is also the vocalist for punk / industrial band Droch Fhoula . He is currently working with former singer of The Misfits , Michale Graves to form a horror punk band by the name of " Devil , Devil " to debut in the near future . 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 job ber in 1985 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 wrestling 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 ) because he told them he liked vampires . To their surprise , with his very limited moveset that only consisted of punches , kicks , and headbutts , he became an overnight superstar , as his rock star appearance and natural good looks caught on with the young Mexican women in the audience . Although he didn ' t have much skill in the ring , he quickly became the biggest superstar in the promotion , as the women would scream loudly for him to make his comeback and gain victory . He won many hair matches during the height of his popularity . Knowing his popularity would not last forever Vampiro trained in several forms of martial arts , working hard to improve his in ring skills . Whilst working in Mexico Vampiro began a real life feud with fellow CMLL headliner Konnan . Konnan had been the top star in the promotion prior to Vampiro ' s arrival and did not take well to Vampiro ' s superstardom . The feud stems from Vampiro being offered a part in a Mexican soap opera , but then the producers changing their mind at the last minute when they learned that Vampiro ' s command of the Spanish language was poor , and went with Konnan , a fluent Spanish speaker , instead . Vampiro considered Konnan to have sabotaged his chance to parlay his ring success into mainstream stardom , as Konnan did become a mainstream star in Mexico as a result of the role . The rivalry lasted for several years until the two resolved their differences whilst working in WCW , where they became very close friends and business associates . 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 . His popularity was on the rise , but was allegedly held down by backstage politics by older stars such as Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash . It has also been alleged that Konnan buried him to bookers by fabricating stories about substance abuse . His situation was not helped any by his outspoken attitude and complaining about the way he was booked , making him unpopular among the other wrestlers , who considered him a whiner . It was commonplace to hear him on WCW Live ! where he would air his grievances . He constantly called the Insane Clown Posse to complain about working for WCW and ICP would then broadcast these phone calls on the Internet , which didn ' t help him . 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 the WCW Mayhem Pay Per View , 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 would feud 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 an obvious Sting stunt double on fire . Vampiro would then focus 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 would be entered in the vacant 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 would later turn his back on Muta , setting up an 3 Way match at War Games with himself , Sting and Muta , which was won by Sting . Vampiro would then take 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 challenged Mike Awesome to a match at Halloween Havoc , which was changed to a # 1 contenders match . During the match with Awesome , he was Superbombed off the top rope , causing a concussion . The next night at the Thunder tapings , he received another Awesome Bomb , causing more suffering . This would be his last match in WCW . CMLL , 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 2003 Vampiro had a short run in TNA , joining Father James Mitchell and The New Church in their attempt to rid TNA of Raven . After losing to Raven in a Dream Blood Blood Gallows of Retribution match he was never seen in TNA again . In 2005 he jumped with Shocker to the AAA promotion in which both he and Konnan held booking positions . Currently he has no plans to return to TNA or work for WWE although 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 . A documentary following his life titled was released in 2008 and was produced by Robert Menzies . . 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 Sean Waltman . Combatants in this ladder match included Vampiro , Sean Waltman , Teddy Hart , New Jack , Lone Star , Kaos , Puma , Al Katrazz , Justin Credible and Chris Hamrick . Vampiro also holds a booking position within the company . He won the WSX Championship after defeating 6 - Pac on the February 6th episode of Wrestling Society X after sending him into an exploding coffin with a Tombstone piledriver . Vampiro was involved in a controversial angle which led to MTV cancelling the 4th WSX show , due to air on Tuesday February 20 . 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 had defeated Vampiro to claim the WSX Championship .