Gangrel

David Heath
David Heath
Born	February 16, 1969 (age 55); Tampa, Florida
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	David Heath; Gangrel; Blackheart Destruction; The Black Phantom; The Druid; Lestat The Vampire; The Vampire Warrior; Warlock; Vampire Warrior
Billed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Billed weight	264 lb (120 kg)
Billed from	The Other Side of Darkness; Santa Cruz, California
Trained by	Boris Malenko; Joe Malenko; Dean Malenko
Debut	1988

David William Heath (born February 16, 1969) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to TNA Wrestling where he is appearing under the ring name of Vampire Warrior. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Gangrel.

Career

Beginning

Heath began his career by training with Dean Malenko in Florida. When his training was complete, he began performing in various independent promotions in the Florida area. In the Independent Professional Wrestling (IPW) promtion he won the IPW Tag Team Championship, before moving to Stampede Wrestling, where he formed a tag team with Tom Nash known as "The Blackhearts", with Heath and Nash competing under masks as "Destruction" and "Apocalypse" respectively. They won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship as a team.

In the early nineties, the Blackhearts were paired with Nash's wife Luna, wrestling in Joel Goodhart's Tri-State Wrestling, in Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation, and finally Giant Baba's All-Japan, where the team split up. During that time, the marriage between Nash and Luna broke up and Heath and Luna became romantically involved. They eventually married on Halloween 1994. The World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where Luna worked at the time, even broadcasted a segment of Luna's "Wedding to a Vampire".

After the demise of the Blackhearts, Heath and Luna developed the Vampire Warrior gimmick, inspired by the movie The Lost Boys, under which, he wrestled in various promotions, including the Memphis-based United States Wrestling Association. Under this moniker, he won the USWA Southern Championship and the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Rookie of the Year award in 1993.

In 1995, Heath appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) for a short period, feuding with Tommy Dreamer over Dreamer's affiliation with Heath's real-life wife Luna.

World Wrestling Federation

In 1998, Heath was hired by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) due to the support of then writers Bruce Prichard and Vince Russo, who believed in the merit of a vampire gimmick. Heath was given the name Gangrel, which was derived from a vampire clan from the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade. The gimmick involved an entrance which saw him rising from a ring of fire on stage, followed by a slow walk to the ring set to a sinister instrumental music theme. He also carried a goblet of "blood" with him and, during his entrance, would stop on the ring steps, take a drink, and spray it into the air.

Gangrel made his TV debut on the August 16, 1998 episode of Sunday Night Heat, and was victorious in his in-ring debut against Scott Taylor. He would go on to be undefeated for several months into his WWF career.

He then formed a gothic faction, called The Brood, with Edge and Christian. The Brood became known for their "blood baths", which involved the lights going out for a moment, and when they came back on, the targeted wrestler being covered in "blood". The three eventually joined up with The Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness faction, but the grouping ended as The Brood's popularity was destroying the Ministry's heat.

Gangrel got one of his first title shots at the 1999 Royal Rumble. He challenged D-Generation X member X-Pac for his WWF European Championship in a losing effort. He competed in the Royal Rumble match later that night and again the following year.

After splitting from the Ministry, The Brood began a feud with the Hardy Boyz and their manager Michael Hayes. During the feud, Gangrel suddenly turned on Edge and Christian and aligned himself with Matt and Jeff Hardy. He called the group The New Brood. Terri Runnels also began to show interest in the Hardy Boyz, however, and they eventually chose her over him. Gangrel became a singles wrestler following the breakup of The New Brood; he was mainly used as a mid carder. In 2000, he brought in his real-life wife Luna Vachon as his manager until she was fired. Gangrel continued working for the WWF until he was released in 2001, reportedly for weight problems.

Independent circuit (2004-2010)

The years between 2004 and 2007 saw Heath bouncing back and forth between the newly renamed World Wrestling Entertainment and the independent circuit. He made a couple appearances for WWE in 2004, returning as a hired goon of John "Bradshaw" Layfield during a feud with The Undertaker (both Bradshaw and Gangrel were ex-Ministry members), but nothing came of it. Following that, he and Luna wrestled many tours all over the world. The pair did a lot of wrestling with the United Kingdom based All Star Promotions. In 2005, Heath was given another WWE contract and appeared in Ohio Valley Wrestling, the primary developmental territory of WWE. He was again released, however, before anything came of it. In 2006, Heath was re-signed as a potential for WWE's newest brand, ECW, to appear in a vampire stable with Kevin Thorn and Ariel. WWE held off from reintroducing him to the main roster due to his ongoing weight problems. At the September 21 Deep South Wrestling (DSW) event, he made an appearance and wrestled Tommy Suede. He continued to wrestle in DSW while he waited to be called up to one of the main rosters. On January 18, 2007, Gangrel was released from WWE.

On the 15th Anniversary WWE Raw special on December 10, 2007, Gangrel participated in a 15-man battle royal, but was eliminated by Al Snow.

Heath now wrestles for North American Wrestling (NAW) under the Vampire Warrior name and lives on the California coast. He also still wrestles for All Star Promotions in the United Kingdom as Gangrel.

Vampire Warrior was at the ICWA's Show Revolution 5, in the main event. He lost to Joe Legend in a Casket match for the NWA: ICWA France Heavyweight Championship.

Vampire Warrior has been confirmed for Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania Tour of Australia.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010)

During an interview with SLAM! Magizine Heath stated that he had signed with TNA Wrestling and would debut in TNA in either February or March. He confirmed that he would appear under his "Vampire Warrior" name due to WWE's copyright on his Gangrel moniker. Heath made his debut under the Vampire Warrior ring name on the March 9th edition of TNA iMPACT! tapings by defeating Desmond Wolfe.

Adult film career

Heath signed a deal to direct 12 films for "New Porn Order" under his Vampire Warrior ring name.^[1] His debut film is tentatively titled Miami Rump Shakerz 2.^[1]

Personal life

Heath has married three times, first to his "high school sweetheart", Laura, with whom he has two sons, David Jr. and Donavan and later fellow wrestler Luna Vachon^[2] (during which he was stepfather to Luna's sons, Joshua and Van from her previous marriage to Tom Nash). ^[3] The two divorced in 2006 but, according to Heath, remain best of friends. Heath is also a grandfather to a little boy who was born on Halloween 2006.^[4] He married Kiara Dillon in Las Vegas on June 13, 2008. In 2005, Heath became a born-again Christian and was baptized along with Luna Vachon by fellow wrestler Nikita Koloff at an Athletes International Ministry convention.^[5]^[6]