David Heath (wrestler)

David Heath
Ring name(s)	David Heath[1] Gangrel[2] Blackheart Apocalypse[3] The Blackheart[4] Crazy Dave[5] El Vampiro[6] (The) Black Phantom[7] The Druid[8] Lestat The Vampire[9] The Warlock[10] (The) Vampire Warrior[11]
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Billed weight	250 lb (110 kg)
Born	February 16, 1969 (1969-02-16) (age 42) Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Resides	Burbank, California
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 and pornographic film director. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) 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) promotion 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.

During a period of 1994-1995, Heath portrayed "The Black Phantom" in the WWF, wrestling several mid-carders. Also, 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.

In early 1998, Heath made an appearance with World Championship Wrestling on WCW Worldwide, teaming with Michael Nova in a losing effort against the Faces of Fear.

World Wrestling Federation (1998-2001)

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 spit it into the air. This was supposed to imply him drinking the blood of his many former victims as a practicing vampire.

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 temporarily joined up with The Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness faction.

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.

Between WWE and Independents (2004-2007)

Gangrel in the ring in 2009

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 former 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 Sgt Slaughter.

Independent circuit (2007-Present)

Living on the California coast, Heath (as Vampire Warrior) wrestled for North American Wrestling (NAW) and (as Gangrel) for All Star Promotions in the United Kingdom.

As Vampire Warrior, he wrestled in the main event of the ICWA's Show Revolution 5, losing to Joe Legend in a Casket match for the NWA: ICWA France Heavyweight Championship.

In 2009, he was involved with the Hulkamania Australian Tour event in Melbourne, Australia. Teaming up with Black Pearl, he lost to The Nasty Boys in an Australian Street Fight.

Gangrel is currently wrestling for independent promotions Wrestling Fan Xperience (WFX) and Vendetta Pro Wrestling.

Gangrel is also a part of the Territory League promotion, where he is a member of the Los Angeles Templars.

Adult film career

Heath signed a deal to direct 12 films for "New Porn Order" under his Vampire Warrior ring name.^[12] His debut film, Miami Rump Shakerz 2, was released in 2007.^[12]

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 the late Luna Vachon^[13] (during which he was stepfather to Luna's sons, Joshua and Van from her previous marriage to Tom Nash).^[14] The two divorced in 2006 but, according to Heath, remained best of friends until her death. He once spoke in an interview:

"I had my problems. I had a lot of substance abuse problems and I had a wife that would have killed me any second. And that's the truth. She's put a 940 Glock to the back of my head and fired it into a wall in downtown Tampa. But I love Luna to death. She's the sweetest person in the world but you just don't mess with her. She taught me that survival guide. She gave me the basic rundown how to get from A to Z and that helped a lot. She'll always be my best friend but I'll never cross her. She's a good woman, though.^[15]"

Heath is also a grandfather to a little boy who was born on Halloween. He married for the third time on June 13, 2008.^[16]

He was also close friends with Chris Benoit. In an interview regarding the Benoit Family Tragedy, he respectfully stated:

"I know he loved her so hard. I can't say what was really going on his mind, but I do know that he was a really good person and one of the few guys I'd say, 'Man, I love you, dude.' I had a special bond with Chris. I wasn't there. I don't know what happened. He loved her, he loved his kid. People snap. I don't think it had anything to do with the steroids or anything else. There was a whole lot of other demons. If it had been a garbageman who went out and killed his family, it would have been in the newspaper for one clip. But it was someone who was in the spotlight that kids idolized. It was another stab at the wrestling industry and people are going to take stabs at anything that's making money. It's sad - that's the bottom line. It is what it is.^[15]"

David Heath is also a proud supporter of Everton F.C. as he said himself in an interview with Right After Wrestling on 07/11/2011, also referring to Wayne Rooney as a mega heel to him and the Everton fans.

In wrestling

Gangrel in the Hulkmania Tour.

• Finishing moves
  • Blood spit
  • The Impaler^[17] (Lifting DDT)

• Signature moves
  • Armbar
  • Boston crab
  • Multiple running elbow drops, sometimes corkscrew
  • Multiple suplex variations
    • Double underhook
    • Fisherman
    • Side belly-to-belly
    • Tiger
    • Trapping
    • Vertical
  • Neckbreaker
  • Powerbomb
  • Rear naked choke
  • Scoop powerslam
  • STF

• Managers
  • Luna Vachon
  • Bert Prentice
  • Kiara Dillon

• Wrestlers managed
  • Edge and Christian
  • The Hardy Boyz

• Entrance themes
  • "Blood" by Jim Johnston (WWF/WWE)
  • "I Won't Stop" by C-Murder (WWF) (used briefly)

Championships and accomplishments

• All Pro Wrestling

• APW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Billy Blade^[18]

• All-Star Championship Wrestling

• ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Atlantic Wrestling Council^[19]

• AWC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• European Wrestling Promotion

• EWP Ironman Hardcore Knockout Tournament (2003)
• EWP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• IPWA

• IPWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Rusty Brooks

• Not Rated Pro Wrestling

• NRPW World Tag Team Championship (6 time) - with Tommy Gunn (4), Mule (1) and Craig Valentine (1)

• Maximum Pro Wrestling

• MXPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• NWA Florida

• NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tom Nash

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI Rookie of the Year award in 1993

• Pro Wrestling Revolution

• PWR Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Stampede Wrestling

• Stampede International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tom Nash

• Tri-State Wrestling Alliance

• TWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Blackheart Destruction(Tom Nash)

• United States Wrestling Association

• USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Other titles

• USWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tom Nash
• NWL Heavyweight CHAMPIONSHIP
• Charter Hall King of the Ring-Royal Rumble Winner (October 2010)

References

1. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
2. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
3. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
4. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
5. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
6. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
7. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
8. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
9. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
10. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
11. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel Bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling}
12. ^ ^{a b} Adams, Eddie. NPO Signs Former WWE Wrestler to Directing Deal September 21, 2007. Accessed November 12, 2007. AVN Media Network. <http://www.avn.com/index.cfm?objectid=3F242D97-ABBF-427E-ED57546AF0E8EBCE>
13. ^ AdultFYI - Conversations with Gangrel; Gangrel on "Prince of Porn" Evan Stone: It's the Little Man Complex
14. ^ RAW Magazine, February 2000.
15. ^ ^{a b} http://www.adultfyi.com/read.php?ID=25262
16. ^ "Where Are They Now: WWE Superstars of the Early 2000's". Bleacherreport.com. 2008-08-31. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/52721-where-are-they-now-wwe-superstars-of-the-early-2000s/show_full. Retrieved 2009-03-10. 
17. ^ http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html
18. ^ "All Pro Wrestling Title Histories". titlehistories.com. http://www.titlehistories.com/All_Pro_Wrestling.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-11. 
19. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html%7Ctitle=Gangrel bio|accessdate=09/02/2011|publisher=Online World of Wrestling

External links

Professional wrestling portal

• Online World of Wrestling profile
• Pictures of Heath and Luna at the AIM convention in 2005
• KnokX Pro Academy

Persondata
Name	Heath, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 16, 1969
Place of birth	Tampa, Florida
Date of death
Place of death