Gangrel [1] Vampire Warrior[1] Pretty Boy Dave Heath[1] Crazy Dave[1] David Heath[1] Blackheart Apocalypse[1] The Black Phantom[1] The Warlock[1] Lestat The Vampire[1] Vampiro Guerrero[1] Vampire Master[2]
David William Heath (born February 16, 1969) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1998 to 2001 and intermittently throughout the mid-2000s under the ring name Gangrel. He has also made appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Heath was trained by Boris Malenko in Florida. When his training was complete, he began performing in various independentpromotions 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". Heath and Nash competed 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 broadcast a segment of Luna's "Wedding to a Vampire".
On the February 28, 1994 episode of RAW, Heath made his televised debut for the WWF and lost to Earthquake. He was portrayed as a masked heel and dubbed "The Black Phantom", working as an enhancement talent against numerous stars, including Earthquake, Razor Ramon, The 1-2-3 Kid, Lex Luger, Bob Holly, Tatanka, Davey Boy Smith, Typhoon and others. His last match was on the July 9, 1995 edition of Wrestling Challenge, where he fell to the 1-2-3 Kid once more.[5]
Heath worked in various promotions for the next two years. He worked in the independents throughout the States and mainly in Florida. He returned to USWA in 1996. Also worked in Japan for International Wrestling Association Japan from 1996 to 1997 and Puerto Rico in 1997. In 1998, he worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Gangrel in 1999Heath played a gothic, vampiric character called Gangrel, who spat "blood" before matches.
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 gameVampire: 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.
Gangrel made his TV debut on the August 16, 1998 episode of Sunday Night Heat, defeating Scott Taylor. He then formed a gothic faction, called The Brood, with EdgeandChristian. 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 became a singles wrestler following the breakup of The New Brood; he was mainly used as a mid carder. In late 1999, he brought in his real-life wife Luna Vachon as his manager until she was fired. Gangrel continued working for the WWF until being taken off the main roster in November 2000 and was released in June 2001.
Independent circuit (2001–present)
Gangrel in the ring in 2009
Heath wrestled for an independent promotion based in Cleveland, Ohio, called New Era Pro Wrestling. He competed in a casket match against NEPW, defeating Gutter.
Heath (as Vampire Warrior) wrestled for North American Wrestling (NAW). 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. He has also wrestled for Vendetta Pro Wrestling, All Star Wrestling, Territory League, and Busted Knuckle Pro Wrestling.
On January 23, 2010, Gangrel was inducted into the Legends Pro Wrestling "Hall of Fame" by Jack Blaze in Wheeling, West Virginia, at their annual "LPW Over The Edge" event. On May 11 and 12, 2013, he participated in California-based Alpha Omega Wrestling's two-day "Pride of the Ring II" supercard in Indio, California. He was defeated in a four-man elimination match the first day and lost an AOW Heavyweight Championship match to Eric Watts on the second.
On May 18, 2013, Gangrel made his debut for Chikara, managing The Day Walkers (Alexandre Barnabus Castle and Mathias Cage) to the second round of the 2013 Tag World Grand Prix.[6]
In August 2013, Gangrel toured Saskatchewan, Canada, with High Impact Wrestling Canada as part of the "Blood Wars" Tour.
Gangrel wrestles Mad Kurt in Wolverhampton (October 2022).
On June 6, 2014, at House of Hardcore 4 Gangrel teamed with Joe Caldo and Hurricane Helms to defeat Vik Dalishus, Bill Carr, and Cerebus in a six-man tag team match. On June 7, at House of Hardcore 5 Gangrel teamed with Cerebus and Fungus to defeat Vik Dalishus, Dan Barry and Bill Carr in a six-man tag team match. On June 14, at House of Hardcore 6 Gangrel teamed with Matt Striker to face Rikishi & X-Pac in a losing effort.
In 2013 and 2014 Gangrel appeared with the West Coast Wrestling Connection based in Portland and Salem, Oregon.[7] In 2015, Gangrel appeared for Big Time Wrestling events in Vermont, Maine, and Virginia. He also was a featured competitor for the Las Vegas-based Paragon Pro Wrestling.
On July 18, 2015, in Kitchener, Ontario, Gangrel won the Pure Wrestling Association Ontario championship, defeating EZE Eric Cairnie. He lost the championship the next day to "Reckless" Ryan Swift.
On February 14, 2016, Gangrel appeared for Professional Wrestling Live in Solihull, West Midlands, UK at Kingshurst Labour Club and became the PWL Heavyweight Champion. Gangrel successfully defended this title on two occasions, but was defeated by local wrestler Jamie Firkin a.k.a. 'Johnny Thunder' on February 25, 2016. After initially defeating Thunder, a sneak attack enabled Thunder to cash in a guaranteed title match contract he held from a previous Money in the Bank match win.
Gangrel reunited with former Ministry of Darkness member Viscera in 2004, returning as a hired goon of John "Bradshaw" Layfield during a feud with The Undertaker. They were defeated by The Undertaker on the September 23 episode of SmackDown. On the 15th AnniversaryWWE Raw special on December 10, 2007, Gangrel participated in a 15-man battle royal, but was eliminated by Al Snow.
All Elite Wrestling (2020, 2022, 2024)
On November 7, 2020, Gangrel made his debut for All Elite Wrestling at Full Gear during the Elite Deletion match between Matt Hardy and Sammy Guevara, chastising Hardy for his disloyalty when Gangrel mentored him (referring to his time in the New Brood) before making an unsuccessful attempt to aid Guevara.[8][9] 18 months later, on the May 27, 2022 episode of AEW Rampage, Gangrel would return to AEW to accompany The Young Bucks to ring during a tag team match they had with Jon Cruz and Taylor Rust.[10] Following the match, which saw the Young Bucks victorious, Gangrel was betrayed by The Young Bucks, who attacked him.[10] He would then be rescued by The Hardy Boyz, who he then reunited with and assisted him in attacking Brandon Cutler.[10][11][12]
Heath has two children, David Jr. and Donovan, and has been married four times; first to Cheryl Richards from 1988 to 1991, then to fellow wrestler Luna Vachon from 1994 to 2006[15] (during which he was stepfather to Luna's sons Joshua and Van from her previous marriage to Dan Hurd),[16] to Kiara Dillon from 2008 to 2013,[17] and lastly, he married Susan Nelson in February 2022.
His signature fangs are the result of dental implants he received early on in his career with the WWF. It was reported it cost more than $10,000 for each one.
Heath briefly directed pornography, but gave it up because of his concerns that it was going to affect his wrestling career.
NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)
SWF UK & KAPOW Wrestling
SWF & KAPOW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with TWitcH[31]
American Wrestling Federation (AWF)
AWF World Championship (1 time)
AWF Television Championship (1 time)
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