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Gangrel Interview
By P. Staniforth 2003.
It’s a real thrill to catch hold of a former WWF/E superstar for a conversation, and recently I had the pleasure of speaking with the man known formerly as Gangrel; who is currently wrestling under his other persona Vampire Warrior in the NWA-TNA.
PETER STANIFORTH) : Hi, great to have you. How’s life treating you?
GANGREL) : Thanks Peter. It’s being good.
PETER) : Ok, kicking things off; tell us about your childhood and growing
up.
GANGREL) : I first saw wrestling when I was 5 or 6 years of age. My childhood
was short, as I broke my neck whilst playing American football when I
was 13 years old. Doctors said I would never do any more sports, and my
parents would not let me compete; so I moved out at 16 years old on my
own and started pro wrestling at the age of 17, just turning 18.
PETER) : Wow, I bet that’s something a lot of people didn’t
know; and I certainly didn’t. That takes a lot of courage and determination
to come back from such physical adversity at a young age. Who trained
you to become a wrestler at this point, and how would you describe the
early matches of your career?
GANGREL) : I was trained by Dean Malenko’s father, the Great Malenko;
Rusty Brookes in South Florida; and also Bruce Hart in Canada. My early
matches, were both fun and scary as I was a bit young.
PETER) : To be trained by a Malenko, you HAVE to be good. Now, the ‘Vampire
Warrior’ and ‘Gangrel’ characters, how did you first create
them and how did they progress over time?
GANGREL) : In 1989/90, my wife Luna showed me the movie ‘The Lost
Boys’. I felt it was a cool vampire movie and that it would be a
good gimmick for the business, but wasn’t sure if it would work.
Well, she talked me into it! In Puerto Rico and also the USWA in Memphis
I saw it as a monster gimmick and used it as so, but I always pictured
it as cool whilst a little dark perhaps - just like in the film. Well,
the WWF at the time in 1998 saw it the same way that I did; so along came
Gangrel after 9 years of being the Vampire Warrior (1989 to 1998).
PETER) : How did you actually get your break with the WWE? And how did
it feel being on the WWE video console games, that must have been a real
thrill?
GANGREL) : I’d worked there on and off since 1989 as an occasional
jobber, getting my butt kicked! But they sent me up to their wrestling
camp ‘The Funkin Dojo’, and also Vince Russo (then WWF/E creative
writer) loves the rock group Kiss and vampires so I guess it was natural.
Being on the video games was cool, and not only until now do I understand
how lucky I was.
PETER) : Did you enjoy your time there, what was your favourite match
you worked? Would you go back to the WWE if asked?
GANGREL) : I had fun. I liked working with Edge, The Hardy Boyz; and
The Godfather; but overall facing Edge on Raw in San Jose, California
was most likely my favourite. And yes, I would go back; I love to wrestle.
PETER) : What are your feelings on your current main employer NWA-TNA,
and working in the UK?
GANGREL) : The UK is always good to go to and work, as for TNA I’m
still trying to get a handle on the deal there but it is fun to work there.
PETER) : To wrap up, a lot of people miss you on screen, and feel you
were the best character of the WWF Attitude era. Do you have any message
for your fans?
GANGREL) : Just to say Thank You, and keep rocking.
PETER) : Thanks for your time in this, it’s been a total pleasure.
-------
Peter is a columnist for www.prowrestlingdaily.com
A columnist for www.justinrules.com
And a video reviewer for www.simania.co.uk
When using any of this information give proper credit to Cactusb and the Wrestling Clothesline at http://www.wrestlingclothesline.com
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