Gangrel | |
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Gangrel in February 2009
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Birth name | David William Heath |
Born |
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States |
February 16, 1969
Residence | Florida |
Spouse(s) |
Cheryl Richards (m. 1988–91) Luna Vachon (m. 1994–2006) Kiara Dillon (m. 2008–13) |
Children | 2 |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Claire Drive Ripper The Avante Roller The Black Phantom Crazy Dave David Heath The Druid Property Formally of Dr. Wolf Gangrel Lestat The Vampire The Master The Warlock Vampire Warrior The Other Side of Darkness |
Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
Billed weight | 250 lb (110 kg; 18 st) |
Billed from | The Other Side Of Darkness |
Trained by | Boris Malenko |
Debut | 1988 |
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.
Heath was trained by Boris 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 broadcast 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.