10 Things We Learned From Nail In The Coffin: The Fall And Rise Of Vampiro

9. Just How Big Of An Icon Vampiro Is

Nail in the Coffin Vampiro
WWE.com

For those of us around in the '90s and without access to the world of Mexican pro wrestling, Vampiro was at the time known for his so-so stint in WCW which is likely best remembered for his feud against Sting.

We'd heard how much of a big deal Vampiro was, we'd heard rumblings of this face-painted icon of CMLL, some more savvy fans had maybe even heard of the white-hot Vampiro vs. Konnan rivalry. The thing is, those outside of Mexico or certain regions of the United States never actually got to witness any of this.

As someone who was a wrestling obsessed teenager based in the UK at that point, it was a case of knowing the name of Vampiro and reading the odd news piece on the grappler in the magazines of the time, but it was only when Vampiro appeared in WCW in 1998 that so many of us got to actually see this almost mythical figure in action.

Having heard all of the buzz and hype, it's safe to say that that WCW stint maybe didn't quite live up to the legend of Vampiro - the disappointment of that WCW run is even discussed in Nail in the Coffin - but in this documentary you get to see just how much of an icon of the industry Vampiro is.

To see how Ian Hodgkinson the man and Vampiro the persona are worshipped in Mexico, you start to fully realise just how important a presence Vampiro has been, and continues to be, for the wrestling business and for wrestling fans.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.