Vampiro Addresses How He's Handling His Parkinson's, Alzheimer's And CTE Diagnoses
On a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast, Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman was joined by former WCW star and former Lucha Underground commentator Vampiro and director Michael Paszt to talk about their in-depth documentary "Nail In The Coffin: The Fall and Rise Of Vampiro". Vampiro spoke on where he's at physically and mentally.
"Amazing. I've been in therapy for about a year and a half," Vampiro said. "Really, really working on my mental health issues, the head traumas, the physical injuries and it's been brutally difficult, but I'm advancing leaps and bounds. That guy in that movie, he doesn't exist anymore, and I'm a 130 pounds lighter. I'm a different man.
"I'm grateful, and it's because of Michael that I've been able to get on this journey. So the movie is a great reminder to anybody who has physical disabilities or mental health issues or the world is against them. I'm living proof that if you really really believe and you put the work in, you can overcome anything. So I'm doing amazing."
Vamprio said the the filming of the documentary was a push and pull process. He noted that the filming began at the height of his mental health issues, and he told Paszt to follow him and capture his life because there was too much to go through for one sit-down interview. He credits this movie for saving his life.
"It was push and pull. I've been sick for years, for over a decade, and I had just been diagnosed, so I was at the height of my mental health issues," Vampiro noted. "So I wasn't able to understand where I was in the present moment. Like Michael said, two, three years almost four filming. To me, it was like a month. I can't distinguish time. I'm still struggling with that. So I told Michael two things, three things. I said, 'I've had a 40-year career. So you've got to come with me and see it. We can't sit down and talk about it.' So we spaced it out because there were specific events.
"There was a TV series. There was Mexico. There was this, so that's why it wasn't consecutive because we wanted to capture the essence in different countries and really tell a story not just hearsay or he said, she said. No, come and see it. That was one thing, and the nerves is because I was so sick. So I told Michael, 'please don't ask me. You do it because if you ask me, I'm going to confuse you by giving you different opinions every two minutes because I don't know what's going on, and I'm so protective of what I don't know.' I was basically dying.
"I was 340 pounds, and I was dying. So Michael was a big motivator and making me realize I needed to save my life because if you watch the movie, that guy should be dead by now. It was because of this movie that he's not."
Vampiro opened up about his health diagnoses and the paths he is taking to alleviate them. He reiterated that it was a blessing to still be alive, to be drug-free and to be a completely different person.
"I was diagnosed with the beginnings of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's," Vampiro stated. "I've got CTE from all the concussions. 86% of my body has chronic arthritis. Some things are incurable, but I've been working. I'm doing alternative medicine. I'm doing a lot of meditation, a lot of spirituality. I'm completely vegan.
"My doctor, he's from China, his medicine is very ancient, the massage techniques, the acupuncture. It's just a whole other trip. I've lost over 100 pounds. I've got my brain back. It's coming, and I'm completely drug-free like no pharmaceuticals for the pain and I'm just a different man. So it's such a blessing to even be doing this interview, to still be alive."
"Nail In The Coffin: The Fall and Rise Of Vampiro" is now available on VOD and Digital platforms. Vampiro's full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.