Ex-WCW Star Exposes Harrowing Locker Room Realities

The persistent issue of anti-social behaviour within professional wrestling locker rooms, such as WCW’s locker room in the late 90s and early 2000s, has attracted considerable attention over the years.

The detrimental combination of drug culture and political circumstances has led to the creation of mentally strenuous environments for many wrestlers, intensifying the challenges of working for prominent organisations and resulting in numerous distressing accounts and, in some instances, tragic consequences.

This prevalent issue was notably evident within WCW, a company already grappling with financial and creative challenges, particularly when Vampiro, celebrated for his success in Mexico, made his debut in 1998, achieving broader global recognition.

Despite his significant professional accomplishments, Vampiro openly disclosed in 2020 that the WCW locker room environment had adversely affected his mental well-being during his tenure with the company.

In an interview with Wrestling Inc, the former WCW wrestler shed light on the demanding environment within the company, emphasising the detrimental impact it had on his mental health.

“It was bad because that’s when I was starting with my situation. My main injury came during WCW, but I was already injured before that,” Vamprio revealed. “I’m educated different. I grew up in wrestling different, but I’m also very religious. I’m very sensitive. I have nothing to do with my image, the way I look physically. I’m easily affected by people who are bullies and people who suffer. So WCW was a locker room of desperate men on the verge of suicide. There was like, I don’t know, 50 or 60 of them that did commit suicide or drug overdoses.”

Despite playing a prominent role alongside the future WWE Hall of Famer Sting, Vampiro candidly revealed the harsh realities of the WCW’s locker room environment.

“The political situation behind the scenes, the manipulation the lying (and) the cheating and you have a group of guys who are overly insecure, full of prescription drugs. I don’t mean one or two pain pills. I mean 70-80 pain pills an hour every hour every day, major, major, major major doses of anabolic steroids plus all the injuries and the mental health stuff. Then, “Who’s doing this? Who’s getting paid that? This guy said this?” It was almost as if somebody did it on purpose so that we would all kill ourselves, you know as an experiment. It was horrid. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

Old WCW Rivalry Reignited In WWE

The new generation of NXT brought back shades of an old WCW feud. The sons of two former WCW stars who were once at war faced off many decades after their fathers had done the same.

H/t to wrestlinginc.com