WCW Legend Vampiro Retiring Soon Amidst Alzheimer's Diagnosis

Vampiro was looking to end his professional wrestling career with a big retirement tour in lucha libre. However, due to the physical grind of competing, the former WCW star has cut his retirement tour short, per Cageside Seats. Vampiro has battled through issues with Alzheimer's over the last few years but has made enough progress to compete again. His plan was to compete in 35 matches on TV in three years. But as the physicality of his matches increased, the 55-year-old could not complete his tour. 

Mas Lucha posted a video of Vampiro explaining his decision. Last month, Vampiro got hit in the head during a match, which is the one thing he asked not to happen to him as he decided to start the retirement tour. He spent nine days in the hospital recovering, and when AAA called him to fill in at Triplemana XXI Monterrey against Chessman, Vampiro suffered another shot to his head which sent him back to the hospital. He will likely focus on other ventures such as his radio show, Radio Vampiro, which airs weeknights from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. from Guadalajara.

Vampiro (real name Ian Richard Hodgkinson) began his wrestling career in 1984 in Canada. He began working in Mexico in 1991 and would find success with Consejo Mundia de Lucha Libre (CMLL) where he won the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. In 1998, Vampiro made the move to WCW and won the World Tag Team Championship with WWE Hall of Famer the Great Muta. When WWE purchased WCW in 2001, Vampiro was told by WWE that it would not pick up his contract, leading him to return to CMLL and work for other promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling, TNA, and Lucha Libra AAA Worldwide where he most recently served as director of talent. 

Originally, Vampiro was set to retire in December 2024. "My family, all of you, I am so so happy to announce I am starting to finally say goodbye to being active in the ring," Vampiro wrote in September. "I have a plan, I have spoken with AAA, and we are in agreement that this is the best way to start to prepare for this... Before my time is 100% absorbed with the radio, tv, and music projects, and the touring as a musician and a DJ...I have been really applying myself to the gym, and I am in fantastic shape, and I can finally be in the right place mentally to say goodbye correctly to my beloved lucha libre."