Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 348th installment of the ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. A group of stories that delves into the darker, underbelly of pro wrestling. Many of the stories involve such subjects as sex, drugs, greed and in some cases even murder! As with every single story in the Sin series, I do not condone or condemn the alleged participants. We simply retell their stories by researching interviews, newspapers, magazines and various other sources of media.
My, My Americano Lie
Vampiro Canadiense (Canadian Vampire) was one of the most popular wrestlers in Mexico at one point in time. During his big run, Vampiro got into a heated exchange with promoter Carlos Elizondo and allegedly punched him. In an apparent retaliation, Elizondo hired a young Texan named John Layfield and made him into Vampiro Americano (American Vampire). Layfield claims that he wasn’t told of the gimmick until he arrived in Mexico. He was given the name and gear to wrestle as that character.
Layfield began wrestling throughout all the border towns as Vampiro Americano with the eventual payoff being a feud with Vampiro Canadiense. Before their big match up, Vampiro Candiense stared down Layfield in the locker room. Layfield immediately knew something was wrong. Layfield asked Vampiro what was the issue and Vampiro replied…”You are wearing my shit.” Confused, Layfield tried explaining to Vampiro that the whole idea of the Vampiro Americano gimmick was to pretend to be like Vampiro and start a feud to make money.
Vampiro then looked at Layfield and realized that the big Texas wrestler had no clue. Apparently, Vampiro Canadiense ordered all this wrestling gear and allegedly Carlos Elizondo stole it. Elizondo then gave the gear to Layfield without telling the real Vampiro or Layfield. According to John Layfield, the two became friends after that.
Starving for Truth
Yakov Kozalchik was a Polish born man who left the country at 18 years old to find fame and fortune as a strongman and professional wrestler. Kozalchik joined a traveling circus where he did both occupations. As a pro wrestler, Kozalchik competed under the name of ‘Samson Eisen.’ He wore a giant star of David on his ring gear and was extremely popular with Jewish fans all over the world. He wrestled in places like Europe, Mexico, the United States and South America.
When World War II erupted, Kozalchik along his wife and two children were arrested by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. His wife and kids were exterminated in the camp…but Kozalchik was spared and made into a Kapo (A Prisoner who worked for the Nazis as a guard) due to his enormous size and strength. His main duties were to serve food to other prisoners, stand watches to make sure no one escaped and also escort prisoners to their executions.
When the war ended, Kozalchik moved to Israel and continued his career as a pro wrestler. In 1946, reports came out that Kozalchik collaborated with the Nazis in exchange for his own life. He vehemently denied the accusations stating that the only reason he agreed to become a Kapo was to help fellow Jews in the concentration camp. He brought forward Camp survivors who testified on his behalf saying that he helped save many Jewish lives. Despite this, promoters refused to use him on wrestling shows and Kozalchik lived in exile.
He fell into a deep depression and slept most of the day and night. He refused to eat and began starving himself. He ultimately died from starvation at the age of 50 years old.
Put Your Best Foot Forward
Former NXT and second generation wrestler Santana Garrett has wrestled all over the world and has won numerous titles. Like many wrestlers before her, as chronicled here, Santana has done some personalized wrestling and fetish photos and videos early in her career.
While none of the content was nude or overly sexual…she did several photos in the foot fetish genre.
In-Zane
Tony Zane was a former enhancement worker for the Mid South territory and later WCW. While working for Mid South, he was involved in an angle with Ted Dibiase and the company’s top babyface the Junkyard Dog. The two stars were involved in a brawl and Zane was one of the wrestlers used to try and pull the two rivals apart.
During the scripted melee, as Zane was helping pull JYD and Dibiase away from each other, an overzealous fan ran into the skirmish and pulled out a knife. The fan stabbed Zane in the abdomen and ran off. It was never clear if the fan was aiming for Zane or one of the other wrestlers. Zane did recover from the stab wound and continued his wrestling career.