Did WCW hire wrestlers just to smuggle in drugs?

Sting and Vampiro were a tag team before they feuded

His name might not ring any bells to the nouveau wrestling fans, but those who hearken to the wrestling oldies will certainly remember WCW sensation Vampiro. The Canadian wrestler is one of the more memorable stars from what was the WWE’s only serious competitor.

With his face paint and dyed hair, fans took to Vampiro instantly and though he never wrestled for the WWE, he is a respected member of the indy circuit and Mexico, in particular. The height of his mainstream success was in the WCW where he feuded with Sting and won the tag team titles with the Great Muta.

Vampiro was a guest on Colt Cabana’s ‘The Art of Wrestling’ podcast and blew the lid off the unchecked drug use in the WCW. The most alarming of these was when he implied that WCW kept Mexican wrestlers on the roster just so they could sneak in drugs like muscle relaxants cheap from Mexico.

Here’s the excerpt, courtesy of Wrestlinginc:

“WCW, that was stupid drug abuse. That wasn't drug use to get by, not that I'm justifying either one of them. But WCW was f--king brutal, man. I hated WCW. Everybody says, 'why do you hate WCW so much?' I was so glad you asked me this because I never got I chance to tell the story.

“I disliked WCW because of the politics behind the [scenes]. It was f--king brutal. You've heard the story a million different times from a million different people and I can confirm that it's all true." Vampiro continued, "there [were] 27 Mexican guys signed to contracts. How many of those guys wrestled more than once every two years? I'm not going to name names, but somas were being made in Tijuana [Mexico]. What the f--k do you think those guys were bringing in?”