Kevin Sullivan (Wrestler)

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Kevin Francis Sullivan
Data
Ring name Johnny West
Kevin Caldwell
Kevin Sullivan
The Boston Battler
Masked Lucifer
Merlin the Wizard
The Taskmaster
height 175 cm
Fighting weight 110 kg
birth October 26, 1949
Key West , Florida
debut October 1970

Kevin Francis Sullivan (born October 26, 1949 in Key West , Florida ) is an American wrestler . Sullivan was WCW's booker in the mid-1990s and early 2000 .

Career

Kevin Sullivan began his wrestling career before joining wrestling. He made his debut in Georgia in 1970. However, he spent most of his career in Florida. In 1976 he had various matches in the WWWF (today's WWE ), in which he a. a. Bruiser Brody , who faced "Superstar" Billy Graham and a Hulk Hogan, who was just getting started in wrestling at the time . Because of his wrestling background, he began his career as a grappler, a wrestler who demonstrated his wrestling skills.

At 175 cm tall for a wrestler, he had problems getting accepted in his debut times despite his build and skill as a wrestler. To compensate for this flaw, he got himself a satanic gimmick in the 1980s , which was largely influenced by heavy metal artists of the time such as Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest . He wore leather and rivets and used an early corpsepaint , such as Venom and Kiss used at the time. He also knew how to provoke and shock his opponents inside and outside the ring. He stuck to the then prevailing Kayfabe , which made his appearances as a heel all the more threatening. In the early 1980s he played an important role as the leader of his Army of Darkness in the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and Championship Wrestling From Florida . In the late 1980s, Sullivan formed another group, the Varsity Club, consisting of “Dr. Death “Steve Williams , Rick Steiner , Mike Rotunda and Dan Spivey . He succeeded in winning the NWA Tag Team title alongside Williams. In the early 1990s he achieved similar successes alongside the Tasmanica in the ECW.

In 1994 he moved to WCW, where he worked both as a wrestler and as a booker. Here he dropped the satanist image and began to act as a "task master". As a booker, he put his focus heavily on established wrestlers, especially Hulk Hogan , whom he had against monster-like enemies. However, the cooperation was made more difficult by claims Hogans, who had a say in the outcome of his matches through contractual clauses. The same applied to the collaboration with Kevin Nash at a later time . As a wrestler, he first won the WCW tag team title with his unwanted tag team partner Cactus Jack . After losing the title, he initially feuded with Cactus Jack, who then moved to what was then WWF . In the mid-1990s, Sullivan was in the front row in the matches against Hulk Hogan himself. So he founded two anti-Hogan groups, first with Ed Leslie and John Tenta the "Faces of Fear" and then the Dungeon of Doom , to which Kamala , The Giant and, at times, Big Van Vader belonged. The Dungeon of Doom had an ambivalent relationship to the version of the Four Horsemen at the time . Sometimes they were allied against Hogan, but Sullivan feuded with individual horsemen, first with Brian Pillman , who left the WCW in 1996, and then with Chris Benoit .

According to the storyline written by Sullivan himself, the feud with Benoit stipulated that Sullivan's long-time wife, who married in 1985, and manager Nancy should start an affair with Benoit. At that time Nancy had the gimmick "Woman" and was among other things established as the manager of Ric Flair and Arn Anderson together with Miss Elisabeth . During this time, Benoit and Nancy Sullivan got closer in real life, too, so Nancy left her husband in favor of Benoit.

In 1997 the feud between Sullivan and Benoit ended with a career-ending match, which Benoit won. After that, Sullivan concentrated on his duties as a booker. He was mainly accused by Benoit of having blocked his WCW career out of personal animosity. Sullivan briefly appeared as the manager of a new edition of the Varsity Club. In 2000, Sullivan was appointed as their successor after the previous main bookers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara were sacked. As a result, his old rival Benoit and other disaffected younger wrestlers moved to the then WWF, which is seen as a factor in the downfall of the WCW. When WCW was bought by WWF in 2001, Sullivan was no longer a booker.

In 2002, Sullivan retired from wrestling and built his own gym called Froggy's Fitness in Tavernier , Florida . Guest appearances in various independent promotions began as early as 2003, and these are still there today. He appeared in guest roles at TNA and Ring of Honor, among others . He also catches and trades in crayfish.

Controversy

As a booker of the WCW, Sullivan relied primarily on established wrestlers with impressive physiques (for example Kevin Nash or Hulk Hogan ). This gave wrestlers like Chris Benoit no chance. This eventually escalated to the point that Benoit, Perry Saturn , Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko left the WCW and sought their fortune with the WWE . This and other events related to Sullivan's behavior made him a target for allegations that he was complicit in the sinking of the WCW. He rejected the change of the product under Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara to a kind of soap opera . In 2000 he became booker again, which led Benoit to move to WWE. He then mainly pushed Kevin Nash and Sid Vicious . However, this could no longer end the downward trend. Subsequently, the responsible parties decided to use Russo and Bischoff as a team, but this meant that Sullivan withdrew completely. Sullivan himself blamed the takeover by AOL Time Warner for the demise of the promotion .

Kevin Sullivan and Brian Pillman had differences during Sullivan's time as Booker. This was largely because Sullivan was keeping the young, aspiring Pillman down. Sullivan was known for realistic bookings, so this open aversion should be resolved in a so-called strap match on February 11, 1996 at Super Brawl '96. In this match, the two opponents are connected with a chain. The match should end when either of the two showed his respect for the other. After all, the match was a 45-second brawl that looked like a shoot to the fans , i.e. a real fight. After these 45 seconds, in which Pillman exchanged several hard blows against a defenseless Sullivan, he broke up and ended the match with the words " I respect you, booker man ", a direct reference to Sullivan's position as booker. With that he broke the fourth wall . This became known as "The Booker Man Incident". In fact, it was a coordinated thing that was staged by Eric Bischoff and Sullivan and Pillman themselves to make wrestling more realistic. Pillmann should then switch to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and continue to cause a stir there. He was under contract with both leagues for a while. To the horror of everyone involved, however, he then switched to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

After Chris Benoit had killed his wife Nancy Benoit and their son and then took his own life, Sullivan's role in this love triangle and thus an indirect complicity in the murder of his ex-wife was discussed. So he fell victim to a conspiracy theory . Johnny Lee Clary even claimed on his website at the time that Sullivan himself killed Benoit, his ex-wife and their son. Clary claimed, without producing any evidence, that the tragedy happened exactly 10 years to the day after the divorce, and he further claimed that Sullivan was a senior member of the Church of Satan . Although he removed the site from the network fairly quickly, the rumors lingered longer. So Sullivan couldn't even attend his ex-wife's funeral for fear that the media would pounce on him.

Wrestling titles and honors

  • Central States Wrestling
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version) (1 ×) - with Ken Lucas
  • Century Wrestling Alliance
  • CWA Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)
  • Allied Independent Wrestling Federations
  • AIWF World Six Man Tag Team Championship
  • NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)
  • NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (2 ×) - with Mike Graham
  • NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (4 ×)
  • NWA Georgia Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 ×)
  • NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 ×) - with Tony Atlas
  • NWA National Television Championship (2 ×)
  • Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling / Southeastern Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Southeast Continental Heavyweight Championship (2 ×)
  • NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (2 ×) - with Ken Lucas
  • WA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 ×)
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Gulf Coast version) (1 ×) - with Ken Lucas
  • New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
    • Class of 2013
  • NWA Mid-America
  • NWA Mid-America Television Championship (1 ×)
  • NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (1 ×) - with Len Rossi
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (2 ×) - with Robert Fuller (1 ×) and Mike Graham (1 ×)
  • PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1981)
  • # 58 of the 500 best individual wrestlers according to PWI 500 (1994)
    1. 106 of the 500 best individual wrestlers according to PWI Years (2003)
  • NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Tennessee version) (1 ×)
  • Southwest Championship Wrestling
  • SCW Southwest Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards

Film and series appearances

  • 2016: The Swerve (documentary series)
  • 2014: The Monday Night War: WWE vs. WCW (documentary series)
  • 2010: Card Subject to Change (documentary)
  • 1996: Baywatch (an episode)
  • 1990: Family Feud
  • 1983: The Facts Of Life (1983)

Works

literature

  • Harris M. Lentz III: Biographical Dictionary of Professional Wrestling . McFarland: 2003. ISBN 978-0-7864-1754-4 , pp. 341-342

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Kevin Sullivan: Bio. WWE.com, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Kip Doyle: That Crazy Wrestler: Kevin Sullivan. Theclawhold.com, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b c Kevin Sullivan. Genickbruch.com, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  4. ^ A b c Chris Schramm: Looking back on the career of "Woman": Exquisite looks got Nancy Toffoloni into wrestling. Slam! Sports, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  5. ^ A b c David Shoemaker: The Squared Circle: Life, Death, and Professional Wrestling . Penguin, 2013, ISBN 978-1-101-60974-3 , pp. 55 f .
  6. ↑ METZGER'S ROH PPV REPORT - Best in the World 2016 & Overall Reax. Pro Wrestling Torch, June 24, 2016, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Where Are They Now? Kevin Sullivan. WWE.com, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  8. ^ A b William Windsor: Kevin Sullivan Talks Chris Benoit Conspiracy Theories, Making Benoit Champion, Benoit - Nancy Angle. Wrestling Inc., December 17, 2015, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Former WCW booker Kevin Sullivan on Chris Benoit and company leaving when he took over, Brian Pillman's "shoot" angle, Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera, and the pre-NWO plan to turn Hulk Hogan heel. ProWrestling.net, February 26, 2014, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Interview with Kevin Sullivan. Broken neck, March 26, 2012, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  11. ↑ The Sullivan Era. mrtitopdc.tripod.com, March 3, 2001, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  12. ^ Wrestling's Greatest Shoots, Volume 5: Brian Pillman vs. Kevin Sullivan. Grantland.com, August 6, 2013, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Chris Benoit Conspiracy Theories Debunked: What Really Happened? Wrestlepundit.com, June 5, 2015, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  14. ^ NWA World Tag Team Title (Central States) history At wrestling-titles.com
  15. ^ CWA Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  16. ↑ Florida Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  17. ↑ Florida Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  18. ^ NWA Southern Heavyweight Title (Florida) history At wrestling-titles.com
  19. ↑ ECW World Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  20. ^ NWA Georgia Junior Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  21. ^ NWA Georgia Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  22. ^ NWA National Television Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  23. ^ NWA Southeast Continental Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  24. ^ NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Title (Southeastern / Continental) history At wrestling-titles.com
  25. ^ NWA United States Tag Team Title (Gulf Coast) history At wrestling-titles.com
  26. ↑ NWA / WCW United States Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  27. ↑ WCW World Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  28. ↑ Archived copy . Archived from the original on July 6, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  29. ^ NWA Mid-America Television Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  30. ↑ NWA Mid-America / AWA Southern Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
  31. ^ NWA World Tag Team Title (Mid-America) history At wrestling-titles.com
  32. ↑ PWI 500 1994 . The Turnbuckle Post. Archived from the original on July 26, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 26, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / theturnbucklepost.com
  33. ^ PWI 500 of the PWI Years . Willy Wrestlefest. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  34. ^ NWA Southern Heavyweight Title (Tennessee) history At wrestling-titles.com
  35. ↑ SWCW Southwest Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
personal data
SURNAME Sullivan, Kevin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sullivan, Kevin Francis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Key West , Florida