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 Sullivan, circa 1984 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kevin Francis Sullivan (1949-10-26)October 26, 1949 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | August 9, 2024(2024-08-09) (aged 74) Concord, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Boston Battler The Gamesmaster Johnny West Kevin Caldwell Kevin Sullivan Masked Lucifer The Great Wizard The Taskmaster The Prince of Darkness |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 250 lb (110 kg; 18 st)[1] |
| Billed from | Boston, Massachusetts Lexington, Massachusetts[2] Singapore[3] Eleuthera,The Bahamas[citation needed] "The Iron Gates of Fate"[4] (as "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan as the leader of the Dungeon of Doom) The Conch Republic |
| Debut | October 1970 |
| Retired | July 13, 1997 |
Kevin Francis Sullivan (October 26, 1949 – August 9, 2024) was an Americanprofessional wrestler andbooker, best known for his roles inChampionship Wrestling From Florida andWorld Championship Wrestling.
Sullivan was born on October 26, 1948 inCambridge, Massachusetts, the son of a police officer. He grew up in a working classIrish American neighborhood. As a youth, Sullivan participated inamateur wrestling at theYMCA and at boys' clubs, as well asweightlifting. He was a fan of the localBig Time Wrestlingprofessional wrestling promotion.[6]
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Sullivan had been an amateur wrestler in theBoston area, and was not trained professionally.[7] His first professional match was inMontreal, beating Fernand Frechette.[8] Sullivan wrestled as "Johnny West" in theNational Wrestling Alliance'sGulf Coast Championship Wrestling in the early 1970s, capturing theNWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship withKen Lucas, defeating Jack Morrell and Eddie Sullivan on March 11, 1971. Next, he went toChampionship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) in 1972 and captured theNWA Florida Tag Team Championship withMike Graham. He then went north to join theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) as a mid-cardface from 1974 to 1977. He had a (rare for the time) face versus face battle withPete Sanchez on aMadison Square Garden undercard. Sullivan also wrestled as a face for promoter Roy Shire's Big Time Wrestling inSan Francisco. Wrestling forGeorgia Championship Wrestling, Sullivan and partnerAustin Idol challengedThe Fabulous Freebirds for theNWA Georgia Tag Team Championship in November 1980. During this feud was the angle where the Freebirds flattened all four of Idol's tires to prevent him and Sullivan from wrestling for the titles (though Idol only mentioned a single flat tire). Sullivan also worked in CWF as a face until the early 1980s.[citation needed]
His firstheel turn was in Georgia in late 1980, when he won theNWA National Television Championship fromSteve Keirn on November 29, after Sullivan attacked Keirn during the match while Keirn was re-entering the ring. Sullivan would lose the belt toSteve O on January 16, 1981, due to outside interference by Keirn. From April to July 1981, Sullivan wrestled as a heel in theMemphis territory, where alongsideWayne Ferris (The Honky Tonk Man) and managerJimmy Hart, he battled the local faces includingJerry Lawler, while also continuing his feud with Keirn, who also was wrestling in Memphis at the time. Sullivan returned to Georgia as a heel in November 1981, but turned face by late-March 1982, feuding withBuzz Sawyer while in the Georgia territory before returning to Florida again to wrestle forEddie Graham.[citation needed]
Known as the heel "Boston Battler", Sullivan's "Prince of Darkness" gimmick started during this time, adopting the persona of anoccultist andcult leader who would invoke the powers of dark spirits in promos and matches.[9] The gimmick was inspired by the then-ongoingSatanic panic.[9]
In CWF he became associated with"Maniac" Mark Lewin (Purple Haze),Mike Davis,Bob Roop,The Lock andLuna Vachon and others as the Army of Darkness. His biggest rivals during this time includedDusty Rhodes,Barry Windham, and his former partnerMike Graham. Sullivan split his time withInternational Championship Wrestling and brought "The Prince of Darkness" gimmick there, along with Lewin and Roop. He had the Fallen Angel as his valet, who later became known asWoman. Sullivan was the top heel in ICW when the company first went national and had noted feuds withAustin Idol,Superstar Billy Graham,Bruiser Brody,Joe Savoldi andBlackjack Mulligan.
Sullivan formedThe Varsity Club upon arrival inJim Crockett Promotions withMike Rotunda andRick Steiner. They immediately started feuding withJimmy Garvin because Sullivan wanted Garvin's wifePrecious for himself. This feud lasted a while with Sullivankayfabe breaking Garvin's leg at one point. Steiner left the group and was replaced by"Dr. Death" Steve Williams andDan Spivey. They feuded with Dusty Rhodes,The Road Warriors, Rick Steiner andEddie Gilbert. Sullivan even attacked Gilbert's wifeMissy Hyatt.
By late 1989, the Varsity Club was gone, and Sullivan formed the stable "Sullivan's Slaughterhouse" withCactus Jack andBuzz Sawyer (later replaced byBam Bam Bigelow) to feud with Rotunda.[10] Sullivan took time off in late 1990 and returned in early 1991 as the manager ofOne Man Gang,Black Blood, and the Angel of Death. They cutEl Gigante's hair and had a brief feud. Sullivan also was the masked Great Wizard briefly to manageOz. After his contract with WCW expired in August 1991, Sullivan worked inJapan, participating inFMW where he wrestled againstAtsushi Onita withEd Farhat, and later moved on to compete inW*ING.
Sullivan was in a feud with"Primetime" Brian Lee where after Lee's matches there would be a miniature tombstone brought to ringside. During this feud he was known as The Master and enlisted the help ofThe Nightstalker and theMongolian Mauler to soften up Lee. After Lee defeated Nightstalker, he finally came face to face with The Master who was revealed to be Sullivan after he delivered afireball to the face of Lee and was joined by Nightstalker in busting open Lee on live television. Lee would return and finally get the upper hand on Sullivan in a Singapore Spike match with Sullivan which Lee won after Nightstalker accidentally hit Sullivan with the spike. Sullivan left SMW shortly after losing a match toRonnie Garvin by DQ in March 1994.
In September 1993, Sullivan – along with Woman – joined thePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania-based promotionEastern Championship Wrestling. He debuted atUltraClash, teaming withAbdullah The Butcher againstStan Hansen andTerry Funk in abunkhouse match. AtNWA Bloodfest the following month, Sullivan faced Abdullah in asteel cage match that ended in a double disqualification. AtTerror at Tabor in November, Sullivan won abattle royal. The following day, atNovember to Remember, he defeatedTommy Cairo.[11]
In December 1993, Sullivan formed atag team withThe Tazmaniac. In their first match together, the duo defeatedShane Douglas andTommy Dreamer for theECW Tag Team Championship. They successfully defended the titles against opponents such asBadd Company and The Young Dragons before a match againstThe Bruise Brothers in February 1994 ended in controversial fashion, resulting in the titles being vacated. Sullivan and The Tazmaniac defeated The Bruise Brothers in a rematch the following month to regain the titles, but lost them toThe Public Enemy the next day. AtThe Night the Line Was Crossed that month, Sullivan and The Tazmaniac lost toPat Tanaka andThe Sheik.[11]
AtUltimate Jeopardy on March 26, 1994, Sullivan teamed with The Tazmaniac,Road Warrior Hawk, andECW Heavyweight ChampionTerry Funk to faceMr. Hughes, The Public Enemy, andShane Douglas in anUltimate Jeopardy match with the stipulation that Sullivan and The Tazmaniac would be forced to disband if they were defeated; the match ended when Douglas pinned Funk. Sullivan continued to team with The Tazmaniac until April 1994. In May 1994, Sullivan unsuccessfully challengedMikey Whipwreck for theECW Television Championship. His final match for ECW was a loss toJimmy Snuka on May 14, 1994 atWhen Worlds Collide; during the match, Woman left Sullivan to join forces withThe Sandman. Sullivan subsequently left ECW to return to World Championship Wrestling full-time; Woman remained in ECW until February 1996.[11][12][13]While working for WCW, Sullivan – along withBrian Pillman andSherri Martel – made an appearance at an ECW event on November 18, 1994 as part of asettlement for acopyright infringement claim filed against WCW by ECW.[14][15][16]
Sullivan made appearances with World Championship Wrestling in January and March 1994, teaming with hiskayfabe brotherDave Sullivan (adyslexic character who was being picked on byThe Nasty Boys) athouse shows and onWCW Pro andWCW Worldwide. In April 1994, Sullivan began appearing regularly with WCW.[17]
Sullivan enlisted Cactus Jack's help and beat The Nasty Boys for the Tag Team Title.[18] Dave was injured and out of action for a while and Sullivan split with Cactus after losing the titles. Sullivan defeated Cactus in a Loser Leaves WCW match atFall Brawl.[19]
Dave came back and dressed like his idol,Hulk Hogan. This infuriated Kevin, who hated Hogan, and they started feuding. Kevin brought in Hogan's best friend,Ed Leslie, as The Butcher, to help him with his feud against Hogan. He also brought inAvalanche and called the trioThe Three Faces of Fear. They feuded with Hogan,Randy Savage andSting. In early 1995, after not being able to end Hogan's career, Avalanche left the group and Sullivan turned on The Butcher.
Later in 1995 Sullivan began hearing the voice of someone calling for him to come find him. Over the course of several weeks, vignettes were shot with Sullivan searching for the man, who eventually became known asThe Master. Once Sullivan found The Master he was rechristened with a newgimmick, The Taskmaster. The two men immediately started putting together a new group that eventually became known as the Dungeon of Doom. In time, the group grew to includeKamala,The Barbarian,Meng,The Yeti,Hugh Morrus,Loch Ness,One Man Gang,Big Bubba Rogers, andThe Giant. Sullivan also brought in his former 3 Faces of Fear stablemates, with Avalanche wrestling as The Shark and The Butcher wrestling as The Zodiac. For a very short time,Big Van Vader also was a member. Managed by Sullivan, four Dungeon of Doom members lost to The Hulkamaniacs in aWarGames match at September'sFall Brawl. As a result of Hogan's win over Zodiac, he got to spend five minutes alone with Sullivan. The feud with Hogan continued for much of the remainder of the year and saw the group addJimmy Hart as its manager, after he turned on Hogan in October 1995 and cost him the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in a match with the Giant.
The Dungeon then feuded with theFour Horsemen, and Sullivan acquired a certain disliking forBrian Pillman. Once Sullivan sent Pillman packing, the Dungeon and the Horsemen joined forces again to get rid of Hulk Hogan and his friends and formed the unsuccessful Alliance To End Hulkamania.
Afterward, Sullivan and HorsemanChris Benoit began a feud much like his with Pillman. It lasted for over a year, during which Benoit took Woman from him. Sullivan brought inJacquelyn to help him and addedKonnan to the Dungeon. He lost aretirement match to Benoit atBash at the Beach on July 13, 1997.
This loss gave him more time to concentrate on his job as booker. Sullivan stayed on as the booker or a member of the WCW booking committee after he put Benoit over and made a brief on-screen appearance with the reformed Varsity Club of Mike Rotunda and Rick Steiner with their cheerleader,Leia Meow. After a couple of months, he was back off television.
In 2000, after the demotion of Ed Ferrara and Vince Russo (and subsequent departure of the latter), the resulting chaos led to Sullivan's promotion to head booker. This move infuriated a number of WCW wrestlers, given Sullivan's history of professional rivalries with Benoit (Benoit had an affair with Nancy Benoit and later married her). Benoit,Dean Malenko,Eddie Guerrero andPerry Saturn would quit the night after, immediately signing with theWorld Wrestling Federation. Sullivan was fired before WCW's sale in 2001.
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In 2003, Sullivan made one surprise appearance inTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling, as the officiator in the firstClockwork Orange House of Fun match. In late 2003/2004, he worked for the All World Wrestling League/Big Time Wrestling. In 2010, Sullivan appeared as one of the main subjects in the feature-length documentary filmCard Subject To Change. In 2012 he started wrestling in the Pacific Northwest with his nephew Dash Venture and one other Ron Sullivan (Von Hess). Together they won the AIWF World Six-Man Championship. Also The Taskmaster fought the Grappler during this time. First time ever in their long careers. On April 28, 2012, Sullivan made a surprise appearance, initially under a mask, during the Shane Douglas vs. 2 Cold Scorpio match at Extreme Reunion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On March 8, 2013, Sullivan appeared in Nitro, West Virginia where he reunited with Dash Venture Sullivan in his corner as he faced Ron Mathis. On July 7, 2013, Sullivan appeared at Supercon in Miami as himself to sign autographs.
He appears as himself in the opening wrestling sequence of the 2013 filmPro Wrestlers vs Zombies during APWA Wrestling Pile Driving Drugs II. He wrestled in a tag match teaming with Barbarian and was managed by Don West. They would defeat Beastman and Jock Samson.[20] In May 2014, Kevin Sullivan began working for promoter Don West with the American Pro Wrestling Alliance and is the current booker for the promotion. Kevin put Don over, passing him the torch, saying that he would be darker than he ever was. Kevin is mentoring him as the manager for The First Family in the APWA with The Barbarian, Ricky Reyes and the Turkana Warrior.[21] On June 26, 2014, Sullivan teamed with Ace Perry and Christian Skyfire to defeat John Wayne Murdoch, Reed Bentley and Tripp Cassidy in the Main Event of an Evolution Pro Wrestling event He is podcast host forMLW Radio. He co-hosted a free show with Mister Saint Laurent calledMSL & Sullivan until early 2018 and continues to host a premium show calledKevin Sullivan's Helluva Deal. On July 13, 2019, Sullivan wrestled againstBrian Pillman Jr. in a No Holds Barred match which ended in a no contest at ECCW: Ballroom Brawl XII in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Sullivan served as a color commentator for the television show for the Texas-based SWE promotion in 2020 until the promotion closed in 2021. As of the end of 2021, Sullivan has become the manager of The Blood Hunter in PCW Ultra and World Class Pro.
On June 24, 2016, Sullivan made a surprise appearance during an Unsanctioned Fight Without Honor match atRing of Honor'sBest in the World '16 betweenSteve Corino andB. J. Whitmer. Sullivan helped Whitmer win the match by striking Corino's head with his signature golden spike. He then formed an alliance with Whitmer and"Punishment" Damian Martinez in which Whitmer is billed as his second "son," and started terrorizing Corino as his "first son" for not letting his evil side out.
Sullivan was born inCambridge, Massachusetts on October 26, 1949.[22] He married American professional wrestling manager and model, Nancy Toffoloni, also known as ‘Woman,’ in 1985. It was Toffoloni’s second marriage. Toffoloni left Sullivan in 1997, and married Chris Benoit in 2000.
Starting in 1997, Sullivan's partner was LA Taylor (Linda Sullivan). She collaborated with Sullivan to publish the "Old School: Ring Squared" series, a fictionalized account of the beginnings of the wrestling business and the influences of television and the territories.
In 2022, Sullivan made an appearance onJudge Steve Harvey with wrestler and managerJ. J. Dillon.[23]
In May 2024, Sullivan was involved in a "devastating accident" that had a major impact on his health. He underwent surgery and sustained multiple complications, and the accident reportedly affected his ability to function independently.[24] On July 15, Sullivan claimed that he was in the process of recovering.[25] Sullivan died from complications of ablood clot inConcord, Massachusetts, on August 9, 2024, at the age of 74.[22][25][26]
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