Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
For a generation of professional wrestling fans, Kevin Sullivan represented the ultimate evil in professional wrestling. For a different generation, Sullivan was the Bookerman behind the scenes that helped orchestrate World Championship Wrestling achieving its greatest heights. For decades in front of and behind the camera, Sullivan was a polarizing figure, one who learned at the foot of the legendary Eddie Graham, battled the equally legendary Dusty Rhodes and will be forever remembered as one of the all-time great antagonists in professional wrestling.
Although billed for much of his career from Singapore to play into the mystic, devilish character that he portrayed so perfectly, Kevin Sullivan’s voice always betrayed his true origins as someone who grew up in the New England area, the Boston accent always coming through on his bellowing promos.
Like a number of stars who broke into the business in the 1970s, Sullivan made his way through the territory system. He competed in the NWA Gulf Coast area as Johnny West. As a babyface, he competed as Kevin Sullivan for the WWWF in the early-mid 70s. He competed in Canada and all across the United States, including Georgia Championship Wrestling and Championship Wrestling from Florida.
It was in 1980 when Sullivan would find his true calling in professional wrestling, turning heel while challenging Steve Keirn for the NWA National Television Championship while wrestling in Georgia. He attacked Keirn as he was returning to the ring, winning the belt and holding it for several months. Now firmly entrenched on that side of performing, Sullivan worked Memphis and Georgia before returning to Eddie Graham’s Championship Wrestling from Florida.
It was in CWF where Sullivan learned the most about booking and became the ultimate villain for the territory. Dusty Rhodes was the common man, fighting for the blue collar men and women who made American great and Sullivan evolved into, well…The Devil.
Yes, really.
Inspired at the time by the legitimate worries and panic of Satanism in the United States, Sullivan became the Prince of Darkness, a cult leader dabbling in the occult claiming to have the power of black magic and evil spirits in his promos. Luna Vachon portrayed a female reporter who fell under his sway and became the demented character she will be forever known as. Mark Lewin emerged from the ocean as The Purple Haze and others, including Bob Roop and Mike Davis became Sullivan’s Army of Darkness. It was an army of freaks that preceded the likes of Raven’s Flock in ECW and WCW, but with none of the silliness or levity. Sullivan’s brood were presented as twisted, dark individuals out for utter domination with only the likes of Dusty Rhodes and his Family, including Blackjack Mulligan, Mike Graham and Barry Windham, standing to protect the sanctity of the world and all that was good. It was the professional wrestling version of Stephen King’s The Stand.
During this era, photographer Bill Otten suggested Florida native and ringside fan Nancy Toffoloni as a cover model for George Napolitano’s magazines. Sullivan met Toffoloni at that photo shoot and instantly began suggesting she enter the business and work on camera with him. After months of trying to convince her, Sullivan succeeded and The Fallen Angel was born. The two later married and were together for many years until Sullivan unwittingly set the end of his own marriage into motion, which we’ll get to later.
For fans in Florida in that time period, Kevin was pure, unadulterated evil, but for all the talk of the Devil, it’s important to note that Sullivan never mentioned Satan. He simply played into the darkness and the occult and allowed others to infer that’s who he was, letting the fans feed on the insinuation, becoming more and more hated as he tormented Dusty Rhodes.
When Dusty lost a loser leaves town match, he returned as the masked Midnight Rider. When Sullivan was suspended for his evil acts, he returned as the masked Lucier, until the Rider unmasked him as Sullivan, who was banned from returning. Sullivan leaned into being a Charles Manson-type cult leader more than just being a Satanist. In fact, he never mentioned Satan by name. Dusty eventually lost a loser-leaves-town match (after Jake Roberts, disguised as Santa Claus interfered) and came back as the Midnight Rider. Sullivan was suspended and the blowoff to their feud was a wild (but very brief) cage match in Tampa, as the Midnight Rider defeated the masked Lucifer, then unmasked him. Sullivan was banned.
In another big moment, Dusty Rhodes was being honored for his excellence at the box office by Bill Apter with that week’s Florida TV almost presenting an episode that was similar to a “This Is Your Life” celebration for Rhodes, who appeared on camera with his sister. With Rhodes about to sign a contract to challenge Ric Flair for the NWA World Championship, pushed as the first title match in Florida in some years, he was surprised by his sister. As other babyfaces celebrated Dusty, Sullivan descended upon the scene, sneaking past everyone and throwing an inky substance into Dusty’s sister’s face, blinding her.
The war continued until eventually Dusty moved on to headline and book for Jim Crockett Promotions. By 1987, Sullivan had followed, creating The Varsity Club with the idea that with his evil powers, he had put Mike Rotunda (a babyface his entire career) and Rick Steiner under his control, unleashing the vicious side of two great athletic wrestlers. Sullivan began stalking Jimmy Garvin’s wife Precious, even locking himself in a room with her in Tallahassee, Florida, with the untold implication being that he had abused or assaulted her.
The Garvin vs. Sullivan feud, which included Garvin’s leg being attacked with a cinder block, eventually culminated at the Great American Bash ‘88 PPV where Garvin led a team against Sullivan’s team, battling through the Triple Cage Tower of Doom. Garvin’s team was triumphant, but Sullivan locked himself in the cage to attack Precious before Garvin and Road Warrior Hawk made the save.
By the end of 1988, Sullivan’s tormenting and abuse of Rick Steiner set him up for a big babyface turn and TV title win over Rotunda. There was a brief period of time where Steiner was one of hottest babyfaces for the company based on him breaking away from Sullivan and playing a loveable but dopey hero that the fans truly got behind.
With Turner Broadcasting purchasing Jim Crockett Promotions towards the end of 1988, Sullivan ended up on the booking committee at the time. On camera, he was not used consistently by WCW. He had a short run with a group known as The Slaughterhouse, where they wore butcher smocks. He managed different talents, including The One Man Gang and Black Blood, a hooded Billy Jack Haynes. When Kevin Nash debuted as Oz (don’t ask), Sullivan was his masked manager, the Great Wizard.
Sullivan exited WCW and began to wrestle and work all over the world. He toured Singapore and other countries in that region for John Arezzi’s IWAS. He wrestled for W*ING and FMW in Japan. He was revealed as the mysterious Master who was out to destroy Brian Lee in Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling, throwing a fireball in Lee’s face while he was battling the Nightstalker, Bryan Clark.
Sullivan landed in the upstart ECW in 1993, once again being managed by his wife Nancy, now known as Woman. He debuted at Ultraclash, teaming with Abdullah The Butcher against Stan Hansen and Terry Funk. He battled Abdullah in a steel cage match and was soon teaming with The Tazmaniac (Taz, at the time playing a face painted savage wrestler from the Dojos of Tasmania, as far as one can imagine from Red Hook), holding the ECW Tag Team titles. The duo were stripped of their belts after a disputed finish with The Bruise Brothers. They then feuded with Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond, Badd Company, and after injuring Diamond, found themselves facing The Original Sheik at ECW’s The Night The Line Was Crossed, the show that forever entrenched ECW into pro wrestling history.
As ECW’s spark grew hotter, Sullivan was a veteran presence backstage and a wild influence in front of the camera, throwing chairs and brawling with reckless abandon against the likes of Mikey Whipwreck, Jimmy Snuka and Shane Douglas. Sullivan finished up, leaving for WCW, while Woman would remain to manage The Sandman, which became an eternally beloved combination as they reigned down chaos on the likes of Tommy Cairo and Sandman’s wife Peaches. Sullivan would return for one final appearance in November 1994, teaming with Cactus Jack against The Public Enemy in a crazy brawl.
Sullivan returned to WCW, now being overseen and operated by Eric Bischoff in 1994. It was a big period of transition for the company, which had seen the white-hot product of 1989 falter. Under Bischoff, the company would find its way back to prominence by hiring Hulk Hogan and other 80s WWF stars, focusing completely on the television product and taping well in advance at Disney’s MGM Studios, setting the stage for the company to eventually go live on Mondays on TNT.
Sullivan would come on as booker and appear on camera, brawling with The Nasty Boys alongside his “brother” Evad Sullivan. This led to Cactus Jack teaming with Sullivan after his own partner Maxx Payne was injured with an incredible Philadelphia Street Fight at WCW Slamboree ‘94 in Philly tearing down the house. Cactus would leave WCW, losing a Loser Leaves Town Match that September.
Sullivan was soon back to his evil ways, tormenting his brother Evad for idolizing Hulk Hogan, who had come into the company and energized it, although die-hard fans at the time were extremely upset at how much WCW had changed to format itself around The Hulkster. Sullivan formed a heel group to take out Hogan, featuring John Tenta as Avalanche and Hogan’s best friend Brutus Beefcake as The Butcher. As The Three Faces of Fear, they were the cartoon villain foil to the heroic trio of Hogan, Randy Savage and Sting.
Once that feud ran its course, Sullivan was rechristened The Taskmaster with a series of vignettes where Sullivan sought and found his Master, played by King Curtis Iakeua. This led to the formation of another over the top group of heels, The Dungeon of Doom, all monster heels designed to be the foil for Hogan, including Kamala, The Barbarian and Tenta, now known as The Shark. This led to a Wargames match where the stable lost to Hogan’s team, because good had to conquer evil.
The Dungeon of Doom soon began having issues with The Four Horsemen, leading to several major developments. Sullivan was a major piece of Brian Pillman’s Loose Cannon character becoming molten hot and when Pillman got out of a respect match by mockingly claiming “I respect you Bookerman”, a moment that went viral among pro wrestling fans before the term existed.
Sullivan then feuded with Chris Benoit, including some incredible brawls, but as part of the act of building legitimacy in the feud, booked his wife Woman (who was in storyline, associated with The Four Horsemen) as a couple with Benoit. In one of those real life mimicking storyline moments that often happen in pro wrestling, Sullivan had inadvertently set the stage for the end of his own marriage. Nancy went with Chris and later married him - and was tragically murdered by Benoit years later, along with their son Daniel.
In a horribly unfair situation, there would be media accounts where some tried to connect the deaths to some sort of revenge play by Sullivan, even though he was not in Georgia and the police investigation ruled that Benoit had committed the acts alone before taking his own life. Some media accounts even tried to connect the fact that Sullivan had been a “booker” to the situation, not even understanding the basic fundamentals of what the title meant in professional wrestling. Sullivan would rarely comment on the situation, citing he wanted to show respect for the families.
After retiring at the end of his feud with Benoit from in-ring action, Sullivan focused primarily on booking WCW. His thought process was that the card started with athletic wrestling and the further you got to the main event, the more spectacle and character were the key as opposed to underneath, where the wrestling was the focus. As much as Eric Bischoff deserves the credit for being the captain of the ship and raising WCW from the depths of hell into the only promotion that ever smacked Vince McMahon down into a number two position, Sullivan’s booking and ability to build stories and cards were just as important.
When it came time for Hulk Hogan to turn heel, Sullivan sequestered Hogan away from all of his friends and anyone who might try to sow doubt into the idea, knowing that if Hogan’s turn didn’t happen, the NWO angle wouldn’t go to the next level. For a period of time, WCW could do no wrong and Sullivan was one of the architects involved that built the house.
Indeed, It was a golden era for WCW, but as often happens in professional wrestling, the era passed and the golden goose was killed, as has been well documented a billion times over. Sullivan was eventually out as booker, and Bischoff, overwhelmed as the WWF Attitude Era took hold and changes within Turner’s infrastructure manifested, found himself unable to pivot and was also out of power.
WCW hired Vince Russo, which only made matters worse for fans who were hoping for a resurgence of what they loved about WCW in its best days. More of a Xerox of the WWF style action-adventure product with characters that never truly had a chance to get over and more twists and swerves than you could ever keep track of, rhat version of WCW never clicked as strongly as anyone expected when the news that Russo had jumped from WWF first came out, although certainly Russo had to deal with some of the same frustrations that Bischoff also deal with.
WCW pivoted back to Bischoff (with Russo), to Russo alone and then for a bit to Sullivan and Terry Taylor before the AOL-Time Warner merger, major financial losses (some of which WCW was burdened with by the Hollywood accounting of Turner Broadcasting) and the overall implosion of interest led to WCW being sold off to the WWF.
In that period where Sullivan was booking again, he booked Chris Benoit to win the WCW World title, obviously trying to show there would be no hard feelings as they tried to rebuild the company. Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn still demanded out of WCW and got their wish based on the fact that one of the Producers (not Sullivan), hearing they had gone to management to protest the latest upheaval and changes, stated that anyone messing with his money and his family would get their throat cut. With that Human Resources nightmare as their weapon, all were given immediate releases, allowing The Radicalz to go to WWF.
With the demise of WCW, that was pretty much it for Sullivan on a major league national scale, although he and JJ Dillon had meetings with different broadcast outlets, including SpikeTV (before TNA) trying to launch a promotion. He was one of the subjects of the documentary Card Subject to Change, which followed Sullivan and others on the independent scene. He made some appearances in TNA but never wrestled there. He popped up in Ring of Honor in 2016, assisting BJ Whitmer by striking Steve Corino with the golden spike, aligning himself with Whitmer and Punishment Martinez aka WWE’s Damian Priest.
Sullivan had moved to an Island off the coast of Washington State in recent years, which also limited how often he would be involved in pro wrestling. He did make convention and signing appearances. He advised lots of independent promotions and talents. He would make a number of podcast appearances as well, passing on his knowledge while trying to find a new platform where he could return to the business full-time, if possible, but the timing and opportunity was never there.
Earlier this year, it was announced Sullivan had been involved in an accident that forced him to be hospitalized amid a number of health concerns. A GoFundMe was launched to assist his recovery this past May.
Sullivan, 74, will be forever remembered as one of the most diabolical characters of his era - and one of the most creative.
PWInsider.com sends our deepest condolences to Kevin's family, friends and fans.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
