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RIP Kevin Sullivan! · Gil I Am

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  Speaker 1: Kevin Sullivan American professional wrestler and booker born October twenty sixth,
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  Speaker 1: nineteen forty eight and died August ninth, twenty twenty four
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  Speaker 1: was best known for his role in World Championship wrestling.
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan had been an amateur wrestler in the Boston area
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  Speaker 1: and was not trained professionally. His first professional match was
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  Speaker 1: in Montreal, meeting Fernand Frischett. Sullivan wrestled as Johnny West
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  Speaker 1: in the National Wrestling Alliance's Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling in
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  Speaker 1: the early nineteen seventies, capturing the NWA Gulf Coast Tag
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  Speaker 1: Team Championship with Ken Lucas, defeating Jack Morrell and Eddie
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan on March eleventh, nineteen seventy one. Next, he went
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  Speaker 1: to Championship Wrestling from Florida c WF in nineteen seventy
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  Speaker 1: two and captured the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship with
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  Speaker 1: Mike Graham. He then went north to join the Worldwide
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  Speaker 1: Wrestling Federation WWWF as a mid card face from nineteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy four to nineteen seventy seven. He had a rare
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  Speaker 1: for the time, face versus face beatattle with Pete Sanchez
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  Speaker 1: on a Madison Square Garden undercard. Sullivan also wrestled as
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  Speaker 1: a face for promoter Royce Schier's Big Time Wrestling in
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  Speaker 1: San Francisco Wrestling. For Georgia Championship Wrestling, Sullivan and partner
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  Speaker 1: Austin Idol challenged the Fabulous Freebirds for the NWA Georgia
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  Speaker 1: Tag Team Championship in November nineteen eighty. During this feud
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  Speaker 1: was the Angle where the Freebirds flattened all four of
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  Speaker 1: Idol's tires to prevent him in Sullivan from wrestling for
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  Speaker 1: the titles. Sullivan also worked in c w F as
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  Speaker 1: a face until the early nineteen eighties. His first heel
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  Speaker 1: turn was in Georgia in late nineteen eighty when he
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  Speaker 1: won the NWA National Television Championship from Steve Kiern on
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  Speaker 1: November twenty ninth, after Sullivan attacked Kieran during the match
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  Speaker 1: while Kieran was re entering the ring. Sullivan would lose
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  Speaker 1: the belt to Stevo on January sixteenth, nineteen eighty one,
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  Speaker 1: due to outside interference by Kiern. From April to July
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  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty one, Sullivan wrestled as a heel in the
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  Speaker 1: Memphis Territory, where alongside way Yane Ferris, the Honky Tonk Man,
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  Speaker 1: and manager Jimmy Hart, he battled the local faces, including
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  Speaker 1: Jerry Lawler, while also continuing his feud with Kiern, who
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  Speaker 1: also was wrestling in Memphis at the time. Sullivan returned
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  Speaker 1: to Georgia as a heel in November nineteen eighty one,
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  Speaker 1: but turn faced by late March nineteen eighty two, feuding
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  Speaker 1: with Buzz Sawyer while in the Georgia territory, before returning
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  Speaker 1: to Florida again to wrestle for Eddie Graham, known as
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  Speaker 1: the heel Boston Battler. Sullivan's Prince of Darkness gimmicks started
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  Speaker 1: during this time, adopting the persona of an occultist and
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  Speaker 1: cult leader who would invoke the powers of dark spirits
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  Speaker 1: in promos and matches. The gimmick was inspired by the
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  Speaker 1: then ongoing Satanic panic in c w F. He became
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  Speaker 1: associated with Maniac Mark Lewin Purpleheyes, Mike Davis, Bob Rupe,
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  Speaker 1: the lock In, Luna Vishon, and others as the Army
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  Speaker 1: of Darkness. His biggest rivals during this time included Dusty Rhodes,
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  Speaker 1: Barry Wyndham, and his former partner Mike Graham, Sullivan split
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  Speaker 1: his time with International Championship Wrestling and brought the Prince
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  Speaker 1: of Darkness Gimmick there along with lewinin Rupe. He had
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  Speaker 1: the Fallen Angel as his valet, who later became known
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  Speaker 1: as Woman. Sullivan was the top heel in ICW when
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  Speaker 1: the company first went national and had noted feuds with
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  Speaker 1: Austin Idel, Superstar, Billy Graham, Bruiser Brodie, Joe Savoldi, and
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  Speaker 1: Blackjack Mulligan. Sullivan formed the Varsity Club upon arrival in
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  Speaker 1: Jim Crockett Promotions with Mike Rotunda and Rick Steiner. They
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  Speaker 1: immediately started feuding with Jimmy Garvin because Sullivan wanted Garvin's
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  Speaker 1: wife Precious for himself. This feud lasted a while, with
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan kfee breaking Garvin's leg. At one point, Steiner left
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  Speaker 1: the group and was replaced by Doctor Death, Steve Williams
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  Speaker 1: and Dan Spivey. They feuded with Dusty Rhodes, the Road Warriors,
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  Speaker 1: Rick Steiner, and Eddie Gilbert. Sullivan even attacked Gilbert's wife,
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  Speaker 1: Missy Hyatt. By late nineteen eighty nine, the Varsity Club
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  Speaker 1: was gone and Sullivan formed the Stable Sullivan slaughter House
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  Speaker 1: with Cactus Jack and buzz Sawyer, later replaced by Bam
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  Speaker 1: Bam Bigelow to feud with Rotunda. Sullivan took time off
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  Speaker 1: in late nineteen ninety and returned in early nineteen ninety
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  Speaker 1: one as the manager of One Man Gang, Black Blood
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  Speaker 1: and the Angel of Death. They cut L. G. Ganti's
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  Speaker 1: hair and had a brief feud. Sullivan also was the
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  Speaker 1: Masked Great Wizard briefly to manage Oz. After his contract
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  Speaker 1: with w c W expired in August nineteen ninety one,
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan worked in Japan, participating in FMW, where he wrestled
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  Speaker 1: against Atsushi Onida with Ed Farhat and later moved on
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  Speaker 1: to compete and Wing. In nineteen ninety two, Sullivan was
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  Speaker 1: in a feud with Prime Time Brian Lee in Smoky
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  Speaker 1: Mountain Wrestling, where after Lee's matches there would be a
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  Speaker 1: miniature tombstone brought to ringside. During this feud, he was
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  Speaker 1: known as the Master and enlisted the help of the
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  Speaker 1: Nightstocker and the Mongolian Maler to soften up Lee. After
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  Speaker 1: Lee defeated Nightstocker, he finally came face to face with
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  Speaker 1: the Master, who was revealed to be Sullivan after he
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  Speaker 1: delivered a fire bl to the face of Lee and
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  Speaker 1: was joined by Knightstoker in busting open Lee on live television.
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  Speaker 1: Lee would return and finally get the upper hand on
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan in a Singapore spike match with Sullivan, which Lee
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  Speaker 1: won after Nightstalker accidentally hit Sullivan with the spike. In
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  Speaker 1: September nineteen ninety three, Sullivan, along with Woman, joined the Philadelphia,
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  Speaker 1: Pennsylvania based promotion Eastern Championship Wrestling. He debuted at Ultra Clash,
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  Speaker 1: teaming with Abdullah the Butcher against Stan Hansen and Terry
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  Speaker 1: Funk in a bunkhouse match at NWA Bloodfest. The following month,
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan faced Abdullah in a steel cage match that ended
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  Speaker 1: in a double disqualification. At Terror at Tabor in November,
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan won a Battle Royal. The following day at November
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  Speaker 1: to Remember, he defeated Tommy Cairo. In December nineteen ninety three,
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan formed a tag team with the Tasmaniac. In their
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  Speaker 1: first match together, the duo defeated Shane Douglass and Tommy
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  Speaker 1: Dreamer for the ECW Tag Team Championship. Successfully defended the
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  Speaker 1: titles against opponents such as Bad Company and the Young
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  Speaker 1: Dragons before a match against the Bruce Brothers in February
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  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four ended in controversial fashion, resulting in the
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  Speaker 1: titles being vacated. Sullivan and the Tasmaniac defeated the Bruce
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  Speaker 1: Brothers in a rematch the following month to regain the titles,
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  Speaker 1: but lost them to the Public Enemy the next day.
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  Speaker 1: At the Night the Line was crossed. That month, Sullivan
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  Speaker 1: and the Tasmaniac lost to Pat Tanaka and The Sheikh.
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan made appearances with World Championship Wrestling in January. In
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  Speaker 1: March nineteen ninety four, teaming with his KFE brother Dave Sullivan,
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  Speaker 1: a dyslexic character who was being picked on by the
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  Speaker 1: Nasty Boys at house showsen on WCW Pro and WCW Worldwide.
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan left Smoky Mountain shortly after losing a match to
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  Speaker 1: Ronnie Garvin by DQ in March nineteen ninety four. At
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  Speaker 1: Ultimate Jeopardy on March twenty sixth, nineteen ninety four, Sullivan
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  Speaker 1: teamed with the Tasmaniac, Roade Warrior Hawk, and ECW Heavyweight
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  Speaker 1: Champion Terry Funk to Fi Hughes, The Public Enemy and
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  Speaker 1: Shane Douglas in an ultimate Jeopardy match, with the stipulation
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  Speaker 1: that Sullivan and the Tasmaniac would be forced to disband
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  Speaker 1: if they were defeated. The match ended when Douglas pinfunk.
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan continued to team with the Tasmaniac until April nineteen
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  Speaker 1: ninety four. In April nineteen ninety four, Sullivan began appearing
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  Speaker 1: regularly with w CW. Sullivan enlisted Cactus Jack's help and
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  Speaker 1: beat the Nasty Boys for the tag team title. Dave
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  Speaker 1: was injured and out of action for a while. In
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan split with Cactus after losing the titles. Sullivan defeated
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  Speaker 1: Cactus in a loser Leaves w CW match at fal Brawl.
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  Speaker 1: Dave came back and dressed like his idol, Hulk Hogan.
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  Speaker 1: This infuriated Kevin, who hated Hogan, and they started feuding.
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  Speaker 1: Kevin brought in Hogan's best friend, Ed Leslie as the
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  Speaker 1: Butcher to help him with his feud against Hogan. He
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  Speaker 1: also brought in Avalanche and called the trio the Three
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  Speaker 1: Faces of Fear. They feuded with Hogan, Rand d Savage,
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  Speaker 1: and Sting. In May nineteen ninety four, Sullivan unsuccessfully challenged
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  Speaker 1: Mikey Whipreck for the ECW Television Championship. His final match
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  Speaker 1: for ECW was a loss to Jimmy Snook on May fourteenth,
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  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four, at when worlds collide. During the match,
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  Speaker 1: Woman left Sullivan to join forces with The Sandman. Sullivan
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  Speaker 1: subsequently left ECW to return to World Championship Wrestling full time.
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  Speaker 1: Women remained in ECW until February nineteen ninety six. While
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  Speaker 1: working for WCW, Sullivan, along with Brian Pillman and Sherry Martell,
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  Speaker 1: made an appearance at an ECW event on November eighteenth,
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  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four, as part of a settlement for a
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  Speaker 1: copyright infringement claim filed against WCW by ECW. In WCW
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  Speaker 1: in early nineteen ninety five, after not being able to
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  Speaker 1: end Hogan's career, Avalanche left the group the Three Faces
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  Speaker 1: of Fear, and Sullivan turned on the Butcher. Later in
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  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety five, Sullivan began hearing the voie of someone
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  Speaker 1: calling for him to come find him. Over the course
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  Speaker 1: of several weeks, vignettes were shot with Sullivan's searching for
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  Speaker 1: the man, who eventually became known as the Master. Once
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan found The Master, he was rechristened with a new gimmick,
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  Speaker 1: the Task Master. The two men immediately started putting together
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  Speaker 1: a new group that eventually became known as the Dungeon
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  Speaker 1: of Doom. In time, the group grew to include Kamala,
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  Speaker 1: The Barbarian Meng The Yeti, Hugh Morris, Locke, Ness, One
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  Speaker 1: Man Gang, Big Bubba Rogers, and The Giant. Sullivan also
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  Speaker 1: brought in his former Three Faces of Fierce stablemates, with
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  Speaker 1: Avalanche wrestling as the Shark and The Butcher wrestling as
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  Speaker 1: the Zodiac. For a very short time, Big Van Vader
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  Speaker 1: also was a member managed by Sullivan. Four Dungeon of
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  Speaker 1: Doom members lost to the Hulkamaniacs in a War Game's
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  Speaker 1: match at September's Fall Brawl. As a result of Hogan's
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  Speaker 1: win over Zodiac, he got to spend five minutes alone
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  Speaker 1: with Sullivan. The feud with Hogan continued for much of
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  Speaker 1: the remainder of the year and saw the group act
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  Speaker 1: Jimmy Hart is its manager after he turned on Hogan
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  Speaker 1: in October nineteen ninety five and cost him the w
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  Speaker 1: CW World Heavyweight Championship. In a match with The Giant,
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  Speaker 1: The Dungeon then feuded with the Four Horsemen, and Sullivan
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  Speaker 1: acquired a certain disliking for Brian Pillman. Once Sullivan sent
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  Speaker 1: Pilman packing, the Dungeon and the Horsemen joined forces again
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  Speaker 1: to get rid of Hulk Hogan and his friends and
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  Speaker 1: formed the unsuccessful Alliance to end Hulkamania. Afterward, Sullivan and
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  Speaker 1: Horseman Chris Benoit began a feud much like his with Pilman.
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  Speaker 1: It lasted for over a year, during with ben Wit
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  Speaker 1: took woman from him. Sullivan brought in Jacqueline to help
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  Speaker 1: him and added Conan to the Dungeon. He lost a
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  Speaker 1: retirement match to Benoit at Bash at the Beach on
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  Speaker 1: July thirteenth, nineteen ninety seven. This loss gave him more
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  Speaker 1: time to concentrate on his job as booker. Sullivan stayed
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  Speaker 1: on as the booker or a member of the w
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  Speaker 1: c W Booking Committee after he put Benoit over and
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  Speaker 1: made a brief on screen appearance with the reformed Varsity
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  Speaker 1: Club of Mike Rotunda and Rix's Steiner with their cheerleader
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  Speaker 1: Lea Meal. After a couple of months, he was back
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  Speaker 1: off television in two thousand after the demotion of Ed
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  Speaker 1: Ferrara and Vince Russo, and subsequent departure of the latter.
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  Speaker 1: The resulting chaos led to Sullivan's promotion to head booker.
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  Speaker 1: This move infuriated a number of w c W wrestlers,
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  Speaker 1: given Sullivan's history of professional rivalries with Ben Wit. Benoit
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  Speaker 1: had an affair with Nancy ben whan later married her. Benoit,
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  Speaker 1: Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, and Perry Saturn would quit the
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  Speaker 1: night after immediately signing with the World Wrestling Federation. Sullivan
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  Speaker 1: was fired before w c W sale in two thousand
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  Speaker 1: and one. In two thousand and three, Sullivan made one
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  Speaker 1: surprise appearance in Total NonStop Action Wrestling as the officiator
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  Speaker 1: in the first Clockwork Orange House of Fun match. In
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  Speaker 1: late two thousand three two thousand and four, he worked
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  Speaker 1: for the All World Wrestling League Big Time Wrestling. In
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  Speaker 1: twenty ten, Sullivan appeared as one of the main subjects
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  Speaker 1: in the feature length document Entry Film Card Subject to Change.
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  Speaker 1: In twenty twelve, he started wrestling in the Pacific Northwest
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  Speaker 1: with his nephew, Dash Venture and one other Ron Sullivan
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  Speaker 1: von Hess. Together they won the AIWF World six Man Championship,
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  Speaker 1: also the Taskmaster fought the grappler during this time, first
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  Speaker 1: time ever in their long careers. On April twenty eighth,
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  Speaker 1: twenty twelve, Sullivan made a surprise appearance, initially under a mask,
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  Speaker 1: during the Shane Douglas versus two Cold Scorpio match at
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  Speaker 1: Extreme Reunion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On March eighth, twenty thirteen,
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan appeared in Nitro West, Virginia, where he reunited with
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  Speaker 1: Dash Venture Sullivan in his corner as he faced Ron Mathis.
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  Speaker 1: On July seventh, twenty thirteen, Sullivan appeared at super Con
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  Speaker 1: in Miami as himself to sign autographs. He appears as
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  Speaker 1: himself in the opening wrestling sequence of the twenty thirteen
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  Speaker 1: film Pro Wrestlers Versus Zombies. During APWA wrestling Pile Driving
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  Speaker 1: Drugs two, he wrestled in a tag match teaming with
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  Speaker 1: Barbarian and was managed by Don West. They would defeat
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  Speaker 1: beast men in Jock Samson. In May twenty fourteen, Kevin
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan began working for promoter Don West with the American
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  Speaker 1: Pro Wrestling Alliance and is the current booker for the promotion.
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  Speaker 1: Kevin put Don over passing him the torch, saying that
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  Speaker 1: he would be darker than he ever was. Kevin Is
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  Speaker 1: mentoring him as the manager for the First Family in
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  Speaker 1: the APWA with the Barbarian Ricky Reyis and the Tircana Warrior.
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  Speaker 1: On June twenty six, twenty fourteen, Sullivan teamed with Ace
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  Speaker 1: Perry and Christian Skyfire to defeat John Wayne Murdoch, Read
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  Speaker 1: Bentley and Trip Cassidy in the main event of an
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  Speaker 1: Evolution Pro Wrestling event. He is podcast host for MLW Radio.
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  Speaker 1: He co hosted a free show with Mister San Laurent
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  Speaker 1: called MSL and Sullivan until early twenty eighteen, and continues
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  Speaker 1: to host a premium show called Kevin Sullivan's Helluvadio. On
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  Speaker 1: June twenty fourth, twenty sixteen, Sullivan made a surprise appearance
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  Speaker 1: during an unsanctioned Fight without Honor match at Ring of
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  Speaker 1: Honors Best the World sixteen between Steve Carino and b
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  Speaker 1: Jay Whitmer. Sullivan helped Whitmer win the match by striking
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  Speaker 1: Corino's head with his signature golden spike. He then formed
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  Speaker 1: an alliance with Whitmer and Punishment Damian Martinez, in which
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  Speaker 1: Whitmer is billed as his second son and started terrorizing
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  Speaker 1: Corno as his first son for not letting his evil
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  Speaker 1: side out. On July thirteenth, twenty nineteen, Sullivan wrestled against
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  Speaker 1: Brian Pillman Junior in a no holds barred match which
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  Speaker 1: ended in a no contest at ECCW Ballroom Brawl twelve
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  Speaker 1: in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Sullivan served as a color
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  Speaker 1: commentator for the television show for the Texas based swe
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  Speaker 1: promotion in twenty twenty until the promotion closed in twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty one. As of the end of twenty twenty one,
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan has become the manager of The Blood Hunter in PCW,
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  Speaker 1: Ultra and World Class pro. Sullivan was born in Cambridge,
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  Speaker 1: Massachusetts on October twenty sixth, nineteen forty eight. He married
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  Speaker 1: American professional wrestling manager and model Nancy Taffoloni, also known
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  Speaker 1: as Woman, in nineteen eighty five. It was Taffoloni's second marriage.
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  Speaker 1: Taffoloni left Sullivan in nineteen ninety seven and married Chris
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  Speaker 1: ben Win in two thousand. Starting in nineteen ninety seven,
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan's partner was La Taylor Linda Sullivan. She collaborated with
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan to publish the Old School Ring Squared series, a
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  Speaker 1: fictionalized account of the beginnings of the wrestling business and
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  Speaker 1: the influences of television and the territories. In twenty twenty two,
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan made an appearance on Judge Steve Harvey with wrestler
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  Speaker 1: and manager JJ Dillon. In May twenty twenty four, Sullivan
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  Speaker 1: was involved in a devastating accident that had a major
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  Speaker 1: impact on his health. He underwent surgery and sustained multiple complications,
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  Speaker 1: and the accident reportedly affected his ability to function independently.
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  Speaker 1: On July fifteenth, Sullivan claimed that he was in the
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  Speaker 1: process of recovering. Sullivan died from implications of a blood
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  Speaker 1: clot in Concord, Massachusetts, on August nine, twenty twenty four,
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  Speaker 1: at the age of seventy five.