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Post by spladle125 on Aug 9, 2024 12:31:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2024 13:19:50 GMT
I was a big fan of The Varsity Club and a lot of the stuff from Florida. Obviously, not the greatest wrestler, but not only could he get over, he got many others over just by being involved. One of the great minds in the business.
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Who do you think you are? I am!
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Post by Leper Messiah on Aug 9, 2024 13:30:16 GMT
When you're so good at playing a cult figure, that people legit believe you're actually a Satanist.
One of the great minds of wrestling. RIP Sullivan.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2024 13:31:14 GMT
Love that Hogan having heat with Hollywood is the top story though.
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Post by Shootist on Aug 10, 2024 0:09:04 GMT
Fantastic brawler and a solid promo. It doesn't get better than his matches with Benoit.
He's also a pleasure to listen to in shoots and his fantasy booking of 1984 WWF without Hogan is a great example of how good of a mind he had for the business.
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Post by bodyslam on Aug 10, 2024 1:57:21 GMT
RIP
to add on to what others have said his podcast is pretty good too
Varsity Club 4 Life
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Post by Shootist on Aug 10, 2024 2:18:15 GMT
and here it is:
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Post by Big Pete on Aug 10, 2024 5:31:19 GMT
Sullivan is one of those guys who really won me over with his shoot interviews. Beforehand, I saw him as the abusive ex-husband who used his connections to hold down talent and effectively killed WCW but there's two sides to every story. I was always surprised at how positive he came across in interviews. In my mind, I expected him to be another Ole Anderson, just bitter and pissed off with the world but his passion for the business came across, he was happy with what he had achieved and seemed happy enough that wrestling was still around after all these years.
Moreover I just enjoyed him explaining his rationale behind his booking. He did a good job of painting what he was up against with Hogan and what he was trying to achieve. So often, I think fans take for granted just how well put together the nWo angle was. When people say WCW just ripped off NJPW it boggles my mind. What made the nWo work was the details and how they played around with conventions to give this show a fresh new faction. In the midst of that, you also had strong booking, and very few bookers before or since have hit the highs of WCW 96-97. That's still a standard modern companies try to hit, but can't reach in spite of all the talent and means to do so.
As a performer, there's still a ton I have to uncover. I've seen all the crazy photos from Florida and I'm familiar with the Varsity Club. However the majority of his run is the Dungeon of Doom stuff which was shlocky and the Benoit/Nancy stuff which is uncomfortable to go back to (and also took forever to resolve on TV). Still, there was a ton of good work in that Benoit/Sullivan feud, so much so, you'd have to put Kevin down as one of Chris' best ever opponents.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2024 13:20:13 GMT
Sullivan literally put together a legendary career despite never having a formal wrestling background. He was never trained as a wrestler; he was too short and not in shape (until later). The details he used in his character building and promos was second to none. Listen to the interview from Friday's Busted Open with Austin Idol talking about him.
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Post by Baker on Aug 13, 2024 0:30:36 GMT
His Florida run is legendary. For years it was the only thing I really knew about Florida wrestling. The mags would still mention his "Satanic" cult leader run semi-regularly in the mid-late 90s, especially once Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness got hot. It's only a theory, but I once saw a post somewhere, probably DVDVR, where a poster theorized Kevin Sullivan inspired death metal since that wretched genre of music was born in 1980s Florida. I've heard crazier theories...
I too am a Varsity Club mark 4 life with a well-known soft spot for the Dungeon of Doom. Sullivan was a great squasher (swear I once saw him wreck a jobber with a Ganso Bomb though I've admittedly never been able to find proof) with an underrated mind for the business. People forget he was the primary booker during WCW's 2-3 year hot streak. The Benoit match at Great American Bash 96 blew my mind as the first "ECW" style match I ever saw and his match w/ Cactus vs. Nastys is also a Top 10 WCW match of the 90s. And how cool was it that one time he showed up as a special guest ref in TNA with painted on referee stripes? Vintage crazy Kevin.
I honestly wasn't a hardcore Kevin Sullivan fanatic. Oh, he had his good points, but he would sometimes cross the line from fun to too goofy even for me. He often refused to sell or bump despite being like 5'9. But I think the good outweighs the bad. He was an integral part of my beloved 80s & 90s wrestling and his 'dark' character inspired many more to come.
RIP Kevin Sullivan
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