"Big" Rick Fuller - Pro Wrestling

"Big" Rick Fuller was born Richard Fuller in 1969, in Middleboro, Massachusetts.
Rick trained under "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka and "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas at their wrestling school in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
He made his pro wrestling debut in 1990, and made his debut in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1997 in a match against Lex Luger.
Rick wrestled (and lost to) some of the greats in the WCW.
Besides Luger, he went up against Chris Benoit, Diamond Dallas Page, The Giant (Big Show), Booker T, Jeff Jarrett, Meng, Buff Bagwell, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and he was one of the first victims of Goldberg's winning streak in early 1998.

After WCW closed, Rick went to the Indy circuit where he has been successful and still wrestles today.
In the independent circuit he has wrestled for promotions like Chaotic Wrestling, Eastern Wrestling Alliance (EWA), Lethal Pro Wrestling (LPW), NWA New England, NWA Southwest and New England Championship Wrestling among others.

Rick also appeared as a prison inmate in the 2008 crime drama "What Doesn't Kill You" with Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo.

He also appeared in the video games WCW Nitro and WCW/NWO Thunder.

Brian 'Crush' Adams Autopsy Results

Brian 'Crush' Adams Autopsy Results

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Former pro wrestler Brian "Crush'' Adams died last month after accidentally ingesting a lethal mixture of prescribed medications, the medical examiner's office said Friday.

The 44-year-old Tampa resident died Aug. 13 from mixing a strong painkiller with muscle relaxants and two different types of sedatives, said Dr. Leszek Chrostowski from the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office.

Chrostowski said he found "therapeutic levels'' of each of the drugs in his system, but the mixture slowed his respiratory system enough to kill him.

There were no anabolic steroids in Adams' body, a report from the office said.

The drugs that killed Adams included buprenorphine, an opiate-based painkiller that Chrostowski said is often used like methadone in the treatment of painkiller addiction; carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant; and sedatives chlordiazepoxide and alprazolam.

Adams wasn't breathing when his wife found him unconscious in their home.

A former world tag team champion, Adams last performed for the World Wrestling Federation in 2001 and served intermittently on the roster beginning in 1990, World Wrestling Entertainment said. He wrestled his last match in January 2003 when a spinal injury forced him into retirement.

Adams' death came less than two months after pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and son before hanging himself on the cable of a weight machine in his Georgia home. Prescription anabolic steroids were found in the Benoit family's home, raising questions about whether the drugs played a role in the killings.

WCW: Brian Adams

Brian Adams (born April 14, 1964) is a former actor and professional wrestler. Adams gained fame in the 1990s while performing for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the name Crush and for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his given name.

Trained in Japan by Antonio Inoki, Adams is a two time WCW World Tag Team Champion as well as a one time holder of both the WWF World Tag Team Championship and the All Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag Team Championship among other titles and accomplishments.

In 2002, Adams briefly tried a career in boxing until he was forced to retire due to a back and shoulder injury.

Brian Adams was born on April 4, 1964 in Kona, Hawaii and was raised in Kealakekua, Hawai'i and attended Konawaena High School. After graduating from Konawaena High School Adams joined the military. It was during his time in the military, while stationed in Japan, that he was exposed to wrestling. Adams was then trained in wrestling by famed Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist Antonio Inoki. In 1986, after training in Japan, Adams came to the United States and began working in Portland, Oregon's Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW).

Adams signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), in 1998, where he was placed as part of the New World Order stable and later as part of it’s off-shoot nWo Hollywood. As a lower card performer, he often tag teamed with the likes of Scott Norton and Stevie Ray, occasionally being placed in squash matches against smaller and lesser known wrestlers. One of his most notable matches with the promotion was his involvement in a tag team tournament steel cage match on WCW Thunder, in February 1999, where he and Horace Hogan lost to Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko.

Later, he was scripted as the original Demon, a take off of Gene Simmons of the band KISS. This saw him emerging from an iron maiden with a rendition of "God of Thunder" as his entrance theme. The gimmick did not work for Adams as he made only one appearance as the Demon. Dale Torborg took over that gimmick, while Adams was placed back into tag wrestling again. He formed a team with Bryan Clark called KroniK, where he won the WCW World Tag Team Championship twice.

WCW: Kevin Sullivan, part 2

Kevin Sullivan went to the ECW in early 1993 and teamed with Tasmaniac (Tazz) . Along with with Devil Angel, who was now called Woman, they won the ECW Tag Team Wrestling Titles and then feuded with "Public Enemy" Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock. Sullivan had a bloody feud with Abdullah The Butcher. In the spring of 1994, Sullivan left Woman behind and headed to WCW.

In WCW, he formed a tag team with his kayfabe brother Dave Sullivan, a dyslexic character who referred to himself as "Evad" who was being picked on by The Nasty Boys .Kevin enlisted Cactus Jack's help and beat the Nasty Boys for the ECW Tag Team Titles. Dave was injured and out of action for awhile and Sullivan split with Cactus Jack after losing the titles. Kevin later defeated Cactus in a Loser Leaves WCW Match at Fall Brawl on September 18, 1994.

Dave came back and dressed like his idol, Hulk Hogan.( Can you say Eugene?) This infuriated Sullivan, who hated Hogan, and so the two "brothers" began feuding. Sullivan brought in Hogan's best friend, Ed Leslie, as The Butcher to feud with him. He also brought in Avalanche calling themselves 3 Faces of Fear. They feuded with Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Sting.

Early in 1995 , after not being able to end Hogan's career, Avalanche left the group and Sullivan turned on Butcher. Sullivan started putting together a new group with the help of his mentor, The Master. They called it the Dungeon of Doom. It was a huge stable and included Kamala, The Barbarian, Meng, Manager Jimmy Hart, Shark (formerly Avalanche), Zodiac (formerly Butcher, formerly Brutus Beefcake), Yeti, Hugh Morrus, One Man Gang and for a very short time, Vader and Big Bubba Rogers.

During this time, Sullivan began calling himself the Taskmaster. Four Dungeon of Doom members lost to The Hulkamaniacs in a WarGames match at September's Fall Brawl. As a result of Hulk Hogan's win over Zodiac, he got to spend five minutes alone with The Taskmaster. The Dungeon started a feuded with the Four Horsemen, and Sullivan acquired a certain disliking for Brian Pillman.

Once Sullivan had sent Pillman packing, the Dungeon and the Four Horsemen rejoined forces to get rid of Hogan and his friends. They brought in The Giant ( Paul Wight) , Maxx Muscle and Big Bubba Rogers. They formed the Alliance To End Hulkamania with the Horsemen in a failed attempt to do so. When they couldn't get the job done, Sullivan and Chris Benoit of the Horsemen picked up where Pillman left off and started a feud. This was a brutal feud and lasted over a year, with Benoit "stealing" Woman from Sullivan in the course of the feud. Sullivan brought in Jacquelyn to help him and also added Konnan to the Dungeon.

At Bash at the Beach on July 13, Sullivan lost a retirement match to Benoit. Kevin was already the booker so it gave him more time to do his job. Sullivan stayed on as the booker or a member of the WCW booking committee and made a brief onscreen appearance with the reformed Varsity Club of Rotunda and Rick Steiner with their cheerleader, Leia Meow. After a couple of months, he was back off TV.

Sullivan was among those blamed for the 2000 departure of Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero and Perry Saturn from WCW, though by no direct action of his own. After the departure of Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo, the resulting chaos led to Sullivan's promotion to head booker. This move angered a number of WCW wrestlers, given Sullivan's history of professional rivalries (notably Benoit) and poor decisions. At Souled Out 2000, Sullivan booked Benoit to win the WCW title in a desperate attempt to quell the uprising, but Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero and Saturn would quit the night after, immediately signing with the WWF. Sullivan would be fired before WCW's sale in 2001.

Sullivan makes occasional appearances on the independent circuit, mainly in Florida. He owns a gym in the Florida Keys called Froggy's Fitness.

In 1985, Sullivan married Nancy Daus (née Toffoloni), his valet. In the mid-1990s, Sullivan, the then WCW booker, scripted a storyline in which Daus would leave him in favor of his on-screen rival, Chris Benoit. During the execution of the storyline, Daus legitimately left Sullivan in favour of Benoit, divorcing Sullivan in 1997 and marrying Benoit in 2000. Insiders would say that Sullivan booked his own divorce.

Between June 22 and June 25, 2007, Benoit allegedly murdered Daus and their son, Daniel, before committing suicide. Following the incident, Sullivan expressed shock at Benoit's actions, stating "I'm in the dark...I wrestled with him a lot. I thought he was a great performer...it was shocking, just shocking."
On June 28, 2007, FOX News noted in an article on the incident that Sullivan had links to both Benoit and Sherri Martel, who had died earlier that month.

Source:
http://www.answers.com/topic/kevin-sullivan-wrestler

technorati tags: wcw, ecw, kevin sullivan, pro wrestling, wrestlemania, wcw,fallen angel,woman,sherri martel

WCW: Kevin Sullivan, part 1

http://www.borntoride.com/hottv.html

Kevin Francis Sullivan (born October 26, 1949) is an American professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feuds with the "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and Mike Graham in the NWA's Florida Championship Wrestling, and against Chris Benoit and the Four Horsemen in World Championship Wrestling.

Sullivan started wrestling in October 1970 in Georgia. Since 1972 he was a face and teamed with Mike Graham in Championship Wrestling from Florida.

In 1976, he wrestled briefly for the World Wrestling Federation.

In 1981, he turned on Graham and started a feud. For the next few years, he was known as a Satan-worshipping heel in Florida Championship Wrestling & Southwest Championship Wrestling.

He had a stable of wrestlers and valets to help him with his nefarious doings. The Fallen Angel was his female sidekick who was evil but had model-quality looks. The "Fallen Angel" later became "Woman". Some of his male sidekicks were "Maniac" Mark Lewin,(AKA The Purple Haze), "Maniac" Mike Davis (who was put under a "spell" to act like Dusty Rhodes), Jake Roberts, Superstar Billy Graham, Buzz Sawyer (whom he led to the ring on a chain), Maha Singh, Karma, Winona Littleheart and Luna Vachon. Oliver Humperdink managed them. They feuded with Dusty Rhodes, Bugsy McGraw, Blackjack Mulligan, Barry Windham and Mike Graham.

This group broke up by 1986, and he feuded with Bad News Allen and Mike Rotunda. Sullivan spent from September to December in 1986 feuding with Brad and Steve Armstrong in Alabama's NWA Southeastern Championship Wrestling.

He was back in Florida in 1987 and feuding with Lex Luger and Scott Hall. After a brief face run in which he feuded with Dory Funk Jr. and Sir Oliver Humperdink, he left NWA Florida for the main NWA circuit in December 1987.

Sullivan formed The Varsity Club upon arrival in the NWA with Mike Rotunda and Rick Steiner. They immediately started feuding with Jimmy Garvin because Sullivan wanted his wife Precious for himself. This feud lasted a while with Sullivan "breaking" Garvin's leg at one point.

Steiner left the group and was replaced by "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Dan Spivey. They feuded with Dusty Rhodes, the Road Warriors, Rick Steiner and Eddie Gilbert. Sullivan even attacked Gilbert's wife Missy Hyatt. By late 1989, the Varsity Club was gone, and Sullivan formed Slaughterhouse with Cactus Jack and Buzz Sawyer to feud with Rotunda.

Sullivan took time off in late 1990 and returned in early 1991 as the manager of One Man Gang, Black Blood, and the Angel of Death. They cut El Gigante's hair and had a brief feud. Sullivan also was the masked Merlin the Wizard briefly to manage Oz.

In 1992, Sullivan went to Smoky Mountain Wrestling and reunited with Fallen Angel, now called Devil Angel. He feuded with Brian Lee and managed the Nightstalker.

Source:
http://www.answers.com/topic/kevin-sullivan-wrestler

Wrestler Chris Benoit Is Found Dead With Wife, Son

Wrestler Chris Benoit Is Found Dead With Wife, Son (Update1)

By Erik Matuszewski

June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Professional wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and 7-year-old son were found dead in their Georgia home yesterday, said local law enforcement officials.

The death of the 40-year-old wrestler, a former heavyweight champion once known as the ``Canadian Crippler,'' and his family is being investigated as a murder-suicide, police said. The Associated Press today reported that Benoit strangled his wife, smothered his son and hanged himself, citing a law enforcement official that it didn't identify.

full story at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aAXMP3EEsTKg&refer=canada


technorati tags: chris benoit,nancy daus, murder, suicide