Wrestlers of my Youth are Fading Away, RIP Kevin Sullivan

As we all know, every day that we wake up alive we edge closer to death. It's a reality we learned somewhere in our childhood but is easily forgotten until someone dear to you is no longer there. Sometimes memories from 30 years ago feel just as strong as if they just happened a few days ago.

For me, my childhood was full of good times exploring the woods, and sports...LOTS OF SPORTS! In those days, wrestling was my favorite by far. The #NWA used to come to my hometown (#Richmond, Va) frequently when I was little, so frequent that we actually used to see several of them in local restaurants because we lived so close to the airport. If you listen to Ric Flair talk about being on the road to this day, Richmond is always one of the towns he talks about...

Over the years, I've seen several of those guys pass away, we lost another one this week as Kevin Sullivan died. I'm actually surprised Sullivan lived to see 74, he was a wild child back in the day. I'll always remember him as the guy who asked if I needed another quarter when I was playing #Pacman at Carini's. Picture my face when I turned around and him and Dusty Rhoades were standing there. I broke out in a sweat I was so excited, thankfully, my stepmom had her camera...I've been looking for the picture for days, but it seems I may have lost it in one of the many moves I've gone through over the years.

Sullivan had a run with the 'Varsity Club' with Jim Cornette around 87' but most will remember him as the 'Prince of Darkness.' If you're a fan of wrestling, but don't know much about Kevin, check out the videos in this post so you can better understand...the guy was a nut, but he was an unbelievable wrestler/heel. He was also, HUGELY underrated and more than anything else, underutilized. In his day, the heels (bad guys) not named Ric Flair were used to pump up the faces (good guys). There were exceptions to the overall rule, which also didn't apply to tag-team wrestling, only singles. It was done to keep the crowd happy and coming back, as a child I never realized those 'bad guys' sold the show.

Rest in Peace Kevin Francis Sullivan - October 26, 1949 - August 9, 2024