Kevin Sullivan Passes Away at Age 74

Wrestling legend and booker Kevin Sullivan passed away on Friday at the age of 74.

Sullivan’s passing was first announced by Slam Wrestling who reported that Sullivan’s longtime friend and wrestling personality Barry Rose had informed them of his passing.

“With the heaviest of hearts, we are devastated to have to report the passing of the legendary Kevin Sullivan. May he RIP and his family, friends and fans find comfort in how much he was loved.”

Following his passing, WWE released an official statement paying tribute to Sullivan’s life and wrestling career.

Kevin Sullivan passes away

WWE is saddened to learn Kevin Sullivan has passed away at age 74.

A unique and influential figure in sports-entertainment history, Sullivan found success both in the ring and behind the scenes with his penchant for far out ideas that pushed creative boundaries.

As a villain, Sullivan was a major rival for the ring’s most legendary heroes, including Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan and The Road Warriors. He specialized in leading dangerous factions, which included his wicked Army of Darkness, collegiate bullies The Varsity Club, and the wild Dungeon of Doom, which introduced Big Show to the wrestling world. The onetime “Taskmaster” also became a creative force behind the scenes for WCW.

WWE extends its condolences to Sullivan’s family, friends and fans.

Prior to his passing, Sullivan had been dealing with serious health issues and had been hospitalized in the ICU following a medical incident this past May in Florida.

Sullivan’s career in wrestling spanned from 1970 to 1997 and was most known for his time in WCW. Besides WCW, Sullivan also had notable stints in WWWF, Championship Wrestling from Florida, and ECW. Sullivan was also most known for his “Prince of Darkness” character in CWfF and later as “The Taskmaster” in WCW.

Sullivan’s second stint in WCW from 1994 to 2001 was most notable for his time with the Dungeon of Doom and their feud with Hulk Hogan that spanned from 1995 to 1997. This feud featured Sullivan debuting his “The Taskmaster” character as the underboss of the group. Besides his feud with Hogan, Sullivan and his Dungeon of Doom group also feuded with The Four Horsemen and later joined forces to feud again with Hogan.

Following his retirement from in-ring wrestling in 1997, Sullivan was most known for his time as a booker of WCW from 1997 until the company’s closure in 2001, first as a member of WCW’s booking committee and later as the head booker. Sullivan’s tenure as the head booker of WCW would become infamous for being the cause of Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn’s decision to leave the company and join WWF.

Sullivan’s wrestling career notable achievements and accolades included being a one-time NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion, four-time NWA Florida Tag Team Champion, two-time ECW Tag Team Champion, one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, one-time WCW NWA United States Champion, and inductions into the New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame (2013) and NWA Hall of Fame (2014).