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Vale: ‘Chris Kanyon’

Former WWE wrestler 'Chris Kanyon', one of the first openly gay pro wrestlers, has been dead in his New York apartment.

Former WWE wrestler ‘Chris Kanyon’, has been found dead in his New York apartment.

Kanyon, whose real name is Chris Klucsaritis, was one of the first openly gay pro wrestlers.

The WWE issued a statement on its website, saying, “World Wrestling Entertainment would like to express its deepest condolences to Christopher Klucsaritis’ family and friends on his tragic passing.”

Klucsaritis was under contract with WWE from March 2001 to February 2004, and won the United States Championship in July 2001.

The New York Daily News. reported he was found dead in his Sunnyside, Queens apartment with scores of pills near his body but an official cause of death has not yet been determined.

Source: CBS, CNN

7 Responses

  1. I hate to be that guy, but he wasn’t known as a WWE wrestler. Although contracted to them for a few years, he was only on TV for a few shows.He was also awarded the US championship; he didn’t win it. WWE, whilst the biggest promotion, shouldn’t really be connected to this.

    He was also not gay. He said it was a publicity stunt.

    He was also bipolar, which attributed to his death due to extreme depression, something that can’t really be blamed on the sport.

    I’m actually surprised this news is on this site. Sure he was good, but he wasn’t exactly a big name or anything.

  2. Kanyon was a good wrestler in WCW, very innovative. I watched his shoot interview a few months ago and he goes into detail about being bipolar & how he suffered from severe depression. It’s sad that he couldn’t overcome his problems.

  3. Agreed. I love wrestling as I feel it’s a grossly misunderstood profession but something needs to be done about the way these guys are treated at the higest level. The WWE guys (and girls) work over 300+ days a year doing something that takes more toll on the body than people realise which leads to problems with pain pills, alcohol, drugs, ect. They don’t get payed anywhere near enough for thier sarifices and often get tossed aside when they’re past the usefullness.

    Chris Kanyon could have been a big star had it not been for an injury that put him on the sideline. By the time he came back he was lost in the shuffle. It really is a shame cause he was very talented.

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