(Gay former) pro wrestler Chris Klucsaritis aka 'Chris Kanyon' found in apparent suicide

[Ian David]

Source: NY Daily News

Former gay pro wrestler Chris Klucsaritis aka 'Chris Kanyon' found in apparent suicide
BY Jonathan Lemire
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Sunday, April 4th 2010, 4:00 AM

A popular former pro wrestler was found dead in his Queens apartment after he apparently committed suicide, officials said Saturday.

Chris Klucsaritis, who wrestled as Chris Kanyon, was found dead Friday night in his Sunnyside flat, officials said.

An autopsy on Klucsaritis, 40, did not immediately determine a cause of death, according to the city medical examiner. Scores of pills were found near his body and his death is being investigating as a suicide, police sources said.

Klucsaritis broke into professional wrestling with the now defunct World Championship Wrestling organization as both a solo competitor and as part of the championship tag team "Men at Work." He later joined the WWE, where he became one of the sport's first openly gay wrestlers. He retired in 2004 but still wrestled occasionally.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/04/04/2010-04-04_pro_wrestler_in_apparent_suicide.html

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Gay Pro Wrestler Dead in Apparent Queens Suicide

One of the first openly gay professional wrestlers in the WWE was found dead in his Sunnyside apartment Friday night, surrounded by pills and several notes. Officially retired since 2004, 40-year-old Chris Klucsaritis (aka Chris Kanyon) debuted in the sport in the late nineties, as part of the construction worker-themed tag team “Men at Work.” The Daily News reports that officials are calling his death—from an overdose of various medications—an apparent suicide.

Kanyon was eventually cut from “Men at Work” (for using his tape measure at "inopportune times" causing the team to lose, according to Wikipedia) but as he launched off on his own the issue of his sexuality became contentious. In 2006, the wrestler, who also worked as a physical therapist, claimed he was released from his WWE contract because he was gay, although on several earlier occasions he'd told reporters that homosexuality was just another gimmick he used for publicity. The fallen wrestler's MySpace, which is now serving as a memorial, lists him as “single, gay, and looking ” though now it’s updated with the phrase “RIP Chris.”



More:
http://gothamist.com/2010/04/04/gay_pro_wrestler_dies_in_apparent_q.php

[SocialistLez]

1. I never even knew

there was an openly gay pro-wrestler.

RIP.

[Ian David]

3. There's one now who just came-out as Bi

Pro Wrestler Comes Out as Bi
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=221x158150

[xchrom]

2. Whenever I hear about a 'pro-wrestling' suicide --

I think steroids contributing to their mental illness.

[Stumbler]

4. His sexuality aside, this is yet another example of the dangers posed by "legal" drugs

Sorry to be the broken record, but we're spending billions enforcing drug laws and locking up non-violent offenders, while allowing potentially harmful pharmaceuticals to be pimped on our airwaves without any consequence.

My condolences to the family. And end the drug war now.

[bluestateguy]

5. What is it about pro wrestling that seems to shorten the lifespan?

How long do those guys live? 40?

[semillama]

8. Well, politics aside, the physical toll that pro wrestling takes on its participants is staggering

Pro wrestlers exist in a nether world between professional athletes and actors, and there is no off-season for them. There's a new wrestling show every single week on TV. The only time off wrestlers get is when they are injured. Taking time off is risky if you are not established as a star - new wrestlers need all the face time they can get if they want to succeed. So, the result ends up being a lot of guys working through the pain, and taking shitloads of painkillers. Not to mention the pressure to "bulk up" through steroid use.

With very, very few exceptions, pro wrestling chews up its participants and spits them out.

[HughBeaumont]

12. The legal and non-legal drugs most of them are on to deal with pain, stress and undersize.

When people think "painkillers", you may not think these can ever be as serious as coke, heroin or meth. The truth is, these things can be highly addictive and just as bodily damaging as the "Big 3". A friend of mine is in full-blown rehab due to gradual increases of painkiller dosage. Supposedly, there were bone chips in his spine, which had to be removed very meticulously. The resulting pain he felt led to prescribed drugs and then moving on to regular percoset and vicodin use. He was doing odd jobs to feed his need, but he needed something stronger because the pain got more excruciating and unbearable.

Now imagine a wrestler and how much impact to all of their joints and tendons they go through and all of the painkillers they take to deal with those injuries and rehab . . . top it off with other substances like steroids, alcohol, amphetamines, etc. and you're looking at some serious and fast damage to your endocrine and cardiovascular systems. Not to mention it turns your brain to hamburger.

[activa8tr]

6. Pro Wrestling isn't a sport, it's an unbridled cheap American scheme to

defraud millions of men and boys, and a few women, (all with massive feelings of inferiority, and massive fantasies of inflicting physical violence upon other human beings).

This American fantasy drama has now spread worldwide, not only Canada, but Japan, and so many other nations now think this is "sport".

The shame is NOT that anyone is gay or straight in this pseudo-sport. The shame is the pseudo-sport, itself, and the drugs and commercialization that pushes the bodies, the drugs, and the human spirit to a new low.

I wonder how many billions are made in that enterprise, versus the billions we don't "invest" in our own mental health care. Celebrating the infliction of violence against each other, rather than celebrating our capacity for love and caring for each other.

"Panem et Circenses!" What the Roman Emperors promised the people,to keep them "happy" just before their empire fell.

[Ian David]

7. Yep.

The Running Man
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Running_Man


Rollerball (1975 film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollerball_%281975_film%29

Death Race 2000
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072856/

The Long Walk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Walk

[slackmaster]

9. No, it's just mindless entertainment

I have a nephew who is a professional wrestler. There was six months of training before he could enter the ring. The training teaches you how to look like you are wrestling, but without either party getting hurt.

It's more of a dance than a competition. Anyone with an IQ over 70 can figure out that the participants aren't actually fighting against each other.

[Ohio Joe]

10. Non-sense

"This American fantasy drama has now spread worldwide, not only Canada, but Japan, and so many other nations now think this is "sport"."

It has been around 25 years since wrestling came clean (not that it was any real secret) and dropped the pretense of being a sport. Anyone that thinks pro-wrestling is real is just as likely to think any other show on TV is real.

[timtom]

11. I don't mean to be dense, but...

is he a former gay? or a former wrestler?

[KamaAina]

13. Well, both, now

:(

[timtom]

14. Oh no!

Duh! How stupid can I be? I got tripped up on the grammar of the title and missed the meaning!

I am so sorry he chose that way (suicide). But, I don't know what circumstances drove him to it.

Thanks for the answer.