Watching WCW during my college years, my casual fan roommates were drawn into professional wrestling by a handful of attractions. One of them was a man who played a dual role as the cartoonish villain, Mortis, and as the “Innovator of Offense,” Chris Kanyon. At the time, no one, even some of his closest friends, knew that the real life of Christopher Klucsarits was riddled with duality.
The brawny, 6’5” professional wrestler with the thick New Yawk accent was a closeted gay man and even that was only half the story. Childhood friend and wrestling executive, Rafael Morffi, tells us about a popular and athletic youth that was constantly performing impromptu wrestling matches. Chris was described as “The King of Sunnyside.” The king was brought low, however. When Chris came out to their parish priest, he was told to “resist temptation.” Morffi believed that for a devout, working class Catholic like Chris, this furthered the confusion and paranoia that followed him through life.
Once Chris got his foot in the door to wrestling, he met the man who become a best friend, confidante, handler, on-screen mouthpiece, and occasional victim, Jim Mitchell. It’s Mitchell who fittingly makes up the bulk of the interviews. Seeing promise in the raw talent and keen mind that Chris had, Mitchell shopped him around from Smoky Mountain Wrestling to Fabulous Moolah’s small shows to working at WCW in a jobber tag team of bumbling construction workers. It was at this time that he confided in Mitchell that he was gay and, even then, it was because the discovery of gay pornography by family needed Mitchell to cover for him.
Now, despite former WCW world champ Diamond Dallas Page getting his timeline a little off (the New World Order storyline debuted almost a full year earlier,) he was right in that the Mortal Kombat-inspired character of Glacier and his Skeletor-faced nemesis, Mortis, was not going to hold up well against the nWo and other more grounded storylines. What did persevere, though, was the obvious talent that Chris was showing in his role. Mortis was doing moves that nobody had seen or even thought of before, drawing the attention of Page, series narrator, Chris Jericho, and others at WCW.
Unmasking as Kanyon, he went on to work programs with and against both Diamond Dallas Page and the charismatic Gen-X cult leader, Raven (unfortunately not featured on Dark Side.) But, as his notoriety grew, so did his instability. Kanyon had a tendency for manic episodes and Mitchell often felt the brunt of the angry rants, obsessive behavior, and even physical abuse. By the time he was featured in the box office bomb/cult classic, Ready to Rumble, Kanyon was feeling the crunch of the higher profile spot.
Although the term “gay” was rarely used on air, effete or androgynous stereotypes were used for comedic effect or to generate angry “heat” throughout wrestling history to that point. The chance that Kanyon could be forced into that role or even legitimately thought of in that way by his peers made him on edge.
The paranoia over being discovered added a powerful stressor to Kanyon’s unstable psyche. By the time WCW is bought out by Vince McMahon’s WWF, Kanyon had converted his home into a house party headquarters. When the parties ended, it was Jim Mitchell who had to pick up the pieces. During those times, the average attitudes and common knowledge about mental health were about as lacking as they were for LGBT+ issues. Between lavish parties, obsessive record-keeping about potential online boyfriends, days when Kanyon couldn’t get out of bed, and being choked unconscious, Mitchell had no idea how to help his friend… but he knew .45 pistol could stop it if need be.
In WWF/WWE, Kanyon continued to impress with his talents but an injury kept him on the shelf for over a year. When he returned to television, it was in a bizarre segment where he was revealed as a “present” to The Undertaker (then in his Big Evil/American Bad Ass phase) from Paul Heyman. Kanyon came out of a wooden crate, dressed as Boy George and singing “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” He was then beaten up by The Undertaker on-air and soon released from the company. Chris Jericho and Rafael Morffi have differing opinions on why this segment was produced and what the motivations were. Whether it was bullying or a failed experiment or whether anyone had discovered Chris Kanyon’s secret, is still debated to this day. Mitchell, himself, says that Kanyon flopped back-and-forth on the incident.
Watching live from the audience that day, were future tag team wrestlers, All Elite Wrestling founders, and alleged killers of “The Business,” Matt & Nick Jackson. They couldn’t understand what was happening or why but they knew they didn’t like it. Neither did wrestlers, Brian Cage and Luke Hawx. All of them took the opportunity to sit under Kanyon’s learning tree and the innovative style that he introduced can be seen in their work today. When Kanyon came out to his protegees, they were accepting.
Mentoring the future of the business had opened Kanyon up to yet another “second life” but, when he came out publicly in 2006, it did not have the impact he had hoped since American society and wrestling culture had turned the corner since his days on top. Although he was inspiring others, his in-ring performances and his personal battles with bi-polar disorder were worsening. Kanyon starts appearing on Howard Stern’s radio show, regularly talking about the wrestling business and drawing blowback for his comments by none less than superstar John Cena and Chris’ personal idol, Ric Flair. Bizarre behavior ranged from awkward interactions with Vince McMahon and hallucinating about extraterrestrials to street fights and suicide attempts. Matt Jackson, Diamond Dallas Page, and Jim Mitchell speak on long conversations with their troubled friend, including their last.
In 2010, Christopher Klucsarits, committed suicide. In 2015, bipolar boxing and MMA commentator, Mauro Ranallo, signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling, later signing with WWE and Impact. In 2019, openly gay WWE wrestler, Sonya Deville, entered the ring carrying a pride flag at Wrestlemania. Later that year, All Elite Wrestling’s inaugural event, Double or Nothing, featured the first trans wrestler to sign with a major promotion, “The Native Beast” Nyla Rose. Proof positive that Kanyon was ahead of his time in so many ways.
Dark Side of the Ring ended the episode as it far too often has: with pleas from Chris’ friends to get help if you or your loved ones are in need. Pop Break and I will always follow suit. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, whether it be from bipolar disorder, LGBT+ identity, or anything else, there are resources. Please look into these or others.
https://www.thetrevorproject.org
National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255
Dark Side of The Ring, ‘The Double Life of Chris Kanyon’ is now on demand.
Who remembers Mortis vs Glacier?
“The Double Life of Chris Kanyon,” tonight at 9pm on @vicetv and @CraveCanada. pic.twitter.com/14DNnrQoJv
— Dark Side of the Ring (@DarkSideOfRing) September 23, 2021
