Profile of Chris Kanyon on Famous Like Me

Chris Klucsaritis
Statistics
Stage names	Chris Morgan Chris Kanyon Darkbird Mortis Kanyon
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Born	January 4, 1970
Hometown	Sunnyside, New York
Trained by	Afa and Sika Anoai
Debut	1995

Chris Klucsaritis (born January 4, 1970 in the Sunnyside, Queens neighborhood of the City of New York, New York) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as Chris Kanyon.

Career

As a youth, Kanyon played rugby, roller hockey, basketball, and baseball. In 1992 he graduated from the University at Buffalo with a bachelor's degree in physical therapy. He then worked as a physical therapist for three years before deciding to become a wrestler.

Kanyon trained under Afa and Sika at the Wild Samoan Wrestling School. He debuted in 1995 and wrestled one match as Chris Morgan before adopting the name Chris Kanyon. Early in his career, he formed a tag team with Billy Kidman which saw both men wrestle in the uniform of hockey players. In late-1994 he made several appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as a jobber.

World Championship Wrestling

Kanyon debuted in WCW as a jobber. After several months he was placed in a tag team called Men at Work with Mark Starr. Their gimmick was that they were two construction workers turned wrestlers who wore overalls to the ring, and that Kanyon would cause the team to suffer losses by taking measurements with his tape measure at inopportune times. Starr was replaced with Mike Winner before the team disbanded altogether.

In 1997 Kanyon donned a mask and was repackaged as Mortis, a gimmick based on the character Shao Kahn from the fighting game Mortal Kombat. Managed by James Vandenburg, Kanyon feuded with Glacier (modelled after the character Sub-Zero). Kanyon faced Glacier at Uncensored 1997 on March 16 in his pay-per-view debut, but lost to the undefeated Glacier. Following the match, Wrath debuted, siding with Kanyon and attacking Glacier. Glacier defeated Kanyon in a second match at Slamboree 1997 on May 18 when Wrath interfered on Kanyon's behalf, causing a disqualification. However, Glacier was spared a post-match beating when Ernest Miller ran to the ring to defend him. The four men fought one another over the following weeks, culminating in a match at Bash at the Beach 1997 on July 13 which was won by Kanyon and Wrath. Kanyon and Wrath continued to team together until the angle was quietly dropped in late-1997.

In February 1998, Kanyon (still in his guise as Mortis) asked Raven if he could join Raven's stable, The Flock, but was told that he could only become a member if he defeated Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW United States Championship. After Kanyon failed to defeat Page, he was DDT'ed on the entrance ramp by Raven. This lead to Kanyon discarding the "Mortis" persona and beginning a feud with Raven, in the course of which he was dubbed "The Innovator of Offense" by play-by-play commentator Mike Tenay due to his unique wrestling technique, which included multiple moves performed from a fireman's carry position. He formed an uneasy alliance with Perry Saturn in order to fight against The Flock, but eventually turned on Saturn and joined forces with Raven. After Saturn forced The Flock to disband by defeating Raven at Fall Brawl 1998, Kanyon and Raven continued to team together until Raven was sidelined with (kayfabe) depression and Kanyon took time away from his wrestling career to work as stunt coordinator and stuntman on The Jesse Ventura Story.

Kanyon returned in 1999 and formed a table with Bam Bam Bigelow and Diamond Dallas Page known as the Jersey Triad. The Triad feuded with Saturn and Chris Benoit over the WCW World Tag Team Championships, defeating them for the titles on June 13 in the Baltimore Arena at The 1999 Great American Bash. During their reign, they were given special dispensation by WCW President Ric Flair to defend the titles as a three man unit, granting them a numerical advantage over their opponents. However, the ruling was overturned by Flair's replacement, Sting, and Kanyon and Bigelow lost the titles to Harlem Heat at Road Wild 1999 on August 14 in Sturgis, South Dakota. The Triad disbanded shortly thereafter, with Kanyon once again placing his wrestling career on hiatus to work on the WCW produced film Ready to Rumble, where he served as stunt coordinator and as the stunt double of lead actor Oliver Platt.

Kanyon returned to WCW in 2000 as Chris "Champagne" Kanyon, abbreviated to C.C.K., accompanied by J. Biggs, his "agent". He claimed that he had become acclimatised to the glamour of Hollywood, and thus began indulging in luxuries such as champagne, women and expensive cars. He feuded briefly with Bigelow and Page before being removed from WCW by interim booker Kevin Sullivan.

Kanyon returned to WCW once more on April 10, 2000, when Sullivan was replaced by Vince Russo. He teamed with Page for several months before betraying him and siding with Eric Bischoff, the leader of the New Blood faction. In the course of his renewed feud with Page, Kanyon began imitating Page, renaming himself "Positively" Kanyon (a reference to Page's autobiography, Positively Page) and wearing a long blonde wig. In the course of the feud he began using a version of Page's finishing move, the Diamond Cutter, known as the Kanyon Kutter. He began arbitrarily delivering the Kutter to various WCW backstage employees, and at one point executed the move on Buff Bagwell's mother Judy, leading to a short feud with the Bagwell family. His feud with Page stretched into 2001, and had not been resolved when WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001.

During his tenure with WCW, Kanyon trained celebrities such as Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone and Jay Leno for their wrestling matches in WCW.

World Wrestling Federation

On July 6, 2001 Chris Kanyon made his WWF (now the WWE) debut on SmackDown! as part of The Alliance, a storyline in which he dubbed himself to be the "Alliance/Invasion MVP."

Retirement and beyond

On February 9, 2004, after a year of not being used in any major storylines and two injuries, Chris Kanyon was officially released from his contract. He retired from professional wrestling on August 28, 2004 after losing a retirement match to Diamond Dallas Page in Wayne, New Jersey. In July 2005, he announced the end of his retirement and his imminent return to the independent circuit.

On October 14, 2005, Kanyon announced that he had been diagnosed with manic depression. Two days later, he was arrested for disorderly conduct and obstructing or opposing an officer in Florida. He was released on a $750 cash bond.

In wrestling

Quotes

• "Who betta than Kanyon?"

Nicknames

• "The Innovator of Offense" (bestowed upon him by WCW play-by-play commentator Mike Tenay)
• "Positively" Kanyon
• Chris "Champagne" Kanyon

Managers

• Nitro Girl Baby
• J. Biggs
• Nitro Girl Chameleon
• Jackie Gayda
• James Vandenburg

Finishing moves

• Flatliner / I'm Better Than You (Reverse STO)
• Kanyon Kutter (Cutter)

Signature moves

• Inverted sitout side powerslam
• Swinging fisherman suplex
• Super Russian legsweep
• Argentine neckbreaker
• Super Samoan drop
• Electric chair drop
• Fireman's carry
• Superkick

Championships and accomplishments

Northeastern Wrestling

• 1-time NEW Tag Team Champion (with JS Storm)

World Championship Wrestling

• 1-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Diamond Dallas Page and Bam Bam Bigelow)

World Wrestling Federation

• 1-time WWF World Tag Team Champion (with Diamond Dallas Page)

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Chris Kanyon