WHO BETTER THAN KANYON ?

By Peter Vuono

     Back in the early 1990's one of the most popular and certainly most creative pro wrestlers was Chris Klucsaritis who later changed his name to Chris Kanyon.  The six foot 4 inch Kanyon, who grew up in Sunnyside Queens was a superlative athlete who excelled in floor hockey, basketball, baseball and rugby. He graduated from the Univ. of Buffalo with a degree in physical therapy and because of his huge frame, he moonlighted from his PT job to pro wrestling having started approx. in 1992.
     Kanyon was very creative and always seemed to have an amusing gimmick. Sometimes he'd enter the ring with a mask or as a hockey player or as a construction worker. One time, after making the big leagues, he went into the ring imitating Boy George and sang "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" to the Undertaker. Of, course, after his rendition, he was attacked by the Undertaker. Perhaps his best gimmick was to take the microphone and rhetorically scream at the audience,"Who better than Kanyon?!". To which he would receive incredible anger(or "heat" in the wrestling vernacular) from the audience who would scream  back "Everybody!".
     Chris had two secrets, however, which would not be revealed until years later. He suffered from both bi-polar disorder and struggled with being a closeted gay man. Neither the audience nor many of his colleagues knew. He would later have a book published-Wrestling Reality- where he would talk about the struggles of being a closeted gay.
    However, for a brief period, his popularity soared from going from a "jobber",( one who loses to enhance other talent), to being a headliner in several big leagues such as TNA, the WCW and, of course, the WWE. The hectic travel, the money and the super stardom, helped Chris, for a time, to fend off his inner struggle to just be himself. Then calamity struck.
   Chris  was operated on for two major injuries; one for a torn ACL and the other for his shoulder. After convalescing, he went to the WWE farrm league of the Ohio Valley and other independents such as Pro Wrestling Guerilla. However he was never able to achieve, once again the stardom he had..
His periods of depression were intensified and in 2003 he took 50 anti-depressants in a suicide attempt.
   After regaining his health he decided to wrestle again but "out of the closet". Unfortunately, it wasn't well received and Kanyon retired in 2007.  Depression persisted and weeks before his death, he hinted about suicide. On April 2, 2010, Chris Kanyon's brother found the body of Kanyon in his Sunnyside Queens apartment with an empty bottle of anti-depressants at his side. A letter of apology  to his family was next to him. It is well known that depression and suicide is so much higher in the LGBT community than with most other groups. I tried to think about what I could do to foster awareness of this so I decided to retell a tragic story about someone who only wanted the God given rights of acceptance and happiness. Who better than Kanyon?

"If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" Pope Francis- 7/29/13