Chris Kanyon
| Wrestler: | Chris Kanyon |
|---|---|
| Real Name: | Chris Klucsaritis |
| Birthday: | January 4, 1970 |
| Hometown: | Sunnyside (Queens), New York |
| Marital Status: | |
| Height & Weight: | 6’4″ – 270 lbs |
| Trained by: | Bobby Bold Eagle The Fabulous Moolah Wild Samoan Wrestling School |
| Debut: | April 5, 1992 |
| Previous Names: | Chris Morgan Chris Canyon Mortis Chris “Champagne” Kanyon “Positively” Kanyon |
| Finishing Move: | The Flatliner I’m Better Than You |
| Favorite Moves: | Swinging Fisherman Suplex Kanyon Cutter Electric Chair Drop Leg Face Driver Out of Corner Super Samoan Drop Super Russian Leg Sweep Sitout Dominator Torture Rack into Neckbreaker Super Kick |
| Notable Feuds: | Glacier Ernest Miller Diamond Dallas Page Buff Bagwell Mike Awesome The Undertaker Kane Bruce Steele |
Chris Kanyon Title History
Chris Kanyon was one of the major up-and-coming players in World Championship Wrestling in the late 1990′s and early 2000′s. Making his debut in the early 1990′s, Kanyon was a gifted physical athlete having excelled at sports in his youth. HE became noted for his unique wrestling style however despite this, he wrestled the majority of his early career as a jobber in World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation before being made a prominent star in WCW after being repackaged as a character called “Mortis”, a skeleton-like character modeled like a Mortal Kombat character.
The Mortis character was bought in during the year of 1997 right in the midst of the New World Order angle that was dominating WCW at the time. This left Mortis fending for himself in the midcard division alongside his manager who is best known as Father James Mitchell or the Sinister Minister. Despite his midcard status, Mortis had an engrossing feud with a man by the name of Glacier who himself was also modeled after Mortal Kombat. James Mitchell’s faction which included dark characters Mortis and his tag-team partner Wrath was vintage Mitchell, who made a career out of managing “evil” teams. This faction in WCW was one of his first.
Mortis was eventually scrapped in 1998 after Kanyon unmasked after an attempt to join The Flock with Raven, who was currently tearing down the roof of WCW with a major effect. WCW was looking for a faction that could take the spotlight of the WCW versus the nWo angle which was currently lacking in major popularity. In turn, Raven’s Flock came into the world of WCW; a faction of “outcasts” and “rejects” that did not fit in to the normal society. The members included Raven, Perry Saturn, Scotty Riggs, Lodi and Kanyon’s first tag-team partner, Billy Kidman.
Instead of joining the Flock however, Kanyon went on to feud with Raven instead. After the feud came to an end, Kanyon and Raven became tag-team partners until both wrestlers took time off from the ring. Kanyon would then return in 1999 to manage Raven and Saturn who won the WCW tag-team titles after Kanyon’s interference. Bam Bam Bigelow went on to keep suggesting that they only wont he belts due to KAnyon, and after an alliance formed with Diamond Dallas Page, Kanyon, Bigelow and DDP formed a faction known as “The New Jersey Triad” which was a successful heel run for Kanyon as he and Bigelow went on to win the tag titles at June’s Great American Bash pay per view event in 1999.
Kanyon once again took time off to focus on his acting career, but would return as Chris “Champagne” Kanyon in 2000, a play on his new acting fame. He would have a small feud with Bam Bam Bigelow and suffer a dramatic fall from a triple cage after being powerbombed by Mike Awesome, subsequently resulting n Kanyon taking a huge bump breaking the stage and taking more time off. Kanyon would still be seen on TV being tended to by his best friend DDP, before becoming jealous of DDP’s success. Kanyon would return to television as a heel and begin to sport a blonde wig, his own book and become known as “Positively” Kanyon, a play on DDP’s “Positively Page”.
Kanyon went on to stay with WCW until it was purchased by the WWF in 2001, and he would go on to become known as “the alliances MVP” winning both the United States and the tag-team championships alongside his former rival Dallas Page. He eventually left the WWF and worked on the independent scene as well as making an appearance for TNA Wrestling against his former partner, Raven, before becoming semi-retired. Kanyon has since came out of retirement and works shows primarily within so many miles of his local area.
Perhaps Kanyon’s days in the mainstream spotlight of the big leagues of wrestling are over, but given that this uniquely talented performer never peaked the fame he is capable of due to so many recurring injuries, you can never say never. Chris Kanyon certainly still has it in him to make a big impact in the world of professional wrestling, it just remains to be seen if his time will come.
written by Wayne K. Wilkins
Posted by admin on November 16th, 2010 :: Filed under