All language subtitles for Dark Side Of The Ring s03e09 The Double Life of Chris Kanyon.eng

Chris Kanyon was so
ahead of his time.

He was amazing.

[Commentary]
...with moves like that!

I loved working with
that motherfucker.

Kanyon,
the Innovator of Offense,

living up to his reputation.

He called himself the
Innovator of Offense.

...trying to get this,
oh, my goodness!

How about that,
a cradle neck breaker!

Might end up getting stuck,
look at this!

Oh, my goodness!

[narrator]
In the 1990s,

wrestler Chris Kanyon
rose from obscurity

to become one of the most
innovative and versatile

performers of the era,
pioneering a style that

would set the stage for
decades to come.

I would say he's one of the most

underappreciated wrestlers of all time.

Chris is one of those
guys who deserve

so much more respect,
so much more notoriety,

and so much more love

for everything he
did for wrestling.

Despite success and the
adulation of his peers,

Kanyon lived
with a deep secret,

which he believed,
if revealed,

would end his career
in an instant.

I had no idea he was gay.

Here was a guy twice
my size that's just,

[mimicking raspy voice]
always talking about,

"Fuck the queers!
I ain't got time for that!"

That, to me, was like the
greatest kept secret.

And, I'm one of
Chris' best friends.

Concealing the truth
became an obsession,

and his increasingly
erratic behaviour

deeply concerned
and terrified

those closest to him.

Then he started doing a
bunch of crazy shit.

The house would
be destroyed,

or my car would
be destroyed,

or my clothes
would be torn up.

And at that point,
I was like,

"You just tried to
fucking kill me."

Just holding onto a secret,

not being able to
share it with your

closest friends and family.

Not being able to tell
them who you really are,

that must have killed him
for so long.

Literally, it was an
emotional rollercoaster.

He was manic.
Really just out of his mind.

It was a painful thing to
watch him disintegrate, really.

His life played
out the way he saw it,

'cause we all manifest
our own reality.

♪

Who's better than
Kanyon?!

In the 90s, it was like

You had to have a catch phrase.

You had to have a catch phrase!

[raspy voice] "Who better
than Kanyon?"

- "Who better!"
- "Who better than Kanyon!"

Who better than Kanyon?
Nobody!

Well, he shows me something
different every time.

Kanyon has really
revolutionized our sport.

Brought in some moves that
no one's even thought of.

That was different.

As far as guys I loved to
be in the ring with

and dance, as we
call it, haha...

Chris Kanyon's the top 5%.

'Cause it was just fun.

It's me, it's DDP.

Diamond Dallas Page.

Master of the
Diamond Cutter.

[Cheering]. Oh!

I think he did the
independent wrestling style

before anybody else.

I'm Nick Jackson, this is
my brother, Matt Jackson.

We're The Young Bucks.

We're very good friends
with Chris Kanyon.

He doesn't realize so
much of us, as kids,

as teenagers,
we watched Chris.

The way that he took moves
and the way he sold moves,

and the way he strung
along offense.

You see another one of
his innovative moves.

There was something
special about Chris.

Everyone loved him.

And he was funny,
and he was bright,

and he was witty.

I would call him the King
of Sunnyside, New York.

Hi, my name is
Rafael Morffi.

I'm a 20-year pro
wrestling executive.

I grew up with
Chris Klucsarits, aka,

Chris Kanyon, in Sunnyside,
Queens, New York.

And I went to grammar school
with Chris and high school,

and as luck would have it,
work with him at WWE.

Middle class,
blue collar area.

A lot of Catholics.

In our parish, he would be
in the corner with

some of his friends,
putting on these shows.

He adored wrestling.

I don't think he was
ever comfortable

about his sexual orientation.

That comes from
where he grew up,

his religious beliefs.

He had a struggle
at our high school.

He was overheard
cursing his teacher and,

sent him to the
chaplain of our school.

And he just blurted out,
"I'm gay." You know,

"Don't give into Satan,
don't give into temptations."

The animosity Chris had towards
this person who told him that...

Chris says, "That's who I am
so, why is it wrong?"

I think it had a
big effect on him.

And really broke my heart.

I was like, man,
I wish I knew.

I wish I knew he was
going through this.

So, when I first started
hanging around with Kanyon,

he presented himself
as a guy from New York,

a tough New York,
you know, Queens guy,

who was very Catholic and
very anti-homosexual.

I am The Sinister Minister,
Father James Mitchell.

I have been known as
Daryl Van Horne in

Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

I'm sure your mother's waiting
for you in the tool shed!

I was known as
James Vandenberg in WCW.

..and twist his body!

He showed me this tape of him
doing a match in the streets.

I said, you know,
"I could really do

something with you, Kanyon.

What we need to do is
get you into a ring.

And the only wrestling ring
that I know of around here

is the one that
Fabulous Moolah has."

Brought in the hard way
by the fabulous one.

For over half a century,
the Fabulous Moolah was

one of the industry's
leading power brokers,

controlling nearly all aspects
of women's wrestling.

He was pretty marked out
that he was

in the presence of a legend.

Moolah normally
trained women.

I had told him, "Just
keep your mouth shut.

Let me do the talking.
Let me see if I can

bullshit her, get you
in the door."

She looked at him,
she was very impressed.

♪

Moolah would run these
tiny shows for her students.

Mae Young was there, and she
would get in there all the time

and jump on Kanyon and
stomp the shit out of him.

She'd rip big wads of
hair out of his head.

"Van! What's going on?
This bitch is crazy!

She's shooting on me!"
I'm like,

"Just put up with it.
You'll be okay."

By the mid 90s,

Kanyon catches the attention
of World Championship Wrestling,

and is soon realizing
his dream performing

regularly on
national television.

I first met Chris when
I went to WCW and,

he used to be in a tag team
called Men At Work where

they used to go around
and measure things

for no apparent reason.
[Laughing]

He started getting a little
bit of steam because he had

such a great reputation
amongst the other wrestlers.

He had this really
super thick accent.

He also had a
little bit of a lisp,

which used to bother him.

He was always nervous to do
a promo on air 'cause

he was always kind of
worried about his lisp.

[Indistinct] ...and
found to be condemned!

Everyone saw the potential
that he had to be top star,

and that's when they started
giving him a little bit more

to do on the show and kind
of expanding his role.

He was getting to
live his dream.

This was a time when
he was really happy.

He went to pack up and
go to Memphis, I believe.

I get a phone call, and I
see it on the caller ID and

I'm excited. Christopher
Klucsarits, and I picked it up.

"Kanyon! How are you
doing?" He goes,

"Van, I have something to
tell you."

"Okay, what's that?"

"I had one of those
big U- Haul things,

and my cousins were
trying to move it.

And Van, gay pornography
exploded all over the street!

It was like a
piñata of gay porn!

And I panicked,
and they said,

'Kanyon,
what the fuck is that'?

And I said,
'That's Daryl Van Horne's!

He, he, he pulls
ribs on people.

He's a sick motherfucker!
He's probably gay, himself.

I bet it's his!'".

So, that's how he
came out to me.

And I said, "Okay, so what?"
He goes,

"So, you need to
call my cousin."

And he had this very elaborate
script written out where

I couldn't be too obvious,
but I had to say,

"Hey, can you get me in
touch with Kanyon because

I left some materials with him."
And the thing was,

I was the only person
Kanyon told he was gay.

And, my job was to
cover for him.

What really was a huge
break for Chris,

was they came up
with this campaign.

Our world is about
to change.

The Blood Runs Cold
story line casts wrestler

Ray Lloyd as Glacier,

a character inspired by
Mortal Combat's Sub Zero.

While Kanyon emerges
as his nemesis, Mortis,

with Manager James
Vandenberg at his side.

That's the coolest
mask gimmick ever.

♪

This was... a huge break.

And it was a great combination
with Vandenberg.

"Vandenballs",
he used to call him.

He used to torture
Vandenballs, man.

He was vicious.

He was vicious.
[Laughing]

But, Vandenballs never has a
career without Chris Kanyon.

And he loved Vandenballs,
he loved him.

- [Cheering]
- Oh!

Oh! That was right in the chest!

We were celebrating a
great victory or something.

I went to turn the car on,
and it wouldn't start.

He started screaming,
and yelling, and cursing at me.

I go, "Kanyon,
it's not a big deal.

I'll call a taxi,
whatever."

And, he just started
increasing it.

Anyhow, the car starts.

So, now we're
riding home to Atlanta.

The whole time, he's throwing
elbows in my face going,

"You motherfucker!
I fucking hate you!

You fucking piece of shit!"
I'm just going, "What?

What's wrong with you, man?"

And we got to the
parking garage. He kicked,

actually kicked my
fucking passenger door open.

"You motherfucker!"

And he began to kick out
every headlight, brake light.

Jumped up and
down on the hood.

Totally destroyed my car.
Bashed the glass out of it.

"Get the fuck out of here!
I hate you.

I never want to
see you again!

If I didn't have a lisp, I would
never have anything to

do with you, 'cause I
can't do a promo."

And then, I looked at him,
I let it sit for a minute.

And I went... "Okay."

"That's a hell of a thing
to say to the only guy

who knows
your secret identity."

♪

As Chris Kanyon reaches new
heights wrestling for

one of the industry's
top promotions,

he becomes even more
paranoid about his

colleagues discovering his
innermost secret.

If you were gay back then,
you were a bad guy.

You were a heel.

You were the guy that you
would do the Sunset Flip

and they would pull
your pants down,

you'd have a
thong on.

Look at this!
[Laughing]

[Cheering]

Back in those days, it just
wasn't as accepted as it is now.

Oh, my gosh!
A man kissing another man!

I can't believe it!

Absolutely, I'm sure Kanyon
was worried about

how that would be presented.

Oh, my god! Oh!

Wait a minute.

It wasn't gonna be
a positive thing.

My name is Brian Cage.
Current AEW wrestler.

Big time fan,
very close friend,

and also unofficial
trainee of Chris Kanyon.

Just because of the creative
control that wrestling

could have, you know,
that easily could have

lost him his job, for sure.

He had what looked like
a control center.

He would spend days
trolling for boyfriends.

He had all these long winded
conversations with guys,

and he would
print everything out.

Alphabetize them,
organize them.

And he would put them in
this little metal box.

So, you'd have the usual
suspects come running in

and, they'd ask
what was in the box.

He'd say, "None of your
fucking business!"

And he started getting really
paranoid about the box,

to a point, I started
calling it Pandora's Box.

I said, "Kanyon,
why do you have this?

You're worried about
being outed as being gay,

but this is like Nixon
keeping Watergate tapes."

Maybe he wanted somebody to
knock it over just like

his gay porn fell out of
the U-Haul thing

with his cousin, you know.
That could have been it.

What was great about the
Mortis character for Chris,

was that you could hide
behind the mask.

And, little did I know
that he was hiding

behind a mask the
whole time.

Mortis really gave him
that power to grow.

What a move, what a move!

And then a little thing
happened called...

the N.W.O.

What is he doing?

Is he the third man?!

You can call this the

New World Order of
wrestling, brother.

And I will never
forget Kanyon.

He looked at me, he goes,
"Our push is dead."

And he was right.
The NWO took over the world.

I hope it's okay because

there's nothing you
can do about it!

All of that gimmicky
character-based

wresting stuff went
out the window.

We're on reality-based
wrestling, not cartoons.

He started getting really
frustrated about it.

You just opened Pandora's Box!

The stress off it started
making him

really lash out at me
for no reason.

One night,
he went off on me.

"You motherfucker!"
And started choking me,

like this, with the
thumbs on the Adam's apple,

to the point that
I, I blacked out.

And I started coming to
and I was hearing,

"You mother...
you motherfucker!"

And then he, he looked
down at me and he goes,

"Oh, Van, fuck...
[gasping]

What am I doing?
I'm so sorry!

I, I fucking love you.
I'm fucking sorry."

And he started kissing
my forehead and shit.

And, you know,
and I was loyal to him,

and I loved him, and he,
he helped me so much.

But, there's no reason
to be beating my ass.

You know, he had to release
his steam and he couldn't

act that way in front
of other people.

With the Mortis storyline
now over,

Chris grows anxious about his
future with the company.

But WCW finds him
a new role.

- That's, that's Mortis!
- Oh, my...

You know, we haven't
seen Mortis for months.

Now without a mask,

he is reintroduced to
fans as Kanyon.

Now we can see Chris.

We can see, 'cause he looks,
he's a good looking dude.

You know, he's got swag.

Now he's got a different
level of confidence.

Who's better than Kanyon?

Eric Bischoff had a lot of
faith in Chris Kanyon.

I mean, he sent him
to do Ready to Rumble.

That match, everything,
all that's Chris Kanyon.

That generation loved
Ready to Rumble.

It's the best wrestling
movie of all time.

[Laughing]

Kanyon helped teach
David Arquette

how to wrestle and how
to take the bumps.

And then he even took
some of the stunts.

He was a stunt
double in the,

in the film, itself.

Someone came up with the
three-level cage match.

And then it was his idea to use
that cage in actual WCW match.

Chris took a bump from the
top from Mike Awesome,

big moment.

- Oh!
- [Match bell chiming]

It was just
great to see him.

Like, he's in the mix.

He would make fun of
me all the time.

He would do his
DDP impersonation.

He was having such a
good time with it.

Bang!

WCW had the money to
spend on these guys.

Chris probably went
from making, you know,

100 bucks a day to
making, you know, what,

3, 4, 500 grand a year.

He was spending it,
but in a good way.

He loved to play lord bountiful

and put on the best parties.

He turned his house into

a beach bar nightclub.

Like, literally.
He brought in sand.

The women were crawling on him.

I'm not kidding.
Crawling on him.

And he completely
no sells it.

And, one of the
girls one night,

comes over to
me and she goes,

"I think your friend
might be gay."

And I told him that.
He got really paranoid then.

♪

So, he had assigned me to

make a pornographic video of him

that he could show the boys
as proof that he was straight.

"Find a whore.

Here's the room and
here's my video camera.

Here's the script.

I'll be there about midnight."

And he never showed up.

One o'clock, two o'clock,
whatever.

So, nature took its course.

Long story short,
we followed his script.

And the girl was wearing
the Mortis mask, okay.

♪

In the morning,
we're in the hotel room,

and I pop the tape in.
Kanyon laughed at first,

and then you could see him
start getting furious.

And he ran in the bathroom,
and out of nowhere he goes,

"You motherfucker!
You used my hair conditioner!"

I was like, "Kanyon,
I don't even have fucking

three pieces of
hair on my head."

And he's just
amping it up and I,

and I started seeing...

the things that led to
me getting choked.

However, I had a 45 pistol
under the pillow.

And he hit me with both
fists in the chest and

I flew over the bed.

I hit the ground and
I came right back up,

slid across, put my
hand under the pillow,

picked up the gun
and I went, "Fuck you!

You hit me again,
you're fucking dead!"

Now shit's on.

Kanyon grabs the four pieces
of Charlie Brown hair

I have on top of my head:
"Put down the gun!"

And I'm going, "I've had
enough of this shit!

You're too fucking big,
you motherfucker!

What the fuck did I do to
deserve this shit?"

And, and then, it hit me like,
this shit's out of control.

This is my, one of
my best friends.

So, we let it diffuse.

Oh, yeah, yeah, I was.

I had looked up
all the statutes on,

you know, reasonable fear
of life, and whatnot.

I mean, it wasn't
something I wanted to do,

but I was like, you know,
the next time this guy

starts that Adam's
apple business...

I was prepared to shoot him.

♪

Although Chris Kanyon's
paranoia continues to

manifest in violent outbursts,
his career is about to

peak in a way he never
dreamed possible.

Chris Kanyon took
prominence right when

the industry was having
a great boom.

Then, you know,
WWE bought out WCW.

You know, they really
believed in him.

And Chris writes in his book,
you know,

Vince pulled him
aside and said,

"You have really
adjusted well here,

and we have big plans
for you."

And he ended up being
a double champion

the first two months or so.

He was a tag champion, and
he was the US champion.

Who better than Kanyon
and DDP, and--

Who better?

You know, I thought he
was in a great spot.

I mean, I thought
he was gonna shine.

But, you know,
it's like anything, you know,

you don't know
what you don't know.

Kanyon would invite me to
come up and stay with him.

I'd stay with him two,
three weeks.

Sometimes a month at a time.

He would spend two or three
days sitting on the floor,

stacking and
restacking papers.

I'd say, "What are you doing?"
"I'm working on my taxes."

But he wasn't
working on his taxes.

He was just taking piles
of notices from the IRS and

things like that and just
moving them around, like...

He would stay in bed
for 6 and 7 days

after he's invited me there.

I'd just be sitting in his house
for days, and days, and days.

I didn't understand depression.

I'd say, "What the fuck do you
have to be depressed about?

You're on fucking WWE,
you're in movies.

You got money."

He couldn't articulate it to me
further than, you know,

"You don't know what it's like
to be in my head.

You think
everybody loves me.

I don't think they do."

♪

Then he got hurt.

He got his shoulder injured,

and he was worried that
he was gonna get fired.

You build a program,
then you get hurt.

It's really hard to
come back from.

He took steroids for
one of the few times

I was ever aware of it

to try to rehab his injury.

And I guess he was
depressed for a few days and

left a needle out.

And he got some sort of
horrible blood infection and,

and he lost a
bunch of weight,

and he was
really worried that...

they would let him go.

Kanyon spends the next
year and a half recovering

from his injuries while also
struggling with

his mental health.

Determined to come
back better than before,

he's finally offered a role
that he believes will get

his career back on track.

He had told me he was
gonna be at Smackdown.

And he had a role,
a big one.

It was a moment for him to
be involved with

two huge names in the industry,
The Undertaker,

who was very high on Chris.

Thought Chris had a
lot of potential.

And, Paul Heyman,

who's presenting
The Undertaker with a gift.

...The Undertaker in a box...

Whenever WWE came to town
in southern California,

we were at the shows,
no matter what.

I remember Chris was
hiding in like a giant,

of course, in pro wrestling,
a giant present.

At some point, Kanyon was
directed to come out of a big

wooden box dressed as
Boy George and singing,

'Do You Really
Want to Hurt Me',

and he was told to
do it with a lisp.

♪ Do you 'weally' want
to make me cry? ♪

- Boy George?
- Do you really want to hurt me!

And we're like,
"Oh, my god, it's Kanyon!"

'Cause we were such Kanyon fans.

We're just popping
from our seats.

We're like, "We didn't know
he was gonna be here!"

♪ ...me cry.

Where's Brother Love
when you need him?

But then he just
got destroyed, right?

[Indistinct shouting]

And Kanyon!

Welcome back to the WWE.

It was really violent.

A chair!

And I remember, like, I was
smart to the business even,

I think, I remember thinking to
myself, like, this is terrible.

Oh!

Why did they bring Kanyon
out just to kill him like that?

[Indistinct shouting
& screaming]

He's a human being!

What was that, like a chair shot
to the head or something?

It was like a terrible
chair shot to the head.

Oh!

Wow, did you hear that?

Unfortunately, I did.
Man, that was a nasty...

It's pretty obvious.

He had never done
anything like that.

Just out of the blue one day
he comes out and

is expected to sing
like Boy George.

Like, I mean, come on.

Somebody found something
out or heard something,

or said, "Let's put this
guy to task."

And it's a bullying WWE trick.
Why else would you do that?

I think that really
did hurt him.

To this day, I'm not
gonna buy it

that they wanted
to humiliate him. Sorry.

WWE's not gonna have someone
trained to come back

for a year to humiliate him
on national TV.

That's not gonna happen.

It just didn't work out
creatively.

And then he started being...

depositioned or pushed down a card.

You know who's
better than Kanyon?

I want to know.
Tell me, please.

Everybody! Woo!

This happens a lot
of times in the WWE.

You get kind of slotted in
a certain position and

it's hard to dig
yourself out of it.

They didn't feel it was
enough to keep him on so,

they let him go.

♪

Kanyon claimed to me, at first,

that the office was
punishing him for being gay.

But then he told me later
that was all bullshit.

A knee injury,
a shoulder injury.

He can't get back on track.

And he was just using it
as an ace in the hole

to cover his ass if he
ever had to sue them.

And he became what I guess
you call in literature,

an unreliable narrator.

I couldn't tell what was
true and what wasn't.

And Orlando Jordan beats Kanyon!

But, you know, Kanyon in a
lot of ways towards the

last few years of his life could
be his own worst enemy.

♪

Devastated by his
release from the WWE,

Chris Kanyon finds
meaning in mentoring

a new generation of
wrestling stars.

It was about 2005 when we got
booked on a bigger show...

We saw Chris Kanyon was on the
list and we couldn't believe it.

He was one of our heroes,
legitimate heroes.

Here we are,
we're just these kids.

- I'm probably 19?
- Yeah, and I'm 15, 16.

We're like teenage voices:

[high pitch voice]
"Hi, I'm Matt.

This is my brother, Nick."
All nervous.

We hit it off, you know,
right off the bat.

Imagine this guy that you
watched on television for years.

Now he's your friend, and he's,
you know, calling you every day.

He had called me at
one time and he goes,

"Hey, are you guys
having a show?

'Cause, I'm kind
of in the area.

I could come work one of
your shows if you're there."

And I was like, "Holy crap.

Well, we're doing a
show now!"

Chris Kanyon,
the Innovator of Offense.

Who better, nobody's better!

He came out to a big pop,
you know, the big star.

And he buries the crowd,
super good heel, mic work.

I'm gonna beat ya,
and then I'm gonna

leave this stupid hick town
and never, ever come back.

- [Booing]
- Shut up!

I didn't want to go, I didn't
want to go over at all.

And he goes, "Kid,
this is your promotion,

your hometown.
Like, you gotta go over,

it's gonna get
the better reaction."

I was like, "Okay, fine."
He goes to pick me up,

I slip out the back door,
and I roll him up, 1, 2, 3.

Still to this day, it's one
of my top three favourite,

not like matches
in wrestling,

but probably one of my top three
favourite moments in my life.

And he was such a giving,
selfless guy.

Maybe for this one night,
you're better than Kanyon.

[Cheering]

Chris Kanyon was the
person that would,

honestly, give you
the shirt off his back.

He was a great person, yeah.

Chris was a, Chris was
a great person.

My name is Luke Hawx.
I'm a professional wrestler,

and also a dear friend
of Chris Kanyon.

As you can see,
such a dear friend,

you see, I have Mortis
tattooed on my arm right here.

2005, Katrina hit,
and I was in Louisiana.

It was the worst
hurricane of all time,

completely wiped
out the city.

Kanyon called me up and he,

he was the first
person to call me.

And he goes, "If you
need a place to live,

you can come live with me
as long as you need to.

No charge." So, Chris would
go through these stages

where he would stay up for
three or four days at a time.

Keep in mind, we're in
Clearwater Beach and,

the headquarters for
Scientology is not far away.

So, he said he
had just got home,

and he went left,

and he was driving on
this bridge for hours.

And he was trying to get to
the scientology building,

and I think he said
he'd seen aliens or

aliens had stopped him.

♪

Which never happened because

he was home with
us the whole time.

So, he starts freaking out.

He's like, "I gotta
break into this building.

I gotta go in that building.
I know the aliens are in there."

I told the guys, I said,
"We can't let him leave."

♪

We gotta hold him down.

We're gonna have to tie him up
and lock him in a room.

We can't let him leave until
he calms down and goes

to sleep 'cause we knew
once he went to sleep,

he would wake up
and he would be fine.

And that's exactly
what happened.

He woke up, didn't even
remember it happening.

♪

Kanyon eventually begins
treatment for bipolar disorder,

and finally feels
empowered to open up

about his sexuality.

He says, "I need to
tell you something."

And I go, "Okay, what's up?"

His tone was different,

and he was more serious and,
and I'm just like,

"Is everything okay, man?"

"I just don't know how you're
gonna react to this."

I'm like, "Dude, just tell me."

And he finally spits it out,
he's like, "Kid..."

"I'm gay." And, I said, "Okay."

And he goes,
"You don't hate me?"

I said, "Hate why,
why would I hate you?"

He goes, "'Cause I'm gay."

And just to be honest,
especially at that time,

that day and age, I was a little
bummed out about it.

I'm like, "What?" I'm like,
"Kanyon's gay?"

Then I started thinking
about it. I go, wait a minute,

that doesn't change
anything. Like,

I'm, I'm really thankful
for that opportunity now, too,

because I really
think that made me...

like, open my eyes
and become a lot more like

understanding and tolerant
towards a lot of things

because it was like
that quick, like,

within a minute I
went from like,

"Oh, man," to like,
"Oh, wait, who cares?"

We were all kind of happy
for him 'cause by this time,

his career wasn't where
he dreamed it could be.

He had been discussing,
on and off,

being an openly gay wrestler.

He wanted to really be a
role model in doing it,

but the, the issue was
how do you portray that.

He came out of the closet at
an independent show

where he was wrestling
Diamond Dallas.

And right now, one of the most
controversial wrestlers...

The question I got for you,
my brother...

You gonna pop the
question? Uh-oh.

The rumour that's
going around is...

Are you gay?

He figured that it
would be a big deal.

The rumours are true.
I'm gay.

I am the first ever openly
gay professional athlete

active in this country.

You will always be my brother.

The thing was,
we're now in 2006.

And nobody cared.

It was kind of
like too little too late.

Orlando Jordan had been
put on television and,

they were gonna announce him
as an openly gay wrestler.

And Kanyon lost
his mind about that.

"They're taking my gimmick!
They're taking my gimmick!"

And I would say,

"Well, you don't have a patent
or trademark on being gay,

and you didn't bring it
up to them before."

He wrote a letter to
Stephanie McMahon saying,

"Please, let me
be the spokesman.

I think I can help kids
that need to come out,"

and things like that.

Stephanie wrote him back
this pithy little response,

"I'm so sorry to hear
about your struggles.

I didn't know
about any of this,

but before I can address
your other issues

I have to talk to legal," legal
department or something.

And, he never heard back
from it after that.

A few years prior, Kanyon had
already sealed his fate with

the WWE by attempting a
series of ill-conceived

stunts in the hopes of
getting their attention.

I was WWE's MSG promoter.

You know, Chris Benoit
just wins his world title.

You had Eddie Guerrero
in the ring.

So, you know, I'm on the floor.

So, this is about a few
minutes after we were off air.

I look in the corner of my
eye and I see Chris

jump in the ring, go to
the turnbuckle...

♪

That was some odd
behaviour from him.

You know, I had to
ask myself,

what, you know,
what's going on here?

Later that night, the WWE
was kind enough

to invite him to
the after party.

He goes, "Oh, and by
the way, I just went over to,

to Vince, Vince McMahon,

put my arm around him
and I said,

'Thank you for inviting me
to this party, you know,

even though you
fired me.'"

- Again...
- I don't know why he did that.

Chris was, he, it was like
a downward spiral.

I think his head was stuck
in that, "No, I'm gonna be

controversial so they'll
talk about it in the sheets."

You would hear these
stories about,

"Yeah, Kanyon's sitting
front row at a live event

screaming, you know,
'Give me justice',"

or whatever, whatever the,
the details were.

Any way you slice it,
you could see this isn't good.

The industry may have seen
him as taboo to work with.

That must have been
terrible for Chris.

And then, you know,
he kind of disappeared

for a while after that.

One time he calls me,

and we were really
close at this point.

I start the shower and my
phone goes off, and it's Chris.

And I always
pick up for Chris.

And he's
bawling his eyes out.

And I'm like, "Chris,
calm down, calm--

What's going on?"

"I've had enough.
I'm gonna kill myself."

I said, "Chris, what?"

He's like, "Pray for
me right now, kid.

Pray for me for me
right now."

And I'm like, my hand's
shaking and I'm like,

I'm praying for this guy.

And, he's bawling and
bawling and bawling,

and like, the entire bathroom's
filling up with steam

'cause like, I'm on
this call for 45 minutes.

I'm crying, and
I'm 19 years old.

I'm trying to
convince this guy,

one of my heroes,
don't kill yourself.

And it was heavy.

And by the time we were
done with the conversation,

I got him to calm down.

And we said a prayer and,
and he told me he loved me.

And, I got off the phone
and I'm just like

standing there,
just going, holy crap,

what was that?

♪

In 2006, Kanyon receives
an unexpected call

from The Howard Stern Show,

where he eventually
appears as a regular,

demonstrating his wit,
charm, and humour.

He got out there and he
talked about being gay,

and he made the
self-deprecating jokes

that he'd always
wanted to do.

If the Mets win,
you gotta suck my dick.

Ah!

Chris Kanyon's a wrestler.
And, he feels he was

kicked out of the WWE
'cause he's gay.

To me,
the Boy George thing,

that was a message,
I thought. You know,

that was like, "If you
come out of the closet,

we're gonna beat the
shit out of you."

[Howard] I see.

They told me before that,
before I went out there as

Boy George, they said,
"Sing like a faggot."

- Whoa.
- Oh...

You know...

There was an incident with
him and John Cena

on Howard Stern.

He says Vince is a homophobe,

and Chris claims that he
was fired because

he is a gay man.

Here's, here's a weird
thing about Chris,

and I've known
Chris for a long time.

He, he actually came out of
the closet after he was fired.

[Howard] Right.

He just, he wasn't any good.

I remember when I first saw it,
I was fucking livid.

It was just such a
dirtbag thing to say.

And with Vince, you do
have to have

a certain technical bravado.

You gotta be
able to wrestle.

But at the same time,
it's WWE.

You gotta be able to
entertain the people.

Chris just wasn't any good.

Take Kanyon, you know,
to the general public,

who's like right here.

And then, John Cena,
who's right here.

And if he, you know,
kind of craps on Kanyon.

Whatever truth there is
to whatever he's saying,

Cena's gonna basically
stomp it out.

You know, the guys from the
WWE were in an uproar

after your last appearance here.

- Really?
- Did you know that?

No.

Ric Flair is on the phone.
He wants to debate you.

Ric Flair is on the phone?

Kanyon loved Ric Flair.

Kanyon's Kanyon was Ric Flair.

[Ric Flair]
John, John made a good point.

And I'm, I'm disappointed
in Chris as a person.

I've known him a long time,
that he would blame

his shortcomings on
something that's going on

in his personal life.

He started getting
into a fight with

his childhood hero, Ric Flair.

Ric, we know a lot of guys
inside the business that

are gay, but they don't
want to go national,

be nationally out.

I did, and I was punished
for wanting to do it.

[Laughing] Yeah.

I guess it kind of didn't
go well for Kanyon.

He put Ric Flair in a position
of having to say,

"Chris, I love you, buddy.
You're a good guy, but...

you're not the Nature Boy.
You're not Stone Cold."

So, you think he could
work for the WWE again?

No, I don't think
he could.

Why not?

I think the opportunity
for Chris Kanyon

has come and gone.
And Cena said,

"Yeah, you are not good
enough right now

to be on the show."
- Okay.

[Howard]
Alright, well, there it is.

Ric Flair backed what
John Cena said,

and Kanyon had a
huge problem with that.

He really kind of
underplayed

how much it affected him.

I think he just didn't want
to admit that

wrestling had that kind of
power over him.

He was a great
professional wrestler.

He was a great entertainer.

And, it was gone.

Last time I saw him was
January or February of 2010.

And he had been booked
to work a show for

Mikey Whipwreck,
and the match just,

it was horrible.

It was the worst I've ever
seen him wrestle in his life.

And people started laughing.

Once they're laughing at you
and not with you, you're gone.

Total flat finish.
Nobody cared.

But, we went to
the bar afterwards.

He was holding court.
He was the star.

He was making all the
self-deprecating gay jokes

and people were laughing
with him, not at him.

One guy walked
up to me:

"Hey, I don't want to
bother you guys,

but will you just let him
know he meant a lot to me,

and he's inspired me
because... because I'm gay."

So, we go back to the hotel
room and everything's great.

And, we walk in, and he
started saying he was sore,

and I asked him what happened.
And he said that he'd

just thrown himself
in front of a car,

trying to kill himself
a couple days earlier.

And I started saying,
"Kanyon,

have you lost
your fucking mind?

Did you see just
see what we did?

Did you see the outpouring
of love from these guys?"

And I said, "You're being
fucking selfish."

And he goes,

"No, Van, you're the one
who's being fucking selfish.

You don't know what
it's like to live in

my fucking brain, to feel
like a fucking freak,

and to fucking hate
yourself every day."

And I yelled at him a little bit
more and, and then he goes,

"Van, I'm gonna stop you
right here."

And we hugged,
and then it was like,

like an episode of
This Is Your Life.

He was gonna take me
to the airport and

we had like 45 minutes to go.

And it was like, "You remember
the time you did this,

you remember the time
you did that?"

And we were howling like
the good old days.

When I got out of the car,
I just fucking lost it.

And I got on the plane, and
I cried the whole way home.

And I found a
little corner seat,

and I got off and my wife
asked me what was wrong.

And I said, "I think he's
gonna do it this time."

♪

That last day I saw him,
I literally knew that

he wasn't gonna be here
much longer.

I started, you know, calling him
several times a day,

every day for
like two weeks.

And he wouldn't
answer the phone, at all.

Then his friend Mike Paserello
called me at,

I think it was like
6 am in the morning,

and that's never a good
time to get a phone call.

And he told me,
told me he was gone.

On April 2nd, 2010,

Chris was found dead
in his childhood home

in Sunnyside Queens,
New York,

having overdosed
on antidepressants.

His death was
ruled a suicide.

He was 40 years old.

As you can imagine, we took it
how we took it.

[Sighing] And ah, you know,
I teared up a little bit.

Said, "Motherfucker!"

I was like so numb.
I didn't know, like,

what to do or feel.
I was just like frozen

'cause it was just,
I was just at a loss.

But I also remember
being relieved because I

remembered Chris is now at a
place where he wants to be

because he can't be
in pain, you know.

He's not... it's...

♪

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

He, I knew my friend
wasn't suffering anymore.

And it sucked to lose him,
but I just hope that

he's not suffering anymore.

I fucking owe everything
to the guy, you know.

He's horribly missed.

He was one of my best friends.

He wanted to reach
his arms out and help,

you know, me be
successful and...

I love him and I miss him.

It's very rare in
wrestling that you get

somebody that nobody
ever talks bad about.

Chris is one of
those guys.

I mean, he was a tortured soul.

If I understood
what was going on,

maybe I could have been a,
you know, more...

more assistance or guided
him in the right way, but...

I just didn't know,
and I, you know,

I would just tell
anybody watching this...

if you know anybody who's
bipolar or schizophrenic,

anything like that, to where
they're mental health issues

are interfering with
their day-to-day existence,

do what you have to do.

Fuck any secrets you have.

Go out there and get them
help and save them.

He definitely opened
the door though.

Yes, in the
wrestling industry.

For others to be more
comfortable with coming out,

and that he was one of the
first that I can remember.

He's a pioneer.

You know, he'd be
a hero right now.

He really would be a hero.

I think that was too much
of a cross to bear, I really do.

I mean,
now we've got,

you know, out gay
wrestlers, trans.

I mean, it's a different world.

Chris Kanyon inspired
and helped

an entire generation
of younger guys.

They show their appreciation
for what he did,

for his legacy by
incorporating his moves

into their matches.

- A superplex.
- Wow!

Who better than Cage!

He was just so under-utilized
and so underappreciated,

so the fact that we
could bring more light

to his name and people can
really understand and

see how great
of a guy he was,

and how great in
the ring he was,

you know, it's better
late than never.

I remember on one road trip in
particular, Chris is like,

"You guys don't realize what
I would do to go back and

be your age."
- Oh, yeah.

Trying to break in to wrestling
and make it again right now.

And we just, it didn't
make any sense to me.

"What are you talking about?
You've done it all.

You were on WCW Nitro,

you've been a champion in WWE."

You have your
own action figures,

you've been on video games.

You've done it all, Chris.
And I didn't understand, like,

why would he want to
trade spots with me?

I would do anything, I would
give up anything to be him.

"Guys, listen," he's like,
"the journey there is

so much better than
the destination."

And I'm like, I didn't get it.

And now, I've made it
to the destination,

and he's right.

Like, you're chasing this
thing and when you finally

get to the thing, it doesn't
really make you feel

any better or happier.

You have to be happy
the entire time.

That last night I saw him,
I'd asked him,

"You know, I've told some of
these stories about the crazy

shit you did, but you didn't
have the gay subtext to

explain some of the
behaviour." And I said,

"Do you really want me to
tell these stories?"

He goes, "Shoot, papa, shoot."
"Tell the truth, papa."

If you pulled out a Ouija
board and I got the

chance to talk to
him one more time,

I would just say, "Kanyon,

you've been an
amazing friend."

I... I...

I guess I'd just
hug his ghost.

[Laughing] You know, oops.

And he'd go,
"Motherfucker, you missed!"

[Laughing]

♪

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