Dave Sullivan (wrestler)
| Dave Sullivan | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | William Adolph Danenhauer Jr. |
| Born | December 1, 1963 Len Denton[1] |
| Debut | 1989[2] |
| Retired | 2001[2] |
William Adolph Danenhauer Jr. (born December 1, 1963) is an American retired professional wrestler, college football coach, and college athletics administrator. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling from 1993 to 1996 under the ring name Dave Sullivan, where he played the dyslexic brother of Kevin Sullivan.[1] Danenhauer served as the head football coach at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska from 2003 to 2009, compiling a record of 22–55.
Early life and football career
Dannenhauer attended Westside High School, where both he and his brother wrestled. He and his brother attended the University of Nebraska Omaha, where they played football for the Omaha Mavericks. Dannenhauer went on to play in the short-lived United States Football League (USFL) before ending his playing career. He went on to serve as an assistant coach for the Mavericks before joining Washburn University as offensive coordinator for the Washburn Ichabods.[2]
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1989–1993)
In 1989, Dannehauer decided to become a wrestler after meeting
In 1990, he would tour on and off with Catch Wrestling Association for two years under the name "The Barbarian". He also occasionally wrestled under this name in France in matches taped for satellite TV channel Eurosport.[4]
In 1991, he briefly wrestled in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, most notably losing a match to Scott Norton on March 21 at the Tokyo Dome.[citation needed]
In 1992, Danenhauer left PNW for the Global Wrestling Federation where he wrestled as "Captain Ron".[5] Worked in Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling Council. He would tour the United Kingdom for All Star under the name "American Hawkwind."[citation needed]
World Championship Wrestling (1993–1996)
In 1993, Danenhauer joined World Championship Wrestling as The Equalizer, and teamed briefly with Rick Rude as his tag team partner/bodyguard. They feuded with Dustin Rhodes and Road Warrior Hawk.[6] He also teamed with Paul Orndorff.[1]
His biggest push started in the summer of 1994 when he became "Dave Sullivan" the dyslexic brother of Kevin Sullivan who regularly mispronounced his own forename as "Evad". He was being picked on by The Nasty Boys and brought Kevin in to help him against them. He was injured by them, so Kevin Sullivan brought in Cactus Jack to help them out. After Kevin and Jack took care of The Nasty Boys, they split up, and Jack left. Hulk Hogan made his WCW debut that summer, and Sullivan became his biggest fan. Kevin hated Hogan, and problems started brewing.[7]
Sullivan started teaming with Hogan and
Sullivan's next feud was with
Retirement and football coaching career
Danenhauer retired from professional wrestling in 2001 due to the cumulative impact of injuries sustained in his football and wrestling careers. He relocated to
In 2020 he was inducted into the Nebraska Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. His Class also included Gorgeous George and Local Wrestler Tony Cortez.
"Dave Sullivan" came out of retirement in 2022 with the MWA Midwest Wrestling in Lincoln, Nebraska as a manager.
Championships and accomplishments
- Empire Wrestling Association
- EWA North American Championship (1 time)[9]
- NWA Pacific Northwest Wrestling
- The Grappler[3]
- Professional Wrestling Federation
- PWF Eastern States Championship (1 time)[citation needed]
- PWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Baby Huey (1) and George South (1)[citation needed]
- Southern States Wrestling
- United States Wrestling Federation
- USWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with John Bradshaw[9]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Worst Gimmick (1994)[11]
- Worst Wrestler (1993, 1994)[11]
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dana Vikings (Great Plains Athletic Conference ) (2003–2009)
| |||||||||
| 2003 | Dana | 2–9 | 2–8 | 10th | |||||
| 2004 | Dana | 2–9 | 1–9 | T–10th | |||||
| 2005 | Dana | 5–6 | 4–6 | T–6th | |||||
| 2006 | Dana | 6–5 | 5–5 | 5th | |||||
| 2007 | Dana | 4–7 | 3–7 | 9th | |||||
| 2008 | Dana | 3–8 | 2–8 | T–9th | |||||
| 2009 | Dana | 0–11 | 0–10 | T–10th | |||||
| Dana: | 22–55 | 17–53 | |||||||
| Total: | 22–55 | ||||||||
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Dave "Evad" Sullivan was inspiration for Eugene". Online World of Wrestling. July 9, 2009. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Doug, Barber (September 2, 2003). "From 'The Equalizer' to Dana's Head Viking". Washington County Enterprise and Pilot Tribune. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6X4ZyUF90Y
- ^ "Matches von Dave Sullivan, GWF" (in German). CageMatch.net. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
- ^ "CLash of the CHampionms XXIV". ProWrestlinghistory.com. August 18, 1993. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
- ^ ISBN 1-55022-584-7.
- ^ "Varsity Bowling Added To Dana College Athletics". WOWT. May 4, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2014.[permanent dead link]
- ^ ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ ISSN 1083-9593.
External links
- Bill Danenhauer at IMDb
- Dave Sullivan's profile at Cagematch.net
