Pro wrestling world heartbroken by legendary performer’s death

The professional wrestling world continues to mourn the death of legendary performer Kevin Sullivan.

Sullivan, 74, died on Friday after battling an infection in Florida.

His death came just more than a month after news broke that he was battling serious health issues and was in need of financial health. Veteran wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer said then that Sullivan had “been in rough shape, including battling sepsis and encephalitis,” across the past couple of months. Meltzer said that Sullivan has been “in and out of consciousness in an ICU.”

A GoFundMe was set up to help offset costs because Sullivan’s insurance was running out. It said that Sullivan was in Florida to sign autographs on May 12 when he “suffered a devastating accident” and had to undergo “emergency surgery that saved his leg and life.”

Unfortunately, Sullivan was never able to fully recover.

Many wrestling legends took to social media to remember him in the days since.

Diamond Dallas Page posted on X that Sullivan’s passing “really hurts my heart.”

“I recently was talking to Ric Flair who told me that Sully wasn’t doing well and I should call him,” the wrestler wrote.

Page said that Sullivan was a “huge part of my life.”

“I’m glad I got to talk to him before he left this planet.”

“I am so saddened to hear about Kevin Sullivan’s passing,” Flair also posted on X. Rest in Peace Kevin! You were an all time great athlete and friend.”

Jake “The Snake” Roberts praised Sullivan’s “mind for the business,” and said he was “an even greater person.”

“I believed Kevin Sullivan was the devil when I was a kid,” Sean Waltman wrote. “Even after I was smart to the business, I thought that was real. I was still scared of him when I was in WCW. He was brilliant! I’m so grateful to have known & worked with Kevin when I was in nWo. He will be missed.”

There were plenty more posts like that on the platform.

Sullivan’s in-ring career began in 1970 and ran through 1997.

Perhaps his most well-known run came as a heel — “The Taskmaster” —with WCW from 1994 until 2001.