Collection: Kevin Sullivan , the Task Master

The devil made him do it. That’s what Kevin Sullivan will say about the manic, often demonic, behavior that defined his frenzied career. From his days as the depraved leader of The Army of Darkness in Championship Wrestling from Florida to his bizarre campaign to bring down Hulkamania in WCW, Sullivan walked with the wicked one wherever he went.

What turned a stout, tough guy from the bad streets of Boston into a knight in Satan’s service? Sullivan’s explanations were often more incomprehensible than his actions. What’s clear is that he started out in 1970 as a generic grappler in smaller NWA territories. By the early ’80s, he had emerged in Championship Wrestling from Florida as the “Boston Battler,” but Sullivan soon made a dark turn.

At a time when heavy metal acts like Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest were terrifying suburban parents with their allusions to devil worship and ancient mysticism, Sullivan rose up as pro wrestling’s very own “Prince of Darkness.” Surrounding himself with a group of twisted misfits — including Maha Singh from the streets of Calcutta, the sage-like snake handler known as The Abudadein and Purple Haze, who literally walked out of the ocean — the Beantown brawler became an ominous enemy to Florida heroes like Dusty Rhodes and Blackjack Mulligan.