Sportskeeda's own Kevin Sullivan talks about his odd injuries, writing about wrestling, WWE, battling mental health issues and more (Exclusive)

Kevin Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan

Kevin talks about mental health issues, standup comedy and more

The two Kevin Sullivans are completely different people
The two Kevin Sullivans are completely different people

AB: You share your name with a certain wrestling personality. Has it been a fun experience writing about wrestling with that name? Has there ever been a case of mistaken identity?

KS: Do you think it’s been fun? (laughs) I would not say it’s been fun. Outside of online it’s rare that I run into anybody who knows who that is. But there are some people online, who with all due respect are really stupid. I’m on Twitter and I still get messages sometimes from people who are asking if I really killed Chris Benoit. Usually, they are teens or pre-teens, but if you look at my bio, there’s a picture of me and a clear bio that says I’m not Kevin Sullivan, the former booker of WCW. I still get messages to this day asking me when my next appearance is going to be. I joked at the beginning, saying that I’m going to get Michael Hayes to come too.

AB: There have been several tough years for you with mental health in your personal life. Is that something you’re comfortable talking about?

KS: No that’s fine. I think that if I can’t talk about it then more people can’t. The more people that talk about mental health, the better it is. I was just recently diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder but apparently, I have been living with it for at least a decade, especially those years in Indianapolis. I went through a lot, like drinking too much, not understanding why I was doing things. I had a really good support system of friends. My family is good too, my mom is awesome, my fiancee, Anna, her mom is awesome. They really got me through a lot of that.

If I didn’t have friends who let me stay when I bipolared my way out of an apartment, then I would not be where I am now. Then finally it was about finding professional help like seeing a psychiatrist. I had gotten diagnosed with depression and ADD before that, but getting diagnosed with bipolar disorder has really made my life 100% better.

AB: While you were in Ireland were you stranded without any money? Is that something you’re comfortable talking about now?

KS: I had gone there for my 26th birthday. I had this really great job and was making a lot of money, way more than I ever had before. I had always wanted to go to Ireland, but right before I go I lost my job. I already had the plane tickets and I had already paid the advance. I had to sell my car, took the money from that with me. I spent too much of my money at the pubs and I left Ireland with 5 euros. I had to take a bus to get to the airport and all I had was this five euro bill. They did not have any change for it, so this nice lady paid for me and did not even take it from me. I almost ended up stranded.

AB: Anyone who knows you knows that you have an amazing sense of humor which leaves people either in stitches or cringing. I have first-hand experience with the second part. Have you ever considered a career in Stand-up Comedy?

KS: Absolutely. It was when I moved from Indianapolis back to Cincinnati. I had moved to Indianapolis right after my divorce and got into a toxic relationship. When you’re in one of those and you have undiagnosed bipolar disorder - good times! I decided the most therapeutic thing that I could do around that time was to turn it into jokes. This was after three bad breakups. I can say that the last breakup left me stranded in Iowa. I was back in Iowa before going to Cincinnati. I was stranded there because of a girl. At that time I was like I am going to write a five-minute set and take it to Go Bananas which is a really awesome comedy club right outside of Cincinnati.

They have an open mic night, so I start doing that. I started doing open mics in bars around town. I made connections and made friends with really good comedians. A lot of my friends from there are still from my time in comedy. The reason I don’t do this anymore, is because since moving to Austin I could not quite get into the Austin comedy scene. I love Austin. I met my wife and well, I didn’t really meet my daughter, well actually I did -- after she was born(waits for my applause for that joke before continuing).

It just was not the same and I was not enjoying comedy here. I decided that since I was not enjoying it and I’m signed up on a show I’m taking a spot on the show that someone else who likes it might use.

AB: Is there any comic who inspired you to look at life from the funny side?

KS: The biggest thing that affected my comedic thing other than Monty Python and some of the weird sketch comedy shows, my comedy came from some clips of stand-up comedy shows from Comedy Central back in the day. There was a show called Mystery Science Theatre 3000, which really got me learning to look at things from different angles. I do that while writing for Sportskeeda. I look at stories from different angles and think about what the stories and angles remind me of or how it relates to something else. I try not to pitch ideas that won’t make people laugh.


Up next: Kevin talks about visiting WWE shows

A WWE Hall of Famer called out AEW fans HERE

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