Dave Sullivan
Birth nameWilliam Adolph Danenhauer Jr.
Born (1963-12-01) December 1, 1963[1]
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.[1]
Alma materUniversity of Nebraska Omaha
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)American Hawkwind
Captain Ron[1]
Dave Sullivan[2]
The Equalizer[2]
Billed height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[2]
Billed weight305 lb (138 kg)
Billed fromDaytona, Florida, U.S.
Trained byLen Denton[1]
Debut1989[2]
Retired2001[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 Harley Race at a high school tournament.[2] He trained under Len Denton and debuted later that year. Danenhauer started wrestling in the National Wrestling Alliance territory Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring name "The Equalizer". He teamed with The Grappler as "The Wrecking Crew", with the duo winning the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship on two occasions.[3]

In 1990, he would tour on and off with Catch Wrestling Association for two years under the name "The Barbarian".

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.

In 1992, Danenhauer left PNW for the Global Wrestling Federation where he wrestled as "Captain Ron".[4] Worked in Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling Council. He would tour the United Kingdom under the name "American Hawkwind."

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.[5] 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.[6]

Sullivan started teaming with Hogan and Sting against Ric Flair and his henchmen, and Kevin soon turned on Dave, which started a feud that went into 1995. After his feud with Kevin ended, Dave fell in love with Kimberly, the valet of Diamond Dallas Page. Page took offense to this and started a feud with Dave that lasted all summer. During this feud, Dave gave Kimberly presents, which infuriated Page even more, and at point won an arm wrestling contest at the 1995 Great American Bash which resulted in him going on a date with Kimberly. Sullivan eventually lost the feud and moved on.[6]

Sullivan's next feud was with Big Bubba Rogers. Sullivan had a pet rabbit that he brought to ringside with him, and Bubba was allergic to rabbits. Bubba started wearing a surgical mask to keep from inhaling the allergens, but Sullivan would always pull it off and get the victory.[6] Danenhauer left WCW in early 1996 after participating in the second World War 3 event.

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 Bentonville, Arkansas, where he worked for Wal-Mart as a fitness trainer. In 2001, he began working as offensive coordinator for the Vikings football team of Dana College in Blair, Nebraska.[2] He was appointed head football coach in 2003 and later athletic director.[7]

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

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Dana Vikings (Great Plains Athletic Conference) (2003–2009)
2003 Dana 2–92–810th
2004 Dana 2–91–9T–10th
2005 Dana 5–64–6T–6th
2006 Dana 6–55–55th
2007 Dana 4–73–79th
2008 Dana 3–82–8T–9th
2009 Dana 0–110–10T–10th
Dana: 22–5517–53
Total:22–55

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "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.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Doug, Barber (September 2, 2003). "From 'The Equalizer' to Dana's Head Viking". Washington County Enterprise and Pilot Tribune. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Duncan, Royal; Gary Will (2000). "Portland: NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 317–320. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  4. ↑ "Matches von Dave Sullivan, GWF" (in German). CageMatch.net. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  5. ↑ "CLash of the CHampionms XXIV". ProWrestlinghistory.com. August 18, 1993. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 RD Reynolds and Randy Baer (2003). "Hulkster's in the house". Wrestlecrap – the very worst of pro wrestling. ECW Press. pp. 155. ISBN 1-55022-584-7.
  7. ↑ "Varsity Bowling Added To Dana College Athletics". WOWT. May 4, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  9. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Tennessee: SSW Southern States Wrestling Title [Beau James]". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 209. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  10. 1 2 Meltzer, Dave (January 26, 2011). "Biggest issue of the year: The 2011 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, CA: 1–40. ISSN 1083-9593.
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