Former WCW and WWE star Chris Kanyon (real name Chris Klucsaritis) passed away last night from an overdose of pills at his apartment in Queens, NY. Klucsaritis was only 40 years old. His death is believed at this point to be a suicide. Klucsaritis had been suffering from a bipolar disorder and had threatened suicide in the past according to those who were close with him.
He spent the majority of his career in WCW and later made a jump to WWE when WCW went out of business. Klucsaritis was released by WWE in 2004 and had a short stint in TNA. He made headlines later for becoming the first openly gay pro wrestler and tried to garner publicity for himself saying WWE fired him for being gay. Klucsaritis had announced a retirement, but still wrestled here and there. He was also part of a lawsuit against WWE along with Scott “Raven” Levy and Make Sanders saying the company misclassified wrestlers at independent contractors. The suit was later thrown out of court because the statue of limitations had expired on filing a suit like it.
Source: The Wrestling Observer