Chris Kanyon is a talent that may always go down as being far underrated than most realize. The former WCW star and “Alliance MVP” during his time with the WWE was widely regarded as being a brilliant mind in the ring and even has a protege carrying out his legacy in Brian Cage.
Kanyon was remembered on the most recent episode of Talk Is Jericho with guests Diamond Dallas Page and WWE Producer Shane Helms. On the podcast, Helms talked about how depression affected Kanyon greatly and how the changed landscape of professional wrestling would have been far more kinder to Kanyon now than during his time in the business.
“I think if he could have survived all these problems, I think he would be in a good place. I think the environment today would be a lot gentler for him. I think he would be a lot more accepted. Everybody just wants to be accepted at the end of the day. He struggled with a lot of problems. It wasn’t just one big one. He had several. He had a lot going against him, especially toward the end. I think he was really disappointed in the way his career ended. He deserved better. He deserves so much better in terms of how many people he helped. He deserved better from the business. I think he was disappointed in that. The depression thing is such a huge monster. I think we are seeing a lot of that in this day in age with the whole Covid thing but, back then, you couldn’t hardly even talk about it. If you had depression, you were just a little b*tch. You were weak. Get over it kid. Find something to smile about. People would say stupid s**t like that, but it was very real for him. I would have some phone calls with him and man, he was the happiest guy on Earth. He was like he just won the lottery. Then you have a phone call with him a couple months later and even if he had won the lottery, he wasn’t going to be happy that day because whether it was the depression or the bipolar, which, that stuff has to be regulated by medicine. But, when he would take that medicine, it would put him in a funk. He wouldn’t have the energy to be the Chris Kanyon that we all knew and loved. It was such a tortuous mental battle. He was just tired of being here. He said that to me. He said to me, and I will never forget it because I always felt like suicide was a selfish thing. You are killing yourself and you are hurting all these other people around you. He was like, ‘Yea, but I’m the one in pain. Why do you want me to be in pain?’ I didn’t know what to say to that and still to this day, I don’t know how to properly reply to that. But, he was anguished. He was tormented. I don’t know what could have made it any better, but I wish he could have survived because I think he would have been thriving right now. I think he would have been a lot more accepted. He had a brilliant wrestling mind. He was so creative, so fun to be around, and man, I wish he was still here.”
Mental illness among males is a difficult stigma even now. Many people have expectations for men to be macho and not show their emotion, and until many people open up to it, it remains a struggle even during this COVID-19 pandemic. Kanyon was loved by his friends, and his loss is still remembered by his friends.
h/t to WrestlingNews for the quote.
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