Kevin Sullivan was one of the most entertaining and creative heels with one of the greatest gimmicks of all time. During the 1980’s, he shocked and horrified the fans by acting like an insane killer who worships Satan and seemed to get into leather and bondage. He was a lunatic and you just had to wonder what twisted rituals he enjoyed on his days off — and you kind of wanted to watch. His antics were seedy and deviant and deliciously evil, which gave pro wrestling a dirty, dangerous, brutal look and feel that was exciting to watch. Sullivan knew how to be ruthless, psychotic, and disgusting in a manner that got in your head and made you want to tune in each week to see what nastiness he would inflict on his unfortunate opponents next.
Acting crazy in the ring is an old tradition for wrestling heels and it’s been done hundreds of times. Sullivan, however, added a sadistic kink to the maniac persona that made him not only frightening, but also alluring.
In 1983, Sullivan used mind control to turn Mark Lewin into his personal slave, renaming him the “Purple Haze.” While beating up his unfortunate opponents, the Purple Haze would stare off into the distance as if hypnotized or on drugs. He ignored the ref’s instructions and wouldn’t stop attacking even after the bell rang. Only his master, Kevin Sullivan, could stop this raging beast, which added an element of danger to his matches and scared the pants off plenty of young wrestling fans.
“Purple haze all in my brain. Lately things just don’t seem the same.
Actin’ funny, but I don’t know why! ‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky!”
If you spent a lot of time thinking up wrestling fantasies in your head, Sullivan unleashing his goon on the other wrestlers gave you a lot of material to work with. Mind control and hypnotism, taking over another person’s brain and making them do what you command — these are exciting topics for a young, impressionable wrestling fan, especially if the young fan believes pro wrestling is real (despite repeated assurances from the adults that it’s all fake.) You definitely wanted to believe a man could brainwash and mentally own another man, because who would want to live in a world where that is not possible?!
By assembling his “Army of Darkness” — a crew of freaky, violent disciples — Sullivan was touching on a raw nerve: the public horror over the Charles Manson killings that had recently occurred in 1969. Just as the bizarre Manson had ordered his “Family” to unleash a bloodbath, so too did crazy Kevin Sullivan inflict frightening violence in the wrestling ring through his “Army.” Maybe having Kevin Sullivan to scream at and spit on gave the public a release for their shock and anger, a way of working through some raw feelings.
During the famous Starrcade 1983, Sullivan and Lewin got brutal and freaky all over pretty-boy Scott McGhee:
