DAVE “EVAD” SULLIVAN REVEALS THAT HE WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR WWE’S EUGENE, WHO CAME UP WITH THE EVAD GIMMICK, HOW HE STILL DOESN’T KNOW WHY HE WAS RELEASED FROM WCW, AND MORE By WorldWrestlingInsanity.com
Get ready to catch up with another well known name from wrestling’s hisotry, ClubWWI.com is welcoming a former WCW star who has found new life after wrestling. That’s right. The #1 WCW Hulkamaniac, Dave “Evad” Sullivan has come to the Club for a rare 32 minute uncut shoot interview that hits just as hard as he does on the football field.
Since leaving the wrestling game, Bill Dannenhauer (the man behind Evad) has seen success in his personal life. As a football coach and college administrator for Dana College, Bill has gone from stretching opponents to teaching young people the importance of athletics. Now he looks back at his high profile career with James Guttman on ClubWWI.com and discusses a ton of topics including: Why He Never Went To The WWF, Hulk Hogan‘s Weird Gift, What Trainers Used To Teach New Students, What They Teach Them Today, High Spots, Backstage at WCW, Why Fans Connect With Triple H, The Logic Holes of Fighting a Man With a Sledgehammer, Whether He’d Do Pro Wrestling If He Was a Rookie Today, Ric Flair‘s Longevity, Whether He’d Be a Part of Today’s Wrestling, ECW, Vince McMahon Getting Blown Up, Rick Rude, The End of Territories, The Pacific Northwest, Advice From Harley Race, GWF, Road Warrior Hawk, and More.
One subject that many fans have pointed out is the similarities between Bill’s “Evad” character in WCW and WWE’s Eugene character. They both went down the same paths, even including the #1 fan gimmick. James asks Bill about the debut of Eugene and whether he too saw similarities.
“Yeah (laughs). They brought me back.”
But it’s not just speculation. Dannenhauer spoke to some people from the company and found out that – yes – his WCW character inspired the Eugene we know today.
“The guys in New York that I still know, Finlay and those guys, I still talk to them. They said the idea came from my character. Eugene, yeah, they thought it was a good time to do it. It was fun to do it. So yeah. They ran with Eugene. They recycle stuff. You know that. That’s just part of the game.”
James points out that people compare both of them to George Steele, although Eugene was more like Evad than The Animal. Bill tells ClubWWI.com listeners that George played a role in his own character’s creation too.
“That’s where Kevin (Sullivan) got it. The Evad, that was Kevin’s kind of idea. And I think he got I a little from the character of George. It’s just like football. In the West Coast office, there’s always copycats. You take your little bit a different way and you do it a different way to fit you, but it’s no different.”
Bill talks about creating characters and connecting with fans – and why it’s a dying art form today. Although Evad was on top of the business for a while in the mid 1990s, his WCW departure came suddenly at World War 3 pay-per-view. James asks if he had any idea that the release was coming.
“No. I did not know at that time.”
Even more surprising? To this day, Bill still doesn’t know why he was let go.
“Yes. When it happened, I was surprised quite a bit. No. I was never told a reason a why. Welcome to the business world of wrestling. To be honest with you, Kevin didn’t know either.”
This is just one of tons of topics that Dave Sullivan discusses with James Guttman. On that same note, Dave is only one of tons of stars you can hear right now on ClubWWI.com. With over 160, you’ll have plenty of superstars to put on your Ipod, Phone, burn to CD, or just listen through your computer. Stars you can hear the minute you sign up include: Kevin Sullivan, Vince Russo, Mr. Fuji, The Iron Sheik, Jesse Ventura, Bobby Lashley, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Tully Blanchard, Ken Patera, Bobby Heenan, Terri Runnels, Kevin Nash, Kenny Dykstra, Outback Jack, Paul Orndorff, Terry Funk, Jerry Lawler, Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch, Eric Bischoff, Nikita Koloff, Nunzio , John Cena Sr., Kizarny, Armando Estrada, Dangerous Danny Davis, Ronnie Garvin, Dave Taylor Colin Delaney, Jim Mitchell, Chris Harris, Ahmed Johnson,Glacier, Balls Mahoney, Francine, Sid Vicious, Paul Bearer, Brian Knobbs, Bruno Sammartino, Bryan Clark, Sean Mooney, Scott D’Amore, Tito Santana, Al Snow, Tod Gordon, JJ Dillon, Charlie Haas, Tom Prichard, Jacques Rougeau, Paul Roma, Jim Powers, Tammy Sytch, Too Cold Scorpio, The Honky Tonk Man, Ole Anderson, Kid Kash, Ivan Koloff, Jackie Gayda, Mr. Hughes, Scotty 2 Hotty, Dawn Marie, John Heidenreich, Jimmy Hart, Jimmy Valiant, Rick Martel, Manny Fernandez, Bad News Brown, Nick Bockwinkel, Dory Funk Jr, Diamond Dallas Page, Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, Mike Bucci, Samu, Erik Watts, Buff Bagwell, Christian Cage, Jazz, Demolition Ax and Smash, Koko B. Ware, Ricky Morton, Lance Russell, Bruce Hart, Dustin “Goldust” Rhodes, Damian Demento, Fred “Shockmaster” Ottman, Justin Credible, Cpl. Kirchner, One Man Gang, Scott Steiner, Shawn Stasiak, Ted DiBiase, Ivory, Chris Masters, Elix Skipper, Kamala, Samoa Joe, Giant Bernard, Bill DeMott, Juvi “Juice” Guerrera, Nora “Molly Holly” Greenwald, Nick Dinsmore, Harley Race, Bull Buchanan, D-Lo Brown, Road Warrior A nimal, Missing Link, Rikishi, Slick, Nidia, George Steele, Christy Hemme, Disco Inferno, Paul Ellering, Vito, Steve Black man, Bushwhacker Luke, AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, Dennis Stamp, Shawn Daivari, B.G. James, Ron Killings, Zach Gowan, D-Ray 3000, Dan Severn, Earl and Dave Hebner, Sivi Afi, Baron Von Raschke, Spike Dudley, Rodney Mack, Downtown Bruno, Larry Zybszko, Rick Steiner, Mae Young, Sam Houston, and many, more.