William Adolph Danenhauer Jr. (born December 1, 1963) is an American retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach, and college athletics administrator. He is best known for his appearances with

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

from 1993 to 1996 under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Dave Sullivan, where he played the

dyslexic Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

brother of Kevin Sullivan. Danenhauer served as the head football coach at

Dana College Dana College was a private college in Blair, Nebraska. Its rural 150-acre (607,000 m²) campus is approximately 26 miles (40 km) northwest of Omaha and overlooks a portion of the Missouri River Valley. The campus was planned to be purchase ...

Blair, Nebraska Blair is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,990 at the 2010 census. History Blair was platted in 1869 when the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad was extended to that point. It was n ...

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 The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

, where they played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for the

Omaha Mavericks The Omaha Mavericks are the sports teams of the University of Nebraska Omaha. They participate in the NCAA's Division I and in The Summit League, except in ice hockey, where they compete in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). Hist ...

. Dannenhauer went on to play in the short-lived

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) before ending his playing career. He went on to serve as an assistant coach for the Mavericks before joining

Washburn University Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 u ...

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

for the

Washburn Ichabods The Washburn Ichabods are the athletic teams that represent Washburn University, located in Topeka, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1989–1993)

In 1989, Dannehauer decided to become a wrestler after meeting

Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federatio ...

at a high school tournament. He trained under

Len Denton Edward Lynn "Len" Denton (born August 25, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Grappler. Professional wrestling career Len Denton worked early in his career under a few different monikers and wre ...

and debuted later that year. Danenhauer started wrestling in the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

territory

Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. T ...

under the

"The Equalizer". He teamed with The Grappler as "The Wrecking Crew", with the duo winning the

NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of ...

on two occasions. 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 (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

, most notably losing a match to

Scott Norton Scott Norton (born June 15, 1961) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, in which he was a member of the New World Order (professional wrest ...

on March 21 at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

. In 1992, Danenhauer left PNW for the

Global Wrestling Federation Global Wrestling Federation was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. Often the promotion pr ...

where he wrestled as "Captain Ron". Worked in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

for the

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

. He would tour the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

under the name "American Hawkwind."

World Championship Wrestling (1993–1996)

In 1993, Danenhauer joined

as The Equalizer, and teamed briefly with

Rick Rude Richard Erwin Rood (December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999), better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling ...

as his tag team partner/bodyguard. They feuded with

Dustin Rhodes Dustin Patrick Runnels (born April 11, 1969) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Dustin Rhodes. He is best known for his multiple tenures with WWE ...

and

Road Warrior Hawk Michael Hegstrand (January 26, 1957 – October 19, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as The Road Warriors (The Legion of Doom in WWF), with Road Warrior Animal. ...

. He also teamed with

Paul Orndorff Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Cham ...

. His biggest push started in the summer of 1994 when he became "Dave Sullivan" the

brother of Kevin Sullivan who regularly mispronounced his own forename as "Evad". He was being picked on by

The Nasty Boys The Nasty Boys are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags. The team were active from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. Their gimmick was that of anti-social punks who specialized in hardcore wrestling and br ...

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 Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...

made his WCW debut that summer, and Sullivan became his biggest fan. Kevin hated Hogan, and problems started brewing. Sullivan started teaming with Hogan and

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

against

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

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 Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a c ...

, the valet of

Diamond Dallas Page Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. In the course of his wrest ...

. 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. Sullivan's next feud was with

Big Bubba Rogers Ray Washington Traylor Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Big Boss Man, as well as for his appearances with ...

. 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. 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 Bentonville is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, tenth-largest city in Arkansas, United States and the county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, Benton County. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers adja ...

, where he worked for

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

as a fitness trainer. In 2001, he began working as

for the Vikings football team of

. He was appointed head football coach in 2003 and later

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

Championships and accomplishments

*Empire Wrestling Association **EWA North American Championship (1 time) *

NWA NWA or Nwa most commonly refers to: * N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes"), a hip hop group from Compton, California, US * National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling organization NWA or Nwa may refer to: Music * New Weird America, a subgenr ...

** NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champion (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) – with The Grappler *Professional Wrestling Federation **PWF Eastern States Championship (1 time) **PWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Baby Huey (1) and

George South George South (born September 7, 1962) is an American professional wrestler. In the course of his career, South has wrestled for professional wrestling promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrest ...

(1) *

Southern States Wrestling Southern States Wrestling is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Kingsport, Tennessee. Founded by wrestler Beau James in early 1991, SSW (along with NWA Bluegrass) succeeded Smoky Mountain Wrestling as the top promo ...

SSW Heavyweight Championship The Southern States Wrestling (SSW) Heavyweight Championship is the primary professional wrestling championship in Southern States Wrestling. It was first won by The Tennessee Equalizer when he defeated George Hiatt in Elizabethton, Tennessee on ...

( 1 time) *United States Wrestling Federation **USWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with John Bradshaw *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

'' ** Worst Gimmick (1994) ** Worst Wrestler (1993, 1994)

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Dave 1960 births Living people American male professional wrestlers Dana Vikings athletic directors Dana Vikings football coaches Dyslexia in fiction Nebraska–Omaha Mavericks football players Professional wrestlers from Nebraska Sportspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Washburn Ichabods football coaches Washington Federals/Orlando Renegades players