Out Wrestler Chris Kanyon Dead of Apparent Suicide

Christopher Klucsaritis, known during his wrestling career as Chris Kanyon, died over the weekend at his NYC apartment of an apparent suicide at the age of 40. According to reports he suffered for years from bipolar disorder and depression:

Jason Powell, of prowrestling.net, said: "Kanyon has battled severe depression issues over the years."

"He told one friend as recently as Monday that he was having problems and was contemplating suicide."

"The friend is said to have contacted one of Kanyon's family members to express his concern — despite the fact that he and several of Kanyon's friends have heard similar statements over the years.

Kanyon was let go from the WCW in 2004, and later revealed that his sexuality may have been to blame:

At a 2006 Blood, Sweat and Ears show in Ontario, he claimed her was fired from WWE for being homosexual. After initially claiming that the character of Kanyon was gay, he later said that the man behind the character was gay. As one of the few openly gay professional wrestlers, he did several media interviews and had hoped to make a comeback as an openly gay wrestler, a goal that was never realized.

We'd like to hear from you wrestling fans out there. How popular was Chris during his heyday? Did it change when he came out? How was he treated?

Our condolences go out to Chris's friends and family.