Tatanka (wrestler): Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|American professional wrestler (born 1961)}}

|name = Tatanka

|birthname = Chris Chavis

|image = Tatanka CHIKARAin March 2017 (cropped).jpg

|caption = Tatanka in 2012March 2017

|names=American War Eagle<ref name ="Almanac1993Stats"/><br />The Legend<ref name=OWOW/><br />'''Tatanka'''<ref name="Almanac1993Stats"/><br />War Eagle<ref name="Almanac1993Stats"/><br />Red Blade <br />

|weightbirth_date = {{convertbirth date and age|2851961|lb6|kg|abbr=on8}}<ref name="WWEBioAlmanac1993Stats"/>

|billed = Pembroke, North Carolina, U.S.<ref name=OWOW/>

|trainer = [[Larry Sharpe (wrestler)|Larry Sharpe]]<ref name=OWOW/>

|debut = January 13, 1990<ref name=OWOW/>

|retired =

'''Chris Chavis'''<ref name=OWOW>{{cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/t/tatanka.html|title=Online World of Wrestling profile|work=Online World of Wrestling|access-date=December 20, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Meet Chris "Tatanka" Chavis |url=http://nativetatanka.com/about/ |website=NativeTatanka |date=May 2014 |access-date=March 2, 2019}}</ref><ref name=Cage>{{cite web |url=http://cagematch.de/?id=2&nr=186&name=Tatanka|title=Cagematch profile|work=Cagematch|access-date=December 20, 2009}}</ref> (born June 8, 1961) is an American [[Professional wrestling|professional wrestler]]. He is currently signed to [[WWE]], under a legends contract. He is part of the state-recognized [[Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina]] nation.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ore |first1=Jonathan |title=How Indigenous pro wrestlers lock up with racial stereotypes inside the ring |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/calling-all-indiginerds-unreserved-heads-to-indigenous-comic-con-1.4899647/how-indigenous-pro-wrestlers-lock-up-with-racial-stereotypes-inside-the-ring-1.4899654 |website=CBC.ca |access-date=14 April 2023 |date=16 Nov 2018 |quote=Chavis himself, however, is from the Lumbee tribe.}}</ref> He is best known for his tenuretenures in the [[WWE|WWFWorld Wrestling Federation]]/WWE[[World Wrestling Entertainment]], under the [[ring name]] '''Tatanka''' from 1991 to 1996 and from 2005 to 2007. His ring name is a [[Lakota language|Lakota]] word, which means "[[bison]]".

Chavis started competing in [[powerlifting]]. He competed in his first [[bodybuilding]] contest, Mr. Virginia Beach, placing second. He won many competitions during his time in bodybuilding, but decided against competing on the national level and possibly turning pro. From 1985 to 1990 he worked for [[Bally Total Fitness|Bally's Health and Tennis Corporation]], becoming a divisional manager.

Chavis went to the open try outs during the [[1987 NFL season|1987 NFL player strike]] for the [[Miami Dolphins]] and made the cut, but he turned it down due to the lucrative money he was already making selling memberships at Bally's Health Club.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bonham|first=Chad|title=Wrestling with God|publisher=River Oak Publishing|year=2001|isbn=1-58919-935-9|pages=21|language=English}}</ref> In 1989, Chavis left Bally's to pursue an accounting career.

===Early career (1989&ndash;19901989–1990)===

In 1989, Chavis left Bally's to pursue an accounting career. He met [[Buddy Rogers (wrestler)|"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers]] in [[Florida]] at a video store while looking for wrestling tapes. Rogers had Chavis call [[Larry Sharpe (wrestler)|Larry Sharpe]], who ran [[The Monster Factory]] in southern [[NewSouth Jersey]]. He had his first match, as "Tatanka", against [[Joe Thunder]] in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], on January 13, 1990.

Rogers introduced Chavis to [[George Scott (wrestler)|George Scott]], the [[List ofbooker (professional wrestling terms#B)|booker]] for the [[WWE|World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF) during the 1980s. Scott was starting his own promotion called the [[South Atlantic Pro Wrestling|North American Wrestling Association]], later known as South Atlantic Pro Wrestling. Chavis wrestled under the name "The War Eagle" Chris Chavis and was voted third runner up for [[PWI Rookie of the Year|Rookie of the Year]] in ''[[Pro Wrestling Illustrated]]'' for 1990. Also in 1990, he became the [[South Atlantic Pro Wrestling|South Atlantic]] Heavyweight Champion by beating [[KenVince ShamrockTorelli]] (then wrestling as Vince Torelli). Not long after, he was signed to a WWF contract.

====Undefeated streak (1991&ndash;19931991–1994)====

Chavis received his first tryouttry-out match with the WWF on January 8, 1991, as War Eagle against [[Dusty Wolfe|Dale Wolfe]] at a ''[[WWF Wrestling Challenge]]'' taping in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]], TN. He received a second tryouttry-out on February 18, 1991, against the [[Steve Lombardi|Brooklyn Brawler]] at a ''WWF Superstars'' taping in [[Orlando, Florida]]. Wrestling as the War Eagle, Chavis was victorious. He followed it up with another win against Dale Wolfe the next day at a ''Wrestling Challenge'' taping.<ref>{{cite web |title=1991 |url=http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/91.htm |website=The History of WWE |access-date=September 6, 2019}}</ref> On October 21 he received what was likely another tryout match at a ''Superstars'' taping, this time defeating Skinner. In November Chavis began wrestling on house shows under his given name.<ref name=WWF9099Book>{{cite book | first=Graham | last=Cawthon | title=the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 2: WWF 1990 - 1999 | publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform | year= 2013 | asin=B00RWUNSRS}}</ref> Soon after, he took on the [[ring name]] "Tatanka". After wrestling in tryouttry-out matches at [[house show]]s, Tatanka made his television debut as a [[Face (professional wrestling)|fan favorite]] on the February 1, 1992, episode of ''[[WWF Superstars|Superstars]]'', defeating [[Pat Tanaka]] in his debut match.<ref name=WWF9099Book/> As Tatanka, Chavis performed a war dance to the [[Lumbee]] tribal war cry that preceded his entrance to the ring, and had a red stripe dyed in the middle of his hair in a mohawk style.

At [[WrestleMania IX]], Tatanka received his first televised title shot in the WWF, against [[Shawn Michaels]] for the [[WWE Intercontinental Championship|WWF Intercontinental Championship]]. Tatanka won the match by disqualification. Since a title could not change hands on a disqualification, Michaels retained the title.<ref name=WWF9099Book/> On the October 30, 1993, edition of ''Superstars'', Tatanka suffered his first televised defeat in the WWF, losing to [[Tony Halme|Ludvig Borga]] (Borga had hit Tatanka in the back with a steel chair while [[Harry Fujiwara|Mr. Fuji]] distracted the referee).<ref name=WWF9099Book/> After the match, he was attacked by [[WWE Championship|WWF championChampion]] [[Yokozuna (wrestler)|Yokozuna]] and was subsequently out of action for three months.

Tatanka returned to the WWF in the beginning of 1994.<ref name=WWF9099Book/> He was scheduled to face Borga in a rematch at the [[Royal Rumble (1994)|Royal Rumble]], but Borga injured his ankle just days before the event. Borga was replaced by [[Bam Bam Bigelow]], who Tatanka defeated. Bigelow, however, would go on to eliminate Tatanka from the 30-man [[Royal Rumble]] match. In March 1994, Tatanka was honored by retired professional wrestlers [[Chief Jay Strongbow]] and Chief [[Wahoo McDaniel]] and by [[Lumbee]] tribesman Ray Littleturtle on an edition of ''[[WWE Raw|Raw]].'' Littleturtle presented him with a full-length Lumbee tribe chief headdress.<ref name=WWF9099Book/> Throughout mid-1994, Tatanka engaged in a storyline feud with [[Irwin R. Schyster]], who insisted he pay a gift tax on the item. Strongbow briefly served as Tatanka's mentor and manager during the duration of the feud.<ref name=WWF9099Book/>

During the summer of 1994, Tatanka accused [[Lex Luger]] of selling out to [[Ted DiBiase]], which resulted in a match between the two. Afterward, DiBiase entered the ring with a red, white and blue bag full of money. Luger kicked the bag out of DiBiase's hands resulting in Tatanka attacking him and [[Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Turn|turning]] him into a [[Heel (professional wrestling)|villain]] at [[SummerSlam (1994)|SummerSlam]], joining DiBiase's [[Million Dollar Corporation]].<ref name=WWF9099Book/> He spent the remainder of the year feuding with Luger which topped off in a cage match on ''Raw'' that saw Luger come out the victor.<ref name=WWF9099Book/> According to Tatanka, that the original plan was to have [[Barry Windham]] return to the WWF and form the "New [[Money Inc.]]" with (his brother in-law) Irwin R. Schyster and managed by DiBiase and have a long feud with Luger (Windham's long time rival from [[National Wrestling Alliance|NWA]] and [[World Championship Wrestling|WCW]]) and Tatanka, however Windham suffered a knee injury from [[Ric Flair]] at [[Slamboree (1994)|Slamboree]] and the WWF couldn't reach a deal with him and Luger suggested that his next feud be with Tatanka instead and WWF agreed.

After WWF, Tatanka worked in the independents. heHe lost to his former tag partner Bam Bam Bigelow on September 28, 1996 at EWA/USWF show in New York City. In 1997, Chavis wrestled for the independent New York-based promotion Ultimate Championship Wrestling (UCW), where he wrestled [[Bruce Hart (wrestler)|Bruce Hart]] of the [[Hart wrestling family]], [[King Kong Bundy]], [[Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart]] and [[Marty Jannetty]]. He went from playing the role of a face to a heel when he turned on Falcon Coperis and [[Tommy Cairo]] to align himself with the likes of the UWF faction of the organization which included Neidhart, Hart, and eventually Jannetty. Chavis captured the UCW Heavyweight Championship title and handed then-champion Falcon Coperis his first championship defeat. Chavis remained champion until the organization folded its professional wrestling division in 1998.

He won the [[Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship]] on April 8, 1998, defeating [[Sid Eudy|Sid Vicious]] in a fictitious tournament final. During the reign, he would feud with Jim Neidhart and his cousin [[Jason Neidhart]] in 1999. TahtThat year he vacated the title as he left Stampede. He would work for Florida's [[Future Of Wrestling]] from 1998 to 2000.

=== Return to WWE (2005–20062005–2007)===

Chavis and his wife, Michelle, have four children; daughters Christiana Mariah (born 1996) and Rhea Aiyana (born 2002) and sons Joseph Tatanka (born March 6, 2004) and Jeremiah Chris (born 2009).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nativetatanka.com/index_1.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=December 7, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208020849/http://www.nativetatanka.com/index_1.htm |archive-date=December 8, 2006 }}</ref>

*'''''[[Pro Wrestling Illustrated]]'''''