Wahoo McDaniel

Edward "Wahoo" McDaniel (June 19, 1938 – April 18, 2002) was a Choctaw-Chickasaw Native American who achieved fame as a professional American football player and later as a professional wrestler. He is notable for having held the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship five times. McDaniel was a major star in prominent National Wrestling Alliance affiliated promotions such as Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling, NWA Big Time Wrestling (which would eventually be renamed World Class Championship Wrestling) and Jim Crockett Promotions (which would ultimately become WCW after being purchased by media mogul Ted Turner in 1988).

Early life

Wahoo was born in the small town of Bernice, LA in 1938. His father worked in oil and he moved to several towns before settling down in Midland, Texas while Wahoo was in middle school. One of his baseball coaches was George H. W. Bush. The name "Wahoo" actually came from his father who was known as "Big Wahoo". He was a problematic teenager but he was accepted to the University of Oklahoma. There he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and he was also a part of Bud Wilkinson's Sooners football program. After his retirement from wrestling he became an avid fisherman. He enjoyed fishing Lake Amistad in Del Rio, Texas, which was one of his favorite fishing spots.