article

Tatanka (born Christopher Chavis on June 8, 1961 in Pembroke, North Carolina), is a Native American professional wrestler currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment's WWE SmackDown! brand. His ring name is a Lakota word that literally means "bull buffalo". He is descended from the Lumbee Native American tribe.

Career before wrestling

Chavis didn't start his professional wresting career until 1989 at the age of 28. After first 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 for personal reasons.

From 1985 to 1990 he worked for Bally's Health and Tennis Corporation. He was quite successful, becoming a Divisional Manager.

In 1987 he received many tryouts for the National Football League, from teams such as the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins, and the Los Angeles Raiders. He decided to pursue a career with the Dolphins. Chavis was one of 20 hopefuls offered a deal out of approximately 2,000 tryouts. The Dolphins offered him a free agent contract with the availability to increase after the first year. However, he declined, since his income at Bally's exceeded the value of the contract.

Pro wrestling career

In 1989, Chavis left Bally's to pursue a wrestling career. "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers was his contact into the sport. They met in Florida at a video store while Chavis was looking for wrestling tapes. Rogers had Chavis call Larry Sharpe, who ran a wrestling school in southern New Jersey called "The Monster Factory." Sharpe had previously trained such wrestlers as Bam Bam Bigelow and The Godfather. Tatanka's first match came against Joe Thunderstorm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 13, 1990. After coming back to Buddy Rogers, he took Chavis to George Scott, the booker for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) during the 80's Hulk Hogan era.

Scott was starting his own promotion called the North American Wrestling Association, later known as South Atlantic Pro Wrestling. Chavis wrestled under the name "The War Eagle" Chris Chavis, and he was voted runner up for Rookie Of The Year in Pro Wrestling Illustrated for 1990. Also in 1990, he became The South Atlantic Heavyweight Champion by beating Ken Shamrock. Not long after, he was signed to a WWF contract.

Chavis made his debut into the WWF in 1991 under his given name. He took on the name Tatanka soon afterwards. During his WWF run, Tatanka was best known for accumulating a significant undefeated streak nearly two years long, defeating many major names such as Rick Martel and Shawn Michaels. Tatanka was also known for his war dance, the Lumbee tribal war cry that preceded his entrance to the ring, and a red stripe dyed in the middle of his hair, which he said was to honor the blood and bravery of all Native Americans (he later stopped dyeing his hair, as the product he used was causing premature hair loss).

On September 28, 1993 he suffered his first defeat, at the hands of Ludvig Borga. After the match, he was attacked by then-WWF Champion Yokozuna, and was subsequently out of action for three months. When he returned, he received his only WWF Championship match, losing to Yokozuna. After years as a face, he turned heel against Lex Luger at SummerSlam 1994, joining Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation.

In 1996, Tatanka left the WWF, citing family and religious issues. Since the WWF workload at the time topped 300 shows a year, Chavis had little time for his family. At the time, the WWF and major rival World Championship Wrestling (WCW) were in a major talent war, and then-WCW President Eric Bischoff offered him a lucrative deal, but Chavis declined. He continued to appear for independent promotions, which allowed him to continue to wrestle while maintaining a lighter schedule. With his wife, Michelle, he has 2 daughters, Christiana Mariah and Rhea Aiyana, and a son, Joseph Tatanka.

On August 1, 2005 Chavis returned to RAW, which was intended to be a special one-time appearance to face Eugene in the "Eugene Invitational", a 3-minute match with Kurt Angle's Olympic gold medal on the line. Tatanka lost the match when Angle attacked Eugene with 27 seconds remaining, causing a disqualification. He mentioned on his website afterward that he loved being back in a WWE ring and hoped someday to return.

Return to the WWE

On August 3, 2005 Chavis reported on his website that he had been offered a contract to return to WWE, which he subsequently accepted. He made his full-time return for WWE as Tatanka during a house show on December 27 by teaming up with Shelton Benjamin to defeat Carlito and Jonathan Coachman. He returned to television by competing in the 2006 Royal Rumble on January 29, where he was eliminated by Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro. Chavis made his Velocity debut on February 11, defeating Jacques Plisken.

As a face, Chavis teamed up with Matt Hardy to win a match against the WWE Tag Team Champions MNM at the 2006 No Way Out. The two lost a title match against MNM on the following edition of SmackDown!. The following week he defeated Booker T with a roll up.

On the March 24th edition of SmackDown! Tatanka competed in the 20 man battle royal. The winner of the match would go to Wrestlemania to compete in the Money In The Bank Ladder match. He was in the final four with Lashley and MNM. He was eliminated, so he didn't get to be in the ladder match.

On the March 31st edition of SmackDown!, Tatanka teamed up with Matt Hardy and Bobby Lashley to take on Finlay and MNM, which ended with Hardy pinning Joey Mercury with the Twist of Fate.

On the April 28, 2006 SmackDown!, it was announced that a new warrior would soon be forged in Tatanka. Over the next three weeks, Tatanka was initiated into the Lakota tribe, which is a huge honor. Tatanka then defeated Simon Dean on the May 26, 2006 edition of Smackdown! with his new finisher move, "Wykea" (from the Lakota word for "Thunder"). He also had new music, which was a remix of his old one.

In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves

  • Previous managers

Championships and accomplishments

USWA Unified World Championship Preceded by:
Jerry Lawler First reign Succeeded by:
Jerry Lawler

External links

Books

  • Christian Wrestlers: Wrestling With God, 2001, by Chad Bonham, ISBN 1-58919-935-9

American professional wrestlers | 1961 births | People from North Carolina | Native American sportspeople | Living people | Stampede Wrestling alumni

Christopher Chavis

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Chris Chavis".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world