Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

Chris Chavis

Tatanka (born Christopher Chavis on June 8, 1965), is a Native American professional wrestler best known for his work with World Wrestling Entertainment from 1991 to 1996 and from 2005 to 2007. His ring name is a Lakota word that literally means "bull buffalo." He is descended from the Lumbee Native American tribe.

Career

Early career

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 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.

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 3rd 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.

World Wrestling Federation (1991-96)

Chavis made his debut into the WWF in late 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.

On September 28, 1993 he suffered his first defeat in the WWF, losing to Ludvig Borga (Borga had hit Tatanka in the back with a steel chair while Mr. Fuji distracted the referee). After the match, he was attacked by 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.

Tatanka was honored by previous Native American professional wrestlers Chief Jay Strongbow and Chief Wahoo McDaniel and Lumbee tribesman Ray Littleturtle on an edition of RAW. Littleturtle presented him with a full length Lumbee tribe Chief Headdress. Tatanka engaged in a storyline feud with Irwin R. Schyster, who insisted he pay a gift tax on the item, while Tatanka insisted his Lumbee heritage afforded him tax deductible privileges. Strongbow briefly served as Tatanka's mentor and manager during the duration of the feud.

After years as a face, he turned heel against Lex Luger at SummerSlam 1994, joining Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation.

Tatanka left the WWF in the summer of 1995, citing family and spiritual 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 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. He also made a one-night WWF return to appear in the 1996 Royal Rumble.

Return to WWE (2005-2007)

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.

Chavis returned to a full-time schedule for World Wrestling Entertainment as Tatanka at the tail end of 2005, debuting at a December 27 house show, teaming with Shelton Benjamin in a win over Carlito and Jonathan Coachman. He returned to television in the Royal Rumble match at the January 2006 event, where he was eliminated by Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro. The next month he began appearing on Velocity before being moved full time to the SmackDown! brand.

As a face, Chavis teamed with Matt Hardy to defeat MNM, the Tag Team Champions, in a non title match at No Way Out. They were granted a title shot on the next edition of SmackDown!, but lost.

On the April 28 SmackDown! a vignette played announcing that "a new warrior would soon be forged in Tatanka." Over the next three weeks footage aired of Tatanka being (legitimately) initiated into the Lakota tribe, which is considered a huge honor. When he returned to wrestling Tatanka defeated Simon Dean with his new finisher, "Wykea" (from the Lakota word for "Thunder").

Tatanka engaged in a mini-feud with Sylvain Grenier, trading victories with him, before he was moved into an angle where he entered into a losing streak due to, what he perceived to be, bad decision-making by referees during his matches. This escalated until the October 27 SmackDown! when Tatanka, alongside partner Bobby Lashley, lost a match to William Regal and Dave Taylor when Regal pinned Tatanka by illegally using the ropes. After the match Tatanka argued the decision again, this time going so far as to attack the referee, then Lashley when he tried to calm him down. The next week he appeared on SmackDown! with a new style of warpaint, covering the top of his face in black and the bottom in white, and cut a promo on Lashley saying he owed neither him nor the crowd an explanation for his actions. He compared his recent losing streak to the years of persecution that his people had suffered over the years and said that he "called upon his forefathers to unleash a new warrior in [him]".

He was released from his WWE contract in January 2007, but not before ending his losing streak by defeating Jimmy Wang Yang, his first victory in months. WWE.com noted this event with these parting words: "Tatanka is an accomplished veteran of the squared circle. The Native American made a splash upon his entrance to the WWE in the early 90s, remaining undefeated for 2-years."

All Star Wrestling

Tatanka is currently wrestling for All Star Promotions in the United Kingdom and plays as a Babyface.

In wrestling

Finishing and signature moves

*End of the Trail / Papoose to Go (Samoan drop / Standing Samoan drop)

*Wykea (Swinging side slam) - 2006-Present

*Battering ram

*Multiple chop variations

*Backhand

*Open hand

*Tomahawk Chop (Overhead, sometimes from the top rope)

Signature taunts

*Rain dance

*War dance

Managers

*"Sensational" Sherri Martel

*Chief Jay Strongbow

*Ted DiBiase

Championships and accomplishments

American Wrestling Federation

*AWF United States Championship (1 times)

i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling

*i-Generation Australasian Heavyweight Championship (2 times) (First) (Longest reign) (Tied for most reigns)

North American Wrestling Association

*NAWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

South Atlantic Pro Wrestling

*SAPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Stampede Wrestling

*Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

United States Wrestling Association

*USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

*PWI ranked him # 279 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003

International Wrestling Superstars

*Wrestler of the Year in 2003

Other titles

*ASW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Joe Gomez

*CWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*TRCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*UCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Personal life

With his wife, Michelle, he has two daughters, Christiana and Rhea, and a son, Joseph Tatanka Chavis.

- From 1998 to 2002, he was represented and booked by Vin Gopal, now a Washington D.C. political consultant. Gopal also promoted his columns and articles in the media.

Tatanka appears briefly in the movie Natural Born Killers, as Rodney Dangerfield's character is watching wrestling on TV.