Tatanka Thread

[PSachkovsky]

Welcome once again to another 'specific wrestler' thread. This time we are taking a closer look at the Native American, Tatanka.

Biography

Ring Names:
American War Eagle
Chris Chavis
Tatanka
War Eagle
Red Blade

Real Name:
Chris Chavis

Date of Birth:
June 8, 1961

Trained by:
Larry Sharpe

Debut:
1989

Championships and Accomplishments:
American Wrestling Federation
AWF United States Champion - 1 time

Covey Pro
Covey Pro Heavyweight Champion - 1 time

i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling
Australasian Heavyweight Champion - 2 times

North American Wrestling Association
Heavyweight Champion - 1 time

South Atlantic Pro Wrestling
Heavyweight Champion - 1 time

Stampede Wrestling
North American Heavyweight Champion - 1 time

United States Wrestling Association
Unified World Heavyweight Champion - 1 time

Other titles:
ASW Tag Team Champion - 1 time
CWA Heavyweight Champion - 1 time
IWA World Heavyweight Champion - 1 time
TRCW Heavyweight Champion - 1 time
UCW Heavyweight Champion - 1 time
DWA Heavyweight Champion - 1 time

Matches Involving Tatanka

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Questions for discussion:

1. What is your memorable moment involving Tatanka?
2. What is the impact that Native American wrestlers brought to the wrestling business?
3. What is your opinion about his gimmick?
4. In your opinion, was he used properly in the WWF/WWE, or maybe he should have deserved more then he got?

 

[Greg4WWE]

1. His debut and undefeated streak.. Even "defeated" Shawn Michaels at WM 9. Then his injury angle when Yokozuna bonzaied him on his injured rib. All down hill for Tatanka after that.

2/3. I am combining these 2. I just think it was a great gimmick. I remember the Bam Bam feud when he cut Tatankas hair..the red hair.. which made it personal.

4. Another character WWE failed with IMO. Turning him heel then nothing was a mistake. He was greatly cheered, but turning him heel to fued with Luger (who was incredibly over at the time).. killed his career.

 

[RyanAn]

1. Turning heel and joining the Million Dollar Corporation

2. A tough naturalist ideal.

3. It was okay. I'm glad that he was actually of the correct ancestry and didn't have to use overtly stereotypical jargon all the time.

4. I think his initial run was very good, then he fell on hard times with the heel persona and just got super boring. It was good seeing him come back a few years ago a bit lighter (sans the beer gut) and prove that he still can do it!

 

[Aotearoa (Bushwacker)]

1. What is your memorable moment involving Tatanka?
My favourite moment was his return run in 2005. I remembered Tatanka from my childhood days and the nostalgia of seeing him back was awesome. But looking back at his old matches he did kinda suck really. I marked out for the nostalgia but watching his old matches as an adult he was nothing special really. Amazing what you miss as a kid.

2. What is the impact that Native American wrestlers brought to the wrestling business?
I am not American and don't really know what impact it had. It was as much a character as anything. I did really appreciate the fact that he got to be himself and play on his own actual heritage and ancestry and not just run a gimmick. I hate that they tried to pass Yokozuna off as Japanese, Kofi as Jamaican, even Akeen as african etc. Is Tensai supposed to be Japanese? I dont know.

Tatanka may have been a ripoff of Chief Jay Strongbow but at least he was an improvement on the "character" in my opinion and he could stereotype all he wanted because he was real.

3. What is your opinion about his gimmick?
As above

4. In your opinion, was he used properly in the WWF/WWE, or maybe he should have deserved more then he got?
I really did not like hi heel turn, although it would have been really interesting to see where he could have gone with it. The vignettes were quite cool I thought. As I understand he asked to be released and so that cut that short. I think he was used properly. Had a great two runs both with accomplished win streaks. He asked to be released from WWE and was not let go as such so I think that is on him.

 

[HenryOGodwin]

I never liked Tatanka,the whole "tee-hee-hee" thing bugged me, but he was a solid mid-card guy. I find it laughable that his tremendous undefeated streak was ended by the great Ludvig Borga.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Tatanka was the only "real" native American worker of our generation, something that's really noticeable. His impact is that he is probably the last one we will see with a true heritage and that was at least treated seriously, unlike other "ethnic" wrestlers of his era. I am not anti- Yoko being portrayed as Japanese (he yelled Samoa after he won the Rumble) cos they did it right, Akeem was clearly a comedy character but many others like Hakushi, Tajiri, Tito Santana and the dreadful Kona Crush did far more damage. His streak ending to Borga wasn't a major problem for me cos Borga did have some pretty big potential and was being handled really well before his injury. It had to end eventually and putting over a newer heel was logical as Martel had done the same for him early on.


In terms of his heel turn, it was a massive mistake... I really think that Luger should have pulled the "Double Bluff" at Summerslam 94... had DiBiase help Tatanka win and Luger feign anger... Tatanka denying all knowledge and then boom, Luger takes him out... Luger had stalled and had little to lose. Tatanka never worked in the Corporation as DiBiase couldn't do well enough on the mic whilst a manager to add anything.

My fave moments are twofold, 1 playing the Royal Rumble game on SNES the first day and hearing the music with warcry was pretty cool... and his return, not only was he back but he was in shape and a relevant part of the roster.

 

[DirtyD79]

1. What is your memorable moment involving Tatanka?
His undefeated streak when he came into the company.

2. What is the impact that Native American wrestlers brought to the wrestling business?
I think we need more actual Native American wrestlers doing the gimmick and not just goofs with a spray tan doing the macarena in something like a Halloween Store headdress talking about heap forked tongues and wampums.

3. What is your opinion about his gimmick?
I think he in particular brought something to the gimmick with him actually being of Native American heritage and not saying stupid stereotypical shit like "Him speakum with a heap forked tongue."

4. In your opinion, was he used properly in the WWF/WWE, or maybe he should have deserved more then he got?
I just don't think he ever really got what he deserved. His joining the already bloated Million Dollar Corporation just killed his momentum and made no sense. It especially made no sense in the wake of his feud with IRS for stealing his ceremonial headdress, Which was a stupid storyline in and of itself but wrestlers stealing each other's crap was hardly unique to just him back then.

And for his comeback I really think they should have did more with him as it was good to see him doing a serious character actually addressing the real life injustices a lot of Native Americans still feel screwed by.

 

[HBsam31]

I think my most memorable moment of Tatanka was either his undefeated streak or his feud with Luger that turned him heel. The ironic part about that is I remember it because it started his down turn in WWE. Wahoo McDaniel is the only other Native American wrestler that I can think of off the top of my head. I believe he is in the HOF so the impact Native Americans had was there, but I am not really not sure how much to be honest. I thought his gimmick was cool in that he was showing his true heritage, and we got to see what it was all about. I think he was used well in the beginning, and that his heel turn was not handled very well. I always thought a IC title run would be in the cards for him, but it never happened. All in all Tatanka was one of my favorites as a kid while he was a face in the WWE.

 

[The Brain]

1. What is your memorable moment involving Tatanka?

Like others have said my most memorable Tatanka moment was his heel turn at SummerSlam 94. I was there and up until then the only live events I attended were house shows. House shows were fun but nothing big ever happened there. Being in the crowd for the heel turn was a big moment for me.

2. What is the impact that Native American wrestlers brought to the wrestling business?

I can't really say there was much of an impact. Some have done well with the gimmick and made a good living. I don't think anything would have been all that much different without them so I'd say the impact was minimal.

3. What is your opinion about his gimmick?

It was a good gimmick. It wasn't exactly original but that gimmick doesn't have to be. It's the type of gimmick that can be recycled every 15 years or so. I think it was a gimmick that fit very well into the new generation era and one that marketed pretty well for the time.

4. In your opinion, was he used properly in the WWF/WWE, or maybe he should have deserved more then he got?

I thought Tatanka would have made a decent IC champion. I'm not saying he should have been champ considering the guys who held the title during that era. Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon were definitley more worthy but I think Tatanka would have done ok too. Considering there were better IC champion choices I'd say Tatanka was used very well. He had a long undefeated streak and had some good feuds. He went downhill quickly after the heel turn but I would say Tatanka did very well as a mid card face.

One more memorable thing about Tatanka is this

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That damn song has been stuck in my head for nearly twenty years now.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

he was one of my favourite wrestlers when i was i kid. wwe only used him correctly at the start. they really droped the ball with him when they turned him heel. also another great wrestler that should have won a title at some point. not the world title but for sure the ic.

 

[PEP3]

Interesting... As one of the few "older guys" on the boards, I remember Tatanka's career in its entirety -- yet nothing of it jumps out as particularly memorable or appealing. Perhaps that is because I never found his gimmick interesting and he, as a performer or personality, did little to excite me.

The WWF, and pro wrestling in general, had a long history of Native American characters prior to Tatanka. Aside from being told by commentators that he actually was of Native ancestry, I don't know that his gimmick was handled any differently than others. To me, he was "just another Indian stereotype."

Aside from his undefeated streak, I'm not certain there is anything significant to recall. He seemed to have tremendous promise in the WWE, but it never really went anywhere. He received a tremendous push, but there was never a championship pay-off. The best he got was being shipped off to the USWA, then a WWF developmental territory, where he was briefly given the "World" championship. Even that wasn't much of a bone. Around that time, it seemed like every-other midcarder in WWF was getting that strap. They'd show up in Memphis, win the belt, stay a week or two, then drop it & head back north. Tatanka was just more of the same.

To me, this felt like a waste of momentum. Why build him up that way if he's not really going anywhere? Further, to have him fall to Ludvig Borga, who I can't imagine the WWE planned to utilize for anything more than he was, just proved how anti-climactic the whole matter was.

The coolest thing I can come up with for Tatanka is that his name actually DOES translate to "Buffalo" or "Bison." The guy never did anything interesting, but, I guess, introducing the WWE Universe to one legitimate Native American term has to count for something.

Right?!