Chris Chavis
Acting
Biography
Christopher Chavis is a Native American professional wrestler best known for his work with WWE as Tatanka 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. 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, Tatanka, is a Lakota word that literally means "bull buffalo". He is descended from the Lumbee Native American tribe. 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, 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. He declined, however, since his income at Bally's exceeded the value of the contract. In 1989, Chavis left Bally's to pursue an accounting career. He met "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers in Florida at a video store while looking for wrestling tapes. Rogers had Chavis call Larry Sharpe, who ran a wrestling school in southern New Jersey called "The Monster Factory." He had his first match, as Tatanka, against Joe Thunderstorm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 13, 1990. Rogers then introduced Chavis to George Scott, the booker for WWE during the 1980s. 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 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 WWE contract. On May 2, 2014, Tatanka won the DPW Tag Team Championship along with Rick "The Prick" Dominick. They lost the titles on October 18, 2014 to Raven and Demolition Davies. On November 3, 2015, WWE announced that they signed Tatanka to a Legends contract. On April 3, 2016, at WrestleMania 32, Tatanka competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal as a face, and was among the last to be eliminated.
Known For
A regularly scheduled, live, year-round program featuring some of the biggest WWE Superstars.
Raw
The superstars of World Wrestling Entertainment's "SmackDown" brand collide each and every Friday on WWE Friday Night SmackDown.
WWE Friday Night SmackDown
The biggest WWE Superstars of the late 1980s and early '90s settle their differences in the ring on "Wrestling Challenge"; featuring exciting matches and memorable interviews, this weekly television series captures an important era of WWE history.
WWF Wrestling Challenge
A professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation banner on NBC airing in place of Saturday Night Live. The series was made up entirely of star vs. star bouts in a time when weekly programming consisted primarily of established stars dominating enhancement talent.
WWE Saturday Night's Main Event
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has been broadcasting PPV events since the 1980s, when its classic "Big Four" events (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series) were first established with the company's very first PPV being WrestleMania in 1985. The company's PPV lineup expanded to a monthly basis in the mid-1990s following the introduction of the In Your House series of pay-per views before expanding even further in the mid-2000s during the first WWE brand extension. Following WWE's original brand extension in 2002, the company promoted two touring rosters, Raw and SmackDown, representing its television programs, Raw and SmackDown. The traditional "Big Four" continued to showcase the entire roster, while the remaining PPV events alternated between Raw and SmackDown cards. In March 2007, WWE announced that all subsequent PPV events would feature performers from all brands. In 2008, all WWE PPV events began broadcasting in high-definition.
WWE Pay Per View
SummerSlam (1992) was the fifth annual SummerSlam. It took place on August 29, 1992 at Wembley Stadium, London, England but was aired in the United States on August 31. The pay-per-view featured two main event matches. In the first, The Ultimate Warrior challenged Randy Savage for the WWF Championship. The Warrior won the match by count-out but did not win the title. In the other main event, The "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith pinned Bret Hart to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. The WWF Tag Team Championship was also defended, as The Natural Disasters retained the championship belts in their match against the Beverly Brothers. One of the heavily promoted matches on the undercard was between Shawn Michaels and Rick Martel. The match, which had a special stipulation that the wrestlers could not hit each other in the face, ended in a double count-out. The WWF considers the crowd to be the third largest live audience ever to attend a WWF/E event, with 80,355 in attendance.
WWE SummerSlam 1992
King of the Ring (1995) was the third annual King of the Ring. It took place on June 25, 1995 at the CoreStates Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The main event was a tag team match in which WWF Champion Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow faced Tatanka and Sycho Sid. The main matches on the undercard were Bret Hart versus Jerry Lawler in a "Kiss My Foot" match and the King of the Ring Final.
WWE King of the Ring 1995
WrestleMania 32 was thirty-second annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on April 3, 2016, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This was the third WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas after 2001 and 2009, and the first to take place in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area.
WWE WrestleMania 32
Diesel defends the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Razor Ramon. Alundra Blayze defends the Women’s Championship against Bull Nakano. Irwin R. Schyster & Bam Bam Bigelow face the Headshrinkers. Bret "Hit Man" Hart defends the WWE Championship in a Steel Cage Match against his brother Owen Hart. The Undertaker battles the Undertaker!
WWE SummerSlam 1994
This was the first of 10 King of The Ring events that was produced as a pay-per-view. It took place on June 13, 1993 at The Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. The inaugural King of the Ring tournament features Bret "Hit Man" Hart, Bam Bam Bigelow, Lex Luger, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Mr. Perfect, Razor Ramon and other Superstars competing for the crown. Hulk Hogan defends the WWE Championship against Yokozuna. Shawn Michaels defends the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Crush.
WWE King of the Ring 1993
Royal Rumble (2006) was the nineteenth annual Royal Rumble PPV. It was presented by Sony Computer Entertainment's The Con and took place on January 29, 2006 in the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida The biggest Superstars of WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown! clash at Royal Rumble to determine who will go to WrestleMania 22 as the heavyweight contender. Also, WWE Title: Edge vs. John Cena, World Heavyweight Title: Kurt Angle vs. Mark Henry, WWE Cruiserweight Title (6-way Match): Kid Kash vs. Funaki vs. Gregory Helms vs. Jamie Noble vs. Nunzio vs. Paul London, Mickie James vs. Ashley, & The Boogeyman vs. John 'Bradshaw' Layfield
WWE Royal Rumble 2006
King of the Ring (1994) was the second annual King of the Ring. It took place on June 19, 1994 at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. "King of the Ring" is also the name of the tournament that was the focus of this pay-per-view event. Tournament to crown King of the Ring includes Bam Bam Bigelow, Owen Hart, Razor Ramon, Tatanka, 1-2-3 Kid and more. WWF Champion Bret "Hit Man" Hart defends against Intercontinental Champion Diesel. The Headshrinkers battle Yokozuna & Crush for WWF Tag Team Championship. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper takes on Jerry "The King" Lawler.
WWE King of the Ring 1994
The 1992 WWE Survivor Series was the sixth annual Survivor Series. It took place on November 25, 1992 at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio. Unlike previous Survivor Series events, Survivor Series 1992 placed a strong emphasis on one-on-one wrestling matches rather than tag team elimination matches. In the main event, Bret Hart defends his WWF Championship in a match against Shawn Michaels. The event also featured a highly-promoted match between the team of Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect and the team of Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. Two specialty matches also took place, with The Big Boss Man vs. Nailz in a nightstick on a pole match, and The Undertaker vs. Kamala in a Casket Match. Some of the matches were changed after they were first announced, as several wrestlers left the WWF shortly before the event.
WWE Survivor Series 1992
WWE WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania.. The event took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 4, 1993 and was the first WrestleMania event held outdoors. WrestleMania IX was built around two main storylines. The first was the seemingly unstoppable Yokozuna challenging Bret Hart for the WWF Championship, a right he earned by winning the 1993 Royal Rumble. The other major storyline was the return of Hulk Hogan, who had departed the WWF following WrestleMania VIII but returned to team with Brutus Beefcake against the WWF Tag Team Champions, Money Inc. Several reviewers have been critical of the event. The most frequent criticism has been related to the match between The Undertaker and Giant Gonzalez, Hulk Hogan's win, and the Roman togas worn by announcers. Both the pay-per-view buyrate and the attendance for the event dropped from the previous year's WrestleMania.
WWE WrestleMania IX
An incredible collection of WWE action featuring the Superstars of the New Generation!
WWE SuperSlams
Thirty Superstars compete in the annual Royal Rumble with the winner advancing to WrestleMania for an opportunity at the WWE Championship. Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Big Van Vader, and more compete in the over-the-top elimination match. The Undertaker battles Bret "Hit Man" Hart for the WWE Championship!
WWE Royal Rumble 1996
WWE WrestleMania VIII was the eighth annual WrestleMania. It took place on April 5, 1992 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The only WrestleMania officially recognized by WWE.com to have featured more than one headlining match, its card included two equally-promoted main events. In the first, WWF Champion Ric Flair defended his title against Randy Savage, and in the second, Hulk Hogan faced Sid Justice. As a consequence of the double main event, WrestleMania VIII carried two taglines: "The Macho/Flair Affair!" and "Friendship Torn Apart!" Notable matches on the undercard included WWF Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper defending against Bret Hart, and WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc. defending against The Natural Disasters.
WWE WrestleMania VIII
An All-Star salute to the greatest wrestlers of WWE!
3rd Annual Battle of the WWE Superstars
Mr. Perfect searches for the perfect stamp; exciting matches filmed exclusively for the WWE Universe, which include: Virgil challenging Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship; and a 40-man battle royal.
WWE Bashed in the USA
All of Shawn Michaels' WrestleMania moments plus an all new never-before-seen interview with the Heartbreak Kid himself!