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Haystacks Calhoun

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"William Calhoun" redirects here. For other uses, see William Calhoun (disambiguation).
For the English wrestler, see Giant Haystacks.
Haystacks Calhoun
File:William Calhoun.jpg
Birth nameWilliam Dee Calhoun
Born(1934-08-03)August 3, 1934[1]
McKinney, Texas[1]
DiedDecember 7, 1989(1989-12-07) (aged 55)[1]
Professional wrestling career
Billed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1]
Billed weight640 lb (290 kg)
Billed fromMorgan's Corner, Arkansas (fictional)[1]

William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989)[1][2] was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun.

The gargantuan wrestler was one of the foremost drawing cards during the industry’s “Kayfabe Era” of the 1950s and 1960s, sporting his trademark white T-shirt, blue overalls, and horseshoe necklace. He is recognized as a chief pioneer of the sport’s super-heavyweight attractions.

Early life

Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm in McKinney, Texas; a rural suburb located in Collin County about 30 mi (48 km) north of Dallas. William was an unusually large child with a large appetite. He regularly ate a dozen eggs for breakfast, and by age 14, he already weighed 300 lb (140 kg). By the time he was in his early 20s, Calhoun tipped the scales at over 600 lb (270 kg), prompting his physician to suggest he did not have long to live, unless he reformed his diet.

Calhoun's enormous size and physical strength enabled him to perform the manual labor of several men while working on his family’s farm. Calhoun first broke into wrestling in 1955 and he began competing for local promoter (and the inaugural National Wrestling Alliance World Champion) Orville Brown. Brown recognized that a man of his size who could still move with significant agility could become a major box office attraction for a sport that was in great need of added popularity.

Career

Initially performing under the name “Country Boy Calhoun”, he soon established himself as a feature attraction, performing in various regional territories, including Houston, Kansas City, and even in Canada. However, he first appeared nationally on Art Linkletter’s House Party, a televised variety show where Calhoun’s strength was showcased as he tossed full bales of hay into a high loft. As a result of this feat, he was given the nickname “Haystacks”. Recognizing the showbusiness potential of such a gimmick, Calhoun decided to exaggerate his hillbilly persona by adopting the fictional birthplace of Morgan’s Corner, Arkansas while sporting a bushy beard, white tee-shirt, blue overalls, and a genuine horseshoe around his neck on a chain. Despite his imposing size, Haystacks Calhoun was a mild-mannered country boy and he became a fan favorite. Moreover, while promoters typically did not book Calhoun for championships, he seldom lost a match. He was often booked in special attraction bouts, competing in handicap matches and battles royal, in much the same way that André the Giant would be booked a few decades later.

While Calhoun’s size contributed to his wrestling celebrity, he was determined not to be stereotyped as a carnival attraction. He was revolutionary in that he was the sport’s first super-heavyweight who regularly trained and possessed a wide repertoire of grappling maneuvers. Calhoun’s athleticism was evident when he was matched up against fellow wrestling giant Happy Humphrey in a series of highly promoted altercations at Madison Square Garden during the early 1960s. At over 800 lb (360 kg), Humphrey outweighed Calhoun by over 150 lb (68 kg), yet Humphrey was considerably slower than Calhoun. Calhoun took the majority of the decisions over Humphrey, many by countout as Humphrey often could not get himself back into the ring by the count of 20 when thrown out.

Throughout the 1960s, Calhoun continued as a sought-after box office attraction. On April 4, 1961, in Chicago, he challenged NWA World Champion, "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers in a one-fall match, to a losing effort by count-out, in what would be Calhoun's only World Title match ever officially recorded. Being the only man to lift Haystacks off his feet contributed to the career and legend of Bruno Sammartino. Although mainly active in the eastern half of the United States, he also wrestled in Australia, on tour with other American wrestlers in bouts promoted by U.S. promoter Sam Menacker. He also wrestled for NWA: All-Star Wrestling in Vancouver, where he twice won the NWA Canadian Tag Team title with Don Leo Jonathan. He formed a tag team with the over 600 lb (270 kg) Mountain Man Mike on the West Coast. At a combined weight of over 1,200 lb (540 kg), they are the second heaviest tag team in professional wrestling history. (The heaviest being the McGuire twins.) After engaging in a memorable feud against legendary rulebreaker Dick the Bruiser, Calhoun then generally traveled from territory to territory, never staying in one region for too long so as to maintain his status as a celebrated babyface enforcer. As a result, Haystacks subsequently established himself as one of the most well-known wrestlers in North America

Calhoun excelled in the tag team division; and in 1966 he won both the Tri-States U.S. Tag Team Titles and the NWA Canadian Tag Team Titles while teaming with Jack Brisco and Don Leo Jonathan, respectively. Moreover, he then helped attract fans to the fledgling Northeast promotion World Wide Wrestling Federation, where he was a consistent attraction at Madison Square Garden. On May 30, 1973, Calhoun paired with Tony Garea to defeat the Japanese duo of Mr. Fuji & Prof. Toru Tanaka for the WWF Tag Team Titles. However, his weight and declining health eventually forced him into retirement, and he was ultimately confined to a double-wide trailer after losing his left leg to diabetes in 1986. He died at age 55 on December 7, 1989. WWE has since honored him among its 50 all-time greatest wrestlers. He is buried in Scott Cemetery, Collin County, Texas. His daughter donated mementos of his wrestling career to the Collin County museum.

Legacy

As one of the sport’s premier all-time box office attractions, he laid the groundwork for future ring goliaths like Gorilla Monsoon, André the Giant, The One Man Gang and King Kong Bundy, as well as serving as the muse for various “country bumpkin” brawlers like Hillbilly Jim, Uncle Elmer, and the Godwinns.

Calhoun was more directly an influence on British superheavyweight wrestler Martin Ruane, best known in America for his stint as Loch Ness in WCW. Ruane achieved household fame in his home country as "Giant Haystacks", a modified heel version of Calhoun's gimmick. Ruane first wrestled as "Haystacks Calhoun", a direct copy of the American original, while working for Wrestling Enterprises (of Birkenhead) in the early 1970s, before modifying his name and character. Thus adapted, Ruane later moved to Joint Promotions where he achieved television exposure and national fame as the tag team partner - and later arch enemy - of Big Daddy.[3][4]

Calhoun is also known for collapsing the lung of an opponent while training early in his career. The lawsuit that followed, in which Calhoun was acquitted of all charges, is thought to have made a name for the up-and-coming wrestler, as it was in the news for several weeks.

In Stephen King's novel It, Ben Hanscom is nicknamed "Haystack" because another character (Richie Tozier) says he reminds him of Haystacks Calhoun.

Acting

Calhoun appears briefly at the end of the 1962 theatrical motion picture version of Rod Serling's teleplay Requiem For A Heavyweight. The protagonist, played by Anthony Quinn, is a punch-drunk prize fighter slipping into oblivion but his manager, played by Jackie Gleason, finds a way to squeeze a few more bucks from his career by lining him up for a "professional wrestling" match. The opponent's name is stated on a poster for the event, and announced as Quinn's character approaches the ring, but only the upper fourth of the wrestler's torso is seen, from the rear, on screen. He scratches his head in response to the behavior of this unknown newcomer. The film's credits make no reference, however, to Calhoun's participation.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Solomon, Brian (2006). WWE Legends. Pocket Books. pp. 221–226. ISBN 978-0-7434-9033-7.
  2. ^ "Haystacks Calhoun's profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
  3. ^ "OWOW profile". onlineworldofwrestling.com.
  4. ^ The Wrestling Simon Garfield, Faber & Faber 1996
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