Tatanka Christopher Chavis ( June 8 , 1961 ) , 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 . Bodybuilding and football careers . 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 . Professional wrestling career . 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 the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) 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 WWF contract . World Wrestling Federation ( 1991 – 1996 ) . Undefeated Streak ( 1992 – 1993 ) . Chris Chavis started his WWF career in late 1991 under his given name . Soon after , he took on the ring name Tatanka . After wrestling in tryout matches at house shows , Tatanka made his television debut as a fan favorite on February 1 , 1992 episode of " Superstars " , defeating Pat Tanaka in his debut match . As Tatanka , Chavis performed a war dance on the Lumbee tribal war cry that preceded his entrance to the ring , and had a red stripe dyed in the middle of his hair . Tatanka was push ed as undefeated on WWF television as he had not suffered any defeat by pinfall or submission . Although , he did lose several matches at house shows . Tatanka ' s earliest rivalry on television was against Rick Martel that culminated in Tatanka ' s pay - per - view debut at WrestleMania VIII , with Tatanka winning the match . On May 18 , 1992 , Tatanka reached the peak of success by winning the 40 - man " Bashed in the USA " battle royal . He would go on to renew his feud with Martel , who had stolen sacred eagle feathers from him to add to his wardrobe , going on to defeat him again at Survivor Series to reclaim the feathers . At WrestleMania IX , Tatanka received his first televised title shot in WWF against Shawn Michaels for the WWF Intercontinental Championship . Tatanka won the match by count - out . Since a title could not change hands on a count - out , Michaels retained the title . On October 30 , 1993 edition of " Superstars " , Tatanka suffered his first televised 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 . Tatanka returned to WWF in the fall of 1993 . Million Dollar Corporation & Departure ( 1994 – 1996 ) . 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 . Strongbow briefly served as Tatanka ' s mentor and manager during the duration of the feud . During the summer of 1994 , Tatanka accused Lex Luger of selling out to Ted DiBiase , which resulted in a match between the two . Afterward , DiBiase entered the ring with a red , white and blue bag full of money . Luger kicked the bag out of DiBiase ' s hands resulting in Tatanka attacking him and turning him into a villain at SummerSlam , joining DiBiase ' s Million Dollar Corporation . He spent the remainder of the year feuding with Luger which topped off in a cage match on " Raw " that saw Luger come out the victor . In Spring 1995 , Tatanka had another Feud with Bam Bam Bigelow who just turned face , as a result he teamed with Sid Vicious at King of the Ring 1995 to lose to Bigelow and Diesel , afterwards Tatanka went on a hiatus and returned at Royal Rumble 1996 and eliminated by Diesel . On March 19 , 1996 , Tatanka wrestled his final televised match in WWF , losing to the WWF Champion Bret Hart in a non - title match . Tatanka would leave the WWF in the spring of 1996 , citing family and spiritual issues . 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 . Independent wrestling ( 1997 ) . In 1997 , Chavis wrestled for the independent New York based promotion Ultimate Championship Wrestling ( UCW ) , where he wrestled Bruce Hart of the Hart wrestling family , Falcon Coperis , King Kong Bundy , Jim " The Anvil " Neidhart and Marty Jannetty . He went from a playing the role of a face to a heel when he turned on Falcon Coperis and Tommy Cairo to align himself with the likes of the UWF faction of the organization which included Jim Neidhart , Bruce Hart , and eventually Marty Jannetty . Chavis captured the UCW Heavyweight Championship title and handed then champion Falcon Coperis , his first championship defeat , Chavis left champion when the organization folded its professional wrestling division in 1998 . Return to WWE ( 2005 – 2007 ) . On August 1 , 2005 Chavis returned to " Raw " as a face once again which was intended to be a special one - time appearance to face Eugene in the " Eugene Invitational " , a three - 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 . Chavis returned to a full - time schedule for WWE 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 then - 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 ) adopted into the Oglala Sioux Tribe ( Lakota ) . When he returned to wrestling Tatanka defeated Simon Dean with his new finisher , " Wakinyan " ( 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 , ( during pin Dave Taylor got his hands in the last second ) After the match Tatanka argued the decision again , then he turned heel by attacking the referee and then Lashley when he tried to calm him down however he attacked bobby lashley . 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 asked for and 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 . " Tatanka stated on his official website that he requested to be released and mentioned he was not done with WWE as he would like to return someday . Independent wrestling and TNA ( 2008 – 2009 ) . In 2008 Tatanka toured Ireland and France with the American Wrestling Rampage tour . He also wrestled for All Star Promotions in the United Kingdom . He competed in All Star and American Wrestling between August 29 to October 31 , 2008 in The Tower Circus area of Blackpool Tower . He also appeared in TNA for Jay Lethal ' s invitational tournament , defeating him with an End of the Trail . WWE ( 2010 ) . Tatanka made an appearance on the Old School Raw on November 15 backstage along with Ron Simmons , Dusty Rhodes , IRS , and The " Million Dollar Man " Ted DiBiase . Independent circuit ( 2011 – present ) . Tatanka made an appearance in Danish Pro Wrestling ( DPW ) and lost to Chaos after he was hit by a DDT . He was given a standing ovation after the match . Tatanka also made headlines in Scotland while appearing for Scottish Wrestling Entertainment , renewing his partnership with the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase in Dundee . Tatanka is due to return to Scotland to wrestle for the SWE at the Dewars Centre in Perth on the 25th of August 2012 . On August 8 , 2012 , Chikara announced that Tatanka would be making his debut for the promotion in the following month ' s 2012 King of Trios tournament , where he will team with the 1 - 2 - 3 Kid and Aldo Montoya as " Team WWF " . In their first round match on September 14 , Team WWF was defeated by The Extreme Trio ( Jerry Lynn , Tommy Dreamer and Too Cold Scorpio ) . The following day , Tatanka defeated Sugar Dunkerton in a singles match . Tatanka made another appearance in Danish Pro Wrestling ( DPW ) and defeated Chaos after hitting Wykea after a long and enduring match . He was given a standing ovation once again . He also wrestled in Germany , in June 2013 for ACW ( Athletik Club Wrestling ) and GHW ( German Hurricane Wrestling ) . 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 Ravn and Demolition Davies . Third return to WWE . Sporadic Appearances ( 2015 – present ) . 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 . Personal life . Chavis is married to his wife Michelle . Together , they have two daughters , Christiana and Rhea , and a son , Joseph Tatanka Chavis .