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Haystacks Calhoun
Birth name	William Dee Calhoun
Born	(1934-08-03)August 3, 1934[1] McKinney, Texas[1]
Died	December 7, 1989(1989-12-07) (aged 55)[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Country Boy Calhoun Haystacks Haystacks Calhoun
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Billed weight	601 lb (273 kg)
Billed from	Morgan's Corner, Arkansas

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 crowds 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[edit]

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[edit]

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 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 adopted the name Haystacks Calhoun. Recognizing the show business 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 t-shirt, blue overalls, and a genuine horseshoe around his neck on a chain. Despite his imposing size, Calhoun was a mild-mannered country boy and he became a fan favorite. Moreover, while promoters typically did not book him for championships, he seldom lost a match. He was often booked in special attraction bouts, competing in handicap matches and battle royals, 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. His 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 750 lbs (340 kg), Humphrey outweighed Calhoun by over 150 lb (68 kg), and was considerably slower than Calhoun. Calhoun took the majority of the decisions over Humphrey, many by count out 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 14, 1961, in the Chicago International Amphitheater, he challenged Capitol Wrestling NWA United States Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers in a second attempt to take the U.S. title. This bout ended in failure as did his first with Rogers in New York's Sunnyside Gardens on January 28, 1961. Calhoun would not get a chance to wrestle Rogers for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship which Rogers won from Pat O'Connor a few months later on June 30, 1961. Being the only man to lift Calhoun 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 Championship 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 rule breaker 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 baby face enforcer. As a result, he subsequently established himself as one of the most well-known wrestlers in North America.

Calhoun's grave at Scott Cemetery

Calhoun excelled in the tag team division; and in 1966 he won both the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship and the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship 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 and 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[edit]

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, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, 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 often appeared at Capital Arena in Washington, D.C. scuffling on televised bouts. A. J. Weberman was head of Haystacks Calhoun fan club.^[5]

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.

John Sims, an American wrestler would portray the name Haystacks Calhoun Jr. as he is also known as Hornswigglin Hillbilly wrestled in the 90's for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and the indies.

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

On March 31, 2017, Calhoun was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a part of the Legacy wing.

Acting[edit]

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.

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

• 
  Big Time Wrestling (Massachusetts)
  
  • BTW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sweet Daddy Siki^[6]
    
  
  


• 
  Championship Wrestling From Florida
  
  • 
    NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 Time) - with Kevin Sullivan
    
  
  


• 
  Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling
  
  • 
    NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (1 Time) - with Amazing Zuma
  
  


• 
  NWA: All-Star Wrestling
  
  • 
    NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (2 times) - with Don Leo Jonathan
    
  
  


• 
  NWA Tri-State
  
  • 
    NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version) (1 time) - with Jack Brisco
    
  
  


• 
  World Wide Wrestling Federation/WWE
  
  
  
  • 
    WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tony Garea
    
  
  
  • 
    WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)^[7]
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  Worldwide Wrestling Associates
  
  • 
    WWA International Television Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Abe Jacobs
    
  
  

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• 
  Haystacks Calhoun on WWE.com


• 
  Haystacks Calhoun at Find a Grave
  


• 
  William 'Haystacks' Calhoun on IMDb


• 
  Haystacks Calhoun photos from the Collin County Historical Society, hosted by the Portal to Texas History


• Deceased Superstars - Haystacks Calhoun


• 
  Haystacks Calhoun at WrestlingMuseum.com