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.
