Professional Wrestler. He was an American professional wrestler, who used the name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun after exhibiting his strength by tossing bales of hay into a loft while on the nationally viewed television broadcast of “Art Linkletter's House Party.” He started his career in 1955. As a six-foot-four-inch man weighting over six hundred pounds, he sported a black bushy beard, was barefooted, and wore bib overalls with a horseshoe hanging from his neck to personify a poor Arkansas farm boy; he used these dramatics to improve his show business image. For breakfast, he would easily have a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, a dozen pancakes, a quart of orange juice, and a pot of coffee. He was raised on a farm in Texas about 30 miles north of Dallas. Besides North America, he traveled to Australia for wrestling matches. He had much success winning in tag team matches: He won twice the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship and in 1966 won the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship. On May 30, 1973 he won the WWF Tag Team Title beating a Japanese tag team. In 1986 he had his left leg amputated as a complication of uncontrolled diabetes and his health declined after that. Even as a child, he was morbidly obese, which led to serious medical problems. On March 31, 2017 he was posthumously inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Legacy Wing and proclaimed him as one of the 50 all-time greatest wrestlers. Some sources list his birth place as Arkansas in error. The Collin County Museum in his hometown has many of his wrestling mementos on display.
Professional Wrestler. He was an American professional wrestler, who used the name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun after exhibiting his strength by tossing bales of hay into a loft while on the nationally viewed television broadcast of “Art Linkletter's House Party.” He started his career in 1955. As a six-foot-four-inch man weighting over six hundred pounds, he sported a black bushy beard, was barefooted, and wore bib overalls with a horseshoe hanging from his neck to personify a poor Arkansas farm boy; he used these dramatics to improve his show business image. For breakfast, he would easily have a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, a dozen pancakes, a quart of orange juice, and a pot of coffee. He was raised on a farm in Texas about 30 miles north of Dallas. Besides North America, he traveled to Australia for wrestling matches. He had much success winning in tag team matches: He won twice the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship and in 1966 won the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship. On May 30, 1973 he won the WWF Tag Team Title beating a Japanese tag team. In 1986 he had his left leg amputated as a complication of uncontrolled diabetes and his health declined after that. Even as a child, he was morbidly obese, which led to serious medical problems. On March 31, 2017 he was posthumously inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Legacy Wing and proclaimed him as one of the 50 all-time greatest wrestlers. Some sources list his birth place as Arkansas in error. The Collin County Museum in his hometown has many of his wrestling mementos on display.
Bio by: Linda Davis
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