Athletes - Wahoo McDaniel

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	Athletes - Wahoo McDaniel

Edward "Wahoo" McDaniel was a Choctaw-Chickasaw Native American who achieved fame as a professional American football player and later as a professional wrestler.

Early life

Wahoo was born in the small town of Bernice, Oklahoma in 1938. His father worked in oil and he moved to several towns before settling down in Midland, Texas while Wahoo was in middle school. The name "Wahoo" actually came from his father who was known as "Big Wahoo" and one of his baseball coaches was George H. W. Bush. He was a problematic teenager but he was accepted to Oklahoma University to be part of Bud Wilkinson's football program.

Football career

His college career was somewhat marred by injuries early on but by his senior year, he was one of the top players on the Oklahoma team despite being caught drinking after games and skipping classes. He played linebacker for the American Football League's Houston Oilers and Denver Broncos but really became a star with when he was traded to the New York Jets in 1964. He was a crowd favorite and made 23 tackles in a single game against his former Denver Broncos. He was picked by the Miami Dolphins in the 1966 AFL expansion draft, as the team's major name player. During the 1968 season, he knocked out two police officers in an altercation and was traded to the San Diego Chargers. Wahoo never played a game for San Diego and started wrestling full-time.

Wrestling career

Wahoo wrestled during the off-season, a common practice at the time due to low player salaries, for Dory Funk in Amarillo, Texas while he played for Houston and Denver. When he was playing for the New York Jets, Vince McMahon, Sr. brought him in for an often forgotten run in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (World Wrestling Entertainment). During his run, he wrestled with stars like Boris Malenko, Dr. Jerry Graham and Waldo Von Erich. When he played in Miami, Eddie Graham booked him and used him as a tag team wrestler with Jose Lothario.

After leaving football, Wahoo wrestled some in Hawaii but really made his mark and had his greatest success in Houston. He feuded with Boris Malenko, eventually winning his hair, and was a frequent challenger for Dory Funk, Jr.'s NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The feud sold out the Sam Houston Coliseum on several occasion with Wahoo going time limit draws with the champ but ultimately coming up short. After Houston, he went to the American Wrestling Association and had a very successful feud with "Superstar" Billy Graham after Graham could not defeat Wahoo in an arm wrestling challenge and attacked him. Eventually, the feud turned into a tag feud with Wahoo teaming with the Crusher (another legitimate tough guy) against Graham and Ivan Koloff.

In 1974, Wahoo came to Mid-Atlantic to wrestle for Jim Crockett Promotions and help build up the territory as a singles territory in a feud with a rival from Texas, Johnny Valentine. The feud evolved into a tag feud with Wahoo and Paul Jones taking on Johnny Valentine and Ric Flair, who Wahoo met in the AWA. The two feuded over the Mid-Atlantic title throughout 1975 and 1976 after Johnny Valentine's career was ended in a plane crash. Flair eventually came out on top and became a major star afterwards. In 1977, Johnny Valentine's son Greg Valentine attacked Wahoo and broke his leg in an angle to establish Greg as Johnny's successor.

Other than his work in Mid-Atlantic, he wrestled in Florida, usually against then NWA World champion Harley Race. He also split his time wrestling in Georgia and the AWA. He went to Japan several times but never really caught on although he did wrestle major names like Giant Baba, Antonio Inoki and Jumbo Tsuruta. By 1980, he was wrestling in San Antonio in a feud with Tully Blanchard and his regular tag partner, "Georgous" Gino Hernandez. When the promoter in Houston broke away from the National Wrestling Alliance and recognized the AWA World champion Nick Bockwinkel, Wahoo was the regular challenger.

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Athletes - Wahoo McDaniel

Early life

Football career

Wrestling career

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