Tatanka on Why I Chose to Leave WWF

Tatanka discusses how the exodus of WWF talent to WCW and the insertion of Ahmed Johnson influenced his decision to step away from the company.
Stream this and 100s of Full Shoots commercial free 📺 TitleMatchNetwo...
Tatanka (Chris Chavis) talks about WWF hitting a creative wall with his character and Ahmed Johnson's reputation for hurting guys.
Also discussed is how ready Eric Bischoff was to sign him after he left WWF, but why it never materialized.
We then hear why his time away from the business was so valuable to him and how he was able to secure the Tatanka name from WWE.
This interview was originally conducted by RF Video Inc in 2005. Licensed for exclusive distribution by Title Match Network.
💥 Thank you for 2.4M subscribers 💥
➡ Subscribe to Title Match
👉 KZbin.com/Tit...

[@TitleMatchWrestling]

Shout out to the legendary Tatanka🔥 From his first ever shoot interview on 2005 Full Version ➡titlematchnetwork.com/wrestling-shoot-interviews-results/

[@GamingManual]

Tatanka gets it, Sid got it; family first. Get your money, and get out!

[@Nostalgia9478]

Owen Hart got it too.. Unfortunately he wasnt able to get out in time

[@ADAMdinho1]

​@@Nostalgia9478 So true & incredibly sad 😢

[@GamingManual]

@@Nostalgia9478 Correct. I think Owen was planning on leaving wrestling to become a firefighter. RIP legends.

[@Xpunkpro]

I took heat from fools and tools for saying this very exact thing. Make a lot of money and save your money. It's not what you make it's what you save. If I could make millions from WWE I would quit they would not have to fire me for no showing. LOL!

[@GamingManual]

@@Xpunkpro correct! The biggest marks are in the locker room!

[@TNATNA100]

He seems a smart man save money takes care of his family Many wrestlers can learn from him A lot of them spend what they earn

[@daveschannel747]

Tanaka drew 💰 with Vince.. Had some solid feuds with Sean Micheal's and Diesel.. Im glad he is still with us in 2024! He has been out and about at wrestling signings meeting and greeting! Humble guy

[@jamie.777]

Drew nothing, wwf was dying early 90s

[@paulcarpenter7844]

This video is very old

[@worlds-in-conflict]

Seems like a super good grounded dude.

[@HBKStyles]

So am I

[@maxhammer4067]

I still do the tatanka chant when im drunk 😂 he was such a great wrestler ❤

[@LeJendLBC]

Respect for Tatanka walking away from $$$ and stepping up for FAMILY. The family is your CORE, not your work. 🫡 👏🏾

[@TheNinthHeart]

The guy had no talent

[@jamie.777]

😂😂tatanka couldn't draw a dime. He sucked

[@garethcullen9604]

Great interview but WWF didnt know Lex was leaving for WCW. He showed up on the first nitro and it totally blindsided Vince & co.

[@Normaniac]

His angle with Lex also finished like 10 months before Lex left lol

[@yoyo2ma]

I noticed that too. Plus Tatanka left around Mania 96 several months after Luger left. Tatanka was fat and out of shape during that time and was jobbing away. WWF had no use for him.

[@goldkiwiboy]

Tatanka said he never had a PPV with Lex Luger. I remember the dollars of the Million Dollar Man in Lex's mouth, that was a PPV, one of the last victories of Tatanka in WWF.

[@jimmygialelis5708]

I will accept Tatanka's perspective over Dave Meltzer's description.

[@ReinEngel]

@@goldkiwiboy Yeah, Summerslam 1994. It was a major angle, ffs.

[@jokerswank6082]

He was right there were not a lot of top stars. That was the problem with the fed between 1992-1996. A lot of those from the Golden Era who'd otherwise been useful were either gone, fired, or injured, and Macho Man wasn't being taken seriously. It definitely could've been better.

[@BronzeAgeBryon]

Another should have been IC Champ guy. I can only assume that Michaels did not want to put him over in that match. So the DQ keeps Tatanka's streak, and keeps Shawn happy.

[@nzelver559]

Sounds like a solid dude - especially with how he got his name trademarked. He sounds like a very well rounded guy, level headed and was smart with his money.

[@nostalgiaman6816]

Did Vince know Lex was leaving? I’ve never heard that before. It was the complete opposite. Everyone was shocked when he showed up on Nitro.

[@JasonL77]

I’ve always wanted to meet Tatanka. He seems like a genuinely nice guy.

[@jthek2000]

Class act.

[@truckdriver402]

Love and respect to Tatanka.

[@VirgilZandig]

Did the interviewer ask about Tatanka being accused (falsely according to Kevin Nash) of drugging and r'ing a woman? Not sure how public this was when the interview was done.

[@blueeyeddevil9441]

I'd like to get Tatanka to comment on one of his matches being on the TV in the film Natural Born Killers as Rodney Dangerfield is burying him. Rodney definitely backed the heels.

[@paulcarpenter7844]

😂oh yeah

[@michaelvazquez7851]

Good interview

[@kevinjames2995]

He seems like a super good guy.

[@paulcarpenter7844]

He returns a year after this interview

[@SuperSaiyanRoshii]

Walked away for all the right reasons when the majority don't. Good for him.

[@knigweenis7092]

The heel turn in 94 was the end for him. Joined possibly the worst heel stable im wrestling history, and by the summer of 95 was pretty much hardly ever on TV. I dont think it was so Much him choosing to leave in 96 as just the bookings drying up as the WWF were on the bones of their arse at the time and Tatanka looked like a relic. I'd nearly forgot he existed when he turned up at Royal Rumble 96.

[@yoyo2ma]

It didn't help that he got fat and out of shape during that time. His matches started to suck.

[@FreddieBlaze730]

The original tribal chief!👑

[@jonbourgoin182]

I can't really see Tatanka's gimmick working past the New Generation era and into the Attitude era. He would have needed to make some kind of change.

[@jokerswank6082]

Maybe but Warrior definitely wouldn't have worked past that era either

[@CodeThatTalks]

I always thought it would've been cool to transition him in more of a Warpath gimmick. Give him more of a brutal edge and turn him heel. I don't know if that would work, but would've been fun to see

[@paulcarpenter7844]

Evil tantanka 😂 but remember he came back with Matt hardy for awhile during 2004 think before this interview

[@ydoihave2picaname]

Agree, would be interesting to see that transition

[@___Shawn___]

Some professional wrestlers seem like massive assholes, but Tatanka seems like an all around great guy!

[@696969640]

hes at great guy i drank with him his favourite drink is j d he would only have about 4 or 5 drinks once again nice guy

[@hokemoseley2934]

Tatanka vs Luger was on PPV - SummerSlam 94

[@JeremiahEcks777]

I thought it was too. He went heel didn't he?

[@paulcarpenter7844]

King of the ring 93 before the feud also

[@JeremiahEcks777]

@@paulcarpenter7844 Yeah, that is also true but I think Tatanka is talking specifically about that 94 / 95 feud being translated into PPV bouts. You pointed that out too though so I have no idea why I'm still talking. 😵‍💫

[@Nostalgia9478]

Never shouldve turned Tonka heel. He couldve been a top Babyface for WWF in 96/97 with Razor/Diesel and many others bailing for WCW

[@Stonewall2]

No he couldn’t that’s why he turned heel. He got extremely stale

[@Nostalgia9478]

@@Stonewall2 Heel Tonka was 100x more stale than babyface Tonka. Tonka couldvd been rejuvenated as a babyface if Lex was the one who sold out

[@NickG8420]

Nah Tatanka felt like a relic of the past. He was so out of place with the Attitude Era coming in.

[@Nostalgia9478]

@@NickG8420 Attitude didnt start till December of 97.. Native American Tonka wouldve been perfect feud for Anti American Bret in 97

[@NickG8420]

@@Nostalgia9478 yeah but those type of gimmicks were mostly gone by 97. The stereotype gimmicks sorta died in the New Generation era.

[@lloydblair316]

🤣🤣🤣 His math isn't mathing.... "When your 50 years old and have a kid, when they are 18 you're 65 years old" 🤣🤣🤣

[@SirYawasap9280]

At summerslam they should have turned Lex Luger back into heel with Million Dollar Corp. Instead of Tatanka. Better fit.

[@Greenertree]

Dog The Bounty Hunter... lolz 😂

[@bootcamp7]

Loves his wife. Got it.

[@chamuuemura5314]

That’s why he left.

[@romans52345-cy3tq]

@@bootcamp7 If I can read between the lines you're saying that he probably had a few ring rats on the road and it interfered with their marriage, So he quit the business to work things out. Is that what you're saying? Ok not all the wrestlers back then were fooling around on the road

[@freddiejohnson6137]

His timeline was way off since his and Lex's feud ended way before Lex left because at that time Lex was in a tag team with the British Bulldog and they were possibly going to be champions at some point in the near future. I will say that their blow off match for the feud being a cage match on Raw was random though and should have been at survivor series. He essentially became a jobber in the Million Dollar Corporation as bigger names got added although apparently they were also trying to bring Barry Windham in too so the feud with Luger could last longer but it never happened.

[@DannNotDaniel]

Nobody knew luger was going to wcw.not even Vince

[@JWS1985]

Yeah I don't know what he's talking about either. In addition, the big heel turn occurred a year before Luger ever left.

[@DannNotDaniel]

Yeah that angle was in the summer of 94. but nobody knew about luger going to WCW only a few in wcw

[@Scorch1028]

Tatanka should have never left the WWF. His time off caused him to permanently lose his upper-midcard spot in the company. When Tatanka returned to the WWE in 2005, he was cemented as a lower-midcader.

[@adamlone5548]

His marriage was more important. And look how happy he is with how his life turned out. He made the right decision for his life.

[@Rockhound6165]

You don't get it do you. There's nothing more important than family. Ask Jake Roberts if he made the right choice. He has no relationship with his daughter because of he devoted himself to the business and not family. If you have aspirations of being a pro wrestler my advice would be to not get married until you retire. Imagine getting married then seeing your wife only 65 days a year. Chris made the right decision and as you can see he's happy as a clam. Fun Fact: He's still married, been so for 27 years, and has 4 children.

[@AnarchyClaire]

He left at literally the worst time, no main eventers? Yea bye!

[@joefox9765]

Long story short. The money honey 🤪

[@treyturner9296]

Tatanka is bullshitting. Lex left unannounced in September of 1995 and showed up on the first Nitro. If you listen carefully Tatanka talks about getting things right with his wife. It wasn't common knowledge at the time when this interview was produced but Tatanka was suspended the fall of 95 because allegedly he was involved in a sexual assault back in summer of 94. Kevin Nash speaks on this in a shoot interview and basically says Tatanka didn't do anything but it was one of the members of the Heavenly Bodies . Most people don't remember but Tatanka was pretty much missing from WWE programming from about September of 95 until about January of 96. He came back pretty fat and out of shape. Vince jobbed him out up until about Feburary or March and then he was gone for almost a decade. You can imagine what those allegations can do to your marriage and it seemed like by 96 Tatanka didn't fit in the WWE anymore , especially with a lot of those cartoon gimmick wrestlers leaving WWE at the time. I commend him for saving his money and working on his marriage during that time. The WWE was struggling financially during that time and its good he saved his money.

[@unclelloyd]

7:34 - Who ripped one?

[@RetroMediaLibrary]

probably Feinstein's old chair excuse 🤣

[@billssportsandwrestlingchan]

Never understood how a feud that never drew a dime is considered "hot". lol.

[@Lucipher28]

You know.

[@CountryHillTV]

I think he left because the Kliq

[@KevinRojas-v7u]

Rite on .. family an God important 💯❤️🙏🎬🎥📺🌏🌍🌎📡📊📈😎

[@larryshelby8584]

I thought he should of been IC champion at least one time.

[@jaredaustin1172]

They had no clue that Lex was leaving so that part is BS.

[@brianthomas3451]

No one knew lex was leaving though

[@tyme4348]

Tantanka..... Buffalo 🦬

[@Boo-yaa86]

If he was there In 96 he should of got repackaged leave the tatanka gimmick in 95

[@brianmccandlish3019]

What as a german

[@davidnec571]

He was in WWF in early 1996. I think his last match was against Bret Hart on Monday Night Raw in March 1996.

[@Boo-yaa86]

@@brianmccandlish3019 u wot

[@mahmud9973]

Hello

[@davidcota4978]

🦬

[@drewgriego9308]

Lies 🤥 you had heat from H bombs

[@fartdonkey8290]

No this isn't true at all. He quit rasslin to form his musical group in the 90s, the funky bunch. He then went on to become an actor and a cheeseburger shop owner

[@Greeneggsz]

6:40 why don’t you tell that to Robert Dinero or Al Pacino or even Quinten Tarintio having new born kids in their 70s & 80s 😂 old boomer geezers having new born kids in the modern era.

[@KcLegendary]

Never was a fan of this guy also .. in my opinion he's overrated.

[@kevinrossi7487]

He “choose to leave” ….sure

[@geneares5063]

🫡