William Dee Calhoun, better known as "Haystacks" Calhoun, was a professional wrestler born on August 3, 1934, in McKinney, Texas.
Growing up on a farm, Calhoun was already a massive 300 pounds by the age of 14, having a habit of eating a dozen eggs for breakfast. By his early 20s, he had ballooned to over 600 pounds.
According to legend, Calhoun was discovered by a traveling wrestling promoter who saw him move cows across a field. He began competing in 1955, initially using the name "Country Boy Calhoun" and performing in regional territories.
Calhoun first gained national attention on Art Linkletter's House Party, where he tossed hay bales into a high loft, earning him the nickname "Haystacks." He exaggerated his hillbilly persona, adopting a bushy beard, white t-shirt, blue overalls, and a horseshoe necklace.
Calhoun rarely lost matches, often competing in handicap matches and battle royals. He faced fellow giant Happy Humphrey in a series of altercations at Madison Square Garden and challenged "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship.
Calhoun also wrestled for NWA: All-Star Wrestling in Vancouver, winning the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship twice with Don Leo Jonathan. He later teamed with Jack Brisco and Don Leo Jonathan to win the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship and NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship.
Calhoun helped attract fans to the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF),now known as WWE, and won the WWF Tag Team Title with Tony Garea in 1973. He continued working for the promotion until 1979.
As his weight and health declined, Calhoun was forced into retirement and was eventually confined to a double-wide trailer after losing his left leg to diabetes in 1986. He died on December 7, 1989, at the age of 55.
In 2003, WWE listed Calhoun as one of the 50 greatest WWE superstars of all time, and in 2017, he was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Legacy Wing.
