Home / Profile / Haystacks Calhoun

Haystacks Calhoun


Last updated by Chris George on November 12, 2015

Haystacks Calhoun

[Haystacks Calhoun GALLERY]

Title History

  • WWA (Los Angeles) International Television Tag Team titles w/Abe Jacobs defeating Karl Von Schober & Alan Garfield (October 31, 1962);
  • NWA (Vancouver) Canadian Tag Team titles w/Don Leo Jonathan defeating Tony Borne & John Tolos (July 4, 1966);
  • NWA (Vancouver) Canadian Tag Team titles w/Don Leo Jonathan defeating Assassins (June 3, 1968);
  • WWWF Tag Team titles w/Tony Garea defeating Mr. Fuji & Toru Tanaka (May 30, 1973 in Hamburg, Pennsylvania);

Career Highlights

  • May 30, 1973: Haystacks Calhoun & Tony Garea defeated Mr. Fuji & Toru Tanaka to win the WWWF Tag Team titles..
  • September 11, 1973: Mr. Fuji & Toru Tanaka defeated Haystacks Calhoun & Tony Garea to regain the Tag Team titles..
  • August 26, 1974 – WWWF MSG: Haystacks Calhoun vs Otto Von Heller..
  • October 7, 1974 – WWWF MSG: Bobby Duncum beat Haystack Calhoun when Calhoun was unable to continue due to cuts..
  • September 6, 1975 – WWWF Madison Square Garden: Haystack Calhoun defeated Hans Schroeder..
  • April 26, 1976 – WWWF MSG: Billy Graham & Ivan Koloff b Pat Barrett & Haystack Calhoun by Count Out..
  • 1974 – WWWF Philadelphia: The Valiant Brothers & Killer Kowalski defeat Andre the Giant, Haystacks Calhoun & Bruno Sammartino..
  • Haystacks Calhoun wrestled in Canada and had one of very few heel runs while feuding with “Crybaby” George Cannon..
  • While Bruno Sammartino is credited as being “the only man to lift Calhoun off his feet”, Bulldog Brower also bodyslammed him..
  • December 7, 1989: William Dee Calhoun passed away due to diabetes in Collin County, Texas ..
  • ~~~He is buried in Scott Cemetery in that Texas County..

    John Giammarino wrote: I met Haystacks in Springfield Massachusetts in the mid 1970’s. He drove a GMC Jimmy with reinforced shock absorbers, he used to travel with Man Mountain Mike. This was noteworthy because Mike(billed at 500 lbs.) was a heel and Stacks was a face. They never faced each other in the WWWF that I know of. On the dash in his Jimmy was a nasty looking half of a gallon milk jug with brown spittle on the inside. He was a tobacco chewer, nasty habit. I found him to be a very genial and overall nice fellow.

    Tom wrote: I met Haystacks Calhoun and he was not near as tall as you have him listed. He was about 5′ 10″ at most. (I’m 6’2″ and I was looking down at him) Haystacks could drive his own car (I saw it myself). It was an old beat up car. They obviously didn’t pay even top tier rasslers much money back in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

    Michelle Steiner sent in these comments: Calhoun started in the mid to late 1950s; he had a notable feud with Dick the Bruiser, resulting in a main event match at Madison Square Garden. In the match, Bruiser tried to body slam him (Calhoun was billed at 601 lbs) and couldn’t get him off his feet. Calhoun did not try to stop the slam, saying afterwards that he wanted to see whether it could be done. The first photo in your gallery of him is in his match with Happy Humphrey, who was billed at 750 lbs. Calhoun won when Humphrey couldn’t get back into the ring by the count of 20. (In those days, there was a 20 count to get back in the ring from the floor, and a ten count from the apron.)