- Pez Whatley
Infobox Wrestler
name=Pez Whatley
names="Pistol" Pez Whatley Shaska Whatley Shaska Willie B. Hert
height=height|ft=5|in=10
weight=convert|244|lb|kg st|abbr=on
birth_date =January 10 ,1951
death_date = death date and age|2005|1|18|1951|1|10
birth_place =Chattanooga, Tennessee
resides=
billed=
trainer= Saul Weingeroff
debut= 1975
retired= 1995|Pezavan Whatley (
January 10 ,1951 -January 18 ,2005 ) was aprofessional wrestler in the 1980s and early 1990s who wrestled primarily under thering name Pez Whatley.Career
Whatley played football and wrestled for the
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). He was UTC's first African American wrestler. cite web|title="Pistol" Pez Whatley dead at 54|work=SLAM! Wrestling|last=Oliver|first=Greg|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2005/01/19/903727.html|accessdate=2008-01-11] Whatley was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans. [cite web|title=Eta Phi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha|url=http://eta_phi.tripod.com/The_Page.htm]Whatley started wrestling in 1975 after a brief career as a power lifter. He wrestled primarily in
Alabama andTennessee before going to Florida Championship Wrestling in 1984. He won the Southern Title twice while there. He was one-third of theConvertible Blondes withRip Rogers andGary Royal in theAngelo Poffo -promoted ICW, even though he didn't dye his hair blonde. One of Whatley's best-known moments in ICW was the "Mop Head" angle where Whatley had to wear a mop wig after losing a match toRon Garvin . The match stipulation also required him to keep wearing it until he won another match. This led to not only a lengthy feud with Garvin but also to a long losing streak for Whatley. Most of Whatley's losses were by disqualification due to outside interference when Garvin would attack Whatley's opponent. The angle lasted for several months until Whatley finally won a match.He went to the NWA's
Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985 and often teamed withJimmy Valiant against members of Paul Jones' Army. In 1986, after Valiant called Whatley "the best "black" athlete in professional wrestling", Whatley turned on Valiant and cut some of Valiant's hair, thinking Valiant's comment was racist. Whatley joined Jones' Army and re-named himself Shaska Whatley. He frequently teamed with The Barbarian and Baron Von Raschke in their war against Valiant. He eventually lost a hair vs. hair match to Valiant and was shaved bald. [cite web|title=The Great American Bash 1986|work=Pro Wrestling History|url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wcw/gabash.html#86a|accessdate=2008-01-11]In late 1987, Whatley had left Jones and started teaming with
Tiger Conway Jr. as The Jive Tones. [cite web|title=Tag Team List|work=Wrestling Information Archive|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/other/tagteams.htm|accessdate=2008-01-10] They did not have much success, and Whatley left forFlorida in 1988. He was part of Kevin Sullivan's goon squad in Florida and departed for Alabama shortly after his arrival.In Alabama's
Southeast Championship Wrestling , Whatley became Willie B. Hert and was one of the top faces for the company.In the early 90's Pez Whatley had a short stint in Japan's
UWFi . He also worked for the WWF as an enhancement talent during this time. Whatley retired from in-ring competition in 1995 and became a backstage worker for WCW and an assistant trainer at theWCW Power Plant , making sporadic appearances at special WCW events, including one of WCW's World War 3 PPV events.On
January 15 ,2005 , Pez suffered a heart attack and died onJanuary 18 while awaiting a heart transplant.cite web|title=Wrestler Profiles: Pez Whatley|work=Online World of Wrestling|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/p/pez-whatley.html|accessdate=2007-12-26]In wrestling
*Managers
**Paul Jones
**Ripley Von Slam
**Kevin Sullivan
**Oliver Humperdink Finishing Move: Headbutt (aka The Flying Willie)Championships and accomplishments
*
Championship Wrestling from Florida :*NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship (2 times)cite web|title=NWA Southern Heavyweight Title (Florida)|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/fl/nwa/fl-south-h.html|accessdate=2008-01-10]*
International Championship Wrestling :*ICW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)cite web|title=ICW United States Heavyweight Title|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ky/icw/icw-us.html|accessdate=2008-01-10] :*ICW United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - withRip Rogers cite web|title=ICW World Tag Team Title|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ky/icw/icw-t.html|accessdate=2008-01-10]*NWA Mid-America:*
NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship (1 time) - withRay Candy cite web|title=NWA Mid-America Tag Team Title|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/nwa/midam-t.html|accessdate=2008-01-10]*NWA Western States Sports:*
NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Abe Jacobscite web|title=NWA Western States Tag Team Title|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/amarillo/ws-t.html|accessdate=2008-01-10]*
Pro Wrestling Illustrated :*PWI ranked him # 345 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. [cite web|title=Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years|work=Wrestling Information Archive|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi500yr.htm|accessdate=2008-01-10]*Other Titles:*NCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sam McGraw
References
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