Pez Whatley

Professional wrestling career Whatley played football and wrestled for Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). He was UTC's first African-American wrestler.

Whatley started wrestling in 1973 after a brief career as a power lifter. He wrestled with the Sheik's Big Time Wrestling, after which he wrestled primarily in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. While in Georgia Championship Wrestling, he had a memorable angle on television, where he was confronted by Junkyard Dog, before a match against Buzz Sawyer. Junkyard Dog slapped Whatley in the face, enraging him enough to pin Sawyer twice in a single episode of World Championship Wrestling. While in Georgia, Whatley had a feud with Paul Ellering's Legion of Doom that included matches against Jake "The Snake" Roberts. He also had a match in the Omni for the United States Heavyweight championship against Greg Valentine.

Whatley went to Championship Wrestling from Florida in 1984. He won the Southern Title twice while there. In 1986, during a short stint when Dusty Rhodes was NWA Champion, Whatley appeared to freelance during a TV interview and made the announcers visibly uncomfortable when he said that he wanted to become the first black NWA Champion.

Whatley was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2021 as a legacy member. Championship Wrestling from Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (2 times) Georgia Championship Wrestling Omni Thanksgiving Tag Team Tournament (1983) – with Butch Reed International Championship Wrestling ICW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ICW United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rip Rogers ICW United States Tag Team Championship Tournament (1980) – with Rip Rogers Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI ranked him # 345 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. Universal Wrestling Association UWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) WWE WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2021) Other titles NCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sam McGraw