Chief Big Heart
| Chief Big Heart | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Richard G. Vest |
| Born | March 5, 1927 Pawhuska, Oklahoma, United States |
| Died | April 22, 1993 (Age 66) Palm Springs, California, United States |
| Alma mater | Carlisle Indian School |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Chief Big Heart |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (190 cm) |
| Billed weight | 242 lb (108 kg) |
| Billed from | Pawhuska, Oklahoma, United States |
| Debut | 1951 |
| Retired | 1975 |
Search Chief Big Heart on Amazon.
Richard G. Vest (March 5, 1927 – April 22, 1993), was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name of Chief Big Heart. He performed in a number of different territories mostly in the Mid-America series and the WWWF, the precursor to modern WWE. He got most of his success in Georgia Championship Wrestling where he was 2-Time Tagteam and 1-Time Heavyweight Champion.
Early life
Chief was born in the town on Pawhuska in Oklahoma, United States on March 5, 1927, to a full-blooded Osage Native American George Joseph Vest and Vida Fay Goddard. He attended the Carlisle Indian School and joined the Navy as a teenager during World War II. During his time in the navy he also trained in boxing which undoubtedly helped him during his wrestling career.
Professional career
During the early 1950s, he decided to become a pro wrestler and made his debut in 1951 in Texas. He wrestled his first match as Chief Vest against Billy Weidner at an Amarillo house show in April 1951.[1] This match was a time limit draw. Soon after that, he moved to the St. Louis Territory of the NWA and had a series of matches with the St. Louis Wrestling Club in November 1951. After this, he moved to the Georgia territory where he went on to form a team with Red McIntyre. They went on to win the NWA International Tagteam championship with McIntyre on December 7, 1956, by defeating inaugural champions Ike Eakens and Fred Atkins.[2]
During this same time he also won his first singles championship in January 1957 when he defeated Dr Jerry Graham for the NWA Southern heavyweight Championship(Georgia Version).[3] He lost the title a week later back to Graham.[4] In the meantime, McIntyre and Chief went on to hold the championship for two months until they dropped it to Mark Lewin and Don Lewin in February.[5] After this Chief had a series of matches with Jerry Graham and subsequently went back to the Texas territory in the World Class Wrestling Association operated by Southwest Sports. There he went on to form a Tagteam with Chief Little Eagle. Their gimmick was of Cherokee chiefs. They went on to win the NWA Texas TagTeam Championship from the team of Andre Bollet & Frank Valois on April 7, 1959, at a show in Dallas, Texas.[6] They lost the title a week later to Ben And Mike Sharpe.[7] During this period the team of Big Heart and Little Eagle feuded with the likes of Golden Grahams (Jerry and Eddie), the Tolos Brothers (Chris Tolos and John Tolos) and Johnny Valentine. During this time Chief Big Heart wrestled extensively for Capital Wrestling Corporation, NWA's Northeast territory and the precursor to WWWF and subsequently WWF/E.[8]
He continued to feud with his old rival Jerry Graham and unsuccessfully challenged him and Eddie Graham for the WWWF United States Tagteam Championship along with first Chief Little Eagle and then Haystacks Calhoun. He formed a team with Red Bastien to challenge the champions Jerry Graham and Johnny Valentine but was again unsuccessful in winning the title. After failing to beat Jerry for the championship he set his eyes on Georgia and left the northeast territory in 1963.
He Returned to Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1963 along with Little Eagle where he went on to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) when they defeated Tarzan Tyler and Lenny Montana for the titles in a December house show. They held the championship for about a month until January 1964. The team of Chief and eagle lost the titles under unknown circumstances after which the titles were next seen with The Von Brauners . After this he left for NWA Big-time Wrestling and NWA Tri-state where he won the NWA Tri-state Tagteam Championship along with Kitt Foxx by defeating the team of Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips in January 1969.[9] They lost the titles back to them in February.
After this Chief wrestled sporadically for NWA. He had his last match at a Northwest Wrestling Promotions event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 18 august 1975 against Larry Watts which he won. He retired after this.[10]
Personal life and death
Vest was married many times in his life. With his first wife, Dolly Foreman, he had a daughter, Georgeann Vest. With his second wife, Emma Jean Muncy, he had three sons, Richard Jr., John, and Mark and a daughter, Michaelann who died in infancy. He also had a son, Douglas Roberts and a daughter, Marlene Bialeck, from relationships with two other women. Both of these children were put up for adoption as infants and only learned of their relationship to Vest after his death. Douglas died of a heart attack in 2014. Vest's last and final marriage was to a woman named Terri Stansbury aka Theresa Montreuil. This was an extremely volatile relationship and during one of their many heated arguments an incident occurred wherein Stansbury shot Vest in the head. Vest survived but suffered permanent brain damage and paralysis as a result. He ultimately died from a combination of type II diabetes and the effects of this injury, on April 22, 1993, in Palm Springs, California. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery alongside his infant daughter, Michaelann.
Championships and accomplishments
- Georgia Championship Wrestling
- NWA International Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) (1 time) -with Red McIntyre
- NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Georgia version) (1 time)
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) (1 time) – with Chief Little Eagle
- World Class Wrestling Association
- WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship(1 time) – with Chief Little Eagle
- NWA Tri-State
- NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship(1 time) – with Kit Fox
References
- ↑ "NWA Amarillo Show @ Amarillo at Amarillo Sports Arena wrestling results – Internet Wrestling Database". www.profightdb.com. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
- ↑ "Chief Big Heart – Online World of Wrestling". www.onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
- ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (30 November 2022). "NWA Georgia Southern Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database.
- ↑ "Southern Heavyweight Title (Georgia)". www.wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
- ↑ "Georgia Championship Wrestling". www.kayfabememories.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
- ↑ "Chief Big Heart – Online World of Wrestling". www.onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
- ↑ "NWA Texas Tag Team Title (E. Texas)". www.wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
- ↑ "Chief Big Heart: Profile & Match Listing - Internet Wrestling Database (IWD)". www.profightdb.com. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
- ↑ "NWA United States Tag Team Title (Tri-State / Mid-South)". www.wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
- ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (30 November 2022). "NWP". Cagematch. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
This article "Chief Big Heart" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Chief Big Heart. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
|
This page exists already on Wikipedia. |
