3. Haystacks Calhoun
These next two wrestlers on our list seem to go hand in hand. In fact, they were often billed together largely due to their incredible size. Throughout the “Kayfabe Era” of the 1950s and 1960s, professional wrestling was a fledgling industry in comparison to today’s league. The sport heavily leaned on gimmicks to keep fan interest, and one of those gimmicks was, well, heavy people.
Enter Haystacks Calhoun. Nobody who glanced at Calhoun would label this man a wrestler. What they would have seen was a 6’ 4” man sporting over 640 pounds of body weight. He frequently wore overalls and a horseshoe necklace, playing up his farmer-like Haystacks persona. He participated in several events with the next wrestler on our list, and even contributed to the career of Bruno Sammartino, who was the only wrestler to lift Calhoun off his feet.
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