William Chase Tatum (November 3, 1973 – March 23, 2008) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

and actor, best known for his appearances in

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

, road manager for

OutKast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

and as an actor, in the 2007 film ''

Who's Your Caddy? ''Who's Your Caddy?'' is a 2007 American comedy film directed by Don Michael Paul and starring Big Boi, Lil Wayne, Andy Milonakis, Faizon Love, Terry Crews, Tony Cox, Jeffrey Jones and Jesper Parnevik. It is the first film produced by Robert ...

''.

Career

Professional wrestling

At age 19, Tatum won the Mr. Georgia

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the practice of Resistance training, progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's skeletal muscle, muscles via muscle hypertrophy, hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to a ...

competition. In 1998, he signed with the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

-based World Championship Wrestling promotion. Working as a personal trainer, a person who worked for WCW reportedly encouraged Tatum to try out. After beginning his career as a

jobber Jobber may refer to: Athletics * Job (professional wrestling) - A professional wrestler who routinely loses a match. * Wichita Jobbers, a minor league baseball team in the Western Association from 1905 to 1911 Commerce * A person or corporation ...

, he debuted on the March 5th episode of

WCW Thunder ''WCW Thunder'', or simply ''Thunder'', is an American professional wrestling show produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) which aired on TBS from January 8, 1998 to March 21, 2001. The popularity of WCW in 1996 and 1997 allowed for t ...

with a loss to

Scott Steiner Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler. Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and has also wrestled for Jim Crockett ...

. A year or so later, Tatum became a member of rapper

Master P Percy Robert Miller (born April 29, 1967), better known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, dancer, actor and entrepreneur. He founded the record label No Limit Records in 1991, which was relau ...

No Limit Soldiers The No Limit Soldiers were a stable in World Championship Wrestling that was formed after rapper Master P signed with the company. The Soldiers notably feuded with The West Texas Rednecks from June to July 1999. History The relationship between W ...

and feuded with

The West Texas Rednecks The West Texas Rednecks were a short-lived professional wrestling stable and country music band in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1999 and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in the early 2000s. They are famous for the recording of two songs, " ...

. In 1999, he faced such wrestlers as

Curt Hennig Curtis Michael Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003), better known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler. Considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time by peers, critics, and fans, he per ...

on an episode of ''

'' and

WCW Television Champion The WCW World Television Championship was a professional wrestling television championship owned by the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW) promotion. The title was introduced on February 27, 1974 in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestli ...

Rick Steiner Robert Rechsteiner (born March 9, 1961) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Rick Steiner. Steiner is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he wa ...

on ''

WCW Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT (American TV ...

''. He lost both matches but wrestled

Mikey Whipwreck John Michael Watson (born June 4, 1973), better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he was an ECW Triple C ...

to a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn most commonly refer to: * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Draw (tie), in a competition, where competitors achieve equal outcomes * Draw ...

on the August 23 episode of ''WCW Monday Nitro''. That would be his last WCW match. Tatum worked for

Ultimate Pro Wrestling Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) was a California-based independent pro wrestling company owned and operated by Rick Bassman, that operated from 1999–2007. The company had working relationships with Pro Wrestling Zero1 and World Wrestling Ente ...

in California in December 2000. On December 20, he lost to the

Prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

who was a young John Cena. He returned to wrestle one more at Innovate Pro Wrestling match on July 28, 2007, where he was in a 4 way won by

EZ Money EZ or Ez may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * E-Z Rollers, a British drum and bass group * EZ Rock, a brand of radio stations in Canada * Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes, a fictional character in ''Mayans M.C.'' * E.Z. Taylor, a fictional character i ...

. Tatum's wrestling career lasted less than three years and left him with severe back problems which required back surgery. Without any health indemnification, he developed a dependence to analgesics.

Post-wrestling

In 2007, Tatum appeared in the comedy film ''

'' alongside rapper

Big Boi Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), known professionally as Big Boi, is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Savannah, Georgia, and raised in Atlanta, he was one half of the Southern hip-hop duo Outkast along with rapper ...

Outkast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

. He also worked as a road manager and personal assistant for the band, and relished his time with them as he got to travel with the members and see Paris, Germany, and Japan.

Death

Tatum was found dead at his home in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

's Buckhead neighborhood after an apparent accidental drug overdose, on March 23, 2008. His father states that Tatum was planning to enter a rehab facility to help overcome his addiction.

References

External links