to take the U.S. title. This bout ended in failure when Rogers dropkicked Calhoun to the ropes and the middle rope broke and Calhoun tumbled to the concrete floor and was counted out. Calhoun had also lost his first championship bout with Rogers in New York's Sunnyside Garden Arena on January 28, 1961. Although mainly active in the eastern half of the United States, he also wrestled in Australia, on tour with other American wrestlers in bouts promoted by United States promoter Sam Menacker. He also wrestled for NWA: All-Star Wrestling in Vancouver, where he twice won the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship with Don Leo Jonathan. He formed a tag team with the over Mountain Man Mike on the West Coast. Their combined weight was over in the ring. After engaging in a feud against Dick the Bruiser, Calhoun then generally traveled from territory to territory, never staying in one region for too long. In 1966 he won both the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship and the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship while teaming with a young Jack Brisco and Don Leo Jonathan, respectively. Moreover, he then helped attract fans to the fledgling Northeast promotion World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). On May 30, 1973, Calhoun paired with Tony Garea to defeat the Japanese duo of Mr. Fuji and Prof. Toru Tanaka for the WWF Tag Team Title; six months later they dropped the titles back to Fuji and Tanaka. He continued working for WWWF until 1979. Calhoun as well continued working in various territories until retiring from wrestling in early 1981. Death and legacy Calhoun's weight and declining health eventually forced him into retirement, and he was ultimately confined to a double-wide trailer after losing his left leg to diabetes in 1986. He died at age 55 on December 7, 1989. He is buried in Scott Cemetery in Collin County, Texas. His daughter donated mementos of his wrestling career to the Collin County museum. Calhoun was more directly an influence on British super heavyweight wrestler Martin Ruane, best known in America for his stint as Loch Ness in World Championship Wrestling. Ruane achieved fame in his home country as "Giant Haystacks", a modified version of Calhoun's gimmick. Ruane first wrestled as "Haystacks Calhoun", a direct copy of the American original, while working for Wrestling Enterprises (of Birkenhead) in the early 1970s, before modifying his name and character. Thus adapted,