John Frankle III

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John Tatum (John Frankle III) was a professional wrestler best known for introducing Missy Hyatt to the wrestling world.

1 Career
2 Trivia
3 Profile
4 Championships/Accomplishments

[edit] Career

"Hollywood" John Tatum (born John Frankle III in 1959) started wrestling in the National Wrestling Alliance in 1983. He moved on to World Class Championship Wrestling in 1985 and brought his new girlfriend, Missy Hyatt, with him as his valet. He feuded with Chris Adams where in 1986 he mocked Adams for being "blinded" temporarily (in reality, Adams wore an eyepatch over his left eye while finishing his ill-fated angle he started with Gino Hernandez the previous January). He and Hyatt feuded with Sunshine and Scott Casey that was highlighted by several catfights between Hyatt and Sunshine.

Tatum and Hyatt went to the Universal Wrestling Federation in 1986 with Tatum's tag team partner Jack Victory. They feuded with The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) and joined Eddie Gilbert's "Hot Stuff Inc." to form "Hyatt & Hot Stuff International".

In 1987, Hyatt left Tatum for Gilbert onscreen as well as off causing a feud in the ring as well as outside. Tatum and Victory left the UWF by the end of 1987 and wrestled in WCCW and Wild West Wrestling. They fueded with Steve & Shaun Simpson in both promotions and traded tag team titles with them.

In 1990, Tatum wrestled in the United States Wrestling Association where he feuded with Bill Dundee over the Southwest Title. During the feud, Tatum superkicked his former valet, Tessa, which drew the ire of the wrestling world. In 1991, Tatum teamed with Rod Price as the "California Connection" in the Global Wrestling Federation and they won the Tag Team Titles twice. In 1992, Tatum left the GWF for the Texas independents and wrestled in them until retiring in 1995 to run his family's business in Pensacola, Florida. They run the Pensacola Interstate Fair.

[edit] Trivia

Tatum was friends with Robert Gibson, Paul Bearer and Michael Hayes in his childhood. He was booked as Hayes' cousin when he first started wrestling. As recently as January 2007, Tatum has made plans to open a wrestling academy in the summer of 2007 in his native Pensacola, Fl.

[edit] Profile

Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight: 240 lb (109 kg)
Birthday: 1959
Hometown: Mobile, Alabama
Billed From: Los Angeles, California
Trainer: -
Finisher: California Superkick
Previous Managers: Missy Hyatt, Skandor Akbar, Vince Apollo, Gary Hart, Freddie Fargo, Tessa