Carl Donald Bell (August 25, 1925 – March 17, 1966), better known by his ring name Chief Don Eagle, was a

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and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

during the 1950s and 1960s. Originally from

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, he became Boston's AWA World Heavyweight Champion in 1950.

Professional wrestling career

Eagle began a boxing career in 1945, after a brief time working in the steel and construction industry. He was trained solely by his father, Chief Joseph War Eagle, a former Junior Heavyweight Champion. In his first year, Eagle competed in 22 contests and won 17. He beat an already established

Red Dawson Lowell Potter "Red" Dawson (December 20, 1906 – June 10, 1983) was an American football coach for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the Tulane Green Wave at the collegiate level and the AAFC's Buffalo Bills at the professional level. ...

using a pinfall in just under 16 minutes. During the peak of his career in the early 1950s, Eagle became the first person to throw World Heavyweight Boxing Champion

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off his feet. He fought Antonino Rocca in a 60-minute draw on May 19, 1951, at the Chicago Stadium.

Controversy over AWA World Title (Boston)

On May 23, 1950, Eagle defeated

Frank Sexton Frank Sexton (1914–February 1990) was an American professional wrestler in the early to mid-twentieth century. Along with Orville Brown, Bill Longson, and Lou Thesz, he was one of the biggest stars of the 1940s. A multiple-time world champio ...

in a best-of-three falls. Sexton was just over a year into a near-four-year reign of the Boston version of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. Three days later, Eagle appeared on television without the championship belt to face

Gorgeous George George Raymond Wagner (March 23, 1915 – December 26, 1963) was an American professional wrestler known by his ring name Gorgeous George. In the United States, during the First Golden Age of Professional Wrestling in the 1940s–1950s, Gorgeous ...

in another best-of-three falls match in the Chicago area. For the first fall, Eagle defeated George by submission. For the second, Eagle was counted out by referee Earl Mullihan. In the final fall, George managed to catch Eagle with a backyard entry cradle. Mullihan, who could clearly see that Eagle had a single shoulder off the mat, proceeded to administer another fast count and declared the match over. The crowd was furious and began to riot, throwing objects into the ring. Eagle punched Mullihan with considerable force while Mullihan hastened to leave the ring and the arena. As Mullihan ran up the aisle, Eagle hit him forcefully again between the shoulder blades. Eagle was suspended by the Illinois State Athletic Commission for putting his hands on a referee but managed to regain the title on August 31, 1950. The title was declared vacant in November 1950 due to Eagle's inactivity because of injury and was replaced by the AWA Eastern Heavyweight Title. This controversy and success earned him the respect of one of the biggest controversies in the early progression of televised pro wrestling.

Later career

During a 1953 match with the faux-Nazi Hans Schmidt, Eagle was thrown over the top rope and into the ringside chairs, damaging several spinal discs and breaking two ribs. Eagle took a year off to recover from his injuries, during which time he began training a teenage Billy Two Rivers. Eagle gave Two Rivers a further year's training after he himself had returned to wrestling, occasionally tagging with the young wrestler. He would wrestle for American Wrestling Association (Minnesota) in 1960 when the promotion first started. Due to continuing back problems, Eagle became semi-retired and wrestled infrequently in various regions over the next three years. Eagle decided to retire permanently in 1965 at the age of 39.

Personal life

''Wrestling Revue'' reported Eagle's death on March 17, 1966, stating that it appeared he died from a self-inflicted gun wound.Daily Gazette, Xenia, OH; 3-19-1966 Contemporaneous newspaper reports indicated that he had been despondent over some construction project setbacks: namely, a Logan County (Ohio) Indian village, an expansion program in the

Zane Shawnee Caverns The Zane Shawnee Caverns is a cave system in Jefferson Township, Logan County, Ohio, United States. The caverns are show caves owned by the nonprofit United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation as of 1995. These caverns are located between Zanesf ...

, and a $12 million Indian Center near Montreal. Those close to Eagle do not believe that his death was a suicide, Billy Two Rivers being one of those people. Skeptics of his death noted that it could have been a murder, connected to the death of his wife, Jean Eagle.

Championships and accomplishments

Boxing

*Cleveland Golden Gloves Heavyweight Championship (1945)