Ernie Ladd, "The Big Cat", was one of the first, and some say the best, African-American men to play the villain in Professional Wrestling. As such, he made promos that showed him as a loud-mouthed, hateful heel and he played the part well . So well in fact that he was inducted into the World Wrestling Enterprise (WWE) Hall of Fame in 1995, at which time was known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Yet long before he became the Hall of Fame wrestler, even before he became "The Big Cat", Ernie was "Little Samson"