From the Vault: Woopaa’s Extraordinary Career
By: Darci Miller
PUEBLO, Colo. – Last week, it was announced that 2021 YETI World Champion Bull Woopaa was retiring.
While it may have come as a shock to many, stock contractor Laramie Wilson says that he wanted the bull to go out on top, and with his bull scores starting to decline, now was the time.
Though Woopaa’s PBR career was brief, it was extraordinary.
He made his debut in 2020, first making a splash at that year’s PBR World Finals when he helped Jose Vitor Leme to his first world title with a 95.75-point ride – and a 46.75-point bull score.
His subsequent 2021 campaign was one of the best-ever by a bull, helping riders to the three highest-scoring rides in PBR history. This includes an astounding 48.75-point bull score when he teamed with Leme again at the 2021 World Finals for his record-setting 98.75-point ride – a feat that may never be matched.
Woopaa was then in the thick of an incredibly tight 2022 YETI World Champion Bull race, narrowly edged by Ridin Solo in their very last outs of the season.
Across all levels of competition, Woopaa recorded 38 outs. Of those 38, 27 of them were for 45 or more points. He was ridden 16 times, and all but one of those rides scored more than 90 points.
Today, PBR.com’s From the Vault series looks back at some of the highlights.
Woopaa set to make 2021 debut following memorable ending to 2020 season with Leme (2/11/21)
PUEBLO, Colo. – Laramie Wilson knew what was going to happen when he looked into Jose Vitor Leme’s eyes on the back of the bucking chutes during the 2020 PBR World Finals.
Wilson saw a cold-blooded bull rider ready to strike and finally taste gold-buckle success. He knew Leme had the chops to ride his bull Woopaa and clinch himself the 2020 PBR World Championship. That was a no-brainer.
“He had this look in his eye,” Wilson said moments after Leme rode Woopaa for 95.75 points and the World Championship during Round 3 of the PBR Finals. “You knew he was going to do all it took to stay on. I was just cheering on Jose. I wasn’t even watching the bull. I figured one wrong move from Jose and he was going to be bucked off, so I just watched him. It was awesome.”
There was another title at stake amidst Leme’s gold-buckle-clinching performance, too.
Woopaa was contending for the 2020 ABBI Classic Championship, and his performance with Leme was good enough to hold off current co-world No. 1 bull Ridin Solo for the title. Woopaa was marked a 46.75-point bull score, and he clinched the ABBI Classic Championship, ABBI Bull of the Finals title, and a massive $150,000 payday.
Leme wants to one day celebrate history-making ride with statue of Woopaa (7/31/21)
TULSA, Okla. – Thirty minutes before Jose Vitor Leme would make history inside Tulsa’s BOK Center, he stood on the back of the bucking chutes and admirably stared at his upcoming 8-second dance partner.
Leme smiled at his “buddy” as he likes to call Woopaa.
Woopaa – the No. 1 bull in the world – proceeded to twitch his right ear towards Leme’s direction. Woopaa then turned his head to look at him, almost as if making a nod of affection to the 24-year-old bull riding sensation.
“I was trying to talk to him through his head,” Leme said. “I told him, ‘Hey we have to do our job today. You do your best. I will do my best. We will be 96, 97 points together.’’
Leme and Woopaa teamed up for not just their best dance on Saturday night during the PBR Express Ranches Classic, presented by Pit Boss, 15/15 Bucking Battle, but for the greatest ride in PBR history.
The “dynamic duo,” as Leme likes to call them, combined for a sensational 97.75-point ride to shatter the PBR record for the highest-marked ride in the league’s 28-year history.
Woopaa bucking in memory – and celebration – of Larry Barker’s lifelong friend (8/13/21)
PUEBLO, Colo. – Larry Barker was tucked tightly into the thousands of fans at Last Cowboy Standing when the crowd under the moonlit sky in Cheyenne, Wyoming, erupted when Boudreaux Campbell rode Woopaa for 95.25 points.
Barker is not sure if anyone could have heard him amidst the deafening roar, but the soon-to-be 70-year-old let out a loud and proud “Woopaaaa!” as his prized bovine athlete trotted off to the backpens.
Most of the people near him would probably have had no idea that the man sitting next to them was the proud owner of the greatest bucking bull in the world.
Barker hollered even louder four days later when he watched from his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico, as reigning World Champion Jose Vitor Leme ride Woopaa for a record-setting 97.75 points on CBS television.
“Woopaa” – was a celebratory phrase Barker heard hundreds, if not thousands, of times from his late best friend, JP Lewis.
The lifelong friends and team roping partners grew up near Dell City, Texas, a tiny farming and ranching community with only a few hundred people. They became nearly inseparable once they met each other in middle school.
And whenever something great happened, whether it be at the United States Team Roping Championships or just a late night out at the bar, Barker knew it was only a matter of time before Lewis was yelling “Woopaa!”
PUEBLO, Colo. – When you are a partner on the top two rides in PBR history, it is easy to see why you are the No. 1 bull in the world.
Such is the case for No. 1 YETI World Champion Bull contender Woopaa as he teamed up with Dalton Kasel for a sensational 96.75 points – the second-best ride in PBR history – Sunday at the PBR U.S. Border Patrol Invitational, presented by Ariat, at the AT&T Center.
Woopaa was marked 47.25 points to increase his lead in the 2021 YETI World Championship Bull race to 0.56 points on No. 2 Chiseled. Woopaa is not expected to buck again until the PBR World Finals on Nov. 3-7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“I honestly hope next year we can top it,” Laramie Wilson told CBS Sports Network’s Kate Harrison. “I don’t know how we are going to, but I sure hope we can.”
Of course, Woopaa first has to take care of business at the World Finals.
LAS VEGAS – Larry Barker was on the back of the bucking chutes Sunday afternoon in T-Mobile Arena when he walked up to the newly minted two-time PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme.
Barker knew Leme was in a ton of pain because of his partially torn right groin and core muscle injury, but Woopaa’s owner also still believed Leme and his bull could team up to make history at the PBR World Finals.
“Let’s go break the record, Jose,” Barker whispered to Jose before grinning.
Leme responded with his own smile, masking the pain radiating throughout his right abdomen, and said, “Yes, sir.”
Could Leme take a victory lap and celebrate his second consecutive World Championship by breaking his own PBR record aboard Woopaa 100 days after previously riding him for 97.75 points in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and win his second career World Finals event title?
“Honestly, I didn’t think about that before Larry say that because something really special has to happen to break 97.75 points,” Leme said. “I didn’t know if I could do that again, but I hoped I could.”
Ridin Solo and Woopaa head into World Finals tied for YETI World Champion Bull title (5/1/22)
BILLINGS, Mont. – It is almost too fitting that Woopaa and Ridin Solo will be headed to the 2022 PBR World Finals on May 13-22 in Fort Worth, Texas, deadlocked atop the 2022 YETI World Champion Bull standings.
All season long, the top two bovine superstars in the PBR have gone back and forth in the championship race, and Cord McCoy’s decision to buck Ridin Solo twice in Billings, Montana, paid off almost exactly how he wanted.
Ridin Solo bucked off Cody Jesus in 5.5 seconds in the championship round of the PBR Cooper Tires Invitational, presented by Ariat, Sunday for a 46.25-point bull score to end the regular season tied with Woopaa with a World Champion Bull average (Top 6 outs) of 46.29 points.
Photo by Christopher Thompson/Bull Stock Media
© 2023 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.