Riders Reflect on Woopaa’s Legendary Career, Keep Eyes Toward the Future
By: James Youness
PUEBLO, Colo. – Beginning the week with some shocking, albeit rightfully deserved, news of the legendary bovine and 2021 World Champion Bull Woopaa eyeing the retirement fields, folks throughout the bull riding community have taken to social media to share their appreciation for one of the industry’s fiercest competitors.
From fellow stock contractors and longtime PBR staff members to some of the organization’s founders and current-day riders, the posts have poured in from across the world with one common denominator:
A Thank You element.
While it may not seem odd to thank a longtime employee after they’ve put in their time and are set to enjoy their post-work days, there’s always a special element to bulls retiring.
Especially for riders, who have dedicated their all to championing said bovine talent, only to be met with a couple horns or being sent flying to the dirt half of the time.
But in Woopaa’s case, even an outlier among outliers, some of that respect and adoration earned over his career was partially because the bull riding community may not have seen anyone do it like he has before.
Five years of elite bucking action. A single opportunity every few weekends for one of the world’s best bull riders to get a shot at eight seconds, often selected toward the top of any given event’s championship round bull draft.
Even during what ended up being his last-ever out two weekends ago in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“It’s sentimental when you see what could be a bull’s last out,” Dalton Kasel said during the PBR Brew City Classic as the retirement rumors swirled.
“They were great for so long, and whenever they’re still great but get to retire while they’re in good shape, that’s the dream.”
When they say all great things eventually come to an end, two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme and his often-matched counterpart had two different ideas of what that happy ending would look like.
While Leme kept the tour’s external media personnel out of his potential short round plans, should he qualify, there wasn’t a soul in the building who didn’t think he would accept a fifth chance to compete against the talented bull. Eventually, he admitted as much a few minutes before Sunday’s slate began.
“He’s a great bull and I hope I can have an opportunity to get on him again, get some more historical scores with him,” Leme said.
Eventually bringing the event’s top score into the championship bull draft, Leme selected a winner-takes-all showdown with the animal athlete as the first bull selected on Sunday afternoon.
Having conquered his bovine opponent each time in the duo’s first four matchups, including the two highest-scored rides in PBR history (98.75 points in Round 6 of the 2021 PBR World Finals, where Woopaa earned the best-ever bull score: 48.75 points, and 97.75 points at the PBR Express Ranches Classic, presented by Pit Boss 15/15 Bucking Battle, where Woopaa was scored an elite 48 points), alongside an impressive pair of 95.75-point (Round 3 of the 2020 PBR World Finals) and 94.75-point (PBR Can-Am Invitational), even Leme knew sparks would fly during the bull’s last official out.
Only to his, and everyone else’s surprise, Leme was flung to the dirt in 6.39 seconds, marking the first time Woopaa exited a matchup against the talented Brazilian in the win column.
Had Leme been able to hang on, he was very likely going to earn an ever-typical 90-plus-point outing. But, that’s part of the magic that the bull brought to the dirt each time he competed. An opportunity for greatness.
“Bulls like are Woopaa are so important because that’s how we make our money,” Leme admitted.
“The score comes from the bulls and the riders, so without them, we wouldn’t have bull riding. That’s why it’s so important to have bulls like Woopaa.”
While Woopaa’s 45.5-point bull score wasn’t the flashiest of his career, it may be one of the most-remembered, and very likely most-viewed, as phones and eyes alike throughout Fiserv Forum were directed toward the pair from the moment Leme’s load-in began.
Kasel, who would’ve loved to accept another short round go against the prized talent, didn’t get the chance in Milwaukee, but reflected a bit on his previous history with the bull.
“Woopaa is an amazing animal athlete,” Kasel said.
“He helped Jose Vitor Leme to the highest-marked ride in PBR history and he helped me to the third-highest marked ride in PBR history. He’s been something special for the sport, that’s for sure. An athlete that people have never seen before.”
Casually praising the bull for his greatness was common at this point in the weekend as the situation continued to develop in real-time, but drawing comparisons to another all-time legend really cemented the impact he’s had on riders.
“He and (SweetPro’s) Bruiser, probably the best bulls in the world, hands down. Both, just amazing athletes,” Kasel shared.
“Stock contractors take care of these bulls amazingly, and they are true athletes. It’s just crazy how far this industry has come and how it just keeps getting better and better. They’re involved with the ABBI so much and it’s amazing to see how much things have grown and how much more intense the bulls get every year.”
Looking to the future, just because the bull himself may be done bucking, doesn’t mean his spirit, and potentially lineage, won’t live on.
“That bull is great and I know that he’s going to produce some amazing calves,” Kasel said.
“When he gets retired, he deserves every bit of it. Hang out with the cows and live his best life.”
Looking around the locker room, current Top 10 rider and fellow Woopaa-enthusiast Boudreaux Campbell, who’s logged the three best rides in his career aboard the prized bovine, chimed in with a few appreciative notes as well.
“Woopaa has had such a big impact on my career,” Campbell said.
“He’s helped me be the most points I can ever have thought to be on the back of a bull and helped me win a lot of money.”
Similar to Kasel, it’s never just been about chances to team up with the bull himself, but rather an appreciation to have seen him grind his way to the top en route to helping expand the industry’s overall talent and reputation in the bull pens.
“Just to be that good of an animal athlete in general, he helped the sport, helped the industry so much,” Boudreaux added.
“People looked at that bull and knew he really was an athlete, jumping 10 feet up in the air, kicking and spinning. All of the things that bull can do and has done in his career, it’s going to help the breeding in a bunch of bulls and it’s going to help the future of bull riding.”
“He definitely created a name for himself and I will always remember Woopaa as one of the best bulls in the world.”
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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