Earthquake was one of WWE’s greatest super heavyweights, but his life sadly came to an end when he was just 42 years old.
The history of wrestling is full of great men. After all, part of the lure of the business is seeing impressive physical specimens, not to mention that for a long time, possibly up to this day, a wrestler’s size and strength were indicative of their credibility as kayfabe combat athletes. Amongst this field of larger artists, only a few could accurately be described as giants or super heavyweights. Standing at 6’7” and 487 pounds, John “Earthquake” Tenta was among them.
However, more than just a large human being, Tenta was an athlete. like a long time WWE Executive Bruce Prichard explained on his Something to Wrestle podcast, Tenta was an incredibly powerful athlete, not to mention that anyone watching his matches could easily see that he was far more athletic and physically dynamic than fans would expect from a man his size. . He left behind quite a legacy in professional wrestling before sadly passing away in 2006.
Earthquake’s epic WWE run and fight with Hulk Hogan
After a career in sumo wrestling and getting his start in professional wrestling in Japan, John Tenta signed with WWE in 1989. He turned out to be one of the most valuable signings of the later years of the Golden Era. In particular, by virtue of his size, he quickly filled a void left by André the Giant when the Eighth Wonder of the World’s corps surrendered. Earthquake wasn’t that big, but being a fresh face to the fans and moving with surprising speed for his size, he immediately established himself as a main event-level threat.
Earthquake debuted with an attack on The Ultimate Warrior and then turned into a heavily pushed heel, en route to attacking Hulk Hogan on the set of The Brother Love Show. His trademark sit-down splash put The Hulkster out of action (in storyline) for months, leading to a matchup between the two at SummerSlam 1990. Although Hogan’s body knocked out and defeated Earthquake there, it’s worth noting that WWE protected the great man in defeat. , suffering the loss by counting. They would go on to captain feuding teams at Survivor Series that year, then end with Hogan last eliminating Earthquake to win the 1991 Royal Rumble.
Although Earthquake peaked with the Hogan fight, it would remain relevant for years to come, primarily in the tag team division. Along with Typhoon as The Natural Disasters, the badass duo were credible rivals to The Legion of Doom before embarking on a less successful babyface career.
The last stages of John Tenta’s career
There tends to be a lifespan in wrestling giants, as their bodies wear out more quickly than the average wrestler. To John Tenta’s credit, he remained a capable in-ring performer well beyond his first WWE run, into a multi-year stint with WCW, where his endeavors included a forgotten gem of a match against Sting at Starrcade 1994. Tenta he joined an all-star WCW cast hurt by gimmick changes as he morphed from the Avalanche to The Shark to wrestle under his legal name, to diminishing returns.
Tenta would also work for WWE again, most notably as Golga, a large masked man who wore a South Park T-shirt. At Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, it emerged that Tenta was disillusioned with WCW at the time, and the idea was to fit him into a faction of giants with The Oddities. Prichard explained that the choice to fight with a mask was largely due to rebooting the character, not wanting to bring Earthquake back to the Attitude Era, and presenting him as a character that had been warped, hence the need for the mask. mask. Tenta would reprise the character of Earthquake one last time for the WrestleMania 17 Gimmick Battle Royal.
The death of John “Earthquake” Tenta
John Tenta quietly starred in a final chapter of his wrestling career on smaller international arenas, including working independents in the US, Canada and the UK, and working with All-Japan Wrestling for a series of storylines in his last years. However, as reported by Wrestler Deaths, he revealed in 2005 interviews with WrestleCrap that he was suffering from bladder cancer. He was given only a twenty percent chance of survival and later revealed that the radiation treatments had failed and the tumors had spread to his lungs.
Tenta passed away in 2006, when she was only 42 years old. Particularly in more modern wrestling, when it’s not uncommon for big-time wrestlers to work full-time well into their forties, it’s sad to reflect on how young he was. great legendary man was he when he passed.
For fans who grew up in the Golden Age, Earthquake stands out as one of the most memorable figures, particularly for his heels run against Hulk Hogan. His size was reminiscent of André the Giant and his fighting style heralded Yokozuna’s arrival as a nimble super heavyweight. In the end though, John Tenta was an independent man with a legacy worth celebrating.