"John "Earthquake" Tenta passed away this morning at the age of 42 after a lengthy battle with bladder cancer. Tenta is survived by his wife and three kids."

 

 

Any fan of old school 80's wrestling definitely remembers Earthquake. From the 'Quakeburgers' in the feud with Jake Roberts to his matches with Hogan, he'll be sorely missed.

Have a picture? The name doesn't ring a bell. But if he was against Hogan and Roberts, and seeing his age, I would guess he was around in the 80's, when I watched some wrestling.

My friend told me about this a few hours ago. We've known for a while that he was dying, and recent pictures show that he had lost a lot of weight. It's a sad day.

 

RIP

 

Yup, he looks familiar. I seem to think I always thought he looked "slimy". But then again, what wrestler didn't?

 

RIP though man, that's too young.

Wasn't he something else before he became know as Earthquake? Was he the guy that wore that blue African-like outfit?

 

IIRC, he was a tag team with Tugboat (who also became know as something else).

Wasn't he something else before he became know as Earthquake? Was he the guy that wore that blue African-like outfit?

 

IIRC, he was a tag team with Tugboat (who also became know as something else).

Tugboat became Typhoon and they were the tag team known as the Natural Disasters.

 

And the blue African outfit was Akeem, the African Dream (basically the One Man Gang before Reverend Slick gave him a transformation)

 

Tenta's gimmicks were the following: Canadian Earthquake, Earthquake, Avalanche, The Shark and Golga (part of the Oddities in WWE when he wore a mask)

RIP John.

 

42 is way too young to go.

I feel terrible for his family.

"John "Earthquake" Tenta passed away this morning at the age of 42 after a lengthy battle with bladder cancer. Tenta is survived by his wife and three kids."

 

 

Any fan of old school 80's wrestling definitely remembers Earthquake. From the 'Quakeburgers' in the feud with Jake Roberts to his matches with Hogan, he'll be sorely missed.

 

Prayers go out to his family.

 

 

On another note....i would hardly call what he did 'wrestling'. The Natural Disasters were hired at Hulk Hogan's request because they were big guys and they made Hogan look good. They probably had less moves than Hogan...and that's hard to do. At the time...Hogan was getting alot of his friends jobs that didn't deserve them.

Tugboat:

 

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/shockmaster.html

Tugboat became Typhoon and they were the tag team known as the Natural Disasters.

 

And the blue African outfit was Akeem, the African Dream (basically the One Man Gang before Reverend Slick gave him a transformation)

 

Tenta's gimmicks were the following: Canadian Earthquake, Earthquake, Avalanche, The Shark and Golga (part of the Oddities in WWE when he wore a mask)

 

First off, RIP to the wrestler I never heard of but agree did die way to young.

 

Secondly, LCR, your command of 80s wrestling arcana frightens me.

Edited June 7, 200619 yr by FlaSoxxJim

Prayers go out to his family.

On another note....i would hardly call what he did 'wrestling'. The Natural Disasters were hired at Hulk Hogan's request because they were big guys and they made Hogan look good. They probably had less moves than Hogan...and that's hard to do. At the time...Hogan was getting alot of his friends jobs that didn't deserve them.

I wouldn't necessarily say didn't deserve. Tenta had some damn good agility for a big man and had some very good non-Hogan matches (read: his fued with Jake 'The Snake' Roberts) but he was notoriously underused in WCW.

 

Vince had/has a severe irrationality for big hoss guys even if they can't wrestle (Rob Conway, etc.) but I wouldn't put Tenta getting a job only because of Hogan's ego (which could have had multiple Congressmen during this time period) Tenta had some damn good talent for a big guy in the ring to pull off some moves not known for big guys + also to not legit hurt anybody with moves.

Here is a link for those who want read about him.

 

http://www.wrestlecrap.com

s*** , I was just thinking about him the other day. Bi reason I got into wwf. He was just a great villian and had me glued to the TV. Really surprised he was ONLY 42. Thought he was a lot older.

Tenta had some damn good talent for a big guy in the ring to pull off some moves not known for big guys + also to not legit hurt anybody with moves.

 

IIRC, one of his moves was really, really fake looking. It was where his opponent was lying on his back and he'd bounce of the ropes, jump up and sit on the guy. Except for the fact that his feet would hit the ground first and he'd still have another 6 inches to drop to land on the guy.

 

I guess if he ever did that move for real there would've been a lot of broken ribs...

IIRC, one of his moves was really, really fake looking. It was where his opponent was lying on his back and he'd bounce of the ropes, jump up and sit on the guy. Except for the fact that his feet would hit the ground first and he'd still have another 6 inches to drop to land on the guy.

 

I guess if he ever did that move for real there would've been a lot of broken ribs...

 

What are you talking about? He put Hulk Hogan out for a few months with that move.

I loved his old rivalry with Jake the Snake where he was always trying to sit on the snake bag and kill his pet. Good stuff.

He actually "killed" Damien. What a sad day that was...

He actually "killed" Damien. What a sad day that was...

Yeah but didn't he then get Lucifer after that?

Yeah but didn't he then get Lucifer after that?

Yep, he went "insane" and turned on the Ultimate Warrior after he helped Warrior train for his match against the Undertaker. He went from there to feud with Randy Savage and even had the viper "bite" (total kayfabe here) Savage when he got tied up in the ropes.

 

Sad thing is that Jake could have been one of the better wrestlers and characters of the 80s/90s if it hadn't been for him abusing drugs and booze so damn bad. Anybody who saw the lowlights from the Legends of Wrestling show in 1999 knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Yep, he went "insane" and turned on the Ultimate Warrior after he helped Warrior train for his match against the Undertaker. He went from there to feud with Randy Savage and even had the viper "bite" (total kayfabe here) Savage when he got tied up in the ropes.

 

Sad thing is that Jake could have been one of the better wrestlers and characters of the 80s/90s if it hadn't been for him abusing drugs and booze so damn bad. Anybody who saw the lowlights from the Legends of Wrestling show in 1999 knows exactly what I'm talking about.

 

That was a sad show. Jake and Funk are in terrible shape.

That was a sad show. Jake and Funk are in terrible shape.

Funk is in much better shape than he should be. He's 62 years old and still able to pull off relatively entertaining matches. He's been told by doctors that he should not even be able to walk without intense pain due to all the hardcore stuff he's put himself through (i.e. his numerous deathmatches in Japan, the classic Born to Be Wired against Sabu, etc.)

 

Funk is in detrimental physical shape after 41 years of taking bumps and doing crazy s*** to entertain paying fans across the world. Roberts crashed and burned because of booze and drugs. There's a massive difference between the two.

Funk is in much better shape than he should be. He's 62 years old and still able to pull off relatively entertaining matches. He's been told by doctors that he should not even be able to walk without intense pain due to all the hardcore stuff he's put himself through (i.e. his numerous deathmatches in Japan, the classic Born to Be Wired against Sabu, etc.)

 

Funk is in detrimental physical shape after 41 years of taking bumps and doing crazy s*** to entertain paying fans across the world. Roberts crashed and burned because of booze and drugs. There's a massive difference between the two.

 

I understand that, I didnt call Funk a druggie. A good portion of that show was about those two, and I just mentioned he was in bad shape because, like you said, he shoulndt be able to walk because of his hardcore persona. It is sad to see a mans family cry because he wants to have another match.

 

Jake has really lost it. I remember him at the height of his mullet-ness, and I loved watching him wrestle whether he was the heel(most of the time) or the face.

Funk is returning to ECW again. Should be interesting...

From ESPN.com re: Tenta

 

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Former LSU wrestler John Tenta, known professionally as "Earthquake" while competing in the World Wrestling Federation, has died at the age of 42, the school said Thursday.

 

Tenta, who lettered for the Tigers in the early 1980s when wrestling was a nationally renowned varsity sport at LSU, died after a lengthy battle with bladder cancer.

 

"Big John," as he was known at LSU, also participated in football for the Tigers.

 

Born in Surrey, British Columbia, he weighed 11 pounds, 3 ounces at birth. Recently he measured 6-foot-6 and weighed in at over 400 pounds, LSU said.

 

After leaving LSU, Tenta briefly took up sumo wrestling in Japan before going into pro wrestling. He joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1989 and gained fame as "Earthquake" as he feuded with Hulk Hogan.

 

Tenta performed for both World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling throughout the 1990s.

 

In recent years he had lived in Florida. He is survived by his wife and three children.

 

 

I understand that, I didnt call Funk a druggie. A good portion of that show was about those two, and I just mentioned he was in bad shape because, like you said, he shoulndt be able to walk because of his hardcore persona. It is sad to see a mans family cry because he wants to have another match.

 

Jake has really lost it. I remember him at the height of his mullet-ness, and I loved watching him wrestle whether he was the heel(most of the time) or the face.

 

Yeah, his family has seen the Funker do a lot of crazy s***. But Terry wasn't in the Legends of Wrestling show in 1999 with Jake Roberts. You're probably thinking of the 1999 documentary called Beyond the Mat. They're easy to confuse. The Legends show I was referencing involved a very intoxicated Roberts slurring through a promo terribly and when he got into the ring, he proceeded to put the snake between his legs and made it look like a giant penis before his match with Jim Neidhart.

 

That said, Beyond... is a great documentary. And if it is what you're thinking of, Funk's family was cautiously supportive of him taking the 3 way dance at the first ECW PPV.

 

Mick Foley's kids/wife were the ones openly sobbing at the 1999 Royal Rumble show when Foley got clocked with the chair by the Rock -- especially in the back when Foley was being attended to by the medical staff.

I understand that, I didnt call Funk a druggie. A good portion of that show was about those two, and I just mentioned he was in bad shape because, like you said, he shoulndt be able to walk because of his hardcore persona. It is sad to see a mans family cry because he wants to have another match.

 

Jake has really lost it. I remember him at the height of his mullet-ness, and I loved watching him wrestle whether he was the heel(most of the time) or the face.

 

Trust me Trust me Trust me Trust me

 

EDIT: And I'd like to mention that Earthquake is responsible for the quickest elimination in Royal Rumble history, when he threw out one of the Bushwhackers in about 3 seconds.

Edited June 10, 200619 yr by Milkman delivers