History Wrestling / JohnTenta

* TheShill: He debuted on the Noverber 11 WWF Superstars of Wrestling episode in Wheeling, WV as a "random member of the audience" chosen by Wrestling/JimmyHart and Dino Bravo for a demonstration of Bravo's endurance, and ganged up with Bravo and Hart to deliver a major beatdown to [[Wrestling/UltimateWarrior The Ultimate Warrior]].

* LegacyCharacter: [[http://www.sharkboy.net Shark Boy]], anyone?

Tenta made his in-ring debut in Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling in 1987 under his own name, and also competed in the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/bc/uwa/ Universal Wrestling Alliance]] promotion in British Columbia, Canada. As Earthquake, he had significant singles feuds with Wrestling/HulkHogan, [[Wrestling/UltimateWarrior The Ultimate Warrior]] and [[Wrestling/JakeRoberts Jake "The Snake" Roberts]]. In summer 1991, he teamed regularly in six-man tag team matches with Wrestling/TheNastyBoys (Jerry Saggs and Bryan Knobbs) against Tugboat (Wrestling/FredOttman) and Wrestling/TheBushwhackers (Luke and Butch), until the June 15 (taped May 28) episode of ''WWF Superstars,'' which featured Ottman [[FaceHeelTurn turning heel]], leading to him being reintroduced as Typhoon and he and Quake forming the TagTeam Wrestling/TheNatural Disasters the following week.

Tenta made his in-ring debut in Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling in 1987 under his own name, and also competed in the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/bc/uwa/ Universal Wrestling Alliance]] promotion in British Columbia, Canada. As Earthquake, he had significant singles feuds with Wrestling/HulkHogan, [[Wrestling/UltimateWarrior The Ultimate Warrior]] and [[Wrestling/JakeRoberts Jake "The Snake" Roberts]]. In summer 1991, he teamed regularly in six-man tag team matches with Wrestling/TheNastyBoys (Jerry Saggs and Bryan Knobbs) against Tugboat (Wrestling/FredOttman) and Wrestling/TheBushwhackers (Luke and Butch), until the June 15 (taped May 28) episode of ''WWF Superstars,'' which featured Ottman [[FaceHeelTurn turning heel]], leading to him being reintroduced as Typhoon and he and Quake forming the TagTeam the Natural Disasters the following week.

* [[TheCameo Celebrity Cameo]]: Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf and Crackhead Bob from ''Radio/TheHowardSternShow'' were part of the Oddities' debut on the May 25 (taped May 19), 1998 ''Raw.''

He returned to WWE in January 1994 and left after being {{Kayfabe}} injured by Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}}. He went back to WAR and also teamed with [[Wrestling/{{Vader}} Super (Big Van) Vader]] for two matches for the "shoot-style" [=UWFi=] (Union of Wrestling Forces International) promotion before debuting in Wrestling/{{WCW}} as Avalanche at ''WCW Halloween Havoc 1994''. After an unsuccessful run there from October 1994 to early 1997, he resurfaced in WWE in May 1998 as the masked Golga of the Oddities.

** Never pinned as Earthquake on PPV. In fact, was only ever pinned twice on PPV in his entire career. [=Sting=][=/=]Randy Savage d. Avalanche[=/=][[Wrestling/BigBossman Big Bubba]] at ''WCW [=SuperBrawl=] V'', February 19, 1995, when Sting pinned him. The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) d. The Oddities (Wrestling/{{Kurrgan}} and Golga, w/The Giant Silva and Wrestling/LunaVachon) at ''WWF Rock Bottom'', December 13, 1998, when Mosh pinned him.

*** Quake d. [[Wrestling/BryanClarke Adam Bomb]] (w[==]Wrestling/HarveyWippleman) in [[SquashMatch 32 seconds]], WMX. 4-0.[[note]]Quake was originally going to face Ludvig Borga, but he suffered an injury and left the company, and Bomb was his replacement. Before the match started, Wippleman had a confrontation with [[Characters/WWECommentators ring announcer Howard Finkel]], who had been feuding with Wippleman for some two years. Fink hit Harvey, and Bomb ran in to help his manager. Quake followed and quickly squashed Bomb.[[/note]]

* ShoutOut: Received one on the February 15, 2013 ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackDown WWE [=SmackDown=]]]'' after [[Wrestling/MattBloom Tensai (Matt "Prince Albert"[=/=]"Albert"[=/=]"A-Train" Bloom)]] and Wrestling/BrodusClay had defeated [[Wrestling/ThreeMB 3MB (Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal)]]. During the DancePartyEnding after the match with Wrestling/TheFunkadactyls (Wrestling/{{Cameron}} and Wrestling/{{Naomi}}), commentator Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield said, "It's like the Natural Disasters crossed with Colombian TV."
** The band Big John Tenta.

'''John Anthony Tenta''' (1964-2006) was a UsefulNotes/{{Canad|a}}ian sumo and {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er best known for his work in Wrestling/{{WWE}} from 1989-1994 as '''Earthquake'''.

!!!'''The following tropes register a 10.0 on the Richter Scale:'''

* ShoutOut: Received one on the February 15, 2013 ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackDown WWE [=SmackDown=]]]'' after [[Characters/WWEAttitude Tensai (Matt "Prince Albert"[=/=]"Albert"[=/=]"A-Train" Bloom)]] and Wrestling/BrodusClay had defeated [[Wrestling/ThreeMB 3MB (Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal)]]. During the DancePartyEnding after the match with the [[Characters/WWEDivas Funkadactyls Cameron and Naomi]], commentator Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield said, "It's like the Natural Disasters crossed with Colombian TV."

Tenta made his in-ring debut in Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling in 1987 under his own name, and also competed in the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/bc/uwa/ Universal Wrestling Alliance]] promotion in British Columbia, Canada. As Earthquake, he had significant singles feuds with Wrestling/HulkHogan, [[Wrestling/UltimateWarrior The Ultimate Warrior]] and [[Wrestling/JakeRoberts Jake "The Snake" Roberts]]. In summer 1991, he teamed regularly in six-man tag team matches with Wrestling/TheNastyBoys (Jerry Saggs and Bryan Knobbs) against Tugboat (Wrestling/FredOttman) and [[Wrestling/TheSheepherders the Bushwhackers (Luke and Butch)]], until the June 15 (taped May 28) episode of ''WWF Superstars,'' which featured Ottman [[FaceHeelTurn turning heel]], leading to him being reintroduced as Typhoon and he and Quake forming the TagTeam the Natural Disasters the following week.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: The time he spent on the ''[=WrestleCrap=]'' message boards confirmed this.

Tenta made his in-ring debut in Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling in 1987 under his own name, and also competed in the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/bc/uwa/ Universal Wrestling Alliance]] promotion in British Columbia, Canada. As Earthquake, he had significant singles feuds with Wrestling/HulkHogan, [[Wrestling/UltimateWarrior The Ultimate Warrior]] and [[Wrestling/JakeRoberts Jake "The Snake" Roberts]]. In summer 1991, he teamed regularly in six-man tag team matches with Wrestling/TheNastyBoys (Jerry Saggs and Bryan Knobbs) against Tugboat (Fred Ottman) and [[Wrestling/TheSheepherders the Bushwhackers (Luke and Butch)]], until the June 15 (taped May 28) episode of ''WWF Superstars,'' which featured Ottman [[FaceHeelTurn turning heel]], leading to him being reintroduced as Typhoon and he and Quake forming the TagTeam the Natural Disasters the following week.

* IHaveManyNames: Earthquake Evans (a dark match {{Squash|Match}} of an unknown at a TV taping on September 21, 1989), Canadian Earthquake, Earthquake, Avalanche, the Shark, John Tenta, the Gargoyle (matches on May 15 and May 16, 1998 at WWE's training camp in Lynn and Wittman, Massachusetts, respectively), Golga

** AssKicksYou: His finisher as Earthquake (later used as Avalanche in WCW and again in WWE as Golga), the Earthquake Splash, consisted of him running off the ropes and sitting down on his opponent.

* RugbyUnion: Competed in this at Louisiana State University.

* TheShill: He debuted on the Noverber 11 WWF Superstars of Wrestling episode in Wheeling, WV as a "random member of the audience" chosen by Wrestling/JimmyHart and Dino Bravo for a demonstration of Bravo's endurance, and ganged up with Bravo and Hart to deliver a major beatdown to The Ultimate Warrior.

* KickThemWhileTheyreDown: One of Earthquake's hallmarks as a heel was doing his finishing move, the Earthquake Splash, over and over again on his downed opponent usually well after the match had already ended, usually resulting in the opponent in question having to be carried out on a stretcher.

* [[IKnowKarate I Know Sumo]]

* {{Badass}}: On April 1, 1991, WWE and SWS (Super World Sports in Japan) held a joint card at the Coliseum in Kobe, UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}. Earthquake was scheduled to face Koji Kitao, a legitimate Sumo ''yokozuna'' (Grand Champion, not to be confused with the WWE character played by Rodney Anoai from 1992-1996) who had gone into pro wrestling. The match never really got started because Kitao refused to cooperate, left the ring and picked up a microphone to say (in Japanese) how the match was fake and there was no way Quake (who went undefeated in Sumo under the name ''Kototenzan'' [Japanese for "Heavenly Mountain Harp"] but was not ranked as highly as Kitao was) could beat him in a real fight. Quake, with support from the Great Kabuki (who had a grudge con Kitao and incited Tenta to shoot on him if he gave him the opportunity), did not back down.