History Wrestling / JohnTenta

* CanadaEh:
** He was from Surrey, British Columbia, and had held the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/bc/uwa/bc-uwa-h.html UWA (Vancouver) World Heavyweight Title]] and the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/bc/uwa/bc-uwa-can-h.html UWA (Vancouver) Canadian Heavyweight Title]] prior to coming to WWE.
** Made his WWE on-screen wrestling debut at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 89'' as the Canadian Earthquake, making him a ForeignWrestlingHeel. The name was shortened to "Earthquake" around the time of ''{{Wrestling/WrestleMania}} VI'', which was held in Toronto.

* IncrediblyLamePun: During Earthquake's run as a face, a group of fans hung up a banner that said "Earthquake Rocks The House" as he came out for a match.

** 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, leaping a not unimpressive for his size distance into the air, then come crashing down ass first onto his victim's chest.

* CanadaEh: He was from Surrey, British Columbia, and had held the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/bc/uwa/bc-uwa-h.html UWA (Vancouver) World Heavyweight Title]] and the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/bc/uwa/bc-uwa-can-h.html UWA (Vancouver) Canadian Heavyweight Title]] prior to coming to WWE.

* CircusOfFear: The Oddities' original {{Heel}} carnival sideshow gimmick.
** The Jackyl {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d any similarities between the gimmick and the movie ''Film/{{Freaks}}'' (see below under VideoFullOfFilmClips) during the Golga-Thrasher match that marked its debut when he, on commentary, said, "These people are normal compared to people like you (Wrestling/MichaelCole) and Wrestling/JimRoss."

*** 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 ring announcer Wrestling/HowardFinkel, 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]]
*** His only WM loss came when Tugboat eliminated him from the Gimmick Battle Royal[[note]]won by Wrestling/TheIronSheik[[/note]] at WMXVII.

Tenta died of bladder cancer in 2006, after having experienced a new wave of online support via his friendship with Website/{{WrestleCrap}} founder R.D. Reynolds. Reynolds' tribute to Tenta can be found [[http://www.wrestlecrap.com/about/earthquake-john-tenta-tribute/ here]].

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Made his first TV appearance on the November 11 (taped October 2), 1989 ''[=WWF=] Superstars'', which was taped at the Civic Center in [=Wheeling=], WV, as a [[FakeAmerican "fan" picked from the audience named "John."]] "Canada's Strongest Man" Dino Bravo (w/manager "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart) was doing a "Test of Strength" demonstration, with the idea that "John" would sit on Bravo's back while he did push-ups, which he did.[[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/ic.html WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion]] the Ultimate Warrior walked down to the ring and offered to do some situps with "John" sitting on his back as well. "John" then hit a sit-down splash on [=Warrior=]'s back, and he and Bravo double-teamed him. He was officially introduced as Earthquake on the November 18 (taped October 31) ''[=WWF=] Superstars.''

Prior to his pro wrestling career, Tenta was sumo wrestler in Japan, active from November 1985 to July 1986. Known as Kototenzan, he racked up 26 consecutive wins, attained the rank of ''makushita'', and earned considerable press coverage in Japan and abroad as the first Canadian rikishi. He retired after a career of only eight months because the arduous training and lifestyle of sumo, and instead switched to pro wrestling.

* DownerEnding: His death from bladder cancer at the age of 42.

** BadassBeard: As a {{Face}}.

As usual, the basics about his career can be found at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tenta The Other Wiki]].