John Tenta Jr.
John Anthony Tenta, Jr. was a Canadian sumōtori and professional wrestler best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation as Earthquake. After a promising start to his sumo career, using the nameKototenzan, Tenta switched to professional wrestling and became a high-profile star for the WWF, feuding with Hulk Hogan and winning the WWF Tag Team Championship with partner, and personal friend, Typhoon. His professional wrestling career also encompassed runs in World Championship Wrestling, where he was known as Avalanche and The Shark, All Japan Pro Wrestling and a return to WWF as Golga. Tenta died in 2006 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Tenta retired from wrestling in 2004 after it was revealed that he had developed bladder cancer and was told he was given a 20% chance to live, assuming he continued with his chemotherapy treatments. During his November 18, 2005 interview on WrestleCrap Radio, Tenta announced that a recent radiation dosage did not go as planned, and had no effect on the tumor. He also announced that multiple tumors had spread to his lungs.
The first public notice of Tenta's death was posted on WWE.com on June 7, 2006. On the June 9, 2006, edition of SmackDown, and the June 12, 2006, edition of Raw, WWE showed a bumper that read "RIP 'Earthquake' John Tenta" before each show began.
Other media
John Tenta's professional wrestling career garnered him appearances in several video games. In 1991, Tenta as Earthquake was portrayed as a feature character in Technos' popular arcade video game WWF WrestleFest. He was also included in the 1992 home video game WWF Super WrestleMania by LJN for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (he wasn't in the Sega Genesis version). In 2004, the Japanese video game developer Spike released King of Colosseum II, a puroresu-wrestling game for PlayStation 2 that featured Tenta as a playable character; it was a Japan-only release. On April 14, 2009, Tenta was announced as downloadable content for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 which was released April 16, 2009. On February 23, 2016, he along with Typhoon appeared as downloadable content for WWE 2K16. He also appeared in WWE 2K17 as well as WWE 2K18 along with Typhoon.
Acted in
WWE: Attitude Era: Vol. 2
2014
as Golga
WWE: Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology
2006
as Earthquake
WWE WrestleMania X-Seven
2001
as Earthquake
WWE Royal Rumble 1999
1999
as Golga
WWE Rock Bottom: In Your House
1998
as Golga
WWE SummerSlam 1998
1998
as Golga
WWE Heat
1998
as Golga
WAR Ryogoku Crush Night
1996
WCW Bash at the Beach 1996
1996
as John Tenta
WCW The Great American Bash 1996
1996
as John Tenta
WCW World War 3 1995
1995
as Shark
WCW Fall Brawl 1995
1995
as The Shark
WCW Monday Nitro
1995
as The Shark
WCW Uncensored 1995
1995
as Avalanche
WCW SuperBrawl V
1995
as Avalanche
WCW Clash of the Champions XXX
1995
as Avalanche
WCW Clash of The Champions XXX
1995
as Avalanche
WCW Starrcade 1994
1994
as Avalanche
WWE Paul Bearer's Hits from the Crypt
1994
as Earthquake
WCW Clash of The Champions XXIX
1994
as Avalanche
WCW Halloween Havoc 1994
1994
as Avalanche (Appearance)
WWE WrestleMania X
1994
as Earthquake
WWF March to WrestleMania X
1994
as Earthquake
WWE Grudges, Gripes & Grunts
1993
as Earthquake
WWE Invasion of the Bodyslammers
1993
as Earthquake
WWF Bashed in the USA
1993
as Earthquake
WWF Smack 'Em, Whack 'Em
1993
as Earthquake
WWF: WrestleFest '93
1993
as Earthquake
WWE Wrestling Grudge Matches
1993
as Earthquake
WWE Royal Rumble 1993
1993
as Earthquake
Raw
1993
as Earthquake (archive footage)
Raw
1993
as John Tenta
Raw
1993
as Earthquake
Raw
1993
as Golga
WWE Survivor Series 1992
1992
as Earthquake
WWE Survivor Series Showdown 1992
1992
as Earthquake
WWE SummerSlam 1992
1992
as Earthquake
WWE World Tour 1992
1992
as Earthquake
WWE WrestleFest '92
1992
as Earthquake
3rd Annual Battle of the WWE Superstars
1992
as Earthquake
WWE Crunch Classic
1992
as Earthquake
WWE WrestleMania VIII
1992
as Earthquake
WWE March to WrestleMania VIII
1992
as Earthquake
WWF SuperTape '92
1992
as Earthquake
WWE Royal Rumble 1992
1992
as Earthquake
WWE Survivor Series 1991
1991
as Earthquake
WWE Survivor Series Showdown 1991
1991
as Earthquake
WWE Battle Royal at the Albert Hall
1991
as Earthquake
WWE SummerSlam 1991
1991
as Earthquake
WWE World Tour 1991
1991
as Earthquake
WWE SummerSlam Spectacular '91
1991
as Earthquake
WWE WrestleFest '91
1991
as Earthquake
WWE SuperTape vol. 4
1991
as Earthquake
WWE U.K. Rampage 1991
1991
as Earthquake
WWE Mega Matches
1991
as Earthquake
WWE WrestleMania VII
1991
as Earthquake
WWE The Main Event V
1991
as Earthquake
WWE SuperTape vol. 3
1991
as Earthquake
WWE Royal Rumble 1991
1991
as Earthquake
WWE Survivor Series 1990
1990
as Earthquake
WWE Survivor Series Showdown '90
1990
as Earthquake
WWE SummerSlam 1990
1990
as Earthquake
WWE SummerSlam Fever
1990
as Earthquake
WWE WrestleFest '90
1990
as Earthquake (Ringside)
WWE WrestleMania VI
1990
as Canadian Earthquake
WWE The Ultimate Challenge Special: The March to WrestleMania VI
1990
as Earthquake
WWE The Main Event III
1990
as Earthquake (Ringside)
WWE Royal Rumble 1990
1990
as The Canadian Earthquake
WWE Survivor Series 1989
1989
as The Canadian Earthquake
WWF Wrestling Challenge
1986
as The Canadian Earthquake
WWF Wrestling Challenge
1986
as Earthquake
SWS WrestleFest
as John Tenta