John Anthony Tenta Jr. (June 22, 1963June 7, 2006) was a Canadian professional wrestler and sumo wrestler (rikishi) best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation as Earthquake.
After a promising start to his sumo career, using the name Kototenzan, 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 as a member of The Natural Disasters with 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 long battle with bladder cancer.
Tenta, as Earthquake, was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2025 alongside Typhoon as The Natural Disasters.
Early life John Tenta was born in Surrey, British Columbia. Named after his father, he was a large baby weighing 11 pounds, 3 ounces at birth. Inspired by professional wrestlers Gene Kiniski and Don Leo Jonathan, Tenta decided to pursue wrestling at age 6. He learned freestyle wrestling at North Surrey Secondary, becoming a Canadian junior champion in 1981. Shortly after his 18th birthday, he finished sixth in the super-heavyweight category at the World Junior Wrestling Championships in Vancouver. Tenta won an athletic scholarship to Louisiana State University (LSU), where he competed in NCAA-level collegiate wrestling.Andy Adams, "Kototenta: Canadian Comet!", Sumo World, May 1986, pg. 4 At LSU he was nicknamed "Big John" Tenta, lettering on the Tiger varsity wrestling team and participating on the football team. LSU dropped varsity wrestling to comply with Title IX in 1985, forcing Tenta to choose a new sport. Tenta subsequently walked on to the LSU football team, where he participated as a defensive tackle in a few junior varsity contests. While working as a bouncer at The Bengal, a bar near the LSU campus, he was also referred to as a "silent giant". Tenta also played rugby union for the LSU Rugby Club.
Sumo career Tenta then moved to Japan to pursue a career in sumo after being recruited by a former yokozuna who met Tenta on a trip to Vancouver. In October 1985, he joined a sumo stable, Sadogatake, run by former yokozuna Kotozakura Masakatsu (his stable also produced ōzeki Kotoōshū Katsunori from Bulgaria). Following tradition, the young sumōtori took the shikona name of , surname translated as Tenta the Harp.Gerry Toff, "Ex-Wrestling Champ to Enter Sumo", Sumo World, January 1986, pg. 11
Beginning the sport at age 22, he entered nearly seven years later than many non-college aspirants. The combination of his size—he already weighed at a height of Gerry Toff, "Ex-Wrestling Champ to Enter Sumo", Sumo World, January 1986, pg. 12—and training as a wrestler were to his advantage in learning and advancing in the sport. The novice won all of his 24 bouts in his eight-month active career,Andy Adams, "Kototenta: Canadian Comet!", Sumo World, May 1986, pg. 3 and was later renamed , surname meaning Heavenly Mountain Harp. The novelty of being a rare Westerner rikishi in the mid-1980s, and the third-ever White man, garnered him press coverage, and he earned the additional nickname of the "Canadian Comet".Andy Adams, "Kototenta: Canadian Comet!", Sumo World, May 1986, pg. 3-4
Despite doing well as a newcomer he soon quit the sport due to the difficulty of the sumo lifestyle and the toll the hard ring surface was taking on his body.Andy Adams, "Kototenzan Quits Sumo!", Sumo World, September 1986, pg. 11 Tenta commented, "Nothing I have ever done – not football, not college wrestling – compares with the kind of physical abuse you inflict on your body in sumo." In addition, the sumo world frowned on the large tattoo of a tiger on his left biceps and, though he covered it during matches, would have required him to remove it via skin graft before moving up to the higher-level competitions. In Japan, tattoos are associated with gangsters, and public display is widely prohibited.Andy Adams, "Kototenzan Quits Sumo!", Sumo World, September 1986, pg. 12 Tenta's decision to quit was criticized by his stablemaster, while the head of the Japan Sumo Association Kasugano (the former yokozuna Tochinishiki), said Tenta had become arrogant after his run of consecutive victories. "He thought it would be easy. But there is no job in this world that is harder. It is better for him to leave." His promising but short-lived career as a ended without a single professional loss, a highly unusual occurrence, and 21 consecutive wins from bottom division, a rare feat still to this day.
Sumo career record
Professional wrestling career
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1987–1989) After leaving sumo, he quickly signed up for puroresu (Japanese pro wrestling) under the tutelage of Shohei "Giant" Baba. He made his professional wrestling debut with All Japan Pro Wrestling on May 1, 1987, teaming with Giant Baba and defeating Rusher Kimura and Goro Tsurumi. Tenta had a solid 18-month career, teaming with Baba, Jumbo Tsuruta, and The Great Kabuki, before getting the attention of American pro-wrestling promoters, as well as making tours in Vancouver for Al Tomko's NWA All Star Wrestling where he first competed as a babyface, but later turned heel when he began being managed by "Gentleman" Jonathan Sayers. Tenta left AJPW in September 1989.
World Wrestling Federation (1989–1993, 1994) Various feuds (1989–1991) After making two dark-match appearances under his real name in March 1989, Tenta joined the WWF full-time in September 1989. In his first match after signing on, a dark match on September 21, 1989, he portrayed a lumberjack character named Earthquake Evans that was billed as being from the "Northern Yukon Territory" who was managed by Slick, and defeated Paul Roma. Tenta then made his WWF television debut on the November 11, 1989, edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, where he was planted in the audience as a normal spectator at the taping held in Wheeling, West Virginia. During an in-ring interview with Gene Okerlund, Dino Bravo challenged Ultimate Warrior to a strength competition. In order to demonstrate, Bravo and manager Jimmy Hart suggested that they pick a random audience member to come into the ring and sit on the backs of Bravo and Ultimate Warrior as they did push-ups to see who could do the most. Ultimate Warrior agreed, and Hart, after pretending to look around the audience, centered his attention on the very large Tenta who was sitting in the audience in casual clothing and appearing surprised. Tenta came down into the ring, identified himself as "John from West Virginia" and proceeded to sit on Bravo's back as he did a set of push-ups. During Ultimate Warrior's set, however, Tenta leapt down onto the prone Ultimate Warrior using a seated senton that was adapted to be his signature move. Bravo and Tenta then beat and unleashed multiple big splashes on the prone Warrior. Both then celebrated as Tenta was inaugurated into the WWF as a heel with Hart as his manager. Tenta was pushed as The Canadian Earthquake – and by WrestleMania VI, simply Earthquake – an unstoppable monster heel who often sent his opponents out on a stretcher after repeatedly hitting them with his sitdown splash. In addition to wrestling, Earthquake also served as a bodyguard for Bravo.
Earthquake's first PPV appearance was when he replaced Barry Windham on Randy Savage's team at the 1989 Survivor Series. Earthquake eliminated Hercules and survived the match, along with Savage and Dino Bravo. He made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania VI, defeating Hercules. Tenta's career peaked when he entered a feud with Hulk Hogan. The feud exploded in May 1990, when Earthquake sneaked up on Hogan from behind during a segment of The Brother Love Show (on WWF Superstars of Wrestling) and repeatedly crushed Hogan's ribs with his "Earthquake splash". It was reported that Earthquake had injured Hogan so severely that he may have to give up wrestling, Tugboat Thomas urged a letter writing campaign to fans to write to support Hogan while he recovered. Eventually, Hogan recovered and gained revenge on Earthquake and defeated him in a series of matches across the country, starting with Hogan's countout victory at SummerSlam 1990. Hogan and Earthquake were the final two participants in the 1991 Royal Rumble, with Hogan getting the victory. After his stint with Hogan, Earthquake attained another WrestleMania victory, defeating former Hart stable mate Greg Valentine at WrestleMania VII. On April 1, 1991, WWF held a joint show in Kobe with Japanese promotion Super World of Sports called SWS Wrestle Dream. Earthquake appeared to face Kōji Kitao, in a battle of two former sumo wrestlers. Kitao and Tenta broke kayfabe by being uncooperative with each other. Kitao did not sell Earthquake's attacks and shot on him. The match ended when Kitao was disqualified for kicking the referee. After the match, Kitao immediately grabbed a microphone and began telling the audience that wrestling is fake and that Tenta never could really beat him, as other Japanese wrestlers attempted to restrain him. The incident led to Kitao being fired from SWS.
After WrestleMania VII, Earthquake instigated a feud with Jake "the Snake" Roberts, when in their match that aired on WWF Superstars of Wrestling, he "squashed" Damien with his Earthquake splashes; Earthquake had tied up Roberts in the ropes before going on his rampage. In reality, Roberts' bag – one of two left at ringside for the match – contained pantyhose stuffed with hamburger, and a small motor to simulate a "live snake". When the match aired on WWF Superstars of Wrestling, footage of Earthquake landing on Damien was interrupted with cutaway shots to that show's "Events Center", although the incident aired uninterrupted and uncensored during WWF Prime Time Wrestling the following week. Later, Earthquake participated in a skit on WWF Prime Time Wrestling where he cooked "Quakeburgers" on a grill and served them to co-hosts Vince McMahon, Bobby The Brain Heenan, and Lord Alfred Hayes; later, Earthquake revealed that the meat was ground from Damien's carcass. Heenan had already eaten three or four of the Burgers and Hayes was curious about the meat. Earthquake mentioned the animal from which the meat was from rhymed with quake, and Hayes said they were snake burgers. Hayes got sick and nearly threw up. McMahon was angry over this and knocked the tray out of Earthquake's hands which knocked all the burgers onto the floor. Roberts and Earthquake feuded throughout most of late spring and into the summer.
Natural Disasters (1991–1993)
Later in 1991, Earthquake formed a tag team with Typhoon (Tenta's friend, Fred Ottman, who had previously wrestled as Tugboat before turning heel) called The Natural Disasters, managed by Jimmy Hart. Initially a heel tag team, the duo feuded with the Legion of Doom over the WWF World Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. Later, the Disasters turned face when Jimmy Hart betrayed them and joined forces with Money Inc., a team composed of Irwin R. Schyster and Ted DiBiase; Money Inc. had just won the tag titles from the Legion of Doom, and at WrestleMania VIII, they defeated Money Inc. by count-out but did not win the titles. Although Earthquake and Typhoon eventually won the tag titles (and defeated the Beverly Brothers at the 1992 SummerSlam pay-per-view to retain the titles), it was not long before Money Inc. regained the belts. Tenta left the WWF in January 1993 after losing via count-out to Bam Bam Bigelow the night after the Royal Rumble for a spell in Japan for WAR. He also had a brief stint in CMLL in late 1993.
Singles run and departure (1994)