LowerCaseRepublican Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 "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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Gleason Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Gleason Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 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). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowerCaseRepublican Posted June 7, 2006 Author Share Posted June 7, 2006 QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Jun 7, 2006 -> 01:19 PM) 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) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 RIP John. 42 is way too young to go. I feel terrible for his family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juddling Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jun 7, 2006 -> 05:45 PM) "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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buehrle>Wood Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Tugboat: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/shockmaster.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 (edited) QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jun 7, 2006 -> 03:13 PM) 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, 2006 by FlaSoxxJim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowerCaseRepublican Posted June 8, 2006 Author Share Posted June 8, 2006 QUOTE(juddling @ Jun 7, 2006 -> 04:40 PM) 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxfest Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 Here is a link for those who want read about him. http://www.wrestlecrap.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rangercal Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jun 7, 2006 -> 09:00 PM) 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Jun 8, 2006 -> 12:16 PM) 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxFanForever Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 He actually "killed" Damien. What a sad day that was... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxFanForever Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jun 9, 2006 -> 04:08 AM) He actually "killed" Damien. What a sad day that was... Yeah but didn't he then get Lucifer after that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowerCaseRepublican Posted June 9, 2006 Author Share Posted June 9, 2006 QUOTE(SoxFanForever @ Jun 9, 2006 -> 06:39 PM) 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jun 9, 2006 -> 06:59 PM) 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowerCaseRepublican Posted June 10, 2006 Author Share Posted June 10, 2006 QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jun 9, 2006 -> 07:03 PM) 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jun 9, 2006 -> 07:20 PM) 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buehrle>Wood Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Funk is returning to ECW again. Should be interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowerCaseRepublican Posted June 10, 2006 Author Share Posted June 10, 2006 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 (edited) QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jun 9, 2006 -> 07:28 PM) 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, 2006 by Milkman delivers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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