John Tenta Jr.
Born
June 22, 1963
Died
June 7, 2006 (42 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
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.
Dark Side of the Ring
Self (Archival Footage) · (1 episode)
2019
WWE: Attitude Era: Vol. 2
Golga
2014
WWE: Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology
Earthquake
2006
WWE WrestleMania X-Seven
Earthquake
2001
WWE Royal Rumble 1999
Golga
1999
WWE Rock Bottom: In Your House
Golga
1998
WWE SummerSlam 1998
Golga
1998
WWE Heat
Golga · (1 episode)
1998
WAR Ryogoku Crush Night
1996
WCW Bash at the Beach 1996
John Tenta
1996
WCW The Great American Bash 1996
John Tenta
1996
WCW World War 3 1995
Shark
1995
WCW Fall Brawl 1995
The Shark
1995
WCW Monday Nitro
The Shark · (2 episodes)
1995
WCW Uncensored 1995
Avalanche
1995
WCW SuperBrawl V
Avalanche
1995
WCW Clash of the Champions XXX
Avalanche
1995
WCW Clash of The Champions XXX
Avalanche
1995
WCW Starrcade 1994
Avalanche
1994
WWE Paul Bearer's Hits from the Crypt
Earthquake
1994
WCW Clash of The Champions XXIX
Avalanche
1994
WCW Halloween Havoc 1994
Avalanche (Appearance)
1994
WWE WrestleMania X
Earthquake
1994
WWE March to WrestleMania X
Earthquake
1994
WWE Grudges, Gripes & Grunts
Earthquake
1993
WWE Invasion of the Bodyslammers
Earthquake
1993
WWF Bashed in the USA
Earthquake
1993
WWF Smack 'Em, Whack 'Em
Earthquake
1993
WWF: WrestleFest '93
Earthquake
1993
WWE Wrestling Grudge Matches
Earthquake
1993
WWE Royal Rumble 1993
Earthquake
1993
Raw
John Tenta · (1 episode)
1993
Raw
Earthquake · (6 episodes)
1993
Raw
Golga · (13 episodes)
1993
WWE Survivor Series 1992
Earthquake
1992
WWE Survivor Series Showdown 1992
Earthquake
1992
WWE SummerSlam 1992
Earthquake
1992
WWE World Tour 1992
Earthquake
1992
WWE WrestleFest '92
Earthquake
1992
3rd Annual Battle of the WWE Superstars
Earthquake
1992
WWE Crunch Classic
Earthquake
1992
WWE WrestleMania VIII
Earthquake
1992
WWE March to WrestleMania VIII
Earthquake
1992
WWF SuperTape '92
Earthquake
1992
WWE Royal Rumble 1992
Earthquake
1992
WWE Survivor Series 1991
Earthquake
1991
WWE Survivor Series Showdown 1991
Earthquake
1991
WWE Battle Royal at the Albert Hall
Earthquake
1991
WWE SummerSlam 1991
Earthquake
1991
WWE World Tour 1991
Earthquake
1991
WWE SummerSlam Spectacular '91
Earthquake
1991
WWE WrestleFest '91
Earthquake
1991
WWE SuperTape vol. 4
Earthquake
1991
WWE U.K. Rampage 1991
Earthquake
1991
SWS WrestleFest
John Tenta
1991
WWE Mega Matches
Earthquake
1991
WWE WrestleMania VII
Earthquake
1991
WWE The Main Event V
Earthquake
1991
WWE SuperTape vol. 3
Earthquake
1991
WWE Royal Rumble 1991
Earthquake
1991
WWE Survivor Series 1990
Earthquake
1990
WWE Survivor Series Showdown '90
Earthquake
1990
WWE SummerSlam 1990
Earthquake
1990
WWE SummerSlam Fever
Earthquake
1990
WWE WrestleFest '90
Earthquake (Ringside)
1990
WWE WrestleMania VI
Canadian Earthquake
1990
WWE The Ultimate Challenge Special: The March to WrestleMania VI
Earthquake
1990
WWE The Main Event III
Earthquake (Ringside)
1990
WWE Royal Rumble 1990
The Canadian Earthquake
1990
WWE Survivor Series 1989
The Canadian Earthquake
1989
WWF Wrestling Challenge
The Canadian Earthquake · (5 episodes)
1986
WWF Wrestling Challenge
Earthquake · (28 episodes)
1986
Saturday Night's Main Event
Earthquake · (1 episode)
1985
Saturday Night's Main Event
(2 episodes)
1985