O-bit: RIP John Tenta

I was saddened today to learn of the passing of Canadian wrestling icon, John Tenta.

Tenta, originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, was one of the most recognizable faces in wrestling during the 90's. He was both a money maker and a headliner. I was fortunate enough to meet John, long before ever becoming "involved" in the business, when I was just a dumb mark (ok, not much as changed).

It was at an indy show in Milton, Ontario. I was one of the few chosen to go backstage and meet the wrestlers and do a little photo shoot. I was in awe of this legit Sumo star.

A couple years later “Big John” (as he was known when he first debuted) came out of the crowd at a WWF show to assist the late Dino Bravo with a push-up challenge. Tenta sat on Bravo's back (ya sure) while the self proclaimed World's strongest man did a few push-ups. Tenta then sat on the Ultimate Warrior's back – but not nearly as gingerly. That instantly elevated the man they would dub "Earthquake" to main event status.

For all his high profile feuds and main event matches with the likes of Warrior and Hogan – Tenta only held one measly title in the WWF. He managed to win the tag team championship with Typhoon (Fred Ottman) when they combined to form the Natural Disasters – maybe the largest tag team in history. It was also one of the watershed marks on Tenta's career.

Here you have a big man with mobility that could put on a decent big man match. Now he's been thrown into a tag team with a guy so green he made Kermit jealous. Let's be honest, Ottman was and always has been shit. The idea may have been to use the veteran to bring the kid along – but all it really did was cement Earthquake to the company's midcard.

In 1994, Tenta did what everyone else did. He went to WCW. In great WCW fashion, they took a character that had made his name in the WWF and slightly tweaked it so that he'd look like a bastardized version of his former self. Enter Tenta's new gimmick: Avalanche. The Avalanche was actually thrown into some high profile matches but always did the job. I think I had more wins in '94 that Tenta did.

In 1995, they decided to link him with the Dungeon of Doom and make his gimmick even stupider. So they had him shave part of his trademark beard and paint teeth on his face. He wore the same singlet with a cartoonish looking Jaws logo on his belly. This was the man they called “Shark”.

By 1996, the sumo legend decided he'd had enough of that crap and decided to turn babyface and start working under his real name. He engaged in a curtain pulling feud with the late Bubba Rogers (aka Big Bossman, real name Ray Traylor) that saw Tenta lose in a match where the stip was he'd have his beard and hair shaved off.

In 1998, I conducted my first sit-down one on one interview with Tenta when he returned to the WWF under a mask. He was playing the character “Golga”, a member of the Insane Clown Posse's Parade Of Human Oddities. Tenta and I both caught a ton of heat from WWF management as he had not been given permission to give interviews and certainly not out of character as himself. As if I was about to interview Golga. Kiss my ass.

In 2004, through a mass e-mail Tenta sent out, I learned that he had advanced bladder cancer. He was told he had 13-18 months to live without treatment. He planned to get treatment and fight every step of the way.

In 2005, he learned of four new tumors on his lung, a tumor on his hip and two lymph nodes on his enlarged heart.

On the morning of June 7th 2006, a class act passed away.

Tenta, was 42 years old. He is survived by his wife and three children. Rest in peace Big John.

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