Wrestling is a business with certain archetypes that appear over and over again. The most common type of wrestler in the modern era is probably the “body builder.” From “Superstar” Billy Graham, who really brought the type into the forefront, to Jesse “The Body” Ventura, to the ultimate example, Hulk Hogan, there have always been muscle bound monsters in the ring and most likely there always will be. There have always been quick, agile men, like Antonino Rocca and Edouard Carpentier, moving into the era of Dynamite Kid and Tiger Mask, to people today like Evan Bourne and Justin Gabrial. There have been many different types of roles to fill, but one of the very first, one that still survives to this day, is the, to put it bluntly, “big fat guy.” From the legendary Gorilla Monsoon to men like Haystacks Calhoun and King Kong Bundy, wrestling has always had it’s share of giant men with seemingly unimpressive bodies. Many of them have little going for them other than their massive size. Some are actually very athletic and can put on a great match. Vader is usually considered the all time best of this sub-section of wrestler. However, one of the most underrated wrestlers of this group was John Tenta.
At a very young age, Tenta decided he wanted to be a wrestler. Growing up in Canada, Tenta wrestled in the amateur ranks in school, where his success led to an athletic scholarship at LSU. Tenta gained a reputation as a legitimately tough guy during this period, working as a bouncer at a local bar, and playing football and rugby after LSU was forced to drop wrestling from their program.
After his collage career was over, Tenta moved to Japan, where he pursued a career in Sumo. As one of the few caucasians to ever make it in Sumo, the media payed a lot of attention to him. However, the strain of the Sumo matches started to take a toll on his body. In addition to that, Tenta was told he would need to get his tattoo removed if he wanted to advance further in the ranks. Tenta made the decision to leave Sumo and made the transition to professional wrestling.
After some success in Japan as a pro wrestler, John Tenta was signed to the WWF, where he made his debut as a fan plant who ended up attacking the Ultimate Warrior. Tenta, now known as Earthquake, teamed with Dino Bravo as part of Jimmy Hart’s stable, feuding with the Ultimate Warrior. After defeating Hercules at Wrestlemania, Earthquake went on to feud with Hulk Hogan. Earthquake was an opponent tailer made for Hogan: he was big, he was strong, and he knew how to make Hogan look great in the ring. His wrestling style played to all of Hogan’s strengths, and the two worked very well together. The culmination of the feud occurred when Earthquake met Hogan at Summerslam, where he lost by count out to Hogan, rather than the traditional pin fall loss most men suffered at the hands of the Hulkster.
Earthquake had great success upon entering the WWF, feuding with their two biggest stars in The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan. However, after starting out on top, there was nowhere to go but down. After a feud with Jake Roberts that saw Earthquake squash Jake’s beloved pet snake Damien,, Earthquake formed a tag team with Tugboat Thomas, who was re-christened Typhoon, and the duo was known as the Natural Disasters. They feuded with the Legion of Doom over the WWF tag team championships, unable to beat the Road Warriors for the belts. After turning face, the Disasters were able to win the belts from money, Inc, but eventually lost the titles back to them.
Tenta seemed to flounder a bit towards the end of his tenure in the WWF, eventually asking for his release so he could sign with WCW, where Hogan was pushing for his signing. Tenta debuted in WCW, now known as Avalanche. The WWF felt this was too similar to his Earthquake persona, and threatened a law suit, which forced Tenta to become known as The Shark. In order to truly sell the Shark gimmick, Tenta had his Tiger tattoo transformed into a shark, a process that took 24 to complete. The Shark was a mediocre gimmick at best, and Tenta never really found a place in WCW. However, it was in WCW where he would cut a promo that is, to this day, what he is most remembered for.
After losing a match to the Giant, Big Bubba Rogers came out and cut Shark’s hair and proceeded to shave half his head. Shark came out the following week, with the horrible hair cut still in place. During an interview with Gene Okerlund, Shark explained that he kept the haircut as a reminder of his embarrassment. When referred to as Shark several times, he cut Okerlund off, saying “I’m not a shark. I’m not a fish. I’m not an avalanche. I’m a man. John Tenta.” It was a kind of shoot style interview that had rarely been seen at that time. Nowadays, a wrestler “shooting” and rejecting his comical gimmick seems to happen all the time. Vince Russo loves this angle. But in 1996, this was almost never seen. It was fresh, it was new, and it got people talking. For a brief time, people were really on John Tenta’s side. Unfortunately, WCW didn’t follow this up with any quality opponents and Tenta was soon gone from WCW.
After a brief return to WWf as Golga, a masked member of the Oddities, Tenta was gone from pro wrestling before sadly losing a battle with bladder cancer that claimed his life. But while he may have left us, his legacy lives on. “I’m not a fish. I’m a man!” is always referenced whenever a wrestler cuts that type of gimmick rejecting promo. It’s been done several times since then, but never with the heart or the sense of realism that tenta, a man not known for his mic skills, was able to pull off.
John Tenta was a huge man, but he had far more to offer a wrestling company than his girth. He was very agile for a man his size, and had good timing in the ring. He had believable offense, and knew how to sell an opponents offense without losing any of his own legitimacy. Plus, he just looked like a guy who could kick your ass. With the right opponents, Tenta was capable of putting on a quality match, which he did both in Japan and the United States.
John Tenta will always be known for his size and for his in ring encounters. He will also be remembered for the “I’m not a fish” promo. However, those who knew him personally, or got to get a glimpse of the man behind the character through his participation in wrestling forums and interviews on the internet, will also remember him as a quality human being. Tenta was appreciative of all his fans, and seemed to truly be thankful for his successes in the ring. He also had a great sense of humor about some of the more questionable characters he was forced to play in his career. When asked why he would degrade himself to take on gimmicks like The Shark or Golga, Tenta said if he didn’t do it, somebody else would, so he would just take the money and play whatever part, no matter how bad, to the best of his ability. He had some bad gimmicks over the years, but they didn’t change the fact he was a good man, who portrayed them all with a wink to his fans and never lost his sense of humor or his giant heart, even in the face of terminal cancer.
The wrestling world was better off for having a man like John Tenta in it, even if it was for too brief of a time.