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COPYRIGHT 2005 BY MIKE RICKARD II

 john tenta.jpg

 NAME: EARTHQUAKE AKA AVALANCHE AKA THE SHARK AKA JOHN TENTA AKA GOLGA

REAL NAME: JOHN TENTA

HOMETOWN:VANCOUVER, B.C.

FINISHING MOVE: EARTHQUAKE SQUASH

     Former sumo wrestler John Tenta enjoyed a short but memorable career in professional wrestling as a monster heel.  He has appeared around the world and recently gained new fame as the patron saint of "Wrestlecrap

     Earthquake debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) during a push-up challenge between Dino Bravo and the Ultimate Warrior.  Bravo asked a mammoth sized man from the audience to sit on his back while he did push-ups to increase the challenge.  The man then sat onthe Warrior's back while he attempted to do push-ups.  When the Warrior went to do a push-up, the mammoth man jumped and sat on him, crushing him into the mat apron.  The monster known as Earthquake had made his WWF debut!  

    Earthquake then teamed with Dino Bravo and battled Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior.  The Earthquake then earned notoriety when he ambushed Hulk Hogan during an interview and performed several of his Earthquake Squashes on Hogan, sidelining the Hulkster for several months.  Earthquake teamed up with Dino Bravo at SummerSlam to battle the returning Hulkster and his partner Tugboat.

    Earthquake's appetite for destruction never remained sated for long.  He next turned his attention to Jake "The Snake" Roberts pet snake Damien.  After years of bringing Damien to the ring, Jake was devastated when Earthquake delivered his Earthquake Squash to Damien, killing the snake.  

     Earthquake went on to form a tag team with Typhoon known as "The Natural Disasters".  This huge tag team tore through the tag team ranks of the WWF and went on to win the WWF Tag Team Championship from Money Inc.

     In 1994, John Tenta moved to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he wrestled as "Avalanche".  Avalanche joined forces with Kevin Sullivan and battled WCW's top babyfaces including Sting, Hulk Hogan, and Randy "Macho Man" Savage.  In 1995, "Avalanche" became "The Shark" and joined the Dungeon of Doom.  He began feuding with Big Bubba Rogers after Rogers shaved off half his beard and hair.  Tenta then dumped "The Shark" gimmick and began wrestling under the name John Tenta.

    After leaving WCW, Tenta wrestled under a mask in the WWF and was known as "Golga" a member of the Oddities. 

   Later on, Tenta opened a wrestling school in Florida.  He recently wrote the forward to the book "Wrestlecrap" and appeared infrequently on the Wrestlecrap web site.  In 2006, passed away after waging a courageous battle against cancer.

SOURCES: 

Various. "Obsessed with Wrestling." Wrestler Profiles. 6-24-2005, 6-24-2005 http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/profiles/j/john-tenta.html

"John Tenta.." . 06-242005. wikipedia. 06-24-2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tenta