Earthquake John Anthony Tenta , Jr . ( June 22 , 1963 - June 7 , 2006 ) 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 name Kototenzan , 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 . Early life . John Tenta was born in Surrey , British Columbia . Named after his father , he was a large baby weighing 11 pounds , 3 ounces at birth . Inspired by professional wrestlers Gene Kiniski and Don Leo Jonathan , Tenta decided to pursue wrestling at age 6 . He learned freestyle wrestling at North Surrey Secondary , becoming a Canadian junior champion in 1981 . Shortly after his 18th birthday , he finished sixth in the super - heavyweight category at the World Junior Wrestling Championships at Vancouver . Tenta won an athletic scholarship to Louisiana State University ( LSU ) , where he competed in NCAA - level collegiate wrestling . At LSU he was nicknamed " Big John " Tenta , lettering on the Tiger varsity wrestling team and participating on the football team . LSU had dropped varsity wrestling to comply with Title IX in 1985 , forcing Tenta to choose a new sport . Tenta then walked on to the LSU football team , where he played in some junior varsity games as a defensive lineman . He was also known as a quiet giant bar bouncer at an LSU college bar , The Bengal . Tenta also played rugby union for the LSU Rugby Club . Sumo career . Tenta then moved to Japan to pursue a career in sumo after being recruited by a former Yokozuna who met Tenta on a trip to Vancouver . In October 1985 , he joined a sumo stable , Sadogatake , run by former - Yokozuna Kotozakura Masakatsu ( his stable also produced current Ōzeki Kotoōshū Katsunori from Bulgaria ) . Following tradition , the young sumōtori took the name of Kototenta ( Koto + Tenta ) , translated as Tenta the Harp . Beginning the sport at age 22 , he entered nearly seven years later than many non - college aspirants . The combination of his size — he already weighed 192 kg ( 423 lb ) at a height of 6´5 . 75 " — and training as a wrestler were to his advantage in learning and advancing in the sport . The novice won a string of 17 consecutive victories in his first six months , and was later renamed Kototenzan , Heavenly Mountain Harp . The novelty of being a rare Westerner sumotori in the mid - 1980s , and the third - ever Caucasian , garnered him press coverage , and he earned the additional nickname of the " Canadian Comet " . Despite doing well as a newcomer he soon quit the sport due to the difficulty of the sumo lifestyle and the toll the hard ring surface was taking on his body . In addition , the sumo world frowned on the large tattoo of a tiger on his left biceps and , though he covered it during matches , would have required him to remove it via skin graft before moving up to the higher level competitions ( in Japan tattoos are associated with gangsters ) . Professional wrestling career . All - Japan Pro Wrestling ( 1987 – 1989 ) . After leaving sumo , he quickly signed up for Puroresu ( Japanese pro wrestling ) under the tutelage of Shohei " Giant " Baba . He made his professional wrestling debut with All Japan Pro Wrestling on May 1 , 1987 . Tenta had a solid 18 - month career , teaming with popular Japanese wrestlers Giant Baba , Jumbo Tsuruta , and The Great Kabuki , before getting the attention of American pro - wrestling promoters , as well as making tours in Vancouver for Al Tomko ' s NWA All Star Wrestling . World Wrestling Federation ( 1989 – 1993 ; 1994 ) . After making two dark match appearances under his real name in March 1989 , Tenta joined the WWF full - time in September 1989 . In his first match after signing on , a dark match on September 21 , 1989 , he was known as Earthquake Evans and managed by Slick . Tenta then made his WWF television debut on the November 11 , 1989 edition of " WWF Superstars of Wrestling " , where he was planted in the audience as a normal spectator at the taping held in Wheeling , WV . During an in - ring interview with Gene Okerlund , Dino Bravo challenged The Ultimate Warrior to a strength competition . In order to demonstrate , Bravo and manager Jimmy Hart suggested that they pick a random audience member to come into the ring and sit on the backs of Bravo and the Ultimate Warrior as they did push - ups to see who could do the most . The Ultimate Warrior agreed , and Hart , after pretending to look around the audience , centered his attention on the very large Tenta who was sitting in the audience in casual clothing and appeared surprised . Tenta came down into the ring , identified himself as " John from West Virginia " and proceeded to sit on Bravo ' s back as he did a set of push - ups . During the Ultimate Warrior ' s set , however , Tenta jumped down onto the prone Ultimate Warrior using a seated senton that was adapted to be his signature move . Bravo and Tenta then beat and unleashed multiple big splashes on the prone Warrior . Both then celebrated as Tenta was inaugurated into the WWF as a heel with Hart as his manager . Tenta was pushed as The Canadian Earthquake — and by WrestleMania VI , simply Earthquake - an unstoppable monster heel who often sent his opponents out on a stretcher after repeatedly hitting them with his sitdown splash . Earthquake ' s first PPV appearance was when he replaced Barry Windham on Randy Savage ' s team at the 1989 Survivor Series . Earthquake survived the match , along with Savage and Dino Bravo . He made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania VI , defeating Hercules . Tenta ' s career peaked when he entered a feud with Hulk Hogan . The feud exploded in May 1990 , when Earthquake snuck up on Hogan from behind during a segment of " The Brother Love Show " ( on " WWF Superstars of Wrestling " ) and repeatedly crushed Hogan ' s ribs with his " Earthquake splash . " Eventually , Hogan recovered and gained revenge on Earthquake and defeated him in a series of matches across the country , starting with Hogan ' s countout victory at SummerSlam 1990 . Hogan and Earthquake were the final two participants in the 1991 Royal Rumble , with Hogan getting the victory . After his stint with Hogan , Earthquake attained another WrestleMania victory , defeating former Hart stable mate Greg Valentine at WrestleMania VII . After WrestleMania VII , Earthquake instigated a feud with Jake " the Snake " Roberts when , in their match that aired on " WWF Superstars of Wrestling " , he " squashed " Damien with his Earthquake splashes ; Earthquake had tied up Roberts in the ropes before going on his rampage . In reality , Roberts ' bag — one of two left at ringside for the match — contained pantyhose stuffed with hamburger , and a small motor to simulate a " live snake . " When the match aired on " WWF Superstars of Wrestling " , footage of Earthquake landing on Damien was interrupted with cutaway shots to that show ' s " Events Center , " although the incident aired uninterrupted and uncensored during " WWF Prime Time Wrestling " the following week . Later , Earthquake participated in a skit on " WWF Prime Time Wrestling " where he cooked " Quakeburgers " on a grill and served them to co - hosts Vince McMahon , Bobby The Brain Heenan , and Lord Alfred Hayes ; later , Earthquake revealed that the meat was ground from Damien ' s carcass . Heenan had already eaten 3 or 4 of the Burgers and Hayes was curious about the meat . Earthquake mentioned the animal from which the meat was taken rhymed with quake and Hayes said they were snake burgers . Heenan got sick and nearly threw up . Vince was angry over this and knocked the tray out of Earthquake ' s hands which knocked all the burgers onto the floor . Roberts and Earthquake feuded throughout most of late spring and into the summer . Later in 1991 , Earthquake formed a tag team with Typhoon ( Tenta ' s friend , Fred Ottman , who had previously wrestled as Tugboat before turning heel ) called The Natural Disasters , managed by Jimmy Hart . Initially a heel tag team , the duo feuded with the Legion of Doom over the WWF World Tag Team Championship , but were unsuccessful . Later , the Disasters turned face when Jimmy Hart betrayed them and joined forces with Money Inc . , a team composed of Irwin R . Schyster and Ted DiBiase ; Money Inc . had just won the tag titles from the Legion of Doom . Although Earthquake and Typhoon eventually won the tag titles ( and defeated the Beverly Brothers at the 1992 SummerSlam pay - per - view to retain the titles ) , it wasn ' t long before Money Inc . regained the belts . Tenta left the WWF in January 1993 after losing to Bam Bam Bigelow the night after the Royal Rumble for a spell in Japan for WAR , but returned in January 1994 when he assisted Bret Hart in a match with Shawn Michaels by countering Diesel ' s interference . He defeated Adam Bomb in a quick squash match at WrestleMania X . He then engaged in a short feud with Yokozuna , with whom he had a sumo match on " Raw " ( the early days of Tenta ' s Sumo training were also revealed ) . Earthquake was scheduled to face Owen Hart in a King of the Ring qualifying match . However , during a May 14 , 1994 house show in San Jose , California , Earthquake had been injured by Yokozuna and Crush . Footage of Yokozuna hitting a Banzai Drop at the show was televised before the qualifying match to explain his absence in which Doink the Clown was his replacement . He again disappeared from WWF thereafter and returned to Japan for WAR . World Championship Wrestling ( 1994 – 1997 ) . Personal financial difficulties led Tenta to contact World Championship Wrestling . Hulk Hogan , a longtime friend , lobbied to have Tenta come in , and so Tenta broke his WWF contract to join WCW . Before joining WCW , Tenta worked a tour of Japan for UWF International , where he teamed up with Super Vader . Tenta was introduced as Avalanche and was a member of Kevin Sullivan ' s 3 Faces of Fear . He later aligned with Big Bubba Rogers and feuded with Sting and Randy Savage , but the character name was dropped after WWF threatened legal action over similarities to the Earthquake character . He then joined the Dungeon of Doom faction as The Shark . Tenta believed this could be the beginning of a long term gimmick and even changed the tattoo on his arm of an LSU Tiger to that of a shark , a process that took 24 hours . Rumors were that WCW management forced him to do that , but in reality , it was John himself that brought the idea up . He eventually left the Dungeon of Doom and wrestled under his real name after delivering a scathing promo about the many other names and gimmicks he ' d been forced into in the past , including the memorable line " I ' m not the Shark . I ' m not a fish . I ' m not an Avalanche . I ' m a man " . Following a match with the Dungeon of Doom ' s Giant , Big Bubba Rogers , who had just joined the Dungeon , shaved half of Tenta ' s head . Tenta said he wouldn ' t shave off the other half because he looked in the mirror and relive the embarrassment . He would get the mail and his neighbors were laughing . The two went on to feud against one another , with Rogers shaving off Tenta ' s beard as well after Tenta lost another match to The Giant . In the spring of 1997 , John Tenta joined Roddy Piper as a member of his " family . " The angle was quickly dropped and Piper instead joined forces with the Four Horsemen , dropping the members of his " family . " Return to World Wrestling Federation ( 1998 – 1999 ; 2001 ) . After his feud with Rogers , Tenta left WCW and resurfaced in the WWF on the May 25 , 1998 episode of " Raw is War " under the name Golga . He wrestled under a mask as one of the Oddities and the character had a fascination with Eric Cartman from the TV series " South Park " . The gimmick was given to Tenta because he lost a considerable amount of weight , so much so that the WWF thought it wouldn ' t be believable for Tenta to reprise the Earthquake gimmick with the weight loss . This was a short - lived gimmick , and the group disappeared in the beginning of 1999 with all the members released . He did however return to the WWF one last time in 2001 with the Earthquake gimmick , where he was one of the participants of the 20 Man Gimmick Battle Royal match at WrestleMania X - Seven . In December of the same year he also worked a tryout dark match against Joey Abs before an episode of SmackDown . Illness and death . Tenta retired from wrestling in 2004 after it was revealed that he had developed bladder cancer , in which 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 , at approximately 12 : 30 PM EDT , which read : " John ' Earthquake ' Tenta died this morning , June 7 , at the age of 42 after a lengthy battle with bladder cancer . Tenta is survived by his wife and three kids . " 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 .