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RIP, John Tenta.

Rest in peace, John Tenta. I remember the first time I saw Tenta as part of the (then) World Wrestling Federation. In the opening series of pre-match interviews during the 1989 Survivor Series, there he was -- "The Canadian Earthquake" -- taking the place of Barry Windham's much shittier "Widowmaker" character on Randy Savage's heel team for a big match. Earthquake made a splash, and in no time at all, he became one of Hulk Hogan's greatest monster adversaries. Even after the inevitable defeat by Hogan and subsequent shuffling down the card, Tenta remained an impressive force both as a bad guy and, later, a good guy. It's the bad guy stuff I remember most, because God damn, this is the man who took Jake Roberts' beloved python and...well, he sat on the fucker, right in the middle of the ring on Saturday afternoon network television. Like, six times in a row. Laughing the whole way through. Thumbs up.

Tenta eventually made his way into World Championship Wrestling, becoming part of the much-maligned "Dungeon of Doom" faction, which was stupid to most but rocked to me. Seriously, that's what got me watching WCW consistently for the first time. The Dungeon was a group of mostly bad wrestlers in hideously dumb B-movie costumes, and Tenta was charged with playing..."The Shark." Yes, he portrayed a shark, and came to the ring to a riff on the Jaws theme. And he had to incorporate shark mannerisms into his wrestling matches. He hated it and most others did too, but man, I just had no problems at all watching a 400 pound wrestler/shark.

That's not my favorite Tenta moment, though. Much later, Tenta was just about gone from WCW. Nobody had seen him in months. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper was fighting the white hot nWo faction at the time (bad guys who were cheered riotously), and decided to battle them with an unusual team composed of "opportunity seekers" who weren't particularly popular or well-known. Roddy would "test" potential teammates during really goofy interview segments that the fans booed mercilessly, but when John Tenta joined the fray and lobbied to be a part of Piper's team, the fans ate it up. Well, maybe "ate it up" is an exaggeration -- but they were definitely cheering. It wasn't the typical wrestling cheer, either. It wasn't a "lost in the moment, I'm really buying this" kind of cheer. It was a respect cheer. It was a "cheer for John Tenta so he GETS TO DO SOMETHING COOL" kind of cheer. The look on Tenta's face -- a mix of shock, relief and euphoria over overcoming the odds and being cheered in this absolutely ridiculous storyline -- is my favorite of his moments. (Of course, WCW brass later pulled the plug on the "opportunity seekers" storyline and Tenta didn't get to wrestle after all, but hey, let's not be depressing.)

RD from Wrestlecrap is one of the most decent people I've "met" in all my years of running this site, and he's always spoken so highly of John Tenta. Getting to know how nice the guy was, how courageous and family oriented in a not-at-all superficial way he was, even just vicariously through RD, was about a million times more inspiring than I ever thought the former wrestler/shark would be to me. Leaving the world and his family behind much too soon after a long battle with cancer, I encourage everyone who was ever entertained by this unique behemoth to drop a dime in Wrestlecrap's fundraiser -- all donations go directly to John's family.

Posted by Matt on 06/08/2006. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 71 comments

Great write up Matt on a great man that left us way too soon. He definitely will be missed.

Semper Fi,
Erik Majorwitz

Chestnuts roasted by Erik Majorwitz @ 06/09/2006 11:33 PM

A couple weeks ago I watched a wrestling tape my brother an I had made like 7 or 8 years ago. This compilation tape of a bunch of our favorite wrestling matches from the 80s all the way up to the nWo/DX stuff.
I was so shocked at just how many people on that tape had died in the past couple years.
Owen Hart, Chris Candido, Rick Rude, Curt Hennig, Eddie Guerrero, Miss Elizabeth, The Bitish Bulldog, even Brian Pillman and Louie Spicolli.

And ECW will never be the same. Even though WWF always kinda played a part in ECW this shit right now just seems like Vince realized with the ECW dvd and ppv that he could cash in. I hope I’m proved wrong and that this new ECW will be badass and live up to and exceed expectations, but yeah it’ll never be the same.

bWo! bWo! bWo!
Buy the Shirt!! Buy the Shirt!! Buy the Shirt!!

Chestnuts roasted by WonKa @ 06/10/2006 8:19 AM

John Tenta was a respected collegiate wrestler at LSU, so the person who is denegrating him as only a pro wrestler only should shut up

Chestnuts roasted by tim @ 06/10/2006 3:49 PM

Ah yes, ’twas RD Reynolds who opened the door to X-E through your wearing a kiddie Ultimate Warrior costume.

I’ve personally had a friend/coworker who died from cancer (brain), and as he explained it, he felt like crap for the first couple days after chemotherapy, but then he felt better for the remaining days until he had to go in for chemo again.

The point to my story is, he always appeared to be happy. I know deep down inside, he was in a lot of pain, but his smile still stayed on.

THE SHOW MUST GO OOON!

…sorry, I couldn’t help it.

I’d think if I had some sort of disease, I wouldn’t want to know about it and continue on doing my normal thing until I simply vanish, but we’ll have to see about that.

Chestnuts roasted by Alex @ 06/11/2006 8:52 AM

"wretzling"
.
?
.
?
.
That’s a Pretzel with a harelip, ain’t it?
Or a Germanic cartoon bad guy. Gottfried von Wretzling, the Baron of Gotterrdammerrdingledong.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash with hot mustard @ 06/11/2006 4:24 PM

When and what channel is the new ECW going to be on? I thought I heard it was going to be on the sci-fi channel.

Chestnuts roasted by sonny @ 06/11/2006 7:32 PM

Mike Oxblong,

shut the fuck up.

John Tenta, you were a great and entertaining wrestler, we miss you.

Chestnuts roasted by Captain Jack @ 06/11/2006 9:57 PM

Dear Cap’n Jack…

Wow. Well worded post you’ve got there. Once again demonstrating the intelligence levels I already alluded to. Glad to see that my posts have trigged a thoughtful streak in you.

Now, just to set the record straight, allow me to post what I hate about your "sport":

Professional wrestling is **"simulated"** in the sense that the outcomes are **predetermined**, and their effects upon the opponent exaggerated. Some treat the performance as a form of entertainment or drama, and would not use the term **"fake"** in describing it.

The vast majority of the matches have **pre-determined results** and are said to be **"worked"**. The results are determined by "bookers" to maximize "heel heat" for the bad guy and "(baby)face heat" for the good guy, often in the context of a long-running "feud" or storyline. Typically, the wrestlers will work out some signature "spots" marking key moments in the match in advance.

Man-o-man! A "sport" that’s all made up! It must be thrilling to wait for the scripted outcome. If you were actually capable of reading my previous posts, you might have understood my veiwpoint. As it is, I’m surprised you could even spell the word ‘f*ck’.

And in closing, just for you Jack… What’s the opposite of "above me". Yeah, you got that one, didn’t you?

XXXOOO

-Mikey!

Chestnuts roasted by Mikey O'longstein @ 06/12/2006 12:15 PM

Mikey has a shitty life.

R.I.P and thank you, ‘Quake!

Chestnuts roasted by Optimus @ 06/12/2006 5:22 AM

Wonderful tribute for a talented and great guy, Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by Dino @ 06/12/2006 1:40 PM

I’ll grant you all this… Here’s one big way that wretzling rocks: EARNINGS! [But on SciFi - What's with that?!?]

— From CNNMoney ——-

WWE: ‘Fake’ sport…real earnings

Yeah, the WWE may seem goofy with its scripted matches. But wrestling is cool again and the stock’s on a tear.

By Paul R. La Monica

CNNMoney.com senior writer
June 12, 2006: 2:45 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Investors may feel like they have been caught in a choke hold for the past month and a half. But shareholders of World Wrestling Entertainment have market bears pinned to the mat.

World Wrestling Entertainment’s stock is up more than 21 percent so far this year and has held up relatively well during the market’s May and June swoon. And some Wall Street analysts think the stock still has some room to run.

Clotheslining the market: In a rocky year for the broader market, shares of WWE have been a big hit.

The company is scheduled to report its fiscal fourth-quarter results on Tuesday June 13. Analysts are currently predicting that WWE (Research) will post revenues of $114.5 million and earnings of 13 cents a share.

But if recent history is any guide, the company will likely crush those estimates. During the past five quarters, WWE has blown away consensus expectations by a wide margin.

RAW growth opportunities
The WWE, which stages live wrestling events throughout the world and airs several popular TV shows, has benefited from an increase in popularity during the past year.

Alan Gould, an analyst with Natexis Bleichroeder, points out that attendance at WWE events was lagging about two years ago but has been on the upswing during the past few quarters.

Attendance at North American events so far this fiscal year has averaged 6,700 people, compared to 4,600 during the same quarter a year ago and just 3,800 two years ago.

To that end, revenues from live and TV entertainment operations in the third quarter increased 6 percent from a year ago. This business accounted for nearly 60 percent of the company’s total sales.

Going forward, this business could get a boost from the addition of a third TV show this summer.

Beginning in June, the WWE will air programs from its Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) series on the SCI FI Channel. WWE already airs its "RAW" program on USA Network, which like SCI FI, is owned by General Electric’s (Research) NBC Universal unit.

The WWE also airs its popular "SmackDown" show on CBS’s UPN network. That show will move to the new CW, co-owned by CBS (Research) and Time Warner (Research), this fall. (Time Warner also owns CNNMoney.com.)

The company gets paid a licensing fee by the broadcasters and in the case of "SmackDown" also receives a small cut of advertising sales from the TV programs.

Michael Kelman, an analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group, adds that the company has been posting impressive growth in DVD sales thanks to a renewed focus on older WWE stars like Hulk Hogan.

In the company’s third quarter, sales from the company’s home video division increased 215 percent from a year ago and accounted for 15 percent of the company’s total revenue.

"Home video is driving results. The company can mine this huge library they have," Kelman said. "They are bringing back old stars like Hulk Hogan to get people who were previously wrestling fans to get back into it."

Gould points out that the company has also seen its popularity increase abroad and that it is also taking advantage of new trends in technology.

"The WWE is doing a good job internationally and is starting to make some interesting moves in new media such as video on demand and a mobile product," he said.

Some risks but a heavyweight dividend
With that in mind, analysts and investors will be looking for WWE to raise forecasts for this fiscal year.

Wall Street is currently predicting that the company will generate sales of $417 million and earnings of 67 cents a share for this fiscal year, which ends in April 2007.

Still, there are some risks. Kelman said the stock, trading at about 26 times next year’s earnings estimates, seems fully valued. So if the company doesn’t raise its earnings guidance, the stock could get pile-drived by Wall Street.

Gould said he’s a little worried about the WWE’s plans to expand into the movie business.

The company produced a horror movie called "See No Evil," starring WWE wrestler Kane in May in conjunction with independent film studio Lionsgate (Research). Gould said he thinks the company could break even on this venture but he’s not so sure that the company will do as well on its next movie, "The Marine," which is due out in the fall.

But the WWE could also benefit from increased exposure to wrestling thanks to another movie due out later this week. "Nacho Libre," the Jack Black comedy about a Mexican wrestler, is not associated with the WWE. But Kelman thinks that if "Nacho Libre" is a hit, it can’t hurt.

"It probably helps people thinking about wrestling in general," he said.

Finally, these risks are slightly mitigated by the fact that in many other respects, the WWE is an incredibly fiscally conservative company.

The WWE has $278 million in cash and just $6.6 million in long-term debt on its balance sheet. What’s more, the company has chosen to take a huge chunk of the cash it generates and pay it back to investors in the form of a dividend that yields a whopping 5.5 percent.

By way of comparison, the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note only yields about 5 percent.

"Investing in the WWE is better than sitting in 10-year Treasurys," Gould said. "It’s a good place to be as long as business trends continue to improve."

Chestnuts roasted by Mikey O'long @ 06/12/2006 9:55 PM

My brother and I got hooked on wrestling during the summer Quake almost killed Hulkamania. He was THE bad guy at that time. Great tribute, Matt, and thanks for the memories, John Tenta.

Chestnuts roasted by Goggles Pisano @ 06/13/2006 2:33 AM

The Internet: constant reminder that even us monkeys with nothing to say get a chance to say it.

Squeaky Wheels get the grease
But
Empty Barrels make the most noise!

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 06/13/2006 4:10 PM

Good Christ Mike!
Give it a break! I can copy and paste all day, too. That doesn’t do anything to make my point any more (or less) right. Fine, call pro wrestling scripted. It is. Almost anyone can tell you that. Just don’t call it fake. Unless you think you can ‘pretend’ to hold someone 400+ pounds over your head and slam them to the ground without hurting them OR you. Or perhaps we’re just imagining that someone has enough of a vertical jump to leap over a 6+ foot tall person. Watch some TNA wrestling. Look at the X-Division. Don’t pay attention to the stories, just watch the natural athletic ability of the performers. Then tell me it’s "fake".

Oh, and just to let you know, my high school wrestling career was 15-2, before I blew my knee out. 5 knee operations later, I’m relegated to a bad limp and a cane.

How’s this sound – When someone you know/respect/admire passes away, PLEASE let us know so we can be sure to denigrate whatever his/her profession was. Sound good? Sound appropriate? No? It’s not appropriate to do that while mourning a death? Then why the hell did you start?

Chestnuts roasted by Erich @ 06/13/2006 4:19 PM

Well said, Erich. I could watch TNA’s X-Division all damn day. I’ve never thought much of TNA’s ability to craft a decent storyline, but I’ll be damned if’n it ain’t an absolute blast to watch Styles, Sabin, Daniels and the like fly all over the ring. I’d rather watch an "Ultimate-X" match than see two of WWE’s "hosses" trip over each other any day.

Chestnuts roasted by The Yeti @ 06/13/2006 6:20 PM

How can someone have such a hollow and pathetic existence that they feel the need to try to drive home a tired point FIVE DAYS AFTER it was first stated? Also, why is he even wasting his time on entertainment and fans for which he has utter disdain? Mike, either get a life or change the channel.

Chestnuts roasted by Bludge @ 06/13/2006 7:59 PM

whatever

Chestnuts roasted by Mike Oxlong @ 06/13/2006 9:15 PM

Not me posting above… I’m onto new names, and I’m not a one word post kind of guy (obviously). But I do **LOVE** that I spark imitators. Welcome other Mikes!

**How can someone have such a hollow and pathetic existence that they feel the need to try to drive home a tired point FIVE DAYS AFTER it was first stated?**

You should be able to answer your own question… since **you** are certainly here five days later pressing your point. Bah! The level of intelligent comments slips rapidly – and the quality already wasn’t too strong!

I posted the story because I thought those here might be interested. I guess you’re too busy circle jerking me to actually read about your "sport". Sorry I tried to inform you. Clearly, for the denizens of this forum, ignorance is bliss.

**Oh, and just to let you know, my high school wrestling career was 15-2, before I blew my knee out. 5 knee operations later, I’m relegated to a bad limp and a cane.**

Then you should perfectly understand my points. Also, if you actually read my posts, you’d see I never questioned wretzler’s strength or physical capabilities. Just their choice of professions and the quality of their "sport". [And, BTW, I wrestled in high school and the NCAA so I know the score, too, bubba.]

**How’s this sound – When someone you know/respect/admire passes away, PLEASE let us know so we can be sure to denigrate whatever his/her profession was.**

Oh BOO HOO! I, for one, wouldn’t care if someone questioned the profession of someone I watched on TV/movies, because I don’t have my very existence wrapped up in it.

Let’s see…

Who died recently that I cared about. Ok, photographer Arnold Newman just died and I loved his work. Fire away!!! You won’t see me wailing and moaning over you dissin’ the photography profession. Of course, there’s nothing fake about photography.

But I guess the emotional power of wretzling is much, much stronger, causing such vitriolic reactions.

**Don’t pay attention to the stories, just watch the natural athletic ability of the performers.**

I can do that by watching the real thing, thank you. And so can all of you too.

XXXOOO
-mikey

PS: I make a great wretzling forum heel, don’t I. And boy do you all keep dancing for my script. I love you all!

Chestnuts roasted by Mikey O'long @ 06/14/2006 12:17 PM

Woot! 69 comments!

Chestnuts roasted by Cotter @ 06/29/2006 5:08 AM

Troll. I’m reading this months after all this occurred, but I still can’t fathom the mentality of someone who would post in the above manner. Sure, a little trolling once in a while, OK if you’re like 13. But trolling against a tribute to a cancer victim? Scumbag.

Chestnuts roasted by Lowly Airman @ 10/03/2006 1:36 PM

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