John Tenta

[goodhelmet]

Ok, so Tenta was a guy who took me by surprise in the All Japan viewing. He might not have had the best matches n the company but he always put in a good-great performance. Help me out guys...

WWF fans and yearbook viewers.... What Earthquake matches do I need to watch that stand out in WWF?

WCW watchers... What matches are worth checking out?

[El-P]

I was thinking about making a Tenta thread for a while. Always liked Tenta, but watching his work in WCW only reinforced that feeling.

Thus far here are the matches I really enjoyed. Listomania :

 

1994.11.16 Kevin Sullivan & Avalanche & Butcher vs Hulk Hogan & Sting & Dave Sullivan (from Clash, he's the one saving the match here to me)

1994.11.20 Sting vs Avalanche (Main Event)

1994.12.27 Avalanche vs Sting (Starrcade)

1995.02.19 Big Bubba & Avalanche vs Sting & Randy Savage (Superbrawl)

1995.03.19 Randy Savage vs Avalanche (Uncensored)

1995.03.25 Avalanche vs Randy Savage (Saturday Night)

 

Sadly he's not featured as much after the Savage match, and fades into obscurity. Still hasn't re-emerged yet as Shark.

[soup23]

His match vs. Sting at Starrcade was really good. Tenta was bumping around well for Sting and did his best Vader impersonation. It is also one of the few Hogan run ins that don't make Sting look like his bitch and served a purpose.

 

Speaking of Vader, if you havent seen the two UWFI tags from 1994 as Gary Albright & Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Vader & John Tenta (UWFI 10/8/94), I would recommend those as well. Big time atmosphere for the matches mainly featuring Albright vs. Vader but Tenta is a great partner and enforcer teaming with Vader and has good exchanges with Albright and bullies Yamazaki.

 

Tenta is an underrated worker overall as even in the fn Oddities he knew his role and made it work ok.

[jpchicago23]

I freakin loved Tenta and his match against Big Bubba with the quarters on a pole is surprisingly pretty good. Not sure exactly what show its on.

[Matt D]

Tenta has a few matches with Bossman in 90-91 and most are quite good. Honestly, I think Natural Disasters are wildly underrated. Watch Disasters vs Beverly Brothers from Summerslam 92. I think it really might be the best match on the card no matter how crazy that sounds.

 

I'll delve more into the results later.

 

He's got the best Elbow Drop ever though. It's world destroying.

 

I think you can make a real comparison between Tenta and Mark Henry when it comes to ring presence and knowing how much and when to give and when to eat an opponent up and I kind of want to force Dylan or Tom to do that.

[El-P]

and did his best Vader impersonation.

I thought the exact opposite actually, and enjoyed the contrast on the show between the two monsters. Vader was really all about athleticism, quickness, with lot of spots and quick shots, bumping a lot (his detractors would say too much and too easily), while Tenta was much more traditionnal in his approach, kinda like a more offensive minded version of the One Man Gang, with tons of percussion spots (hey, he's a former sumo), a mix of deliberate style with a few heavy spots, and milking the hell out of his bumps (not as much as OMG, but much more than Vader). Anyway, I enjoyed it quite a bit, although his matches with Savage are even better.

[El-P]

He's got the best Elbow Drop ever though. It's world destroying.

Indeed. It looks amazing. I love the way he leans onto the ropes while he's getting momentum for either his elbowdrop or his legdrop. He was a smooth worker with a great sense of visual offense, everything he did looked good. His powerslam looks awesome too, the way he makes a short pause before rotating and crashing with his opponents in his arms.

[Matt D]

and did his best Vader impersonation.

I thought the exact opposite actually, and enjoyed the contrast on the show between the two monsters. Vader was really all about athleticism, quickness, with lot of spots and quick shots, bumping a lot (his detractors would say too much and too easily), while Tenta was much more traditionnal in his approach, kinda like a more offensive minded version of the One Man Gang, with tons of percussion spots (hey, he's a former sumo), a mix of deliberate style with a few heavy spots, and milking the hell out of his bumps (not as much as OMG, but much more than Vader). Anyway, I enjoyed it quite a bit, although his matches with Savage are even better.

 

That's actually one of my favorite talking points ever.

 

Because Sting vs Avalanche was one of the big matches later in the night, Vader works a completely different match with Duggan than he might have otherwise. It's a perfect example of how you have to think, at least a little, about card placement when you're trying to really understand and analyze a match.

 

everything he did looked good.

It's really true. That's another comparison to Henry. Everything he does looks huge and believable and super solid.

[soup23]

and did his best Vader impersonation.

I thought the exact opposite actually, and enjoyed the contrast on the show between the two monsters. Vader was really all about athleticism, quickness, with lot of spots and quick shots, bumping a lot (his detractors would say too much and too easily), while Tenta was much more traditionnal in his approach, kinda like a more offensive minded version of the One Man Gang, with tons of percussion spots (hey, he's a former sumo), a mix of deliberate style with a few heavy spots, and milking the hell out of his bumps (not as much as OMG, but much more than Vader). Anyway, I enjoyed it quite a bit, although his matches with Savage are even better.

 

That's actually one of my favorite talking points ever.

 

Because Sting vs Avalanche was one of the big matches later in the night, Vader works a completely different match with Duggan than he might have otherwise. It's a perfect example of how you have to think, at least a little, about card placement when you're trying to really understand and analyze a match.

 

 

My reminiscing for comparing to Vader was mostly based on how the match structure was built and how Sting bumped against both opponents. The variance in their offense is different and interesting.

[jpchicago23]

Yea i agree on the Henry comparison. When someone keeps their moveset limited they have to make the moves look impactful and know exactly when to time their spots. I thought Henry especially in 2011 was awesome at that much like Tenta would be. When you're a limited worker you can really stand out as long as you're stuff looks solid. Not saying Tenta was necessarily limited in a sense but he was more of a traditional big man.

[Matt D]

Yea i agree on the Henry comparison. When someone keeps their moveset limited they have to make the moves look impactful and know exactly when to time their spots. I thought Henry especially in 2011 was awesome at that much like Tenta would be. When you're a limited worker you can really stand out as long as you're stuff looks solid. Not saying Tenta was necessarily limited in a sense but he was more of a traditional big man.

So if you have a big moveset it can all look like crap?

 

Also, how big a moveset did guys have in 1990-92 WWF, really?

[JerryvonKramer]

I seem to remember him being super motivated and actively enjoying himself during his 94-5 run in WCW. I'd be interested to see him right at the end of his WWF career as well. That period as the Avalanche feels like peak Tenta to me though.

[Loss]

I liked the Hogan/Earthquake match at Summerslam and the UWFI tags.

[flyonthewall2983]

I watched one of the UWFI tags once. It's too bad they never faced each other.

[Dylan Waco]

I'm gonna have to watch some of these Tenta matches because I like the guy, love his debut WWF angle (one of my all time favorite angles ever actually) and always thought he had a cool look among the fat dudes but I don't remember many stand out matches.

 

Also it may be time for a thread on the awesomeness of fat wrestlers where we rate the best of the fat guys. I may even start a fat guy thread where I watch one match (minimum) a day and review it.

[jpchicago23]

Yea i agree on the Henry comparison. When someone keeps their moveset limited they have to make the moves look impactful and know exactly when to time their spots. I thought Henry especially in 2011 was awesome at that much like Tenta would be. When you're a limited worker you can really stand out as long as you're stuff looks solid. Not saying Tenta was necessarily limited in a sense but he was more of a traditional big man.

So if you have a big moveset it can all look like crap?

 

Also, how big a moveset did guys have in 1990-92 WWF, really?

 

Where in my comment does it say that u can have a big moveset it can look shitty?

[EricR]

Yea i agree on the Henry comparison. When someone keeps their moveset limited they have to make the moves look impactful and know exactly when to time their spots. I thought Henry especially in 2011 was awesome at that much like Tenta would be. When you're a limited worker you can really stand out as long as you're stuff looks solid. Not saying Tenta was necessarily limited in a sense but he was more of a traditional big man.

So if you have a big moveset it can all look like crap?

 

Also, how big a moveset did guys have in 1990-92 WWF, really?

 

I don't think comparing Tenta vs. Henry limited movesets makes sense in regards to Henry. One of Henry's coolest assets is that he has a bunch of different offense that he breaks out depending on what kind of match he's working. His heel offense is very different from his face offense, and he's had numerous "target body part" matches where depending on the body part his offense changes as well. He has work the back offense, work the leg offense, and he has offense he only uses when the match is "Henry's own leg getting worked over".

 

So yes, one of Henry's strongest suits is that he uses his offense well, but even more impressive that he has a bunch of different stuff specifically catered to match type.

[jpchicago23]

By moveset I'm talking "moves" like a technical wrestler would use or a shitty indy guy. It wasn't a knock by any means and a limited moveset is often times a lot better. Some guys try and do too much and unless you're highly skilled like a benoit or guerrero for example you should really just stick to what looks best and occasionally throw in a few surprise spots here and there. So yea I didn't mean limited in a negative sense I meant it in a smarter sense.

[goodhelmet]

I knew what you were talking about. Lawler had a punch, a fist drop, a piledriver and a fireball and he is the greatest of all time.

[jpchicago23]

At least someone understands lol. To be a kick punch guy and look good is very challenging but guys like Lawler and Murdoch to an extent make it look phenomenal almost like they're in a bar playing darts and someone hits on their woman so they end up in a straight up bomb throwing fight. Anyways a little off track but yea that's what I meant

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

Also it may be time for a thread on the awesomeness of fat wrestlers where we rate the best of the fat guys. I may even start a fat guy thread where I watch one match (minimum) a day and review it.

Love this idea. Here's a thread i started from a while back about slobs:

 

http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?show...69&hl=Slobs

[flyonthewall2983]

I'd never call John a slob.

[Grimmas]

After reading this thread, I started to watch John Tenta matches. Started chronilogically (because I'm OCD like that) and going through his career for anything that looks intersting. Also, I've always been a fan of fat guy wrestlers and I don't remember how the Quaker was, because when I was 9 I didn't care about that.

 

Tenta was freaking awesome going back. He had a real good match at MSG with Ron Garvin and a few good ones with Bossman. I'm about to hit the Snake Roberts feud, so I'm really looking forward to that and to the WCW and Japan runs.

 

One thing that sucks, is that in the WWF, he didn't get many chances to have good matches. One Man Gang and other fat guys got to face good workers in matches and destroy them. Tenta mostly was in Bravo's corner or teaming with him. When he does get a match against Tito it goes about 6 minutes and then run ins start. Frustrating.

 

He is really great though in being, maybe, the perfect fat man. His splash, leg drop and elbow drop are amazing. He flexes a lot, which I love. He always looks strong and tough and is not flying around, because he is a monster.

 

One thing I want to consider is how he compares to Yokozuna. If Tenta came in late 1992 and put in Yoko's role, would he had done as well?

[Migs]

Watched some Natural Disasters matches tonight. On the whole, I think they're a better team than they're remembered, hurt mainly by their lack of strong opponents, and also by their face turn, which created an odd dynamic in their matches. But they had strong offense and were fun to watch.

 

Opened with a couple of their early squashes, which are actually pretty solid. The offense is good looking and they look imposing. Big Fred even busts out a dropkick in one! And they use the old midget rowboat move! Would have been interesting if they'd found a more unique finisher than a simple combination of their singles finishers.

 

Natural Disasters v. The Bushwackers (Summerslam '91)

 

The 'wackers are accompanied by Andre the Giant, on crutches, which is a nice moment, but retrospectively a bit sad, knowing Andre's not long for this world. Bobby Heenan, on commentary, repeatedly hits on the Disasters' combined weight of "over half a ton." The Bushwackers get a surprisingly strong, albeit brief, opening shine segment, with both Earthquake and Typhoon bumping for them. The Disasters take over and bust out an interesting transition from a Typhoon body vice into an Earthquake bearhug. Bushwackers get a brief comeback, ended with a double splash and Quake hitting his finisher to end it. The whole match only runs 6 minutes, but it makes a nice big match debut for the Disasters.

 

Natural Disasters v. The Legion of Doom (Royal Rumble '92)

 

This time it's Tenta's turn to throw a dropick (and miss!). Honestly, both guys are showing more athleticism than I remember. The match as a whole, though, suffers from the mediocre way the WWF booked the LOD. They built their rep pre-WWF on seeming invincible; and here the WWF has them in against big guys and playing face in peril. It's just not their best look. (Also, I don't know why they added red to their color scheme - feels like that also made them seem less menacing.) Tenta uses his excellent elbow to the back of Hawk - looked nasty. But on the whole, the face in peril section on Hawk is well worked but pretty lacking in heat. Thing break down and the Disasters get a countout win that didn't help anyone.

 

Natural Disasters v. Sgt. Slaughter and Hacksaw Duggan (Crunch Classic, CHV)

 

The faces are labeled by Sean Mooney as the "Patriotic Pair," which would be the worst team name ever. And why would anyone trust Slaughter when he'd been an Iraqi sympathizer six months earlier? Comes off as very strange. Anyway, the match is dull, but not really due to the Disasters. And that's maybe the biggest impression I get from watching them - if there'd been decent babyface teams to work with in this time period, the Disasters could have had some excellent matches. Disasters v. Rockers, for example, would have been very fun. I also think they didn't get much love, at least a theory, on why a lot of internet people didn't like these guys - they love bearhugs, and no move is more derided (other than maybe the chinlock) than the bearhug. And I'm not a fan of it either if its used for very long stretches - but that's not happening here. It's a short part of the heat segment, which is a nice use of the move. Anyway, this ends with another lame finish, with a brawl leading to Duggan getting DQed for use of the 2 x 4.

 

Natural Disasters v. Money Inc. (7/20/92)

 

This is a real exchange:

 

JR: "Did Typhoon trip?"

Heenan: "He never trips, he's a very agile man."

 

I must say, I dig the Disasters move where Typhoon splashes a guy in the corner, holds them in, and Earthquake adds a second splash. Tenta takes a nice bump over the top on a missed corner splash, which segues directly from the opening shine segment to the face in peril section. Dibiase does something you rarely see, actually removing the tag rope to choke Tenta. Otherwise, the face in peril section is a little limp... it feels like the match needed a less traditional structure, because its weird to get heat on a guy as big as Tenta. This is why the "little guy and big guy" team works so well - heat goes on the little guy, hot tag to the big guy. Tenta's a good seller when he needs to be, though. Screwed up interference leads to a giant Tenta elbow drop on Dibiase for the win and the titles! Nice pop for the title change.

 

Natural Disasters v. The Beverly Brothers (Summerslam '92)

 

This was very fun. Reminded me of how good Enos and Bloom are - they did much better in the heat section in terms of keeping the offense interesting than Money Inc. did. The pop for the Disasters win is massive, which indicates that even if the match structure isn't as good with them as faces, they were over as all hell.

[cheapshot]

Natural Disasters v. The Beverly Brothers (Summerslam '92) This was very fun. Reminded me of how good Enos and Bloom are - they did much better in the heat section in terms of keeping the offense interesting than Money Inc. did. The pop for the Disasters win is massive, which indicates that even if the match structure isn't as good with them as faces, they were over as all hell.

 

I have just watched this and I agree with you that it was a fun match and easily one of the top 4 on the show. Maybe they were so over due to people in the UK liking fat men aka Big Daddy