John Tenta‘s family shared a great holiday memory of the wrestling legend.
John Tenta was best known to fans as Earthquake. He also worked as Avalanche, The Shark and Golga of The Oddities. However, some fans might be surprised to learn that Tenta was actually a big fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Tenta’s son, John, runs an Instagram account and shares old family photos of the wrestling legend. He marked Christmas this year with a photo showing Quake getting a much-appreciated gift, the Return of the King on DVD.
“We hope your Christmas is as merry as our dad receiving The Return of the King 4-disc DVD set! While treatments were in full swing during our first Christmas in Houston, our dad couldn’t hide his joy over his family and his love for The Lord of the Rings!”
John Tenta unfortunately passed away in 2006 after a long battle with bladder cancer. He was only 42 at the time of his death.
A bit of levity
WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard spoke with Kevin Sullivan, best known for his time in WCW. Sullivan was also the leader of the Dungeon Of Doom, a stable of kooky characters that once tried to end Hulkamania. Sullivan was asked where the stable took inspiration from, noting He-Man and Masters of the Universe felt like a potential connection.
“Hulk had his friends, and he wanted them to be used on TV. I was booking them, and rather than putting them in singles, I thought putting them all together in one segment. It helps him because I wanted him to turn heel about six months when he got there. I wanted to gain his trust. He was used to somebody — I kind of filled the void of Bobby Heenan ending Hulkamania and me saying he’s not who you think he is. So, lump us all together, it gave a little bit of comedy to the show.”
Sullivan says people hated the idea at first, but it’s more revered by fans today. Sullivan also credited his new adversary Hogan for calling him “Taskmaster” in the first place.
“Now that they’ve grown up, [fans] love it. Masters of the Universe, yeah, I did it probably subconsciously because I used to watch the cartoon. [Hulk] was so over the top, say prayers, take your vitamins, that I had to go the other way. And I’m sure some of that rubbed off on me. And I mean, actually, you’re watching all this great wrestling from the luchadores to the cruiserweights to the nWo to the Four Horsemen. It gave a little bit of levity to the show.”
