By Octavio Fierros

I’ve decided to compile a three-hour DVD of John Tenta (who was known as Earthquake in WWE). This three-hour DVD includes WWE matches and moments from the 468 pound monster. From his TV debut with Dino Bravo and Jimmy Hart to his days with The Oddities during the Attitude era, it’s all here. Keep in mind that this DVD is only WWE footage. So sit back and enjoy my first ever compilation of “The Best of Earthquake in WWE” DVD.

MATCHES
1. WWE Debut: (10/02/89, WWF SUPERSTARS, Wheeling, West Virginia)
2. PPV Debut: (11/23/89, WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1989, Rosemont, Illinois)
3. SummerSlam ’90: (08/27/90, WWF SUMMERSLAM 1990, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
4. Royal Rumble ’91: (01/19/91, WWF ROYAL RUMBLE 1991, Miami, Florida)
5. The Main Event: (02/01/91, WWF THE MAIN EVENT, Macon, Georgia)
6. WWF Superstars: (06/15/91, WWF SUPERSTARS, Tucson, Arizona)
7. WrestleMania VIII: (04/05/92, WWF WRESTLEMANIA VIII, Indianapolis, Indiana)
8. Monday Night Raw: (05/16/94, WWF MONDAY NIGHT RAW, Burlington, Vermont)
9. SummerSlam ’98: (08/30/94, WWF SUMMERSLAM 1998, New York City, New York)
10. WrestleMania X7: (04/01/01, WWF WRESTLEMANIA X7, Houston, Texas)

EXTRAS
1. Special Interview: (02/25/90, WWF WRESTLING CHALLENGE, Ft. Meyers, Florida)
2. Brotherlove Show: (05/26/90, WWF SUPERSTARS, Austin, Texas)
3. Get Well, Hulk: (May-June 1990, WWF SUPERSTARS)
4. Future Tag Team Partner Attacked: (08/18/90, WWF SUPERSTARS, Omaha, Nebraska)
5. Snake Squash: (04/27/91, WWF SUPERSTARS, Las Vegas, Nevada)
6. Battle of Legends: (06/01/91, WWF SUPERSTARS, Rockford, Illinois)
7. Snake Burgers: (May 1991, WWF PRIME TIME WRESTLING)
8. The Return of Earthquake: (01/30/94, WWF MONDAY NIGHT RAW, Bushkill, Pennsylvania)
9. Sumo Challenge: (05/09/94, WWF MONDAY NIGHT RAW, Burlington, Vermont)
10. Oddities Video: (08/09/98, WWF SUNDAY NIGHT HEAT)

DVD MATCHES
The “Best of Earthquake in WWE” DVD features ten matches from the WWE.



1. WWE Debut, 10/02/89, WWF SUPERSTARS, Wheeling, West Virginia
Earthquake’s WWE debut was one of the reasons why I loved watching wrestling in the 80s and 90s. Back in the day, they would have vignettes or angles to welcome newcomers. Earthquake’s debut was one of the most memorable entrances to wrestling. Earthquake’s debut was not an actual match. Dino Bravo, who was managed by Jimmy Hart (after Frenchie Martin) at the time, was feuding with The Ultimate Warrior. Bravo claimed to be the World’s strongest man and he proved to be that when he lifted 750 pounds in a special challenge with Jesse Ventura. Bravo and Warrior agreed to be part of a special challenge to determine who the strongest man in the WWE is. Bravo handpicked a huge man from the crowd named John. Bravo did push-ups with Earthquake sitting on his back. Bravo challenged Warrior to do the same thing. Warrior attempted push-ups, but John fell on top of him. Fans later realized that John was part of their plan to attack Warrior. All three men attacked Warrior and there was no clear winner on who was the strongest man in the WWE. A week later, John was on television again. This time, he was part of Jimmy Hart’s stable and was known as Canadian Earthquake.



2. PPV Debut, 11/23/89, WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 89, Rosemont, Illinois
Just about a month after his TV debut, Earthquake was called last minute to be part of the 1989 Survivor Series. Earthquake actually replaced Widow Maker, a character played by Barry Windham. Earthquake teamed with Dino Bravo, Greg Valentine, and team captain Randy Savage to take on Bret Hart, Ronnie Garvin, Hercules, and team captain Jim Duggan. Earthquake eliminated Hercules in the elimination match and eventually survived his first ever PPV match.



3. Vs. Hulk Hogan, 08/27/90, WWF SUMMERSLAM 90, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Look in the “DVD Extras” for more information on how this match came about. This match was one of two main events at SummerSlam ’90. Hulk Hogan made a return to the WWE after sustaining injuries, thanks to The Earthquake. As usual, Earthquake had Bravo and Hart in his corner, but Hogan had Big Bossman as well. Tug Boat was scheduled to be in his corner, but was also injured, thanks to Earthquake. The match resulted in a count out, which indicated that there must be a rematch to settle the score.



4. Royal Rumble Match, 01/19/91, WWF ROYAL RUMBLE 91, Miami, Florida
Due to length purposes, the only footage that takes place in this chapter was the time Earthquake entered the ring through the end when Hogan wins. Earthquake entered the Rumble as #22 and eliminated three wrestlers. Hogan eliminated him to win the Rumble for the second consecutive time.



5. Vs. Hulk Hogan & Tug Boat, 02/01/91, WWF THE MAIN EVENT, Macon, Georgia
A special telecast of The Main Event took place a few days after the Royal Rumble. Hogan teamed with his best friend Tug Boat to face Earthquake and Dino Bravo. This is the last chapter in the feud between Hogan and Earthquake. Earthquake goes on to be part of the tag team division. He surprises the fans when he picks his tag team partner. More on that “DVD Extras” section.

6. Vs. Jake Roberts, 06/15/91, WWF SUPERSTARS, Tucson, Arizona
There’s more to this match below in the “DVD Extras” section. Jake Roberts wants revenge after what Earthquake did to Damien.



7. Vs. Money Inc., 04/05/92. WWF WRESTLEMANIA VIII, Indianapolis, Indiana
This match took place a few months after Jimmy Hart dumped the Natural Disasters for Money Inc. In other words, Earthquake was a babyface for the first time in his WWE career. The Natural Disasters finally got a crack at the tag team titles at WrestleMania VIII. They won the match, but not the titles, since Money Inc. left the ring and were counted out.



8. Vs. Yokozuna, 05/16/94, WWF MONDAY NIGHT RAW, Burlington, Vermont
Earthquake made a return to the WWE in 1994, but just for a short period of time. In this case, it was the best big man of the early 90s against the best big man of the mid-90s. Earthquake challenged Yokozuna to a sumo wrestling match on Monday Night Raw. Both men had a background in sumo wrestling and they decided to show their skills on cable TV. Earthquake won the match, but was not seen on TV for the next four years.



9. Vs. Kaientai, 08/30/98, WWF SUMMERSLAM 98, New York City, New York
Earthquake returned to the WWE four years later as Golga. He was part of this stable called The Oddities with Luna Vachon, Kurrgan, and Giant Silva. In this PPV match, Golga teamed with Kurrgan and Silva to face Kaientai. It was actually a comedy match, since Golga was teaming with two wrestlers who were greener than green.



10. Gimmick Battle Royal, 04/01/01, WWF WRESTLEMANIA X7, Houston, Texas
Earthquake’s last appearance in the WWE came at WrestleMania X7 when he became part of the memorable gimmick battle royal. Earthquake didn’t win the match, but it was nice to see him one more time.

***

DVD EXTRAS
The “DVD Extras” section includes ten memorable moments in the career of Earthquake in the WWE.

1. Special Interview: 02/25/90, WWF WRESTLING CHALLENGE, Ft. Meyers, Florida
This is Earthquake’s interview, hyping his match against Hercules at WrestleMania VI. At the time, Hercules was a powerhouse and made fans think he can overpower Earthquake. A few weeks later, Hercules realized that Earthquake was unstoppable.



2. Brotherlove Show: 05/26/90, WWF SUPERSTARS, Austin, Texas
This moment is what put Earthquake on the map. Earthquake easily became the top heel in wrestling by attacking Hulk Hogan on the Brotherlove Show. The week before this incident, Jimmy Hart agreed to have a face-to-face confrontation between Earthquake and Hogan. The following week on the Brotherlove Show, Hogan came out, but Earthquake wasn’t there. Hart told Hogan that Earthquake was sick and was unable to appear in their confrontation. Hogan threatened Hart and Earthquake came from behind with a chairshot. Earthquake splashed Hogan three times.

3. Get Well, Hulk: May-June 1990, WWF SUPERSTARS
This is the continuation of the previous chapter. In this chapter, I include several promos from wrestlers and especially Tug Boat. These promos are directed at Hogan. I also have some footage from certain babyfaces who had the friendship bracelet on to support Hogan during this difficult time.

4. Future Tag Team Partner Attacked: 8/18/90, WWF SUPERSTARS, Omaha, Nebraska
Two weeks before SummerSlam ’90, Earthquake and Dino Bravo attacked Tug Boat, putting him out of action for several weeks. This would lead to Hogan finding a new partner to be in his corner in his match with Earthquake. Earthquake attacked the same man who would eventually be his tag team partner.

5. Snake Squash: 04/27/91, WWF SUPERSTARS, Las Vegas, Nevada
The match didn’t actually start because Earthquake had other plans for Jake Roberts. The week before, Roberts was leaving the ring while Earthquake was coming in for his match. Roberts took out Damien and Earthquake showed his fear for snakes. The following week, Earthquake and Roberts decided to wrestle. Before the match, Earthquake cut a promo and made it clear that he doesn’t like snakes. So he decided to squash Damien in the middle of the ring several times. It appeared that it was the last of Damien in the WWE because Earthquake had “killed” the snake.



6. Battle of Legends: 06/01/91, WWF SUPERSTARS, Rockford, Illinois
During the month of May, WWE managers were bidding for the services of Andre the Giant. Andre rejected each and every manager that crossed his path. Jimmy Hart wanted Andre the Giant so he can team with Earthquake to become the most destructive force in the WWE. Andre refused to be managed by Hart. Earthquake realized that he rejected the offer and attacked him with the megaphone. Earthquake also injured Andre’s knee.



7. Snake Burgers: May 1991, WWF PRIME TIME WRESTLING
In a very funny segment on Prime Time Wrestling, Earthquake made burgers for Bobby Heenan, Vince McMahon, and Lord Alfred Hayes. After a few minutes, Alfred Hayes and McMahon realized that those burgers were actually snake burgers. This is a very classic moment from Prime Time Wrestling during late May 1991.

8. The Return of Earthquake: 01/30/94, WWF MONDAY NIGHT RAW, Bushkill, Pennsylvania
Earthquake returns to the WWE on Monday Night Raw, since early-1993.

9. Sumo Challenge: 05/09/94, WWF MONDAY NIGHT RAW, Burlington, Vermont
A brief clip hyping the sumo wrestling match between Yokozuna and Earthquake. See above in “DVD Matches” for more information on this match.

10. Oddities Video, 08/09/98, WWF SUNDAY NIGHT HEAT
Insane Clown Posse presents the “Human Oddities” music video, including Golga, Luna Vachon, Giant Silva, and Kurrgan.

***

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