All language subtitles for S05E01 Dark Side of the Ring

Damn straight I'm seeing
dollar signs if somebody

like John Tenta walked
through the door.

He was the biggest, baddest
son of a bitch on the planet.

I'd have him squash all
those little bastards.

With a superhero,
you need a villain

that's just as
powerful to counter.

You needed somebody
like my dad.

You are gonna feel
the Earthquake!

You'd know it was over 'cause
he'd go like this across

his throat and jump a couple
times around your head.

The tremors
are beginning.

Run to the set of ropes and
then just jump on your chest.

Kaboom!

The Earthquake Splash, man.

Larger than life John Tenta
had a meteoric rise in the

WWF as Earthquake, before
being paired with another

big man, Typhoon,
in the iconic tag team

The Natural Disasters.

It's bad weather for
everybody in the WWF.

Natural Disasters-
Earthquake and Typhoon.

A thousand pounds of fun.

There was no picking them
guys up, put it that way.

You go to lift 'em,
and you know,

blow your back out
type situations.

Intimidating in the ring,
behind the scenes,

John Tenta was a
very different man.

They were gentlemen,
respected by everybody.

Everybody could count on
John Tenta to do the job and

do it right,
no doubt about that.

My dad was a good guy,

regardless if he
was a heel or not.

He cared deeply
about his family,

and he also cared a
lot about other people.

It's not very Dark Side
of the wrestling, huh?

But a change in
fortune for both men...

Ah! The shock!
Ha-ha-ha-ha!

...turned these once
-respected superstars

into parodies
of themselves.

He was so many gimmicks.

It was probably hard
for him to take.

I felt like that was the
low of the low for him.

Vince McMahon can put
you in the stars or

he can put you in hell,
just that simple.

You don't walk out on
Vince McMahon.

If you do,
you're gonna pay for it.

I don't think
John gave a damn.

The main important thing,

to make the money to
take care of his family.

And for John Tenta
and his family,

a cruel ending that
no one saw coming.

John doesn't want
to go to the doctor.

He waited too long.

My dad's a fighter,
he's gonna fight through this.

There's no way
this'll take him down.

I just prayed, God,
please heal him.

Please let us have more
time with our dad.

♪

Dino Bravo just told me

that I could pick
the largest man,

the biggest man in the
audience right now and bring

him into the ring and he can
get on Dino Bravo's back!

Dino Bravo and
Ultimate Warrior were having

a push up contest in the
middle of the ring.

And, the gimmick was to
find the biggest guy

in the stands and,
to call him down.

The whole audience already
realized there was this

giant man in the audience
that would be perfect

to be in this competition.

-Wow!
-Oh, my goodness.

When my dad made his
debut in the WWE,

he was planted
in the audience.

Take a look at the
size of this man!

Jimmy Hart called him down.

John from West Virginia.

And, he's wearing this
bright blue shirt,

jeans and white shoes,
looking like a dad.

And, so he's sitting on
Ultimate Warrior's back.

Then he just smashes him.
[Laughing]

Wait a minute!
Whoa!

We see the first iteration
of the Earthquake Splash.

And, established himself
as a pretty major heel.

[Commentary]
...down across the chest!

Hey, this guy learned how
to wrestle pretty quick!

Yeah, no kidding!
I smell a rat.

That's how he's introduced
into the wrestling world.

My name's Jeff Tenta, and
Earthquake's my father.

Everybody knew me
as Little Quake.

Everybody knew my dad.

I was just in the
backstage a lot of times

when he was wrestling.

I can honestly say that he
was definitely respected.

My dad told you to,
"Keep an eye on my kid,"

they were gonna do it.

It was kind of surreal
being backstage.

I've watched these wrestlers,
and their own personas and

their gimmicks just kind
of doing their thing,

just talking to each other.

♪

I'm Joanna, and I'm
the daughter of

"Earthquake" John Tenta.

I did want to be a wrestler.
[Laughing]

I still love wrestling
today and, growing up,

I thought there was
nobody cooler than my dad.

My name is John Tenta,
the youngest child of

John "Earthquake" and
Josephine Tenta.

My dad was good at
making the audience

buy into this villain.

I think he was incredible
in the ring.

When John Tenta debuts
in WWF in 1989,

he's already had a storied
career that has taken him

halfway around the world
from his hometown of

Surrey, British Columbia.

My dad knew that he wanted
to become a wrestler

from a very young age.

My grandfather was also a
huge wrestling fan, and so,

they only got a
few channels,

but they would always tune
in to watch wrestling.

From that moment on,
he was hooked.

He knew that that was
what he wanted to do.

My grandmother and
grandfather

were not wealthy people.

They couldn't afford to buy
him a weight set or get him

into extracurricular sports
and things like that,

so he found other
ways to exercise.

Going to the park,
lifting park benches,

or doing whatever he could
to just get stronger.

They believed in him
from the beginning.

He was a Canadian world
champion in wrestling,

and he was being prospected
by 12 major universities in

the US, and we know that
he ended up going to LSU,

and wrestling there.

But when they dropped
their wrestling program,

he found wrestling
in other ways.

The oldest Japanese
sport is Sumo,

a form of wrestling which
dates back to hand-to-hand

combat technique of
nearly 20 centuries ago.

John Tenta was
22 years old.

One of the sumo wrestling
Stable came to

college wrestling meet and
recruited him when he was

in Louisiana
State University.

He quit college and came
to Japan to live and

start as a sumo wrestler.

Hello, my name
is Fumi Saito.

I'm a journalist,
I'm an author.

I'm a wrestling historian.

Sumo is Japanese
national sport.

They still wear kimonos,
they have Samurai hairdos,

and sumo wrestler
is more like

sumo society.

Sumo is different.

The way they train,
the discipline.

You have to fight for it.

My name is Haku.

I've been with
wrestling for 40 years.

Haku!

Pro wrestling, you climb
over the top rope and jump,

where sumo is more
on the ground and...

more physical.

John was probably the
tallest one of that time.

And,
he was big too.

I believe they were

looking at him to be a
grand champion.

He went into three
consecutive tournaments,

and won all three
tournaments.

He was basically undefeated
for 8 months' period.

Until he decided
to walk out.

I like sumo,
I like the sport.

But I just can't live
the lifestyle.

There's a lot of demands,

and a lot of pressure
put on you.

I had to do anything that my
senior wrestlers asked me.

And, when I interviewed
him the following year,

he felt that he always wanted
to be professional wrestler.

That was his goal.

He was signed with Old Japan
Pro Wrestling July of 1986.

He basically learned from
Japanese side and

American side, together.

He enjoyed professional
wrestling a lot more than

he enjoyed sumo wrestling,
that's for sure.

[Japanese commentary]

He learned the customs,
and spoke Japanese too.

He was treated more
like a local now.

[Singing] My love,

there's only
John in my life.

It's only John forever.

♪

My name is Josephine,
and I'm married with

John "Earthquake" Tenta.

I'm from the Philippines.

Luckily,
I got my visa and,

go to Japan for singing.
Entertainer.

He went into the place
that was I working,

and my mama-san
introduced him to me.

It was love at first sight
for him and for me.

My mama-san told me
he's a wrestler,

but I don't know
nothing about wrestling.

So, to me, so what?

He's really famous.

John was 6"7.

4"11.

It didn't bother me at all.

Don't get it twisted, man.

My mom may be barely 5-foot,
but she's the alpha

in the house,
I promise you that.

[Laughing] They really are
a love story for the ages.

Everything had to be in the
right place and set in motion

at the right time for them
to even find each other

in such a big world.

I know right away that he's
a good man, and big heart.

The following year, WWF
at the time was already

interested in John Tenta
as Hulk Hogan's opponent.

And, John Tenta
asked the company,

"Would it be okay to leave
and join WWE?"

The Great Kabuki, I believe
I was the one who told him,

"Go ahead and do it.
That's your chance."

Before accepting the
offer from the WWF,

John Tenta makes
a commitment,

not just to Josephine,

but to her son,
Jeff, as well.

We were a package deal,
me and my mom.

And, first time I saw him,
he was sitting there

in one of our chairs in
front of a window and just

his whole body would just
cover that whole window.

That's the lasting image
I have the first time

I'm meeting my father.

The only father
I know, so...

He is my dad.

When they got married
shortly after,

we both flew from
Philippines to Canada.

Obviously, I was a little,
a little nervous,

a little scared.
Different country,

whole new world.

As John and his family
settle in British Columbia,

his WWF career ignites with
an in-ring feud against

the world champion
Hulk Hogan.

There he is!
[Indistinct speaking]

Heavyweight Champion,

and he has never
looked better!

There was nothing going on
in the wrestling business

could even be any bigger
than Hulkamania.

When you come in there and
you're working right off

on top, that means you're
somebody and you're good.

Hey, this is Earl Hebner,
and I've been

a referee for
over 40 years.

[Indistinct shouting]

John was a special
friend of mine, always.

We were all a team.

John knew how to
handle the matches,

he knew how to
make 'em exciting.

Oh!

He may have been a rookie,
but he had credentials.

He earned it.

Hi, I'm Jake
"The Snake" Roberts.

WWE superstar, and
master of the DDT.

-DDT!
-DDT!

Stone Mountain,
Georgia!

John took it like he'd
been doing it for years.

I couldn't believe
when I found out

how long he'd
been in wrestling.

I was amazed.

Hogan tries to go
for the finish!

That's the spot that
everybody wants.

You're wrestling the champ,

you're gonna be
paid like a champ.

I think my dad was a great
foe for Hulk Hogan

because he was one of the
only guys that was

actually bigger than him.

He was really great
at generating heat.

So, you needed somebody
that you could really hate.

The last time I came face
to face with Hulk Hogan,

they carried him
out on a stretcher!

And all the little
Hulkamaniacs cried their

little eyes out
because they knew

Hulkamania was dead!

Oh! Forget about it!

You wrestle Hogan,
you made it.

You're that guy,
you're it.

His career was gonna
just take off and

keep taking off and,
it was exciting.

The most important
match for John Tenta,

as a professional wrestler,

happened back
in Japan, 1991.

The Tokyo Dome event
was Hulk Hogan,

Randy Savage, Bret Hart,
all these superstars.

But there was another
attraction,

former sumo wrestler
John Tenta against former

grand champion of sumo
wrestling, Koji Kitao,

rookie professional
wrestler.

Kitao was not popular
professional wrestler.

He thought he was going
to be just as big a star.

He wasn't.

For Kitao, John Tenta was
somebody who tried sumo

wrestling for one year
and didn't even make it.

And this time, actually,

John Tenta was bigger and
better than Kitao.

Kitao think that,
you know,

he was Bruce Lee
or something.

He didn't care about
the rules or

respect and everything.

[Japanese commentary
& audience cheering]

First match,
Earthquake Drop.

Ah!
[Japanese commentary]

John Tenta pinned
Koji Kitao, a former

Yokozuna grand champion
sumo wrestler.

Oh,
Kitao wasn't happy.

I believe second
night at Kobe,

John was gonna go
over too, again.

[Japanese commentary]

That night, Kitao worked
against the booking plan.

We were standing there
because we knew already that

he was, you know, he might
pull something, and he did.

Kitao went like this and
was gonna poke his eye.

"Come on, we gotta have
a fight, we gotta fight."

And I know when he
went for that eye poke,

my dad delivered
a real kick.

Like an MMA match.

After Kitao disqualified
himself from the match,

to end it,

and saw it wasn't going
anywhere, grabbed a mike,

told everyone that
wrestling was fake.

That it was all a lie,
it was all a scam.

"John Tenta,
you are fake,

and this whole
thing is fake."

And he walked
out of the match.

We were all there in
the dressing room,

and John busts in there,
and he said,

"Where's that son of a bitch?

I'm gonna kick his ass."

It was Kitao who got
booed out of the building.

That was the last time
Kitao worked

for SWS company.

He was fired the next day.

John is very kind,
John is very quiet.

Those are the guys that
you have to watch out for.

After former sumo grand
champion turned wrestler

Koji Kitao goes rogue during
a match in Japan...

He's fired for his actions.

But for John Tenta,
the incident cements

his reputation as a
true professional.

When John Tenta went
back to the States,

entire backstage
of WWF asked him,

"I heard you had
shoot match in Japan,

and you took
care of yourself. Great!"

Everybody had so
much respect for John Tenta

"Earthquake" from
that day forward.

Oh, look at this!

Earthquake
doing his thing!

He loved that gimmick.

It made him feel big,
it made him feel like

he was a force to be
reckoned with and,

my dad would
always brag about,

"Look, I'm the most
hated bad guy."

You know, because he
knew he did his job.

Roberts! Last week you
thought you were real smart

trying to put
that snake on me.

I'm telling you here and now,
keep Damion away from me!

I can't stand snakes,
but most of all,

I can't stand you!
I hate your guts!

Damion was my pet
snake that I,

I loved and
trusted, and...

and I always had the snake
with me, you know, then...

at the end of the match,
I'd get the snake out and

drape it across the
fallen opponents.

It was my gimmick.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts
with Damion in the bag.

The idea was for
him to kill it.

They wanted me to get
knocked out of the ring,

and then Tenta do the damage
to the snake where he jumps

over the snake while
I'm down and out,

so I would never see it.

And I told 'em, hell no,
that's not the way to do that.

The way to do that is to
tie me in the ropes and

make me watch it.

Jake always puts Damion
underneath the ring.

And, at that time,

there was another bag
underneath the ring,

so he'd grab the bag,
put it out centre of the ring.

He's got Damion in the ring,
but- From behind again!

Quake ran into the ropes and
gave him this big boom squash.

Don't watch this, folks,
please don't watch it!

No!
He's gonna- No!

Ah!

The amazing Oscar performance
of Jake, you know,

crying and bawling his eyes
out while he watched

my dad sit on Damion.

♪

I went to the bag and
opened up the bag,

and seen Damion all crushed,
which wasn't Damion,

it was a pair of
women's pantyhose

full of hamburger meat.

A tragedy here has befallen
Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

We got some letters
over it, you know,

because it traumatized
so many kids.

You know, it's wrestling,
for God's sake, come on.

Not only that, the aftermath
after squashing Damion.

There's a segment where he
serves Vince McMahon and

Bobby The Brain some burgers
that he'd cooked up and

he called them
Quake burgers.

And that the meat
rhymed with Quake.

You think this is funny?

I gotta eat.

[Beep]!

After my dad feuded with
Hulk Hogan and with

Jake "The Snake",
you know, the storylines

were maybe running
a little bit thin.

My dad approached
Typhoon,

or Tugboat Fred at the time,
to essentially join up.

Hi, this is Fred Ottman,
Tugboat, Typhoon.

The Shockmaster.

The "B-A-double-D"
big steel man.

And also, one half of
The Natural Disasters.

What you got?

And I was Superstar
Big Bubba, too.

I have a memorable dance
contest with Rocky Johnson,

and I got the opportunity to
bust a giant boombox

over his noggin.

Oh! Good night!

Fred, you know, he didn't
know his own strength,

and Rocky was laying there
in a puddle of blood.

I go, "You killed him!"

[Screaming]

That was Fred, or Big Bubba,
wrapped up into a ball.

I'm Jerry Sags,
one half of the

infamous tag team
The Nasty Boys.

That's the time we first
met Big Bubba, Fred.

He'd become many other
gimmicks after that.

Because the old Tugboat
is just like the

Battleship Missouri,
brother.

He's loaded, he's ready
for battle, brother!

Hoo-hoo!
Full steam ahead!

Tugger's coming to town!

No!

Indeed, oh, whoa!

-Talk about power!
-Hoo!

The office called from WWF,
and they go,

"We'd like to put you
and Earthquake together.

Jimmy Hart will
be your manager.

You will be Typhoon and
he will be Earthquake,

The Natural Disasters."

I thought it was a great deal
for Fred, the transition...

because those two
guys together were...

monsters.

[Announcer] 852 pounds
combined weight!

Gotta be a record.

We wrestled John
and Fred a lot.

But you had to change your
whole game plan up because

you weren't throwing these
guys in the rope and

power bombing 'em or...

You'd go to give them
a double tackle,

but me and Niles would both
get knocked on our ass,

you know.

You let Fred do his
strongman stuff and

Quake could work
with anybody.

They were just
another notch,

one of the greatest
teams we wrestled.

So, you got the Earthquake
and you got Typhoon.

In that kind of weather,
you shouldn't be wrestling.

[Cheering &
indistinct shouting]

1, 2, 3!

-[Match bell ringing]
-I can't hear you!

This is deafening!

Chasing the dream, the
champ deal, it's awesome.

And having it is awesome.

But, you may be in
Connecticut today or

Madison Square Garden,

and then had to
fly out to LA.

The schedule of the
WWE was really brutal.

7 days a week, twice on
Saturday, twice on Sunday.

You're like an absentee
father, sort of.

Your wife is the stronghold
of the household,

and she's taking care of the
family while you're gone.

He'd be gone a
month at a time,

and he'd be home
for a couple days.

Clearly, it was tough
on my mom.

New environment,
new country.

She expected him to be
home a little bit more.

John was having a hard
time too, because I'm,

I'm new to the place.

So, so he's, he's
worried about me.

Especially when
I have Jeffrey,

and Joanna at that time.

I didn't know who
he was because

I saw him
very seldomly.

It was this massive giant
walking through the door,

and the person who's been
with me the most is

this petite, tiny
Filipino woman.

And, I'm sure that
broke his heart,

which makes me sad
to think about.

The pressure to come home
is monster sized, man.

How much is too much?

The answer is,
it was all too much.

But, that didn't matter
to Vince McMahon.

And there he is,
there's my buddy, Quake.

And I can't leave him
by himself, you know,

The Disasters have
to be together,

spending some time.

And we're equal opportunity
smashers, okay, because...

there's Money Incorporated
having a bad day.

[Indistinct shouting]

In 1992, The Natural
Disasters dominate the WWF

tag team scene, setting
themselves apart backstage

with their unique approach
to life on the road.

There were guys that
their goal was about

a strip club or women.
Where's the party?

John was neither of those.

And Fred was
neither of those.

I wasn't ever really
a big drinker.

I didn't do drugs
and that stuff.

You know, I'd be with John,
we'd go in the room and

bullshit and talk about
homelife and stupid shit that

we'd seen on the road.

Sometimes it's better just to
sit back and see it unfurl.

They were straight up guys,
you know what I mean?

But the two son of a bitches
could put some food away,

you know what I mean?
[Laughing]

Like, you know?

The plate couldn't
hold enough.

I'm like, "Fred, you go
back for more."

It looked like Mount St.
Helen's or something,

you know, but he would go
back for four more plates.

They really became
close friends,

that Natural Disaster run.
And it was a good run.

At the beginning of 1993,

the reign of the
Natural Disasters

comes to an end as
John Tenta returns to Japan.

Fred Ottman continues to
wrestle for the WWF

until later that year when
an unthinkable tragedy

brings Fred
home to Florida.

I was opening
two bars in Key West.

My brother-in-law Randy
was supposed to

run the business when
I was on the road,

and my brother-in-law
was out on the phone

by the building,
and there was some

young kids that were there.

And they started messing
with a good friend of his.

And Randy drops the phone
and goes over to try to

de-escalate the situation.

Well, the oldest guy,
he had a pistol.

-And shot the gun.
-[Gunshot]

And, he hit
my brother-in-law,

and he dropped dead...

on the spot.

And so, with everything
I had going on,

there was no one to
take over the business,

and it took me off the
road and, and ah...

not what I had planned.

But, you know,
my family.

While Fred struggles
to help his family,

John's work schedule in
Japan takes him

further away
from his own.

My dad,
at the time,

the travel was starting
to wear on him.

My mom and dad got into
a pretty big fight

just because he wasn't
home enough.

It was a pretty big
blow out, you know,

my mom was just tired
of not, you know,

seeing him as often as
she would've liked to,

I remember that day like
it was yesterday, man.

In August of 1993,

Fred Ottman makes
his return to the ring

for the WWF's
rival WCW,

but soon finds himself at
the centre of one of the most

embarrassing moments
in wrestling history...

while the
cameras are live.

♪

The Shockmaster
was the gimmick.

This was live TV.

Tonight's special
guests are Sting!

The British Bulldog
Davey Boy Smith!

And their mystery guest!

It was Sting and Davey Boy,
they're tagged up.

And it was the Harlem Heat
on the other side,

and Fred was
supposed to attack

Harlem Heat or something.

Hey! They're gonna tell us
before you get carried away

who their special tag team
partner is, brother!

You better cool down!

The whole idea was that I
was the mystery partner,

have me bust through a
wall with this gimmick on.

The true Shockmaster was
almost like a comic book,

like a Darth Vader head
or something, right?

"Here, try this on.
This is what you're gonna

wear when you go
through here."

It's got two
little pin holes.

Like, little, little
pin holes, like this.

At most. And then
glitter is coming in.

They built a wall that was
2x4 studs, you know,

12, 14 inch on centre.

5/8 sheet rock,
like a wall in your house.

Now, they didn't
gimmick the wall though.

They didn't scour it or
anything like that

to make it easier.

Guy gives me the cue,
he says, "Fred,

you're gonna have to hit
that wall hard, man."

-Shockmaster?
-I could show it to you.

Do you want to see
what I'm talking about?

Our partner is going to
shock the world because...

he is none other than
The Shockmaster!

Alright!

The Shockmaster!
Ha-ha-ha-ha!

What the ----?

I go, what in the hell-
was that, was that Fred?

The Shockmaster!
Alright!

The Shockmaster!
Whoa! I told ya!

He ----ing fell down!

[Laughing]

It looked like he hit the
thing and come down!

[Laughing]

What happened was
I hit it so hard,

it just went- [Whistling]

Like this when I went
through the wall

it put me straight
over like a teeter totter

in a kids' playground.

[Laughing]

He was, he was
looking for the,

for the gimmick.

[Laughing]

[Deep voice] They call me
The Shockmaster.

What a lot of people
don't know is

that wasn't Fred's
voice... talking.

It was Ole Anderson
with his growly voice

was on a microphone.

[Shockmaster] Come after me,
Sid. I'm ready.

[Haku] Is this the
end of it? [Laughing]

We might as well.
We can't dump this one.

[Laughing]

Fred,
I still love you.

[Laughing]

I never seen that
shit before!

[Laughing]

He was gonna crush
people or shock 'em,

whatever he
was gonna do.

But, he fell.
And that was-

[Laughing] And that was
the end of that.

It was horrendous,
but you know what,

you can turn a negative
into a positive.

It's been very,
very good to me.

That's the classic
Shockmaster.

It made an internet
sensation out of Fred

falling through
the wall.

So, if there'd be like a
plane crash and Fred ran in

and saved like all the school
kids out of the plane before

it blew it up, he'd still be
remembered as Shockmaster.

[Laughing] You know?
It's funny as shit.

Oh, my goodness.

[Laughing]

Earthquake!
Victorious!

A former star for
Vince McMahon's WWF,

John Tenta has grown
disillusioned with the

company and the toll its
aggressive schedule

took on his family.

I think that he was ready to
find a solution that would

allow him to be with
his family more.

And I think at that time,

WCW kind of threw him
the life raft.

They gave him such
big contracts and

less working
days on the road.

We moved from
Canada to Florida...

so that my dad could...

have more time at home.

It was so easy to be
around him and to be

around family and, just to
enjoy each other,

whether it was something like
going to Disney or it was a

Thursday night and I
popped in a laser disc

so we could
sing karaoke.

He is a karaoke
king, man.

Ah, "House of
the Rising Sun"

was one of his favourite
songs he used to sing.

We'd sing together,

and we liked the duet of
"Endless Love".

When my dad was home,
he showed up to

any event, any show,
any game.

Anything that
we had going on.

That was a nice
base hit there.

He was all about
making memories and

doing things
with the family.

-That's awesome.
-Thank you, sweetie.

But as John's family
life is solidified,

his career in the
ring is coming apart.

Introducing first,
Avalanche!

The WCW, he couldn't
use the Earthquake name,

so he came in
as Avalanche.

Vince McMahon owned
the name Earthquake.

To go out there and change
your name and everything,

it confuses the fans.

Avalanche was too
close to Earthquake.

And so, Dad would be kind of
infringing on that trademark

so, unfortunately that
gimmick didn't last very long.

After Avalanche, we all
got graced with Shark.

Ah, which he
absolutely hated.

They put a fin on him.
I thought to myself,

that's, that's
----ing stupid.

He did it just because,
you know,

it's supporting the family.
Once again, it's a job.

You know, he's gonna do
what he needs to do

to make it work and
be all-in on it.

I just think maybe they just
never could get the right...

character that they
wanted out of him.

After a year of portraying
the Shark in WCW,

John finally gets
the opportunity to

define himself
in the ring.

I'm not The Shark.
I'm not a fish.

I'm not an Avalanche.

I'm a man.
John Tenta!

That very much felt like it
was his mike drop moment.

With all of, all of
these gimmicks.

But the bottom line is he was
never given the story lines

that he had
in the WWE.

He was never put in the
position to make money

in WCW.

He was just used.

But in 1998 during what
is supposed to be

his triumphant return to the
WWF, John Tenta is

forced into his
oddest gimmick yet.

The Golga character was
a member of The Oddities,

where you had
Luna Vachon,

Kurrgan, and
Giant Silva.

He had this huge Cartman
doll that he brought out

to the ring with him.
He was under a mask.

Putting John under a mask
was just humiliation.

You know, they
didn't want him to...

to get the kudos that he
would've had if they just

round him out there
as Earthquake.

They wanted to do something
that was just grotesque.

Even when he was
The Shark or The Avalanche,

he was Earthquake.
Even when he was Golga,

he was Earthquake.

Everybody wanted
Earthquake back,

and all these other gimmicks
was just trying to

get back to, you know,
his glory days.

When Golga ran
its course,

he couldn't go
back to the WCW.

Ah, where else
could he go?

Which is likely why that
sparked his wrestling school

that he opened up in,
in Sanford.

It didn't work out.

It's like always
money coming out,

but nothing's
really coming in.

We had a bankruptcy.

Everything changed.

He has the school for,

maybe I would say a
year or under a year.

And then, he started
doing the retail.

He got a job at the mall,

and he worked in the
Big & Tall section.

And you know, he'd have
fans recognize him.

Dude was working in the
men's department,

you know,
sweating his ass off.

It is incredibly hard to go
from being a superstar...

to working
retail somewhere.

John was gonna make a
living for his family,

regardless of what it was.

If he had to shovel shit,
he'd do it

to provide
for his family.

After my dad left retail,
he started truck driving.

He, he saw it as an
opportunity to make

a little bit more money.

You know, it wasn't
a glamorous job.

He would be,
you know, peeing in,

in gallon jugs because you
just don't have time to

stop at a truck stop.

And he started to notice
that there were

blood clots in his urine.

And, he was on
the road, and so,

he wasn't able to get to a
doctor very quickly and he

kind of kept it a secret from
my mom for a little while.

He kind of got away with...

letting this, this thing,
this tumour in his bladder

grow for longer than
it should have.

When he went
to the doctor,

they gave him a very
short prognosis.

And, said that there
wasn't anything that

they were going
to be able to do.

Said it was already
advanced too far.

It's already too late 'cause
the size of the tumour

is like a baseball size.

After being diagnosed with
advanced bladder cancer,

John Tenta and his wife
must break the news

to their children.

My parents, um...

sat me and my
siblings down, and...

they said that my
dad had cancer, um,

and that they were going to
Houston for a second opinion.

There were a lot
of tears and...

a lot of worry
and fear.

My sister works in,
in healthcare.

And, she told me that
bladder cancer is

one of the most
curable cancers.

And so, for that to take him
down because

he was away from home
or you know...

he kept it a secret,
ah...

really,
it's a bummer to hear.

Yeah,
it definitely sucked.

He felt like if he
was still wrestling,

they might have
caught it earlier.

And he might have had
a fighting chance.

Ah, I walked in on him
sitting at the edge of

the bed watching
some old tapes.

There were VHS tapes
all over the floor,

and I heard him laughing.

And he was watching the
segment on prime time.

He was quoting himself in the
segment, he was loving it,

he was making himself laugh
with the jokes that

he was telling.

I do think that my dad
was kind of

forged to be tough,
you know.

And it's funny, you know,
you think like, oh,

you just gotta fight
as hard as you can.

But it's so much more
than that, right.

It's not like he could...

do a body slam to the
tumours in his body.

As one of the wrestling
world's most imposing figures

takes on the
battle of his life,

few in the business even
know of his struggle.

John,
I wish that...

he told me...

that...

he needed help.

Especially it wasn't
just about you,

but it was also
for your family.

But...

too late to find out that
you kept it to yourself.

In the summer of 2005...

gosh, my dad looked
actually great that summer.

He looked a lot
like himself.

He was going through chemo
and all that stuff, and...

you know, they still
had high hopes that

they were gonna
beat it, and...

I was getting married
that June 2005.

Before the wedding, he called
me on the phone, he says,

"Fred," he says, "The
cancer is back," you know.

We're trying to see if it
can be fixed, you know.

So, we didn't
tell the kids.

At the wedding, my brother
and his wife had

the karaoke machine
set up and...

one of my mom's
songs to my dad

is, "You Needed Me".

And, so she was starting
to sing that song and...

kind of halfway through,

she just started breaking
down and crying.

My dad came
to my mom, and

they had that
crying session,

just hugging each
other and crying.

Love him so much.

When you love someone,
nothing is hard,

as long as you...

you're with that
person that you love.

At that point, they pretty
much figured it was,

you know, game over
for my dad.

Just before his eldest
son Jeff's wedding,

John Tenta learns
that the cancer has

spread throughout
his body.

You know, looking back,
it's not shocking that

he wasn't quick
to tell us. Maybe,

maybe he knew it was
bad from the beginning and,

you know, was just
trying to stretch out

as much time
as he could.

And I told him that...

"Don't you worry."

♪

"The kids and I
are gonna be okay.

So if it's time..."

He can go.

But before he
closed his eyes,

one by one, they,
they talked to him.

I couldn't stop thanking him
for the life that he's

been able to give us,
you know, give me.

He didn't need to
take me along,

but he did anyways.

And, I greatly appreciated
everything that he's done,

made me a better person,
better man, you know.

I told him how
much I loved him.

I told him- [Voice breaking]
Thank you...

for being, um,
such a great dad.

[Sniffling]

And I remember just throwing
myself on top of him

one more time and giving
him one more hug.

[Sniffling]

♪

[Sighing]

My dad loved to laugh,

and so any time he
would tell a joke...

or if he would
tease my mom,

or he saw me from
across the room,

he'd flash a
wink at me.

And so...

I remember when it was,
it was my turn to go in.

I went to go and
talk to him-

I don't remember
what I said.

But he winked at me.

♪

In his final moments,

he was looking at
each of us in the room,

and locking eyes
with us, and...

my dad died while I
was holding his hand.

He passed away on
June 7th, 2006.

Which was just, gosh,

a couple weeks from
his 43rd birthday.

And, a couple months before
his first grandkid, so...

You can never forget
about it, you know.

It's still hard.

It was Fred who
called me about John.

But, those calls...

for our era of guys
happen too many times.

Too many times.

It was just horrible
to hear it 'cause

he was such
a sweet man.

John Tenta was laid to
rest in Houston, Texas

surrounded by
the love his family,

but without any
representation from the

business he devoted himself
to for over 20 years.

There's no wrestlers.

No flowers from...

the boss.

The amount of work that
my dad had put out there,

for the amount of
punishment he put, you know,

his body through for
entertainment and

for his bosses and,

I just wish that they
would've, you know,

tried a little harder to
reach out to him and

to show more love.

Because he was
a gentle giant,

and he would've done
anything for anybody.

John, and Jimmy Hart,
and my brother

who just passed
away last July,

we were a family
on the road.

This was my family.

Talking about it now,
it's heart breaking for me.

When you lose a good
friend like that.

I will always remember
John because

this is my sumo brother.

And that's how I am gonna
remember John forever.

A brother.

He should be
remembered as

a wrestler who
lived the fullest.

You know,
he came to Japan,

and he had very
healthy good run

as a professional
wrestler.

I stopped watching
wrestling for years,

and recently I've now
been more interested in

watching my
dad's matches.

I feel a sense of pride.

I can watch them, and
I can be amazed...

that my dad did that.

He was a true legend.

Not just for his talent.

Him as a person, he was
the entire package.

I love you, brother.

I love you.

What is that picture of
Mom and Dad right there?

John is the love of my life.

My...

soulmate.

Well, this is the first
picture of him and me.

And he wrote something
in the back too,

so this was in 19...

-'86?
-'86?

-December.
-Yeah.

Would you like-

[Laughing]

"This is our first picture
taken together.

I was so happy
being with you.

It made me feel so good.

I can hardly wait until we
are together all the time."

"Always remember...

I love you, John."

If you look up
to the heaven,

you're gonna see
him smiling,

to see how the
kids turned out.

He's proof that you
can be nice and

work really hard,
and...

leave an impact.

My dad was many things
to many different people.

But to us, he was
just a great dad.

Yeah.