Happ Hazzard Posted July 7, 2019 Posted July 7, 2019 Had Tenta wrestled in the US before becoming Earthquake? I always remember him as being the first Hogan opponent who seemed to be a WWF creation as opposed to someone who I was aware of from elsewhere first. None of the mags AFAIK covered the Vancouver territory.
odessasteps Posted July 7, 2019 Posted July 7, 2019 (edited) According to Cagematch, just AJPW and Vancouver before his first WWF tv taping. Tenta has some funny AJPW results. tenta/kabuki d. Austin Idol/Tommy Rich tenta/tiger mask d. Idol & Rich tenta d. Buddy landell tenta/tiger mask d. The moondogs baba / tenta d. George weingroff / tigerjeet singh Edited July 7, 2019 by odessasteps
AxB Posted July 7, 2019 Posted July 7, 2019 Tenta went to AJPW from Sumo. He was supposed to be the first non-Japanese Yokozuna, but he couldn't adjust to the lifestyle or something.
Ryan Posted July 7, 2019 Posted July 7, 2019 (edited) There is a reason he did the worked sumo match with Yokozuna. He is only 23 in that image. So, no, he never had a full head of hair. Edited July 7, 2019 by Ryan 2 1
Curt McGirt Posted July 7, 2019 Posted July 7, 2019 That match is burned into my brain for some reason
BurningBeard Posted July 8, 2019 Posted July 8, 2019 On 7/7/2019 at 2:25 AM, Happ Hazzard said: Had Tenta wrestled in the US before becoming Earthquake? I remember him getting a random shoutout from Bill Watts on commentary during an episode of Mid South. I don't know if he was being scouted or what, but as far as I know that's all it amounted too.
Pete Posted July 8, 2019 Posted July 8, 2019 Cross-posted from the photos thread after I was googling his sumo name (Kototenzan, "Heavenly Mountain Harp"). Look at Tenta go completely horizontal on that thing! 3
Curt McGirt Posted July 8, 2019 Posted July 8, 2019 So does that mean Hiroyoshi Tenzan's last name is effectively "Mountain Harp"?
lostinube Posted July 9, 2019 Posted July 9, 2019 It's the Koto part of the name that is a harp . Tenzan is heavenly mountain. Anyway, I think Tenta was going places in sumo but a combination of things ended that. But he was not there long enough to be a high level sumo wrestler. He was at a place that would be like AA ball at best whereas Tenryu was at the highest level and Akebono was of course, an actual yokozuna. Everyone tends to make it seem like he was on the cusp of being a yokozuna for whatever reason. 1
lostinube Posted July 9, 2019 Posted July 9, 2019 Wait. How did I not know that it was King Curtis Iaukea who suggested sumo to Konishiki? He got him hooked up with Jesse Kuhaulua, the first sumotori from Hawaii.
ka-to Posted July 9, 2019 Posted July 9, 2019 As seen in the magazine photo, Tenta was at a level where he was not yet allowed to to have sumo hair style. Besides that, I wish that there was an English language sumo magazine now. 1
Curt McGirt Posted July 9, 2019 Posted July 9, 2019 11 hours ago, lostinube said: It's the Koto part of the name that is a harp . Tenzan is heavenly mountain. Ah, thanks. I forgot that Japanese is in reverse to English language in sentence structure (or at least seems that way).
Ryan Posted July 9, 2019 Posted July 9, 2019 On 7/8/2019 at 5:35 PM, Curt McGirt said: So does that mean Hiroyoshi Tenzan's last name is effectively "Mountain Harp"? And his last name is Yamamoto! Oh wait, uh, kayfabe. I never did know until just now why he got the name. "The name was given to him by Tokyo Joe, who derived the name from the Tien Shan mountains" 1
ReiseReise Posted July 19, 2019 Posted July 19, 2019 On 7/10/2019 at 12:18 AM, ka-to said: As seen in the magazine photo, Tenta was at a level where he was not yet allowed to to have sumo hair style. Besides that, I wish that there was an English language sumo magazine now. You're very welcome to join our little thread of Sumo discussion in the Sport-Forum. Not that we are experts, but we love to talk about it on occasion and we are happy about everyone who wants to join *shameless plug* Tenta was 21-0 and edged to the salaried level. I don't think he was ever really happy in Sumo, maybe with being in Japan in general. I vaguely remember him saying something to that extent. Also, the amount of back elbows in the Tenta match is mesmerizing.
BloodyChamp Posted July 20, 2019 Posted July 20, 2019 Is there a Flyin Brian vs Bradstreet match from The Omni floating around somewhere? I can’t find 1 but I was watching Joey Maggs vs Badstreet in what was either a rematch of their Lightweight Tournament or a repeat of that match on the Power Hour with JR doing overdubbed commentary. I think it’s option 2 because he said something like fans have been writing wanting to know more about the Lightheavyweight Tournament so we bring you this match, followed by the explanation that Flyin Brian beat Badstreet at the Clash in the tournament. Next he said they had a rematch last Thursday night that was 1 of the best Lightheavyweight matches he’d ever called. I’m assuming that was an Omni match. He didn’t say anymore about it. Obviously he was selling there but of course the Omni produced a ton of forgotten classic, especially with midcard guys going for extra lengths of time. I’d definitely be down for some 20 minute Brian vs Brad.
No Point Stance Posted July 27, 2019 Posted July 27, 2019 Is there footage anywhere online of a WCW skit where Norman Smiley stole a belt from some backyarder kid? Just saw a reference to it and it sounds like gold.
grilledcheese Posted July 27, 2019 Posted July 27, 2019 3 hours ago, No Point Stance said: Is there footage anywhere online of a WCW skit where Norman Smiley stole a belt from some backyarder kid? Just saw a reference to it and it sounds like gold. It's the same Thunder as the Candido-Funk horse stall incident. 5/31/2000. It's in a couple of parts through the show, if you want to watch the entire deal. 1
cwoy2j Posted July 27, 2019 Posted July 27, 2019 (edited) 7 hours ago, grilledcheese said: It's the same Thunder as the Candido-Funk horse stall incident. 5/31/2000. It's in a couple of parts through the show, if you want to watch the entire deal. "The horse with one of the biggest highspots of the night!" "Fuck you fucking horse! I'll kick your fucking ass!" Edited July 27, 2019 by cwoy2j 2
BurningBeard Posted July 29, 2019 Posted July 29, 2019 Okay, what if time. It's an accepted fact that Magnum TA was being given the keys to the kingdom in the late 80s/early 90s. This was prior to Turner buying Crockett and Luger and Sting being seen as the bankable stars of the future. Say Magnum doesn't get in his accident and does unseat Flair in 88/89, how does the trajectory of WCW change if at all? Do Sting and/or Luger end up in upper midcarder territory forever? Does he leave with others to WWF in 89 only to make his way back in a couple of years? How does Magnum evolve into the 90s with the advent of the nWo and Attitude era?
Mister TV Posted July 29, 2019 Posted July 29, 2019 5 hours ago, CreativeControl said: Okay, what if time. It's an accepted fact that Magnum TA was being given the keys to the kingdom in the late 80s/early 90s. This was prior to Turner buying Crockett and Luger and Sting being seen as the bankable stars of the future. Say Magnum doesn't get in his accident and does unseat Flair in 88/89, how does the trajectory of WCW change if at all? Do Sting and/or Luger end up in upper midcarder territory forever? Does he leave with others to WWF in 89 only to make his way back in a couple of years? How does Magnum evolve into the 90s with the advent of the nWo and Attitude era? Magnum needed to beat Flair for the belt sometime in 1987, if they did the endless chase with all of the screwy finishes into 1988 he would have cooled off and gotten a "Lex Loser" can't win the big one vibe. The heel champ always keeping the belt by the skin of his teeth model of the NWA/JCP was so ingrained into everyone involved that I can't see them giving Magnum a run longer than a few months, he needed to be a champion in the style of Bruno and Backlund. I always thought Vince would have signed him sometime in 1987, I always pictured Magnum being booked as if they combined 87/88 Jake Roberts and Jim Duggan, he would have drawn money in a feud with someone like Rick Rude or defending the good old USA and he was way more reliable than those two. 1
Dewar Posted July 29, 2019 Posted July 29, 2019 Happjack is correct, the way the NWA booked their world title would have totally screwed TA. He would have needed a year plus title reign, but they would have been wanting to put the belt back on Flair after three or four months. I believe he ends up in the WWF, in the Mr. Wonderful to Hulk Hogan role for awhile. Wins the IC belt, eventually gets turned to the dark side by Bobby Heenan, and has a big money run with Hogan.
AxB Posted July 29, 2019 Posted July 29, 2019 His gimmick was very much of the 80s though, so I'm thinking if he was still around in 93, 94 time he'd be better as a grumpy heel. Maybe him and Windham would be in the Hollywood Blondes spot.
odessasteps Posted July 29, 2019 Posted July 29, 2019 I can see Magnum beating Flair and then turning heel so Dusty could beat him for the belt. 1
BurningBeard Posted July 29, 2019 Posted July 29, 2019 (edited) See that's the other thing, I can never picture him as a heel. I'm sure he could pull it off, but just as Rick Rude is the quintessential heel to me, Magnum is up there as one of the ultimate babyfaces in that sweet spot of women wanting him and men wanting to be him. Into the 90s I always pictured him in the DDP role but he's maybe too old school to roll with the constant regime changes and politics. Would he have coped with Dusty not protecting/grooming him? Edited July 29, 2019 by CreativeControl
odessasteps Posted July 29, 2019 Posted July 29, 2019 Given his short fuse, I can easily see him flipping out over something. He could also have easily been a tweeter, maybe like Dutch was then.
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