Post by tamuthetongantiger on Jun 17, 2006 23:40:04 GMT -5
Please forgive me for adding to what must be thousands of posts about the passing of John Tenta. In exchange for your understanding about my own need to have my say on the matter, I promise to be brief.
John Tenta, more than any major figure in the sport that I know of, really got it.
Reread his introduction to RD's first book. Tenta jut got it. He understood that the sport is also an art and that you can be the main foe and monster heel challenging Hulk Hogan at one point and that you can be an "Oddity" or a Shark at another.
He accepted his roles. He played them with enthusiasm. He also understood, where so many of his peers don't, that you can get a role that puts you at the top and can also get one that even you know is a joke. Whatever happens, the best, like Tenta, play their parts with enthusiasm.
Tenta is one of the few who has a career that spans the gamut from the main event to the sideshow freak. He crushed Hulk Hogan one week and then crushed a bag full of hamburger meat that was meant to represent a snake the next. He did it all with pride, that goes without saying. But he added something more important than pride -- he committed himself, every single time.
I promised that this would be short and I lied. Sorry. So I'll end with this note: Tenta, probably more that any other notable star, understood that to do well in wrestling means being willing to give the same effort when you're at the bottom that you would when you're at the top. Tenta played both those roles. Wherever he was on the card, he always gave us his maximum effort. Most performers can't or won't do that. Why did Tenta? Well, if you want to know, re-read his intro to RD's first book.
John Tenta, more than any major figure in the sport that I know of, really got it.
Reread his introduction to RD's first book. Tenta jut got it. He understood that the sport is also an art and that you can be the main foe and monster heel challenging Hulk Hogan at one point and that you can be an "Oddity" or a Shark at another.
He accepted his roles. He played them with enthusiasm. He also understood, where so many of his peers don't, that you can get a role that puts you at the top and can also get one that even you know is a joke. Whatever happens, the best, like Tenta, play their parts with enthusiasm.
Tenta is one of the few who has a career that spans the gamut from the main event to the sideshow freak. He crushed Hulk Hogan one week and then crushed a bag full of hamburger meat that was meant to represent a snake the next. He did it all with pride, that goes without saying. But he added something more important than pride -- he committed himself, every single time.
I promised that this would be short and I lied. Sorry. So I'll end with this note: Tenta, probably more that any other notable star, understood that to do well in wrestling means being willing to give the same effort when you're at the bottom that you would when you're at the top. Tenta played both those roles. Wherever he was on the card, he always gave us his maximum effort. Most performers can't or won't do that. Why did Tenta? Well, if you want to know, re-read his intro to RD's first book.