10 Wrestlers Who Took Kayfabe WAY Too Seriously
6. John Tenta
Arguably best known for that time he crushed Hulk Hogan's ribs in a heated post-WrestleMania VI angle as Earthquake, John Tenta endured a litany of odd gimmick re-packagings throughout his pro-wrestling run.
Originally a sumo wrestler, the gargantuan Tenta's bicep tattoo of a tiger was covered up throughout his run in the sport. In Japan, tattoos are widely frowned upon thanks to their prevalence in Yakuza culture. Considering the difficulty Tenta's ink had caused him, surely he wouldn't go and do something silly like, say, getting a much larger tattoo done over it...
Unfortunately, Tenta's inexplicable dedication to a new persona in WCW prompted him to do just that. In 1995, the behemoth was handed a new, shark-themed character. In a staggering show of commitment to being The Shark, Tenta got in the tattoo chair for a total session time of 24 hours to have his tiger piece covered up with a far more sizeable ocean predator.
Considering the gimmick came and went quicker than an RKO outta nowhere, Tenta's efforts looked utterly ridiculous not long after they were first unveiled. Eating pinfalls like they were going out of style, the Shark persona was a long, sad fall from the Canadian super heavyweight's brief run as a Cartoon Era beast.