[5] Inspired by professional wrestlers Gene Kiniski and Don Leo Jonathan, Tenta decided to pursue wrestling at age 6.

Tenta won an athletic scholarship to Louisiana State University (LSU), where he competed in NCAA-level collegiate wrestling.

The combination of his size—he already weighed 423 lb (192 kg) at a height of 6' 5.75" (197 cm)[8]—and training as a wrestler were to his advantage in learning and advancing in the sport.

The novice won all of his 24 bouts in his eight-month active career,[9] and was later renamed Kototenzan Toshimitsu (琴天山 俊光), surname meaning Heavenly Mountain Harp.

The novelty of being a rare Westerner rikishi in the mid-1980s, and the third-ever white man, garnered him press coverage, and he earned the additional nickname of the "Canadian Comet".

[10] Despite doing well as a newcomer he soon quit the sport due to the difficulty of the sumo lifestyle and the toll the hard ring surface was taking on his body.

"[12] In addition, the sumo world frowned on the large tattoo of a tiger on his left biceps and, though he covered it during matches, would have required him to remove it via skin graft before moving up to the higher-level competitions.

[citation needed] Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi After leaving sumo, he quickly signed up for puroresu (Japanese pro wrestling) under the tutelage of Shohei "Giant" Baba.

[5] Tenta had a solid 18-month career, teaming with Baba, Jumbo Tsuruta, and The Great Kabuki, before getting the attention of American pro-wrestling promoters, as well as making tours in Vancouver for Al Tomko's NWA All Star Wrestling where he first competed as a babyface, but later turned heel when he began being managed by "Gentleman" Jonathan Sayers.

Tenta came down into the ring, identified himself as "John from West Virginia" and proceeded to sit on Bravo's back as he did a set of push-ups.

[21] On April 1, 1991, WWF held a joint show in Kobe with Japanese promotion Super World of Sports called SWS Wrestle Dream.

After the match, Kitao immediately grabbed a microphone and began telling the audience that wrestling is fake and that Tenta never could really beat him, as other Japanese wrestlers attempted to restrain him.

In reality, Roberts' bag – one of two left at ringside for the match – contained pantyhose stuffed with hamburger, and a small motor to simulate a "live snake."

Later in 1991, Earthquake formed a tag team with Typhoon (Tenta's friend, Fred Ottman, who had previously wrestled as Tugboat before turning heel) called The Natural Disasters, managed by Jimmy Hart.

He returned to the WWF in January 1994 when he assisted Bret Hart in a match with Shawn Michaels by countering Diesel's interference.

Footage of Yokozuna hitting a Banzai Drop at the show was televised before the qualifying match to explain his absence in which Doink the Clown was his replacement.

He believed this could be the beginning of a long term gimmick and even changed the tattoo on his arm of an LSU Tiger to that of a shark, a process that took 24 hours.

At Fall Brawl (1995), Tenta teamed with other members of The Dungeon of Doom (Kamala, The Zodiac and Meng with The Taskmaster) to face The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Lex Luger and Sting) in a WarGames match where they lost.

On the July 1, 1996 edition of Nitro, Tenta got another shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against The Giant but failed to win the title.

In 1999, Tenta returned to WCW for one night wrestling under his real name when he defeated Lash LeRoux on Monday Nitro in a dark match.

He wrestled under a gold mask as one of the Oddities and the character had a fascination with Eric Cartman from the TV series South Park.

At SummerSlam, The Oddities defeated Kaientai (Taka Michinoku, Dick Togo, Mens Teioh and Sho Funaki) in a Handicap match.

On the September 12 edition of Raw Saturday Night, The Oddities faced The Disciples of Apocalypse which ended in a No Contest when the top ring rope fell off.

On the October 18 edition of Heat, The Oddities defeated Los Boricuas (Jose Estrada, Miguel Pérez, Jr. and Jesus Castillo).

On the October 26 edition of Raw is War, The Oddities and Insane Clown Posse lost to Kaientai in an 8-man tag team match by DQ when ICP shoved the referee.

At Rock Bottom: In Your House, which took place in Tenta's hometown of Vancouver, The Oddities (Golga and Kurrgan) lost to The Headbangers.

At this time, Tenta (dressed in his Earthquake singlet) became a top gaijin during the transition period of owner Mrs. Baba selling the company to Keiji Muto.

Tenta retired from wrestling in 2004 after it was revealed that he had developed bladder cancer and was given a 20% chance to live, assuming he continued with his chemotherapy treatments.

During his November 18, 2005 interview on WrestleCrap Radio, Tenta announced that a recent radiation dosage did not go as planned, and had no effect on the tumor.

When he finally got to be the good guy outside the ring, he really loved the reaction he got and backstage everyone in the back respected the hell out of John and we were all crushed when he passed away."