Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
Jimmy Snuka
| Jimmy Snuka | |
|---|---|
 Snuka in 2011 | |
| Birth name | James Wiley Smith |
| Born | May 18, 1943 Suva, Fiji[a] |
| Died | January 15, 2017 (aged 73) Coral Springs, Florida, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | Jimmy "Deuce" Snuka, Jr., Liana Snuka and Tamina |
| Family | Anoaʻi[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Jimmy Snuka[2] Jimmy Kealoha[3] Lani Kealoha[4] Tami Snuka[3] The Superfly Big Snuka[3] Great Snuka[4] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[5] |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg)[5] |
| Billed from | The Fiji Islands[2] |
| Trained by | Danny Hodge[2] |
| Debut | 1968[6] |
| Retired | 2015[7] |
James Reiher Snuka[b] (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian and American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.
Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010s. He was best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in the 1980s to where he was credited with introducing the high-flying wrestling style.[2] He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1996, and was the inaugural ECW World Heavyweight Champion (a title he held twice) in Eastern Championship Wrestling (later Extreme Championship Wrestling). His children, Sim Snuka and Tamina Snuka, are both professional wrestlers.
Snuka was indicted and arrested in September 2015 on third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges in relation to the May 1983 death of his girlfriend and mistress, Nancy Argentino, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He pleaded not guilty,[9][10] but was found unfit to stand trial in June 2016 due to dementia.[11] Terminally ill with abdominal issues,[12] his charges were dismissed on January 3, 2017, twelve days before his death.[13]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Superfly Snuka and the Anoa'i Family".
- ^ a b c d ""Superfly" Jimmy Snuka bio". WWE. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
- ^ a b c Meltzer, Dave (1996). The Wrestling Observer's Who's Who in Pro Wrestling. Wrestling Observer. pp. 111–112.
- ^ a b Historical Dictionary of Wrestling. Scarecrow Press. 2014. p. 272. ISBN 9780810879263.
- ^ a b Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ Shields, Brian (2010). Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s. Simon & Schuster. p. 51. ISBN 978-1416532576.
- ^ Mason Schroeder, Laurie (May 13, 2016). "Psychologist says Snuka 'shell of a man,' but video shows 'Superfly Splash' from last year". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
- ^ Mooneyham, Mike (January 20, 2013). "Superfly Jimmy Snuka soars again in new book". The Post and Courier. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
- ^ Gamiz, Manuel Jr. (September 1, 2015). "Wrestling legend Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka to be charged in girlfriend's 1983 death". The Morning Call. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
- ^ "Ex-wrestler Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka charged in girlfriend's 1983 death". The Record (Bergen County). Associated Press. September 1, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
Snuka, now 72 and living in Waterford Township, N.J., wrote about Argentino's death in his 2012 autobiography, maintaining his innocence and saying the episode had ruined his life.
- ^ "Judge: Former pro wrestler "Superfly" Snuka incompetent to stand trial". CBS News. June 1, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
sixwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
dismissedwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Previous Page Next Page
