Jimmy Snuka

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James Heron FijiFiji
Jimmy Superfly Snuka Paparazzo Photography.jpg
Data
Ring name The Big Snuka
"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy Kealoha
Lani Kealoha
The Great Snuka
height 180 cm
Fighting weight 114 kg
birth May 18, 1943
Fiji
death 15th January 2017
Trained by Verne Gagne
debut 1969

James Wiley Heron (born May 18, 1943 in Fiji , † January 15, 2017 in Pompano Beach , Florida ; native: James Wiley Smith) was a Fijian wrestler . He was best known under his ring name "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka . Heron has been a member of the WWE Hall of Fame since 1996 .

Career

Beginnings / National Wrestling Alliance

Reiher was a bodybuilder , including winning the Mr. Hawaiian Island competition before being trained as a wrestler by Verne Gagne . He made his debut in Hawaii in 1969 at the rather late age of 26 . In the following years he appeared in various regions of the umbrella organization NWA before he came to the World Wrestling Federation in 1982 .

Heron wrestling style was very much influenced by Samoan wrestling. However, for his time, he also mastered technically demanding actions and, above all, various jumps from the corner post of the ring, which should set him apart from the crowd.

Jimmy Snuka with Roddy Piper and Ricky Steamboat

World Wrestling Federation

In the then World Wrestling Federation , Reiher quickly became a challenger to the WWF Champion title , which was held by Bob Backlund at the time. One of their matches took place in a ring surrounded by a steel cage. Heron climbed to the top of the cage and jumped from there onto the backlund lying on the ground. Although he missed the title holder and lost the match, his fame increased enormously as a result of this action. The match was voted Match of the Year by the critical wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated .

At the time, Reiher acted as the villain with Lou Albano as the manager. But it was so well received by the fans that the WWF made it a public favorite. The WWF Champion title was denied to him in his entire career. This was due to his lack of microphone skills and a few incidents behind the scenes. Other well-known feuds of Heron took place against Don "The Rock" Muraco and Roddy Piper . In the course of the Muraco feud, he jumped his Superfly Splash from a steel cage about 5 m high. In 1985 he appeared as the accompaniment of Hulk Hogan and Mr. T in the main fight of the very first Wrestlemania before he left the WWF in August of that year.

American Wrestling Association / National Wrestling Alliance

After joining the American Wrestling Association from 1986 to early 1989 , he returned to WWF in March of that year. From then on he helped new superstars to become better known, including in 1991 Mark Calaway , who became known as Undertaker , to whom he had to lose at Wrestlemania VII .

NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling

In 1992, NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling was founded and Reiher became the first NWA ECW Heavyweight Champion . Overall, he held this title twice before he had to give up the title after a feud program with Don Muraco . Reiher left his doctorate in 1993.

Independent / guest appearances

Then Reiher appeared in independent promotions and occasionally in legend matches.

In 1996 he was part of Savio Vega's Survivor Series team, which also included Yokozuna and Flash Funk. Their opponents were Fake Diesel , Fake Razor Ramon, Farrooq and Vader . Reiher was able to eliminate Fake Razor Ramon, but the match ended in a no contest.

At the Royal Rumble 2008 he took part in the 30 Men-Battle Royal. He came into the ring as number 18 but was eliminated by Kane shortly thereafter.

In 2009, Reiher was part of WrestleMania XXV. Together with Roddy Piper and Ricky Steamboat , accompanied by Ric Flair , he took part in a 1-on-3 handicap match in elimination style against Chris Jericho and was the first to be eliminated. He played his last wrestling match in 2014.

Nancy Argentino dies

Snuka is said to have killed the groupie Nancy Argentino while intoxicated in 1983 . The case has not yet been clearly clarified. To his disadvantage, Snuka was facing a planned career boost, which the then WWF then carried out with Hulk Hogan . In 1985, the family of the victim won a civil case (wrongful death claimsoft) against Snuka. In his biography, published in 2012, he continued to deny the allegations. In early September 2015, after a grand jury investigation, he was arrested and charged with manslaughter against Argentino. However, he was released only 12 days later after the judge learned that Snuka was suffering from dementia and had stomach cancer . He succumbed to this disease on January 15, 2017 at the age of 73.

successes

Others

  • Reiher is the son of an affair between Louisa Vitu Smith and Charles Thomas, but his mother married Bernard Reiher, who became Jimmy's stepfather. He didn't meet his real father until he was a teenager .
  • Reiher is the adoptive father of wrestler Deuce , better known by his former ring name Sim Snuka, who was under contract with WWE . His daughter Sarona Reiher is currently under contract with WWE under the ring name Tamina Snuka .
  • He is viewed through blood brotherhood as a "cousin" or "uncle" of the Samoan wrestler family around Afa the Wild Samoan , since the blood brotherhood among the South Sea peoples is still of great importance today. Both are not related to each other, but come from different tribal associations.

Web links

Commons : Jimmy Snuka  - collection of images, videos and audio files


Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ron Todt: Former pro wrestler Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka dies at 73 . AP article in The Santa Fe New Mexican, January 15, 2017, accessed January 16, 2017.
    Ryan Satin: Jimmy Snuka - WWE Hall of Famer Dead at 73 . Pro Wrestling Sheet, January 15, 2017, accessed January 16, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b Jimmy Snuka, Jon Chattman: Superfly: The Jimmy Snuka Story . Triumph Books, Chicago, 2012, ISBN 9781600787584 , Chapter 1.
  3. ↑ a b WWE Legend Jimmy Snuka Dead at 73. TMZ.com, January 15, 2017, accessed January 16, 2017 .
  4. ^ Wrestler Jimmy Snuka arrested, charged with third-degree murder in 1983 case . Fox Sports, September 1, 2015, accessed January 16, 2017.
  5. ↑ Martin Hoffmann: Roddy Piper's rival: Wrestling legend Jimmy Snuka has cancer . Sport1.de , August 3, 2015, accessed on January 16, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Snuka, Jimmy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heron, James (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Fijian wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Fiji
DATE OF DEATH 15th January 2017
Place of death Pompano Beach , Florida