For his son Jimmy Snuka Jr., see Deuce (wrestler).
Jimmy Snuka
Snuka in 2011
Birth name
James Wiley Smith
Born
(1943-05-18)May 18, 1943 Suva, Fiji[a]
Died
January 15, 2017(2017-01-15) (aged 73) Coral Springs, Florida, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Sharon Snuka
(m. 1964; div. 1999)
Carole Snuka
(m. 2004)
Children
Deuce, 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, 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".
^ abcd""Superfly" Jimmy Snuka bio". WWE. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
^ abcMeltzer, Dave (1996). The Wrestling Observer's Who's Who in Pro Wrestling. Wrestling Observer. pp. 111–112.
^ abHistorical Dictionary of Wrestling. Scarecrow Press. 2014. p. 272. ISBN 9780810879263.
^ abShields, 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 six was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference dismissed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Snuka (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"...
She is a second generation professional wrestler, the daughter of JimmySnuka. Snuka first became involved in professional wrestling after she received...
Wrestling Association (AWA). Wrestling as a face, he often tag teamed with JimmySnuka, against wrestlers such as Larry Hennig, Ivan Koloff and Dusty Rhodes...
Some of the wrestlers for whom he composed music were Honky Tonk Man, JimmySnuka, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, The Rockers, The Hart Foundation, Crush...
television entitled "Piper's Pit". On one episode of the show, he hit JimmySnuka over the head with a coconut, leading to a feud between the two men....
on the main roster, they have been managed by their cousin Tamina Snuka and Jimmy's wife, Naomi. From July 2021 to June 2023, they were part of The Bloodline...
precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestling. The inaugural champion was JimmySnuka, however, WWE considers the inaugural world heavyweight champion to be...
Snuka is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Snuka Boy (born 1974), Japanese professional wrestler, known as Gentaro JimmySnuka, Jr. (born...
Chris Jericho defeated the team of Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and JimmySnuka, and the annual Money in the Bank ladder match which was won by CM Punk...
title changes occurred at ECW or WWE shows. The inaugural champion was JimmySnuka, who defeated Salvatore Bellomo in a tournament final on April 25, 1992...
in 1987. During one Piper's Pit, Piper insulted JimmySnuka's Polynesian heritage and attacked Snuka by smashing him over the head with a coconut. Piper...
pinfall following a DDT. The seventh bout was a singles match between JimmySnuka and The Undertaker. The Undertaker won the bout by pinfall following...
his days as a football player. In December 1978, Orndorff teamed with JimmySnuka to capture the NWA World Tag Team Championship from Baron von Raschke...
the cousin of JimmySnuka. On the 8 March episode of The Body Shop, Afi was introduced to viewers of WWF All Star Wrestling as Snuka's cousin. Afi was...
villainous Albano, JimmySnuka was unexpectedly becoming a fan favorite due to his high-flying ring style. An interview segment revealed that Snuka had no legal...
Tonga Kid. Billed as the cousin of Superfly JimmySnuka, he entered into his first major feud with Snuka's rival Roddy Piper. He left the WWF in early...
on the main roster, they have been managed by their cousin Tamina Snuka, and Jimmy's wife, Naomi. From July 2021 to June 2023, he was part of the villainous...
destroyed their instruments. The fourteenth bout was a singles match pitting JimmySnuka against "Ravishing" Rick Rude. Rude won the bout by pinfall following...
Warlord and Power and Glory) defeated The Vipers (Roberts, Superfly JimmySnuka and The Rockers) in a 4-0 clean sweep, the first time this had happened...
the title against several challengers including Blackjack Mulligan and JimmySnuka, Flair lost the United States Heavyweight Championship to Steamboat on...
main roster, he and Jey have been managed by their cousin Tamina Snuka and Jimmy's wife, Naomi. During his time as part of The Usos, alongside Jey, Fatu...
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