WWE Hall of Famer “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka passed away on Sunday at the age of 73. He had been battling terminal stomach cancer and was hospitalized recently from the complications from the disease. Our condolences to go out to the Snuka family.
Snuka was the World Wrestling Federation’s top babyface in 1983 but issues outside of the ring (the circumstances around Nancy Argentino’s death and other substance abuse issues) forced Vince McMahon to push him down the card. He was part of the first WrestleMania at ringside in the corner of Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper as they faced Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. Snuka was let go a few months later and returned to the company in 1989. He was never pushed as a top star again and was mainly used to put over younger guys. His last high profile match from that timeframe was in 1991 against The Undertaker at WrestleMania VII. He left the company in 1992 and was later brought back for a one-off appearance at the 1996 Survivor Series. He was also inducted in the 1996 WWE Hall Of Fame class and he was brought back alongside fellow legends Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper to face Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 25 in 2009.
His cage dive onto Don Muraco in 1982 is one of the most replayed (and most famous) moments in WWE history and that is the match that was used in clips during Mick Foley’s early run in 1996 because Foley was in attendance. Foley would later try to recreate that dive in his match with Triple H at SummerSlam 1997.
Daughter and current WWE Superstar Tamina Snuka posted the following on her Instagram account about her father’s passing:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPS-dZ8Bt6D/
