Jimmy Snuka

In January 1982, Snuka entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as a villainous character under the guidance of Captain Lou Albano. Snuka lost several title shots at WWF Champion Bob Backlund, including a steel cage match at Madison Square Garden on June 28, 1982, in which Snuka leapt from the top of the cage, and onto Backlund, who managed to escape the cage for the win just seconds prior.

Even though Snuka portrayed a violent villain, he won fans because of his athletic style. In a storyline in 1982, Buddy Rogers told Snuka that Albano was cheating him financially, and as a result, Snuka fired Albano. Snuka took on Rogers as his manager during the feud with Albano, Freddie Blassie, and Ray Stevens. The attack solidified Snuka's new role as a fan favorite seeking to settle the score. Snuka defeated Stevens in the majority of the series of matches between the two. He also faced several other of Albano's wrestlers, and defeated Albano in a steel cage match in Madison Square Garden.

Snuka also feuded with Don Muraco in 1983, which began after Snuka entered the ring for a match against Don Kernodle on the June 18 episode of *Championship Wrestling* while Muraco, the Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, was being interviewed. Muraco, enraged at the perceived lack of respect, confronted Snuka at ringside, triggering a brawl. This feud led to a defining moment of Snuka's career on October 17, 1983, in a steel cage match at Madison Square Garden. The match ended in a loss for Snuka, but afterward he dragged Muraco back into the ring and connected with the most famous "Superfly splash" of his career, off the top of the 15-foot high steel cage.

In June 1984, Snuka became embroiled in a feud with one of the WWF's top villains, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. In a segment of *Piper's Pit*, Piper hit Snuka on the back of the head with a coconut. The attack led to a series of grudge matches between the two that were played out over venues across the US throughout the summer of 1984. In late 1984, Snuka entered a rehabilitation facility; the WWF created a storyline in which Piper had broken Snuka's neck by hitting him over the head with a chair. The Tonga Kid, who was billed as Snuka's nephew, continued the feud on Snuka's behalf.

The remainder of Snuka's initial WWF stint had him frequently tangling with Piper one way or another, often via tag matches or wrestling Piper's closest ally, Bob Orton Jr. Snuka defeated Orton at *The War to Settle the Score* on February 18, 1985; an injury during the match forced Orton to wear a cast on his left arm, which he continued to wear after the injury healed. The feud played a small part in the first WrestleMania, in March 1985, when Snuka acted as a cornerman for Hulk Hogan and Mr. T when they defeated Piper and Paul Orndorff (with Orton in their corner). Snuka left the WWF in July 1985.

Snuka resurfaced in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), replacing Jerry Blackwell as Greg Gagne's partner, to defeat Bruiser Brody and Nord the Barbarian in a tag team cage match at WrestleRock '86. His most notable feud in the AWA during that time was with Colonel DeBeers, who portrayed a racist and looked down on Snuka because of his skin color. This led the way for a series of grudge matches in 1987.

Snuka re-emerged in the WWF at WrestleMania V on April 2, 1989. He made his televised return to action on the May 27 episode of *Saturday Night's Main Event XXI*, defeating Boris Zhukov. After a brief feud with the Honky Tonk Man, Snuka made his in-ring pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam against "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. Snuka lost the match by count-out as a result of interference from DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil.

By the later part of 1989, Snuka was put into a spot like many veterans before him, being used to help put over other rising stars such as "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig. At Survivor Series, Snuka and Hennig were each the final remaining members of their teams, with Hennig pinning Snuka to win the match for his team. In January 1990, Snuka made his Royal Rumble match debut, lasting 17 minutes and eliminating two competitors before being eliminated by the eventual winner, Hulk Hogan. Snuka had his first WrestleMania match at WrestleMania VI, where he was defeated by Rick Rude. When the Intercontinental Championship was vacated after WrestleMania, Snuka entered the tournament to crown a new champion. He was eliminated in the first round when he once again lost to Mr. Perfect. At that November's Survivor Series, Snuka joined Jake Roberts and the Rockers in a losing effort against Rick Martel, the Warlord and Power and Glory.

On March 24, 1991, Snuka was defeated by the Undertaker at WrestleMania VII, which began Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania. In January 1992, he competed in the Royal Rumble for the vacant WWF Championship, but lasted only three minutes before being eliminated by Undertaker. Snuka left the WWF soon after, his last recorded match being a loss to Shawn Michaels at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on February 8, 1992.

After leaving the WWF in March 1992, Snuka made his ECW debut as a fan favorite at a live event on April 25. He won his first match, a battle royal to qualify for the ECW Heavyweight Championship match against Salvatore Bellomo, the winner of the other battle royal. Immediately after, Snuka defeated Bellomo to become the promotion's first heavyweight champion. A day later, he dropped the title to Johnny Hotbody.

He returned to ECW on July 14, where he defeated Hotbody to regain the heavyweight title, winning it for a second time. He made his first successful title defense, against Mr. Sandman, on July 15. Snuka held the title for the next two months, defeating challengers like Super Destroyer No. 1 and King Kaluha, before losing the title to Don Muraco on September 30. Snuka unsuccessfully challenged Muraco for the title in a rematch on October 24, after which he turned into a villain by feigning confrontation with color commentator Stately Wayne Manor and then attacking ECW owner Tod Gordon with a chair. Snuka took on Hunter Q. Robbins III as his manager and closed the year with a loss to Davey Boy Smith on December 19.

Snuka became a member of Paul E. Dangerously's new faction Hotstuff International on the debut episode of the company's eponymous television program on April 6 and won an eight-man tournament for the vacant ECW Television Championship by defeating Larry Winters, the undefeated Tommy Cairo and Glen Osbourne. Snuka frequently teamed with his stablemates Eddie Gilbert and Muraco. Snuka made his first televised title defense against Osbourne on the May 25 episode, where Snuka retained the title. Snuka successfully defended the title against J.T. Smith and Tommy Cairo at *Super Summer Sizzler.* Snuka lost the title to Terry Funk in a brutal steel cage match at *Bloodfest: Part 1*.

Snuka wrestled for one night at WCW's Slamboree 1993: A Legends' Reunion on May 23, 1993, teaming with Don Muraco and Dick Murdoch against Wahoo McDaniel, Blackjack Mulligan, and Jim Brunzell in a no contest.

In the midst of his ECW career, Snuka once again returned to the WWF on September 25, 1993, defeating Brian Christopher at a Madison Square Garden house show. He returned to television two nights later, defeating Paul Van Dale on the September 27 episode of *Monday Night Raw*. The following week on *Raw*, Snuka participated in a battle royal for the vacant Intercontinental Championship, in which he was eliminated by Rick Martel before departing the company.

Snuka's next notable match in ECW took place at *The Night The Line was Crossed* in 1994, where he faced rising star Tommy Dreamer in an infamous match. During the match, Dreamer kicked out of a pinfall attempt by Snuka after a Superfly splash, thus marking one of the few times in wrestling history that an opponent kicked out of Snuka's finishing move. Snuka still managed to win by delivering three splashes. Snuka continued his assault on Dreamer after the match, which began a feud between the two. Snuka lost to Dreamer on March 5 before beating him in a steel cage match at *Ultimate Jeopardy*. Snuka wrestled his last ECW match at *Hardcore Heaven* in August, where he and the Tazmaniac picked up a tag team victory over the Pitbulls.

Snuka was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame class of 1996. Afterward, he competed at the 1996 Survivor Series.

Snuka also appeared on *WCW Monday Nitro* on January 10, 2000, where he gave Jeff Jarrett a Superfly splash off the top of a steel cage.

Snuka received a lifetime achievement award from WWE at Madison Square Garden on WWE *Raw*, August 26, 2002.

In 2005, he appeared at the *WWE Homecoming*, where he delivered a Superfly splash to Rob Conway. He was a part of the *Taboo Tuesday* pay-per-view, where fans voted for him (ahead of Kamala and Jim Duggan) to team with Eugene against Conway and Tyson Tomko. Snuka won the match, pinning Conway after a Superfly splash. He appeared at the 2007 WWE draft edition of *Raw* in a vignette for Vince McMahon appreciation night. On June 24, 2007, Snuka was introduced as Sgt. Slaughter's tag team partner in the open invitational match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Vengeance, but he was ultimately pinned by his son, Deuce. In 2008, Snuka appeared in the Royal Rumble. He was in the match less than five minutes and primarily focused his efforts on onetime nemesis, Piper. Both were quickly eliminated by the next entrant, Kane.

On the March 2, 2009 episode of *Raw*, he was attacked by Chris Jericho during a parody of *Piper's Pit*. This was part of a storyline where Jericho was disrespecting and attacking legends. Two weeks later, on the March 16, 2009 episode of *Raw*, Snuka, Piper, Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat attacked Jericho. At WrestleMania XXV on April 5, 2009, Snuka teamed with Steamboat and Piper to face Jericho in a Legends of WrestleMania handicap match with Flair in their corner. Snuka was the first man eliminated by Jericho, who eventually won the match. Snuka made an appearance on an "old school" edition of *Raw* in November 2010, where he stood by his daughter Tamina, in the corner of the Usos during their match against Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov, which was his final WWE appearance.

On January 15, 2017, Snuka passed away.