James Reiher (born May 18, 1943) is an American professional wrestler, and actor, better known by his ring name of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several wrestling promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation in the early to mid-'80s, and is credited with being the first ECW Heavyweight Champion and introducing the high-flyer style of wrestling to the WWF. His adopted son James Jr. is also a professional wrestler, currently wrestling in WWE on its Raw brand as Sim Snuka.
In January 1982 Snuka entered the then-named World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as a heel under the guidance of Captain Lou Albano. Snuka lost several title shots at WWF Champion Bob Backlund; their most famous match together was a Steel cage match at Madison Square Garden on June 28, 1982 in which Snuka leapt from the top of the cage, barely missing Backlund who managed to escape the cage for the win. The contest would be declared Match of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
Even though Snuka was a heel, the Northeast fans started to cheer on Snuka and his athletic style. An angle was created late in the year which revealed- on an episode of Buddy Rogers' Victory Corner- that Snuka was being financially ripped off by Lou Albano, thus releasing Snuka from Albano's managerial services. Albano then attacked Snuka and with the help of "Classy" Freddie Blassie's newest arrival, Snuka's former tag team partner Ray Stevens, beat Snuka bloody in front of a TV audience. The vicious attack, concluding with two piledrivers by Stevens on the concrete floor, solidified Snuka's new role as a face seeking to settle the score. Upon becoming a babyface Snuka brought his former manager from the Mid-Atlantic territory, "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, back on as his new manager and embarked on a mixture of tag and singles matches against Stevens and Albano across the region. Snuka was now a star at the beginning of Vince McMahon's expansion and a candidate for what would become Hulk Hogan's role in the company, but outside-the-ring issues and lack of mic skills were factors that would hold him back from ever capturing a WWF title belt.
Snuka would also have a famous feud with Don Muraco in 1983, which began after Snuka entered the ring for a preliminary match while Muraco, the Intercontinental Champion, was being interviewed. Muraco, enraged at the perceived lack of respect, confronted Snuka at ringside, triggering a wild brawl in which Muraco's street clothes were torn off and Muraco bloodied Snuka with a microphone.
In 1983, Snuka encountered a personal crisis that would haunt him for many years to come. On May 10, 1983, after finishing his last match at the WWF TV taping at the Lehigh County Agricultural Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Snuka became the focal point of an investigation regarding the suspicious death of his girlfriend Nancy Argentino. In the early hours the morning after the Allentown event, Argentino was discovered semi-conscious in a hotel room next to a sleeping Snuka. Various accounts of the cause came to light from alleged abuse to a slip and fall caused by intoxication. Argentino was taken to a nearby hospital and later died of a skull fracture. The death was ruled accidental.
After a few months of recovery from the loss of his girlfriend, another defining moment of Snuka's career occurred on October 17, 1983 in another steel cage match at Madison Square Garden, this time against Intercontinental Champion "Magnificent" Don Muraco. The match ended in a loss for the Superfly, but he managed to drag Muraco back into the ring and this time connect with the most famous Superfly Splash of his career, off the top of the 15-foot (4.6 m) high steel cage. Future wrestling stars The Sandman, Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, and Bubba Ray Dudley were all in attendance at the event, and cite this match as the reason they decided to aggressively pursue professional wrestling.
In June 1984, Snuka became embroiled in an intense feud with one of the WWF's top heels, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, through a notorious incident that would be perhaps the most infamous of either wrestler's career. In a segment of Piper's Pit, Piper brought bananas and coconuts to the interview to make Snuka "feel more at home" but said he didn't get a tree for Snuka to "climb up and down like a monkey." Piper then proceeded to smash a real coconut on Jimmy's head when he turned his back momentarily. This was followed by a beating with a belt before the WWF cut to a commercial. The attack led to a series of bitter grudge matches between the two that were played out over venues across the US throughout the summer of 1984. The remainder of Snuka's initial WWF stint would see him frequently tangling with Piper one way or another, often via tag matches or wrestling Piper's closest ally, Bob Orton, Jr.. Snuka also famously defeated Orton at The War to Settle the Score, and put Orton's left arm in a cast for over a year. The feud played a small part in the first ever WrestleMania in March 1985, when Snuka acted as a cornerman for Hulk Hogan and Mr. T when they faced Piper and Paul Orndorff (with Orton in their corner). The Superfly vanished from the WWF in August 1985, though he still appeared in cartoon form when Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling premiered the following month.
Like many aging veterans before him, Snuka re-emerged in the WWF at WrestleMania V in April 1989 to help put over younger stars, like Curt Hennig and Rick Rude. In 1991, he was also the first PPV singles opponent for The Undertaker. The Undertaker would be a top contender in the company for many years to come, in part from Snuka letting him win in a squash at WrestleMania VII; this began his Wrestlemania undefeated streak.
After leaving the WWF in February 1992, Jimmy toured with various smaller organizations in the early 1990s and played a role in the formation of Tod Gordon's Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) organization along with Don Muraco and Terry Funk. Snuka was ECW's first ECW Heavyweight Champion and toured with the company through 1994. ECW would later be taken over by Paul Heyman, who would rename it Extreme Championship Wrestling.
He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1996. He also continued to spend much of his time with East Coast Wrestling organizations through the late 1990s and into the 2000s. During this time, he wrestled the Metal Maniac in a series of matches that spanned across many independent wrestling promotions. Snuka won nearly every one of these matches.
During the latter half of the 1990s, Snuka appeared for both major wrestling promotions, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. He would make periodic appearances for the WWF, such as competing at the 1996 Survivor Series. Snuka received a lifetime achievement award from WWE in 2002 at Madison Square Garden and began to be thrust into skits by WWE in 2004/2005. Snuka also appeared on WCW Monday Nitro in early 2000, where he gave Jeff Jarrett a Superfly Splash off the top of a steel cage. Snuka also participated at the first XWF TV tapings, accompanying his son, Jimmy Snuka, Jr. to the ring for some matches, including one match where father and son delivered the Superfly Splash to prone opponents.
In 2005, he appeared at the WWE Homecoming, where he delivered a Superfly Splash to Rob Conway with a ring full of legends at his side like Dusty Rhodes and Billy Graham. He also took part in a backstage skit, chasing after a partially disrobed Mae Young with a wad of Ted DiBiase's money. 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 Rob Conway and Tyson Tomko. Snuka won the match, pinning Conway after a superfly splash. He also appeared at the 2007 WWE draft edition of Monday Night Raw in a vignette for Mr. McMahon appreciation night.
On June 24, 2007, Jimmy Snuka was introduced as Sgt. Slaughter's tag team partner in the open invitational match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Vengeance. Snuka was ultimately pinned by his son, now performing under the name Sim Snuka on WWE's RAW brand.
On January 27, 2008, Snuka appeared in WWE's Royal Rumble 2008 pay-per-view event. He was in the match less than 5 minutes and primarily focused his efforts on onetime nemesis, Roddy Piper. Both were quickly eliminated by the next entrant, Kane. His list of accomplishments and Championships (according to Wiki) are as follows:
All Japan Pro Wrestling
World's Strongest Tag Team League (1981) with Bruiser Brody
Big Time Wrestling
NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Gino Hernandez
Cauliflower Alley Club
Other honoree (1996)
Continental Wrestling Association
CWA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) with JT Southern
Extreme Championship Wrestling
ECW World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)1
ECW Television Championship (1 time)
Georgia Championship Wrestling
NWA National Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Terry Gordy
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (2 times) with Paul Orndorff (1) and Ray Stevens (1)
NWA All-Star Wrestling
NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) with Don Leo Jonathan
NWL WRESTLING
NWL Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pacific Northwest Wrestling
NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (5 times)
NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (6 times) with Dutch Savage
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI Match of the Year (1982) vs. Bob Backlund in a cage match on June 28
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1983)
PWI Tag Team of the Year (1980) with Ray Stevens
PWI ranked him #29 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
World Wide Wrestling Alliance
WWWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Federation
WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
Tag Team of the Year (1981) with Terry Gordy
Best Flying Wrestler (1981)
Best Wrestling Maneuver (1981, 1983) Superfly Splash
Other titles
Tri-State Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
USA New York Championship (1 time)
USA Pro Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
SXA United States of America Championship (1 time)
NOTE: Even though Snuka was the first to win the title, neither of these title reigns are officially recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment.
