Superfly: the Jimmy Snuka story PDF
Preview Superfly: the Jimmy Snuka story
Praise for Jimmy “suPerfly” snuka “The Jimmy Snuka legacy will always be not what he did in the ring but what he did above the ring. His body splash off the top of a steel cage is the most impressive move I’ve ever seen. It was his signature. Others tried it. Mick Foley. Shawn Michaels. Even Hulk Hogan tried to splash the Big Boss Man from the top of the cage. But nobody—and I mean nobody—could do it as gracefully and effectively as Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka.” —Mean Gene Okerlund, WWE announcer and Hall of Famer “I can’t say Jimmy Snuka is the best of all time, but he was the best of his time. At that point, wrestling needed somebody like him, and what he brought to the table was blowing fans’ minds. He wasn’t a rushed wrestler. He took his time, but he knew when to do the high-flying spots. There has never been anybody like him. The Jeff Hardys and RVDs are awesome wrestlers, but there will never be another Jimmy Snuka. He’s one of a kind.” —Kurt Angle, Impact Wrestling and former WWE star and Olympic gold-medalist “I was senior editor and photo editor at a pro wrestling magazine when I first saw him. I hadn’t seen him in person, but when I saw a picture of him in midair, high above the ring in a match against ‘Alaskan’ Jay York, I was amazed. I had never seen anyone like this. We started running stories on him right away. When I did meet him in New York, he was always grateful we ran a story. He sold magazines whenever we put him on the cover.” —Bill Apter, wrestling journalist Superfly_FNL_9.21.12.indd 1 9/21/12 7:27 AM “Jimmy was the only guy in the business who could watch someone do something in the ring and then be able to go out there and do the same thing.” —Matt Borne, the original Doink the Clown “Everyone would talk about Jimmy’s great athletic ability, but workers within the industry always knew what a great wrestler he was. He was a great draw wherever he went, whether he was a babyface or a heel. I was fortunate to grow up in New York, and I paid a lot of money to see Jimmy Snuka on the card.” —Tommy Dreamer, former ECW, WWE, and TNA Wrestling star “Look where he’s from, and look where he ended up. He was one of the best workers in the business, and he did it the old- fashioned way: he earned it. Nothing was given to him. He made his own legacy.” —Paul Orndorff, WWE Hall of Famer “When Jimmy Snuka jumped off the cage, it made me do what I want to do. I was a daredevil. I didn’t do any cliff jumping, but in elementary school, I would always jump from the highest limb on the tree. Snuka started all of that, and I can’t thank him enough. He started something, and I’ve made my living off of it.” —Jeff Hardy, TNA and former WWE star Superfly_FNL_9.21.12.indd 2 9/21/12 7:27 AM “I remember seeing Jimmy Snuka in his prime. He was my favorite wrestler when I was a kid…. He’s the kind of guy who, if you saw him at a bar, you’d just be like, ‘Hey Jimmy!’ He’s got that vibe. There are not a lot of guys who were like that. He had this earthy quality to him that’s so rare, and certainly fans connected with that.” —Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins founder/lead singer and RESISTANCE Pro Wrestling creative director “He had a mystery about him…well, it seemed that way when I was 10. We, of course, used to imitate him and his signature move from the top rope. I remember him being a ‘good guy’ but you almost never knew what he was gonna do.” —Constantine Maroulis, Tony-nominated Broadway star and American Idol finalist “My brother and I watched Jimmy Snuka wrestle on TV in North Carolina in the 1970s, and we were obsessed with him. When he would climb up to the top rope, we would howl, ‘From the top rope…’ And then when he launched himself into the air like a muscle-bound bat and crush some villainous opponent, we’d scream, ‘Superfly!’ Then we’d pull old mattresses into the backyard and have neighborhood smackdowns.” —Clark Gregg, co-star of Iron Man, Thor, and The Avengers Superfly_FNL_9.21.12.indd 3 9/21/12 7:27 AM Superfly_FNL_9.21.12.indd 4 9/21/12 7:27 AM suPerfly The Jimmy snuka story Jimmy Snuka with Jon Chattman Superfly_FNL_9.21.12.indd 5 9/21/12 7:27 AM Copyright © 2012 by Jimmy Snuka and Jon Chattman No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys- tem, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Triumph Books LLC, 814 North Franklin Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Snuka, Jimmy, 1943– Superfly : the Jimmy Snuka story / Jimmy Snuka with Jon Chattman. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-60078-758-4 (hardback) 1. Snuka, Jimmy, 1943- 2. Wrestlers—Fiji—Biography. 3. Wrestlers— United States—Biography. I. Chattman, Jon. II. Title. GV1196.S68 2012 796.812092—dc23 [B] 2012027034 This book is available in quantity at special discounts for your group or organization. For further information, contact: Triumph Books LLC 814 North Franklin Street Chicago, Illinois 60610 (312) 337-0747 www.triumphbooks.com Printed in U.S.A. ISBN: 978-1-60078-758-4 Design by Amy Carter Photos courtesy of the author and WWE unless otherwise indicated Superfly_FNL_9.21.12.indd 6 9/21/12 7:27 AM i would like To dedicaTe This book To my beauTiful angel, my wife, my everyThing Superfly_FNL_9.21.12.indd 7 9/21/12 7:27 AM Superfly_FNL_9.21.12.indd 8 9/21/12 7:27 AM conTenTs Foreword by Rowdy Roddy Piper xi introduction by mick Foley xvii Preface xxi 1. a Real-Life tarzan 1 2. Body of work 33 3: under the Bright Lights 75 4. homeward Bound 117 5: Gaining my independence 135 6: a new Lease on Life 153 Epilogue 177 afterword by Carole Snuka 181 appendices 185 acknowledgments 207 Superfly_FNL_9.21.12.indd 9 9/21/12 7:27 AM
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