JIMMY SUPER-BYE
Pro-wrestler P Snuka dies at 73
Wrestling icon Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka — who just dodged a murder rap because of his declining mental and physical condition — died Sunday after a battle with cancer, loved ones said.
Snuka’s daughter Sarona, a professional wrestler who goes by Tamina Snuka, shared an Instagram picture of her holding her dying dad’s hand as she announced his death. Jimmy Snuka was 73. His lawyer, Robert Kirwan, said the wrestler died at 1 p.m. at his sonin-law’s home near Pompano Beach, Fla.
“He’s battled various medical ailments for over a year and half,” Kirwan told Allentown’s Morning Call newspaper in Lehigh County, Pa., where Snuka had faced murder charges in the death of a onetime gal pal.
“He’s at rest, and he is at peace,’’ Kirwan said.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a pro-wrestling star before becoming a Hollywood A-lister, tweeted “Alofa atu i le aiga atoa” to Snuka’s grieving relatives — Samoan for, “Love the whole family.’’ Johnson is half Samoan, and Snuka was from Fiji, where some residents are of Samoan descent.
Fellow wrestling leg- end Hulk Hogan chimed in on Twitter: “RIP Superfly. Only love HH.”
Semiretired wrestler Diamond Dallas Page tweeted: “Sad day today with the passing of The one & only #SuperflyJimmySnuka #Rip my brother ... Always Loved The SuperFly!”
Snuka was born James Wiley Smith on May 18, 1943.
His “Superfly” persona was built on his breathtaking leaps off of wrestling-ring ropes and onto opponents.
World Wrestling Entertainment’s Hall of Fame inducted him in 1996.
Snuka’s death came just two weeks after a Pennsylvania judge dismissed murder charges against him, stemming from the 1983 fatal beating of his then-girlfriend, Nancy Argentino.
He was charged in September 2015 with thirddegree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the case.
Prosecutors alleged that she was killed by the wrestler inside a Whitehall Township hotel room, while he insisted that Argentino died from a fall.
Lehigh County Judge Kelly Banach ruled Jan. 3 that the cancer-stricken Snuka, who also suffered from dementia, was not competent to stand trial.