OBIT: “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka dead at age 73 less than two weeks after murder charges dropped due to declining health

Jimmy Snuka, known during his days as a headline act in the 1980s for the WWF as “Superfly” Snuka, died at age 73 today. He had been in hospice care since mid-December.

His death comes less than two weeks after a Pennsylvania judge dismissed a murder case against him in the 1983 death of his girlfriend due to Snuka’s declining health.

Snake’s career will be overshadowed by allegations that he caused the death of his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino, in 1983. An autopsy at the time determined her death came from extensive blunt force trauma. He was not charged at the time, but the case was reopened in 2013 after a Morning Call newspaper investigation led local authorities to take a new look at the case. Snuka was charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Snuka was a headline act for the WWF in the early 1980s. He was a featured performer in NWA territories prior to his WWF run, and the AWA afterward. He made a return to the WWF in the early 1990s and also wrestled for ECW. He lost to Undertaker at WrestleMania 7, beginning “The Streak.”

His daughter, Tamina Snuka, wrestles for WWE.

NOTE: Bruce Mitchell and Pat McNeill discuss Snuka’s career in great depth on today’s Bruce Mitchell Audio Show with guest host Pat McNeill, available to VIP members.