By NICHOLAS NEGRON
Staff Writer
On Sept. 2, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, 72, was arrested for the murder of Nancy Argentino. The WWE wrestler is charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 32-year-old unsolved case. In May 1983, Argentino was found brutally assaulted in a motel bed. Although unconscious at first, Argentino soon died from injuries.
Snuka currently lives in Camden, New Jersey and surrendered to police in Allentown. He was later released on a $100,000 bail. Snuka is also recovering from a stomach cancer surgery. He will be able to stay at his home while the investigation is under way, and through the eventual trial period.
“The decision to charge Snuka came after the grand jury listened to testimony and statements from 20 witnesses and Lehigh County Detective Gerald Procanyn, who investigated the case in 1983 as a Whitehall police detective and who was there when Argentino was hurried to the hospital,” writes Manuel Gamiz Jr. of the Allentown, Pennslyvania newspaper The Morning Call.
The case was reopened by Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin after 30 years. The Morning Call began exploring the death, later publishing an autopsy revealing the case to be labeled a homicide. Aside from this journalist investigation, the decision to arrest Snuka was made after a grand jury hearing, in which Snuka’s autobiography, “Superfly: The Jimmy Snuka Story” was brought into relevance. In the autobiography, Snuka writes of his frequent alcohol, cocaine and steroid use in the 1980s. This further led jurors to believe Snuka was capable of such unspeakable actions.
“It is of course not just recreational drugs which have plagued wrestling locker rooms over the decades. More famously, steroids and performance-enhancing drugs have also littered the industry. By the mid 2000s …there were scores of wrestlers succumbing to an early death related to recreational and performance-enhancing drug use,” writes Grahame Herbert, WWE Editor of Whatculture.com.
Stories linking professional wrestlers with drug use and violent incidents have been making headlines for years. Eddie Guererro, Andrew “Test” Martin, and Edward “Umaga” Fatu are several of the many wrestlers who have died at an early age from heart-related illness.
The constant strain that professional wrestling puts on the body, combined with the repeated use of different steroids and drugs, has led to the demise of many. Aside from Snuka’s personal story, many others have given insight to the fast-paced life on the road in professional wrestling.
For instance, party boy Ric Flair describes his “problems with paranoia, psychosis and his nervous system. All side effects of specific over-indulgences,” writes Herbert again, about Flair’s 2004 autobiography, “To Be the Man.” One can assume what these “indulgences” were.
The profession requires constant travel, and time away from loved ones. For the week of Sept. 6, 2015, WWE superstars will be traveling to seven different cities and two countries.
Temptation is rampant on the road, especially as a celebrity. Drugs, and alcohol are readily available. Shawn Michaels detailed his own dark past in an interview with Triblive.com, saying, “I was doing everything I could to kill myself except put a loaded weapon in my hand.”
In some darker instances, people turn violent and mental as a result of the drug, steroid, and alcohol abuse. The WWE has done a great job at performing a distancing dance when controversy arises.
After Chris Benoit’s double-murder and suicide, the company virtually erased all ties to the wrestler. In June of 2007, Benoit hung himself after strangling his wife and seven-year-old son to death.
Even more recently, the racial controversy involving Hulk Hogan caused the company to remove him from the WWE Hall of Fame. Hogan is arguably the world’s most famous professional wrestler. WWE is not afraid to take such drastic actions to appease the public, as they now have a much younger fan base than they once had.
The Chris Benoit attention brought down pressure on the WWE and its founding family, the McMahons. Aside from this horrific tragedy, wrestlers such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Lex Luger, and Matt Hardy have all been arrested for some form of domestic violence. Even WWE chairman Vince McMahon was charged with possession of steroids and the conspiracy to distribute, back in 1993.
Snuka’s name has also been removed from the Hall of Fame section of WWE’s website. The company released statements about Snuka’s predicament.
“Jimmy Snuka’s non-wrestling “legends” contract has been suspended and we are currently removing his images from our media platforms pending the outcome of this case,” the company released on September 2.
The company further released a statement to news outlets the same day, saying “WWE expresses its continued sympathy to the Argentino family for their loss. Ultimately, this legal matter will be decided by our judicial system.”
Only time can tell if James Snuka will be deemed guilty of murder in the third degree and/or involuntary manslaughter. Regardless, the decorated champion’s image is forever tarnished as a result of this cold case’s reemergence.
