5 things you may have forgotten about Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka

Jimmy Snuka will live on in the hearts and minds of fans forever

Whenever we watch high-flying cruiserweights put their bodies on the line for our entertainment, remember that this man did it first.

This death-defying, steel cage jumping maniac hailing from Fiji was the definition of ‘ daredevil’, constantly defying gravity and revolutionizing the nature of professional wrestling by making it more athletic and acrobatic.

We lost the legendary Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka to a terminal illness. The world has lost a legend, but thanks to the WWE Network we can relive his career almost in its entirety today. Let’s revisit his WWE Hall of Famer’s career and revisit some of the facts that you may not know about him.

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#5 Snuka was the first ever ECW Heavyweight Champion

Snuka takes on The Tazmaniac during his ECW tenure

Not only was Snuka the first ever champion for this brand which revolutionised professional wrestling, he played a big role in getting it started. Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, assisted by wrestling legends Don Muraco and Terry Funk would help Tod Gordon kickstart ECW, at that time known as ‘Eastern Championship Wrestling’.

As is well chronicled, when Paul Heyman took over from Gordon, he named it ‘Extreme Championship Wrestling’, because he did not want it to sound like a regional wrestling promotion. However, in its earliest days, Snuka was the star of the upcoming company.

While Jimmy Snuka is not a name one associates with ECW, on April 1992, Snuka defeated Salvatore Bellomo in the finals of a tournament to become the first ever ECW Heavyweight Champion.

He would lose it a day later to Johnny Hotbody but regain it soon after.

Snuka toured with ECW from mid-1992 all the way to 1994. Sadly, WWE does not recognise his title run and considers Shane Douglas winning the championship in 1994 to be the starting point for ECW World Heavyweight Champions.