I never get tired of seeing the wrestlers that I enjoyed watching on television and occasionally checking out during live matches at Hara Arena. So it was fun to come upon yet another pair (they always seem to come in pairs, don’t they?) at the Fanboy Expo in Knoxville, Tennessee, on October 26, 2012. Since this event was so sparsely populated with fans on this particular day, I had my free reign to chat all I wanted with these guys. The first, and larger or the two, was Hillbilly Jim, who was lesser known by his real name Jim Morris.
Hillbilly Jim was never really one of my favorites, but I do recall his debut in the WWF where he posed as nothing more than a wrestling fan who would frequent the front row of the live matches and somehow always end up getting involved in the act. I had nearly forgot about Hillbilly Jim’s existence until he showed up at Fanboy, but I must say he was certainly one of the most friendly that I’ve met. When he found out that I was from Dayton, he fondly recalled the Dayton Flyer basketball team and his days of wrestling in our local Hara Arena, and even called over to the wrestler at the next table to see if he did as well.
That particular wrestler was one of whom I was much more familiar, and totally psyched to get the chance to meet: Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka. His wrestling matches in the WWF in the early 80’s were legendary and I still can recall vividly the fact that he jumped from atop a steel cage, leaping though the air in order to come down on top of Bob Backlund in one of the most memorable matches I’ve ever seen. I mentioned this to him, and we reminisced about how occasionally (as in Backlund’s case) his opponent would lift his knees and Snuka would come crashing down on them, nearly breaking his ribs.
I also mentioned his appearance on the WWF Saturday morning show segment Piper’s Pit. This was a classic interview in which Piper insists on making the Fiji-born Jimmy Snuka ‘feel at home’ by bringing coconuts and bananas onto the set. After Snuka accuses Piper of making fun of him, Piper smashes a coconut over Snuka’s head and shoves a banana in his mouth. Snuka told me that he could still feel that coconut smashing into his skull every time he thinks about it.
Jimmy Snuka was an utter delight and an extremely nice guy telling me “God bless you” and giving me a giant, heartfelt hug. It was actually a bit of an emotional moment as I recalled how much fun I had had as a kid watching him wrestle.
It is so fun encountering these guys, and even more fun when they are this nice and willing to pose for free pictures. As long as these old wrestlers keep showing up, I’ll continue being their enthusiastic patron.
Celebrity encounters from the 2012 Fanboy Expo will continue…
Two of the best. I always loved Hillbilly Jim’s character on the Saturday morning WWF cartoon, but have no idea why. Didn’t Superfly’s son do pro wrestling as well?
Aaron
January 25th, 2013