Dark Side Of The Ring - Jimmy Snuka and the Death of Nancy Argentino FULL RECAP

Apr. 15

Perhaps one of the longest standing worst kept secrets in wrestling lore is the fact that wrestling legend Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka had murdered his girlfriend Nancy Argentino in 1983. Over the years Snuka’s story on the events that transpired in Allentown, PA had changed numerous times, but it wasn’t until 30 years later that the cold case would be revisited in an attempt to bring Snuka to justice and to attempt to bring closure for the Argentino family. The newest episode of Dark Side Of The Ring looks at this infamous story.

Once again the episode is narrated by ‘Le Champion’ Chris Jericho.
Interview subjects include Sam Fatu (aka The Tonga Kid), Don Muraco, Irvin Muchnick (nephew of the legendary Sam Muchnick and author), Lorraine Salome (Nancy’s older sister), her other sister Louise Argentino, journalist Kevin Amerman, journalist Adam Clark, paramedic Shirley Reeve, Carole Snuka (Jimmy’s widow, who was married to Jimmy for the last 20 years of his life) and Frederick Conjour (former Chief of Police in Whitehall Township).
Sam discusses how he broke into the wrestling world and how Jimmy Snuka took somewhat of a ‘protector’ role with him.
Muraco talks about how Snuka spent his early years and the effect that the wrestling business had on him.
Sam reveals that the reason Snuka always knelt in the ring before his matches was to pay respect to his fans.
Muchnick reveals that Buddy Rogers was placed with Snuka to make him a babyface and to keep him under control.
Talk moves to Nancy Argentino the person, with Lorraine talking about despite living in a big city that she led a sheltered life and was a very hard worker.
Lorraine reveals that Nancy’s childhood friend Ellen was engaged to Johnny Rodz, a legendary journeyman wrestler and trainer, and this was how she was introduced to the world of wrestling.
Backstage at Madison Square Garden is how she met Jimmy Snuka.
In meeting Snuka the family found him to be very isolated, keeping only to himself and occasionally speaking to Nancy only.
Talk moves to how Buddy Rogers was in a handler role for Snuka, and that he revealed him to be a sweet guy who was unfortunately addicted heavily to cocaine, making him uncontrollable.
This led to Rogers removing himself from the role.
Nancy would take over the role, essentially becoming a glorified babysitter for Snuka and making sure he made all the towns.
Lorraine reveals that while her mother liked Snuka, her stepfather always had doubts about him.
Louise talks about a time her parents were away and she joined Jimmy and Nancy for Chinese food. At one point Jimmy put his hand up to Louise’s throat indicating he could easily kill her.
This caused Louise to leave the room. Upon coming to see her, Louise told Nancy that she needs to get rid of Snuka, who was apologetic and made excuses for Snuka.
To make amends and feeling bad, Snuka offered Louise a big bag of cocaine, which further upset Nancy.
Sam discusses not many of the boys knowing Nancy due to Snuka being protective and the boys knowing Jimmy was a little crazy.
Muraco recalls meeting Nancy but remembering feeling she didn’t like him due to his role as Jimmy’s archrival in the ring.
Louise recalls finding out that Jimmy was actually married with kids at the time, and Nancy blowing it off as they were ‘separated.’
Amerman reveals during a stay at a Howard Johnson in New York that people were complaining of the sounds of a man beating a woman.
Lorraine received a phone call at 2 in the morning with Nancy exclaiming “he’s chasing me” before the line went dead.
Police are called and find Snuka grabbing Nancy by the hair and upon attempting to intervene, are met with “almost superhuman strength” from Snuka, who resists arrest.
Snuka would fight off both police and police dogs.
The next morning when speaking with Lorraine, Nancy would describe the situation as a big misunderstanding.
Snuka was arrested for assault and harassment but would avoid jail time due to an affidavit signed by Nancy.
Discussion moves to the WWF’s reliance on Nancy to ensure she took care of Jimmy and him making his bookings, as nobody else wanted to deal with him, due to him being constantly high and out of control.
The economic impact of WWF running their syndicated television tapings every 3 weeks in Allentown, Pennsylvania is mentioned.
Muraco discusses how his feud with Snuka was really firing on all cylinders and taking off.
Amerman discusses Snuka leaving the George Washington Motor Lodge for tapings, returning once, leaving again for a few hours and returning that night, where Nancy has been all day.
A few hours later, the occupants of the motel are awoken by sirens outside, confirmed by Sam Fatu and Don Muraco.
Paramedic Shirley Reeve recounts arriving at the room and checking Nancy. She recalls her pupils being fixed and dilated, indication of a head injury.
Snuka’s initial story was they had been horsing around and she must have hit her head.
Snuka would tell people in the ER that there was a conflict and he had pushed her, already changing his story.
Louise discusses receiving a phone call for her mother at 3 or 4 in the morning, and finding out her sister was dead.
Snuka would get on the phone “blubbering” and saying it was an accident, that she fell and hit her head.
Upon returning to the motel, Snuka is interviewed by police, where he introduces the story of pulling over to the side of the road to relieve herself. Snuka said she would slip and hit her head on the road returning to the car.
Muraco talks about being on the phone with Vince McMahon while being interviewed by a lieutenant.
Vince tells the lieutenant that Snuka will continue to cooperate with the investigation, and Snuka is released without charge.
Lorraine discusses the funeral, where Snuka arrived with Buddy Rogers to the funeral.
Snuka arrived in flip flops, shorts and a tank top. He would go to the coffin crying before being helped away by Nancy’s father.
Lorraine reveals that as opposed to offering condolences, the only thing Snuka said to Nancy’s mother was that Nancy “looked terrible.”
The undertaker (not the wrestler) revealed to Nancy’s father that they had a hard time making Nancy’s corpse presentable due to heavy bruising around her neck and several cuts and abrasions.
This would lead the family to truly believe that there was more to her death than initially believed.
Conversation moves to Jimmy returning to the ring and his career seemingly continuing to reach new heights.
Muraco reveals that he was “selfishly” worrying that something would happen to Jimmy, throwing their big money angle into question.
The legendary cage match between Jimmy and Muraco is covered, where Snuka would perform his signature Superfly Splash off the top of the cage onto Muraco.
Muchnick reveals a time that a woman yelled at Snuka “Hey Snuka, you goddamn fucking murderer, when are you gonna murder another girl”
Carole reveals that Jimmy told her that he knew what he did, and that he and his God would always know the truth about what really happened.
Muchnick reveals that two detectives were sent to the Argentino household to tell them that the investigation was concluded and would be ruled an accident.
Louise reveals that “Snuka’s promoter” who would have to have been Vince McMahon, called to offer his condolences and offered $25,000, clearly in an attempt to make everything go away.
The Argentino family would pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against Snuka.
Snuka would lose a $500,000 suit when he didn’t show up, which was never paid.
As Snuka’s drug problems worsened, he became more and more unreliable, leading to his release from WWF.
In 2013 Adam Clark would reach out to Lorraine to discuss a 30-year anniversary look at Nancy’s passing.
Clark reveals that due to the case technically being open, he was unable to get a copy of the Autopsy Report.
Amerman discloses that when they got a copy of the Wrongful Death lawsuit, it included a bevy of never before seen information, including the aforementioned Autopsy Report.
The autopsy indicates that the trauma was not consistent with any of Snuka’s stories and could be considered “mate abuse”
The bombshell is that the autopsy indicates that Nancy’s death should be investigated as a homicide until proven otherwise.
Conjour continually attempts to brush off any criticism of his police department and the work that was done.
While the investigation is secretly ongoing Snuka would release his autobiography, where he addressed the allegations.
In all the details, the meeting with Snuka and Vince McMahon with authorities is one of the only ones not to have a transcript.
After that meeting the case effectively went cold.
Carole says that Snuka would claim that Vince came to that meeting with a briefcase and told Jimmy afterward that everything was done, not to worry.
Carole discusses how Snuka was insistent on including her in his book.
Nancy’s family discusses how different from the truth his description of his relationship with Nancy was.
In a brand-new detail never revealed, Sam reveals that he was actually in the car with Nancy and Jimmy on the way to Allentown.
Sam reveals that they never stopped along the way, throwing Snuka’s main story into question.
In 2015 the case is finally reopened, and Jimmy Snuka is arrested and charged with third-degree murder.
Carole reveals that Jimmy’s health was so bad during the trial that he had no idea what was happening.
The judge agreed that Snuka was not mentally fit to stand trial.
Snuka would pass away 10 days after the ruling that he couldn’t stand trial.
In the end, there was no final resolution, whether it be Jimmy clearing his name or the Argentino family getting closure on Nancy’s death.

One of the most complicated stories in the history of professional wrestling, with all the twists and turns, no one can truly know what happened that night in Allentown. If you look at the facts, it is clear that Jimmy Snuka was absolutely responsible for the death of Nancy Argentino. Given the similar legacy of Chris Benoit and his erasure from history, the fact that Jimmy Snuka is in the WWE Hall Of Fame is absolutely ludicrous. Join us next week when Dark Side Of The Ring looks at another mysterious death in the history of wrestling, that of Dino Bravo.