Web SiteNutley Historical Even if fans didn't have the pleasure of seeing him wrestle, they can come to appreciate his immense accomplishments. In 1970, Scarpa began working for Vincent J. McMahon's World Wide Wrestling Federation as Chief Jay Strongbow, a Native American gimmick complete with a traditional headdress and Native themed wrestling moves. Nutley wrestling coach Mike DiPiano, and former Nutley [3] In reality (and unlike McDaniel, who was an actual Choctaw-Chickasaw Native-American), Jay was an Italian-American who much like actor Iron Eyes Cody[4] portrayed an Indian to stand-out more. championship title from. Before Scarpa even became Strongbow he had carved out an incredible career for himself. By 1970, Scarpa was working for Vincent J. McMahon's World Wide Wrestling Federation and was now known as Chief Jay Strongbow. (Use code PWS for a nice surprise). Strongbow understood how the wrestling business works and was never above "doing the job" in order to help his opponent or the promotions that employed him. Actor: Spectrum Wrestling. "Vigilante" who wrestled his first match on April 13, 2013, in his The Yukon Lumberjacks", "High Chief Peter Maivia and Chief Jay Strongbow", "Raw: Lumberjacks bring predictable chaos", "NWA Tri-State Heavyweight Championship (Alabama version)", "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners Inspirational Wrestler of the Year", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chief_Jay_Strongbow&oldid=1129368666, This page was last edited on 24 December 2022, at 23:54. "Chief" Jay Strongbow was arguably the most famous, beloved Native American wrestler of all time, and a consistent box office draw. Born October 4, 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. But with the creation of Titan Sports, and the transfer of the WWF from Vince Sr. to Vince Jr., Strongbow decided to pursue new challenges in the wrestling business. The Greg Valentine vs Chief Jay Strongbow feud, which started with Strongbow writhing in agony with a broken leg at ringside while the matches went on as scheduled with the heels taunting him. 2017. community magazine serving the residents of Nutley, N.J. Read He feuded with the likes of "The Golden Greek" Spiros Arion, "Handsome" Jimmy Valiant, and "Superstar" Billy Graham, nearly winning the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. Related: 10 Things Fans Should Know About Butch Reed. John shares his theory of how Hanson got that spot. coaches and student wrestlers from Nutley High School, and much more. to change. -The Greg Valentine vs Chief Jay Strongbow feud, which started with Strongbow writhing in agony with a broken leg at ringside while the matches went on as scheduled with the heels taunting him. Reprint Information From that point forward, it was back to singles wrestling for Jay. Later on, of course, they started paying by check, and that was kind ofI dont know. In 1982, they won the WWWF tag team championship title from Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito in a famous match in Madison Square Garden. Museum Store Instead, Greg got his start training in Stu Harts dungeon, in addition to timely advice from his father. Holding the IC title at that time meant that Valentine wasto a large portion of the US audiencethe second-best wrestler in the world. Chief Jay Strongbow is a Wrestler, zodiac sign: Libra. Still, getting the rub from past Native American characters likely helped Tatanka even if the moments were brief. While today's comeback sequences aren't as pronounced as Strongbow's, John Cena and many other top stars employ a signature move sequence that they use every match. That really was on the cover of The Wrestler magazine after Volkoff did exactly that in the Summer of 1979. Born Luke Joseph Scarpa, he was an Italian-American man from New Jersey. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The Top Ten in All Areas of Pro Wrestling, The Longest Running Pro Wrestling Columnist, Dave Meltzer, Mike Mooneyham, Steve Yohe, Tim Hornbaker, Greg Oliver, Bill Apter, Karl Stern, Scott Teal, wrestlingclassics.com, wwe.com, kayfabememories.com, wrestling-titles.com, The Lapsed Fan podcast, 6:05 Superpodcast, Great Black Heroes Clearly WWE was willing to give back to its talent as Strongbow wound up working as an agent for WWE for a while. In 1982, they won the WWWF tag team Bet youve heard of him Valentine wanted to wrestle. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! "You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies.". Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam & Sean Goodwin is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network. Working with the Bulldogs could be a challenge, becauseespecially at the timethey were one of the newer breeds of teams who wanted to plan spots out in advance. Wrestling mania seized Nutley. In 1981 he went to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling where he feuded with Kevin Sullivan. where he was advised to adopt the identity of Chief Jay Strongbow. On this weeks Stick To Wrestling podcast we continue our Summer Series as we take a look at the Summer of 1979 in the WWF as John McAdam and Sean Goodwin are joined by fellow old school WWF fanatic Randy Barrier. Late in his career, he took on a tag team partner who had adopted the 65 Church After losing their belts, the Strongbows remained a top WWF tag team, until Jules left the promotion. Friends and fans have left tributes about his time both in and out of the ring online on many websites. When things seemed to settle, Maivia came up behind Strongbow and clubbed him on the back of the head before walking off back to the dressing room leaving Strongbow to be assaulted by the Yukon Lumberjacks. [9] The team won the title in a three-team tournament, defeating The Executioners and Nikolai Volkoff and Tor Kamata. Discover Chief Jay Strongbow's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Im the heel, and Im the veteran. It seems clear that the Chief Strongbow gimmick was a flashy idea to bring more attention to Scarpa, but it doesn't seem like it was one that was all that necessary. Historical Society is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to serve [9] Their reign was cut short in August 1977 when the belts were vacated due to White Wolf suffering a neck injury at the hands of Ken Patera's Swinging Neckbreaker. In retirement, Strongbow became a WWF road agent and worked in the company's front office. His larger than life persona as a Native American wrestler ran from 1947 to 1985. Strongbow understood how the wrestling business works and was never above doing the job in order to help his opponent or the promotions that employed him. [3] After failing in regaining the belts, the Strongbows disbanded. He worked a long and brutal feud with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper over the territorys top title, the United States championship. the Nutley Hall of Fame in 2013. born right here in Nutley on Their reign was cut short in August 1977 when the belts were vacated due to White Wolf suffering a neck injury at the hands of Ken Patera's Swinging Full Nelson. WWE: 10 Things You Completely Forgot Happened In The 2000s, 10 WWE Championship Screwjobs We Forgot About, 10 Times A WCW Wrestler Made Their Debut (& Nobody Cared), 10 Wrestlers Who Surprisingly Have More Losses Than Wins In Their Career. development & maintenanceprovided at no cost to Nutley Historical On April 3, 2012, Joe Chief Jay Strongbow Scarpa passed away at the age of 83. Luke Joseph Scarpa[2] (October 4, 1928 April 3, 2012) was an American professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer who was best known by the ring name Chief Jay Strongbow. Despite his advancing age (and subsequent reduction in ring prowess) Strongbow was still one of the promotions bigger draws as the 1980s rolled on and the WWF evolved into a national entity. Strongbow also engaged in a notable feud with "The Big Cat" Ernie Ladd in the WWWF, a feud that carried over to the NWA's Georgia Championship Wrestling a few years later. His father was still working, and promoters were afraid that the name would imply the elder Valentine was too old to be in the ring. A man who truly loved the wrestling business, when his ring career ended, Strongbow displayed his professionalism in another important, but far less glamorous role - that of a WWF road agent. now. Pro Wrestling Stories - Your daily source of nostalgia and a peek behind the curtain wall of wrestlings past! History of Spies CopyrightNutley At one point he even tag teamed with a storyline brother who was actually Native American, Jules Strongbow. As both a main event and mid-card performer, Strongbow was one of the most reliable, professional wrestlers of his, or any, day. [3] In October 1978, Strongbow came to blows with his tag-team partner, 'High Chief' Peter Maivia in a match with The Yukon Lumberjacks, both of them feuding over who should start the match. He was one of the greats. Strongbow was inducted by Tatanka, who Strongbow was managing at the time. Shortly thereafter, the WWE awarded Santana a new belt, the iconic Intercontinental design still in use by the WWE today. As a role model - for people of all races - there was none better, and "The Chief" proudly wrestled his entire career as a beloved fan favorite. Chief Jay Strongbow's success landed him in the WWE hall of fame, something most people would agree is deserved. Piper won that match non-title since it wasnt officially sanctioned by the NWAbut Valentine got his heat back by beating Piper down afterward and leaving him laying in the ring. A word about "the Hammer": Valentines finishing move was the figure-four leglock. "We had really good chemistry as a tag team. Strongbow was actually teaming with High Chief Peter Maivia when the two men started getting into it. [13] Strongbow was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame class of 1994 by Gorilla Monsoon. After seeking revenge on Patera over the intentional injury of his partner, Strongbow then went on to face the reigning WWWF Heavyweight champion Superstar Billy Graham in a top-drawing feud. passed away in Georgia on April 3, 2012. In 1982, Strongbow formed a tag team with his on-screen brother, Jules Strongbow. And all the while, Valentine was learning. It makes some wonder how much more success he would have had if he took up the Native American character much sooner. Strongbow won his first WWWF World Tag Team Championship on May 22, 1972 with partner Sonny King. Actor: Spectrum Wrestling. Swede Hanson gets a main event in Madison Square Garden, Pat Patterson gets an unprecedented four match series against Bob Backlund, and Roddy Piper gets the shaft. On June 28, the Strongbows won the tag team championship from the team of Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito in New York City's Madison Square Garden. If the Chief started his War Dance, the fans in attendance knew the end was near because no one could (or, perhaps more appropriately, was allowed to) stop him once a fired-up Strongbow began circling his opponent. Truly, "Chief" Jay Strongbow was a consummate wrestlerStrongbow began his career in the mid-1960s, and worked primarily for Vince McMahon Sr. and the World Wide Wrestling Federation. born right here in Nutley on [3] On June 28, the Strongbows won the tag team championship from the team of Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito in New York City's Madison Square Garden. Street hosted 50 Years of Nutley Wrestling, a program that explored Nutley sponsored by: Email Valentine agreed to a deal, and less than a month after Starrcade, Valentine dropped the U.S. title to Dick Slater and left for New York. As a face, Strongbow always had the crowd behind him, and he often used that to his advantage. His Tomahawk Chop was a weapon to be feared, and led to many victories of the course of his 20 years in the ring. Still, a wrestler as popular as Jay Strongbow couldn't help but pick up a fair share of championships. Only sparse details about the death of Chief Jay Strongbow have been made known to the public. A memorable match against "Iron Mike" McCord featured Strongbow applying his sleeper hold. Working in Cleveland, Ohio, and Buffalo, New York, the Fargo "brothers" would cut a swath of destruction. In Detroit he feuded with Don Kent once again. And like all of the greatest champions in pro wrestling, he never allowed his ego to get the best of him. wrestling team (1962) and head coach for the NHS wrestling team (1994 to [9], Four and a half years later, on December 7, 1976, Strongbow won his second WWWF World Tag Team Championship, this time with partner Billy White Wolf. That could be because while he [9] During the match, special guest referee Ivan Putski counted the winning fall, but did not see Fuji's foot draped over the bottom rope. "It was just incredible how much you would get paid, and then you had all of this money on you. The first thing that should be known to just about everyone is that Strongbow wasn't actually Native American. Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat The Story Behind The Magic, Roddy Piper on the Very Beginnings of Professional Wrestling, Nikolai Volkoff and Tito Santana A Side Not Often Seen, Titanes en el Ring Argentinas Crazy Wrestling Show, Brad Armstrong Your Favorite Wrestlers Favorite Wrestler, Blackjack Mulligan Fist Fighting with Andre, Harley, and Ole, Interview with Pro Wrestling Storiess Javier Ojst and Benny Scala, Kevin Von Erich: The Lesser-Known Tale of His Final Match, Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka on Pipers Pit Coconut Incident, Kayfabe in Wrestling 8 Stories Fans Shouldnt Know, Hulk Hogan and Iron Sheik Feud that Kick-Started Hulkamania, PLANE RIDE FROM HELL! Strongbow aka Joe Scarpa, achieved fame in his persona of a Native-American grappler during the 1970s and 1980s, whose war dance foretold the downfall of his opponents, died last Tuesday. 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