10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Jimmy Snuka

7. That Time When He Went To Rehab And Rikishi's Brother Replaced Him In The Feud With Roddy Piper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6rXcDCShHc In late 1984, Jimmy Snuka's now quite well known substance abuse issues reared their ugly head during his feud with Roddy Piper that was famously started when Snuka had a coconut smashed over his head by Piper. When Snuka needed to go to rehab, the Tonga Kid, later to be known as Tama of the Islanders and later the Samoan Savage, was introduced to literally take the role of Snuka while Snuka was away. Thus, there's tons of TV footage of Snuka putting over the Tonga Kid as his "nephew," as well as Snuka/Tonga Kid tag matches that were literally meant to help get over the "fake Snuka" that The Tonga Kid needed to be while Snuka was handling a drug problem.