10 Times WWE Bounced Back From Adversity

4. Jimmy Snuka And Nancy Argentino

Vince Mcmahon Dawn Marie
WWE

The death of Nancy Argentino is one of the blackest marks on the wrestling industry. The girlfriend of Jimmy Snuka, Argentino died due to traumatic brain injuries back in May 1983. At that time, the police investigation only had one suspect in mind as the person responsible for Nancy’s death. That suspect, was Jimmy Snuka.

Initially, charges were not pressed against Snuka, but 1985 saw Argentino’s parents awarded $500,000 as part of a judgement against the wrestler. Explaining that he wasn’t financially stable enough to pay this figure, the WWF main event star never paid the Argentino family a single penny.

This case would remain open right up until Snuka’s death in 2017, and The Superfly was officially arrested and charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in 2015 – a huge 32 years after Nancy’s death at just 23 years of age.

Eventually, Snuka was deemed to be not mentally fit to stand trial due to his deteriorating physical and mental health.

Over the years, there have been all kinds of rumours and speculation as to Vince McMahon’s involvement in this entire tragic situation. Regardless of those rumblings, the death of Nancy Argentino was one of the biggest controversies WWE has indirectly been involved in, and the company did everything it could to keep Snuka out of its spotlight once the ’85 judgement was put through – the Fiji native leaving WWE in 1985 and not returning until 1989.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.