10. Chief Jay Strongbow (1970-1977, 1979-1983)
WWE.comI first discovered Chief Jay Strongbow when I was about ten years old, and as with everything in professional wrestling, it was his entertainment value that hooked me. With his Native American gimmick, which you believed despite the fact that Joe Scarpa was a fullblooded Italian, Chief Jay would do his war dance around the ring - after you p*ssed him off - with the grace of a Cheryl Burke two-step that you could see her perform weekly on Dancing With The Stars. The fans loved Strongbow, especially in the New York area. His monumental feuds with such greats as Jimmy Valiant and Superstar Billy Graham were some of the most important and significant bouts during that era. In fact, Chief was involved in one of the first angles I had ever seen on a professional wrestling show, when his then partner, Spiros Arion, turned on him and stuffed his traditional tribal headdress down his gullet. That incident still scars me today. One other thing Id like to tell you about Joe is that he was involved in one of my favorite gimmick matches of all time: Chief actually fought his opponent to the death inside a . . . . shark cage. A BRILLIANT booking for its time. So the question is, why wasnt Chief Jay Strongbow ever given the honor of becoming the WWWF World Heavyweight Champion? The answer is simple: there was just another main eventer standing in his way through his tenure in the Federation. His name - Bruno Sammartino.