Chief Jay Strongbow obit

WWE LEGEND CHIEF JAY STRONGBOW DIES AT 83

 

He was not on the list.

WWE Hall of Famer Chief Jay Strongbow, a colorful and decorated performer during his nearly 50-year-career in professional wrestling died on Tuesday. He was 83.

Strongbow, real name Joe Scarpa, retired in 1994 but still appeared in WWE card sets in recent years. In all, he appears on 32 cards in the Beckett.com database (click for a full checklist or OPG) with just two certified autographs, both from Topps.

His debut autograph came in the 2005 Topps Heritage set, a card that typically sold for $30 or less before the news, while his other autograph came in the 2006 Topps Heritage Chrome release.

Like many stars of the 1970s and early 1980s, his first card arrived in the landmark 1982 Wrestling All-Stars release (he’s in Series B) and he made his first official WWF/WWE card appearance in the 1985 Topps and 1985 O-Pee-Chee WWF sets.

He was a four-time tag champ for what is now the WWE but held titles in several territories. He joined the WWE Hall in 1994 and became a member of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009.

Much like his contemporary Wahoo McDaniel, he portrayed a Native American wrestler, who wore a war bonnet to the ring and would "go on the warpath" when the fans started cheering him against an opponent. 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 portrayed an Indian to stand-out more. His best accomplishments are in WWWF where he was a 4-time World Tag-Team Champion.

Scarpa's wrestling career began in 1947, under his real name. He was trained by legendary second generation Native American wrestler Chief Don Eagle. He was a standout in the Georgia and Florida territories of the National Wrestling Alliance throughout the 1950s and 1960s, winning several championships and becoming a fan favorite. He won the NWA (Georgia) Southern Tag Team titles with Chief Little Eagle in Georgia Championship wrestling in 1965. During his time in Georgia he was also the Inaugural NWA National Television Championship when he won an 8-man tournament by beating Assassin #2 in the finals. By the time he went over to WWWF, he was already a 12 Tag-Team and 6 Time singles champion.

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. 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. A memorable match against "Iron Mike" McCord featured Strongbow applying his sleeper hold. But Lou Albano, McCord's manager, interfered by smashing a cast on the Chief's forehead. It was alleged that Strongbow had previously jumped Albano in the locker room, breaking his arm. McCord was disqualified, but Strongbow was cut wide open by Albano's blows. Strongbow settled the score in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden, beating Captain Lou Albano convincingly.

Strongbow picked up a win at Madison Square Garden in the summer of 1970, shortly after he entered the WWWF, pinning top contender Crusher Verdu, who was managed by Lou Albano.

In 1975, he began feuding with Spiros Arion. Arion, a popular and seemingly unbeatable babyface, returned to the WWWF after an absence and teamed with Strongbow. Arion turned on Strongbow, destroying his headdress on Philadelphia television after he had tied Strongbow in the ropes, and rubbed the feathers in his face. Arion was now a heel, and pinned Strongbow in eastern arenas as he went on to challenge champion Bruno Sammartino.

Strongbow won his first WWWF World Tag Team Championship on May 22, 1972 with partner Sonny King. They defeated the team of Baron Mikel Scicluna and King Curtis Iaukea. Strongbow and King held the title for a month before losing it to the team of Mr. Fuji and Professor Toru Tanaka on June 27.

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. The team won the title in a three-team tournament, defeating The Executioners and Nikolai Volkoff and Tor Kamata. 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 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. 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.

In 1979, he feuded with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, who broke Strongbow's leg. The two wrestled all over the WWF circuit, including an "Indian Strap match" at Madison Square Garden on July 30, 1979.