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Wrestling Legend To Be Inducted Into Hall Of Fame

Posted: Mar 21st 2009 By: CMBurnham

Professional wrestling legend and Griffin resident J. Strongbow Scarpa, who wrestled under the moniker "Chief Jay Strongbow," will be inducted this May into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Scarpa was born in Oklahoma in 1932. His mother was a Cherokee Indian.

"I'm a half-breed," he said. "Proud of it."

He and his family left the state when he was 13. Around that time, he started wrestling. He wrestled in high school and at the local Young Men's Christian Association. After he graduated high school, he became a full-time professional wrestler.

"Very tough," he said when asked how that went. "Very tough."

He said it is hard to be a wrestler when one is young -- older wrestlers view younger wrestlers as competition. The older wrestlers did not want them around and many younger wrestlers ended up crippled."

He said the "Chief Jay Strongbow" character appeared 10 years after he started wrestling. He said Vince McMahon Sr. -- father of current head of World Wrestling Entertainment Vince McMahon Jr -- asked him to come to New York State to wrestle for him. Upon learning of Scarpa's background, McMahon invented the Native American wrestling persona in order to attract crowds.

"It's then I started using the headdress and stuff," Scarpa said. "For the first five years I was in the WWF, every arena I went to sold out."

Scarpa said he wrestled 118 times in Madison Square Garden, more than any other performer.

"You mention a state, I was there," he said. "Every major city in the country, almost every major city in the world. I wrestled in Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Japan, England, Germany, France, Belgium (and) Portugal. I was all over."

On a shelf in his well-appointed shed, he has an East German policeman's hat, as well as the cap of a Soviet officer, gifts from fans on the other side of the Iron Curtain.

Over the course of his career, he met many well-known people.
"I knew Andre the Giant," he said. "He was a friend of mine. Came here many times."

He also has a personal letter from Lee Iacocca, chief executive officer of Chrysler during the 1980s, congratulating him on the purchase of an automobile Iacocca once owned. He also met author Stephen King, who mentioned him in his novel "Needful Things."

"He used to come and see me wrestle in Bangor, Maine," Scarpa said. "In fact, he took me to see his house."

Scarpa also did a joint autograph signing with Joe DiMaggio and played golf with Yogi Berra. He and Berra participated in a fundraising golf tournament organized by Robert Kennedy Jr., who said Scarpa had given him many days of enjoyment growing up.

Scarpa retired from wrestling in 1985, although he served as a road agent and is still under contract.

"They sell these action figures and T-shirts of me," he said. "I get residuals on it."
He said it was a great honor to be inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. He compared it to entering the baseball or basketball halls of fame.

"Not too many people make it," he said.

He will travel to Amsterdam, N.Y. York, for the induction ceremony, which will take place the weekend of May 15-16.

Now that he is retired, he enjoys golfing in Zebulon, working out at the Raquethouse gym and hanging around Dave's Guns and Guy Stuff, owned by Spalding County Commissioner Dave Phillips.

"He's my adopted uncle," Phillips said.

He said when he was in the third grade, he had an image of Scarpa on his clipboard.

"He's one of my favorite all-time wrestlers," Phillips said. "If you had told me he'd be my best friend when I grew up, I'd have called you a liar."

He said one of the chairs at his shop is reserved for Scarpa when he comes by.

When informed of Scarpa's induction into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, Phillips said there was nobody more deserving.

"The man's a legend," he said. "He literally wrestled for four decades."

He said even after he retired from wrestling, he was instrumental in the careers of many younger wrestlers. He also praised Scarpa's character.

"He's just the nicest, most down-to-earth fellow," he said. "Generous to a fault."

Tags: Jay Strongbow, WWE, WWF, Andre the Giant