The Cream of the Crop #5 — Two Ways to Draw a Crowd: Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka & Ripper Collins

<p><strong>The Cream of the Crop #5 — Two Ways to Draw a Crowd: Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka &amp; Ripper Collins</strong></p><p>Before Madison Square Garden. Before the steel cage. Before millions of wrestling fans knew the name <strong>Superfly</strong>, there was Portland.</p><p>And standing across the ring from the young Jimmy Snuka was one of professional wrestling’s great old-school heels: <strong>Ripper Collins</strong>.</p><p>In Episode 5 of <em>The Cream of the Crop</em>, Frank Culbertson looks back at two wrestlers who represented completely different ways to become a wrestling attraction.</p><p>Snuka looked like the future—explosive, athletic and charismatic. Portland recognized his potential early and gave him a place to develop into the star the rest of the wrestling world would eventually know.</p><p>Collins had already mastered a very different art: <strong>making people hate him.</strong> From filing his teeth during interviews to the brutal Opu Drop, Collins knew exactly how to make an audience desperate to see somebody shut him up.</p><p>Their paths first crossed in Hawaii in 1973. Months later, both arrived in Portland, where those early encounters developed into a heated rivalry involving the <strong>Northwest Heavyweight Championship, disqualifications, title changes, a hair-versus-hair match—and Ripper Collins putting on a mask after losing his hair.</strong></p><p>One man made people buy a ticket because they wanted to see him win.</p><p>The other made people buy a ticket because they wanted to see him lose.</p><p><strong>Different methods. Same result. People in the building.</strong></p><p>Two ways to draw a crowd.</p><p>One made you cheer. One made you angry. <strong>Both made you care.</strong></p><p>That’s what legends do.</p><p><em>The Cream of the Crop: The Main Eventers, the Money Draws, and the Territory Legends.</em></p><p>New episodes drop every Friday.</p><p>Based on <em>The Encyclopedia of Portland Wrestlers</em> by <strong>Mike Rodgers</strong>, with additional material from <em>Oh Yeah! The History of Hawaiian Wrestling</em>, also by Mike Rodgers. Both are available on Amazon.</p><p><strong>Next week: The Grappler gets the spotlight all to himself.</strong></p><p></p>