Chief Jay Strongbow was my favorite. They allowed the feuds to really develop back then. Spiros Arion, Albano, Black Jack Lanza-man those guys were evil. Chief would put on the sleeper hold or begin the war dance and all was right with the world. Amazing moment.

Sadly by the time I came on board with pro wrestling in the 1980s, the Chief was relegated to a role of jobber to the stars. On the rarest of occasion he would beat a Tiger Chung Lee type.
But I loved the war dance!

Here's my question Kev when he tagged with Jules Strongbow who was his on screen brother "Brother" how were both of them "Chief"? Doesn't a tribe have only one chief?

"Ah , those were the days" .
Kev , those really WERE the days .

Didn't Jay Strongbow tag with his "son" or "brother" back in the day ?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: HIs "brother" Jules

So you mean the Chief really wasn't from Pawhuska, OK, as he was billed????

I wish I had seen that, Chief Jay Strongbow was my hero growing up, back when I marked out for everything, when I was so young I thought it was all real.

One of my favorite Chief Jay Strongbow moments was when he and it was either Jules or Billy White Wolf. They had lost the tag team titles to open the program and they refuesd to leave, sittin in the middle of the ring for a long time. Also, I believe that it was Suprestar Billy Graham used to refer to Strongbow as Strongenbow

Its funny, the other month I was wondering what has happened to the "Chief" and did not catch him on WWE! How does he look? How old is he?

I remember as a kid I "jobbed" for my friends who acted as the "Chief" when they did his "Wardance" in our backyard matches!

Spiros Arion, now thats another guy that WWE needs to bring back...

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: He was born in 1928 according to several sources. He was quite overweight, but he looked OK for his age.
Arion is deceased.

The WWE needs to Reach out to more of it's past stars. It really takes me back to remember Old School Wrestling at it's best. I say that cause I'm an Old Fart!!

When I saw Chief Jay Strongbow on RAW my reactions was the same as yours. Nobody knows who this guy is. Which is a real shame.

However, I do recall that Strongbow was utilized back in the mid-1990s in a feud between Tatanka and IRS (a.k.a. Mike Rotundo). The angle was IRS claimed Tatanka wasn't paying tax on his headdress and he ended up stealing it. I'm not sure how Strongbow got involved but I remember him taking out IRS after IRS attacked Tatanka. IRS got his revenge on Strongbow by attacking him and putting part of his headdress in his mouth a la Spiros Arion. Tatanka came to the ring to tend to Strongbow, welled up with tears and asked, "Why?"

I don't know what kind of health Strongbow is in but if an opportunity were to arise where he kicked some butt and did a little raindance then people would know who he is. To quote Hurricane Helms, "I'm just saying."

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I remember the Tatanka angle. And as many probably know, Strongbow worked as a WWE road agent for many years after he retired from the ring.

As a kid, CJSB was my absolute favorite.

He was the most entertaining wrestler back in the days when it was not referred to as sports entertainment.

I loved the war dance and sleeper hold bits. The Chief's facial expressions when taking a beating were the best! Without him, I might have never become a life long wrestling fan.

I missed him on Raw though. What was the angle?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Strangely, there was no angle. He was introduced, came out, waved to the crowd and that was it.

Even though the days of Strongbow and his like were before my time, I can see why everyone is waxing nostalgia about the good ol' days. There seems to be something missing from wrestling in 2008 that was alive and well in the 80's and 90's. I can't say exactly what that was, and maybe someone can help me with putting a finger on it, but it just seems like wrestlers aren't as motivated to embrace their character anymore. I think overall, athleticism has been pushed to the forefront of the agenda, while character development has taken a backseat.

Part of it may be that the wrestling industry wants to be taken more seriously, and doesn't want to have as many over-the-top personalities like they used to, such as the Boogey-Woogey Man, the Iron Sheik, or others in that vein. Those type of characters still exist, but not like it was a decade or two ago.

I'm not saying we need more goofball characters. But if those guys could make it work with their gimmicks, why is that some wrestlers today can have a gimmick that's not half as ridiculous as some of the older personalities from the AWA days, and still act like they have no idea how to make their character believable or interesting?

Maybe I've become jaded, but to me it seems like today's wrestlers can't hold a candle to the old guys in terms of personality. Take John Morrison for example. He's a great wrestler, but his character is so boring it's painful.

Hopefully this isn't coming across as an aimless rant. I guess what I'm getting at is that there needs to be a careful balance between the old and the new for wrestling to remain competitive in these times. Wrestlers can't act better than actors, and they can't be more athletic than true athletes, but with a careful balance of both, I think there could be a Rasslin' Renaissance.

Anybody agree/ disagree?

AMC - Raw taping was in Atlanta , Strongbow lives in Atlanta other than that , ????

Oh the Chief...how I long for the era of politically incorrect characters in Wrestling. Most recently, Mohammad Hassan was becoming one of my favorite heels, before he drew too much heat, especially from the national media and was unceremoniously dismissed from Smackdown by Teddy Long.

I go back farther than the rest of you. Before there was a Strongbow/ Greg Valentine feud, there was Johnny Valentine (Greg's father) feuding the great Chief Big Heart. I seem to remember almost every match was a blood bath and Valentine had this little sidekick named Tokyeo Joe who would always throw salt in the Chief's eyes. Also, to respond, somewhat, to a previous blogger, about the differences between today and the "old days," back then wrestlers didn't need music to incite and excite the crowd. It was simply the anticipation. Today, the Undertaker, with his long coat, hat and eery music is recognized as the best entrance. Back then, just waiting for Bruno Sammarino to run, full speed, to the ring with nothing but a white towel around his neck and, the Golden Boy arnold Skoaland, his manager, jogging behind, was enough to get the crowd standing and screaming for the entire match. Without question, I say bring back the old days.

Yes Chief was one of my favorites too. In Jay Strongbow's Shoot Wrestling Interview he revealed that he mother was indian and he father was italian/american, therefore he IS part indian.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I'm not 100 percent certain, but I think he might have been "working" a little in that shoot interview. Everything I have ever read or heard about him is that he was not Native American -- even part.

Kevin , how about a "where are they now" type column featuring the likes of CJS , etc .? just a thought . thanks .

I was highly offended at the lack of response that the Cheif got.I too was a little to young to remember him in his prime but I do remember seeing him in the twighlight of his career and he was still entertaining,and even if I had never seen him wrestle before I've heard the name ,I know he's a legend, I'd get on my feet and show some respect.I'd never seen Buddy Rodgers or Lou Thez wrestle but if they were still alive and were introduced on an episode of RAW I was attending I'd stand up and show some apperication.
Just for the fact that they took time out of the show to pay tribute to him means that the McMahons have respect for the guy.I just worry that if live crowds sit on their hands for guys who really meant something to this business then it will stop them from doing that type of thing again and depriving the real fans from moments like that.
I was also totally marking out for the Wild Samoan video package the had before the Batista/Manu match.

"Wrestlers can't act better than actors, and they can't be more athletic than true athletes, but with a careful balance of both, I think there could be a Rasslin' Renaissance.

Anybody agree/ disagree?"

Most definately disagree. I think wrestling, like almost everything else in entertainment, is cyclical and will be back in full bloom. I think several wrestlers are better than "actors", though sometimes that's not saying much. And to say wrestlers are not "true athletes"? What ARE you watching?

Sean,

the reason why everyone seems nostalgic about the good old days is because something IS missing from wrestling these days. You say you dont know what it is, but it's right here before your eyes.

The internet has allowed wrestling fans everywhere to see the strings being pulled from behind. Back in the good old days, you would have to tune in to a show to know what's going on. No one knew the angles that were being set up. Which wrestler is being pushed and for what reason. None of that. The story was told better because there was nothing behind the scenes. The characters seemed larger than life because they had NO out of the ring personas.

Now with the dissemination of information happening so freely on the internet, it's hard to have that sense of suspense or imagination.

For instance, up until i read this, i really thought chief jay strongbow WAS native american. Back then, seeing the headdress ripped to shreds by IRS with Tatanka, was really emotional for me. Now that I know, im left to say things like... wow, his facial expressions in the ring are very good. Not the same thing.

What happened with "brother" Jules and did he have much of a singles career? I assume his last name was not Scarpa.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: You are correct -- Jules was no relation to Jay.

Chief Jay Strongbow was the man! When Ken Patera "broke" Sheik Adnan Al Kaisse's (aka Billy White Wolf) neck, the Chief vowed never to have a tag team partner again. Then he brought his "brother" Jules to the WWWF. They went on to win the WWWF Tag Team Championship where in the glory afterwards, Chief Jay was screaming "Billy, Billy." Great stuff!