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PWInsider.com is sad to report the passing of Jeff Miller who for many, many, many years was WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Snuka's chief opponent on countless independent shows, especially in the Northeast. Word had been making the rounds over the last week that Miller had been ill.
Miller, who in recent years lived in Hawaii, was extremely close with Snuka and was his driver and closest confidante for many years, accompanying Snuka to events and putting him over in the ring.
Miler was broken into the business by Don Muraco, Snuka and the late Siva Afi after meeting Afi on a trip to Florida.
Said to be classically trained musician who's family owned a recording studio in his native New Jersey and would play bass in a number of bands, Miller took the Metal Maniac name from heavy metal music and would wear face paint, a staple of 1990s wrestling. He wrestled for, among other companies, early ECW, Tommy Dee's United Wrestling Superstars in the NYC area, Maryland's MEWF (which was the predecessor to today's MCW), Dino Sanno's WWWA, Afa Anoai's WXW, Hawaii's WCPW, the late Tony Capone's NAWA, Tommy Fierro's ISPW, Gino Caruso's ECPW, the late Dennis Coralluzzo's NWA New Jersey, John Arezzi's IWAS and many, many more. He also worked some of the Global Wrestling Federation TV tapings in Dallas in 1992. He last wrestled, to the best of my knowledge, in 2018.
I got to know Miller quite a bit in the early 1990s and he was a pretty unique character (and I mean that in a good way) who truly loved and idolized Snuka and loved being around the business. He was absolutely a product of that time period, working a basic, safe style meant to build to the babyface (usually almost Snuka) making the big comeback. He was ahead of the game when it came to selling merchandise, including 8x10s at shows, and if you went to a restaurant near a show Miller had worked, chances are you'd have found his signed photos hanging somewhere, given as a gift to the place. Miller was very much a legend to many who came through the Northeastern independent scene, a beloved character who inspired many stories and legends - to the point there was a Facebook group celebrating him created and populated by indy workers from that era.
On behalf of everyone at PWInsider.com, we'd like to express our deepest condolences to family, friends and fans of the one and only Metal Maniac, Jeff Miller.
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