By Rick Morris
We at FDH are
very saddened to hear of the passing – of a sudden and as yet, unnamed severe
health condition – of one of the greatest pro wrestling workers of all time,
Brad Armstrong, at the young age of 51.
We have been privileged on our all-topics webcast to have on many of the
greats of that industry, but Brad was unfortunately not among them. We have had a number of folks who were lucky
enough to count Brad as a co-worker and friend – JJ Dillon, Jim Cornette, Tully
Blanchard, Dennis Condrey, Bobby Eaton, Road Warrior Animal Joe Laurinaitis,
Jerry Lawler and Harley Race are probably the main ones off of our wrestling
roster of guests – and we’ll certainly be asking these performers and others
who crossed paths with Brad to talk about their impressions of him in the
weeks, months and years to come.
Brad was a
second-generation star, son of “Bullet” Bob Armstrong, a longtime legend in the
Alabama and Tennessee territories. He
was the most talented of all of the Armstrongs, which says something since Bob
was such a huge territorial star, brothers Scott and Steve were very
technically proficient and brother Brian became a huge superstar in the
Attitude Era as one half of the New Age Outlaws, “Road Dogg Jesse James.”
Brad was an
absolutely amazing worker, one of the truly great babyfaces of all time. The fact that he did not rise to the level of
superstardom seems attributable in equal parts to the perception that his
charisma/interviews were not at that level and that bookers in the big
companies probably didn’t give him the chance to challenge those perceptions
accordingly. Nevertheless, he left a
tremendous body of work from an artistic standpoint in the industry and we are
proud to spotlight it here.
For thoughts
and insights on the man, who was apparently as great personally as he was
professionally, check out the announcer who got to know him so well, Jim Ross. Below, we have chosen a representation of his
career’s work so that we may aid in the appreciation of his tremendous and
varied in-ring work. We send our
thoughts and prayers to his grieving family and his legions of personal
friends. God Bless Brad Armstrong. RIP.
Here’s one of
the greatest pro wrestling angles of all time, “Mr. R” from 1984. Tommy “Wildfire” Rich had lost a
loser-leaves-town match against Ted Dibiase, returned under a mask and obtained
a National Title match against him. At
the critical moment in the match, when Dibiase was close to unmasking Mr. R, Rich
strolled out to ringside – leaving Armstrong, the man revealed under the mask,
to roll up Dibiase for the shocking win.
Here’s Brad
against another underutilized worker, Arn Anderson.
Here’s some
sweet action from one of wrestling’s all-time great territories, the Mid-South
area. Brad teams up with Brickhouse
Brown against Dibiase and Steve “Dr. Death” Williams.
Shades of the
Anderson match above, Brad takes on another great under-the-radar worker, Al
Perez.
Another
Armstrong-Dibiase epic … these two workers together were magical.
How about
this? Blanchard taking on Brad for the
NWA World TV Title!
Another TV
Champion and excellent wrestler, Mike Rotunda, squares off with Brad here.
Here, Brad
takes on one of the great villains of the 1980s, “Purple Haze” Mark Lewin.
Brad
Armstrong. Barry Windham. ‘Nuff said.
Brad vs. a
young Raven, then known as pretty boy Scotty Flamingo.
Here’s Brad
against another of the great workers of his generation, Rick Martel.
These guys
could have had a heck of a series headlining cards: Brad vs. Finlay.
Here’s Brad
doing some rare, but very effective, heel work with Goldberg.
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