As announced by his son Road Dogg, “Bullet” Bob Armstrong has passed away at the age of 80. Armstrong became enamored by wrestling after seeing Gorgeous George perform but joined the Marine Corps before ever becoming a wrestler.
Armstrong began wrestling in the 1960s and was a popular babyface in the Georgia area. His popularity would spread throughout the south-east of the United States with Georgia remaining his biggest fanbase. Armstrong was aligned with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) performing for a number of their affiliated promotions. He adopted the nickname “bullet” after donning a mask to hide his face after a weight fell on it causing severe damage that required heavy plastic surgery. When the surgery had healed he stopped wearing the mask but kept the bullet name. Outside of the USA, Armstrong had a run in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in the 70s which saw him face legendary names like Karl Gotch and Antonio Inoki.
Despite never winning a world championship “Bullet” Bob Armstrong won a number of NWA Championships in Georgia including the NWA Macon Heavyweight Championship, NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship, as well as a vast number of tag team and television championships.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS_uLxRBvK0
Armstrong had initially retired in 1988 but continued to make appearances for many years after, often being involved in matches with his sons (who he had trained to wrestle). He notably unretired for Smokey Mountain Wrestling and wrestled on a house show for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) alongside his son Brad Armstrong. He was also used quite extensively by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) usually alongside B.G James, his son Road Dogg, even wrestling alongside him in 2008 for a tag team title match. Armstrong would have his final match in 2019, almost sixty years after his debut.
Armstrong was inducted into the WWE hall of fame in 2011 and will be remembered as one of the most decorated performers in Georgia wrestling history.
Our thoughts here at LWOPW go out to the family, friends, and fans of “bullet” Bob Armstrong
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