Robert Bradley James (June 15, 1962 – November 1, 2012), better known by his ring name, Brad Armstrong was an American professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the promotion World Championship Wrestling in the 1990s. He was the son of wrestler "Bullet Bob" Armstrong and brother to professional wrestlers Steve, Scott and Brian.
Professional wrestling career
National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling (1980–1995)
Brad Armstrong began his career three weeks after graduating from Wheeler High School, wrestling his first match on July 4, 1980, at the age of 18. In 1984, he moved to the Georgia territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), Georgia Championship Wrestling. He was also involved in an angle with Tommy Rich, who was feuding with Ted DiBiase. After Rich lost to DiBiase in a "loser leaves wrestling" match, he put on a mask and came back as Mr. R, who DiBiase insisted was really Rich. On February 18, during a TV match for DiBiase's NWA National Heavyweight Championship, Rich visited announcer Gordon Solie and DiBiase unmasked Mr R, only to find that it was actually Armstrong, who pinned DiBiase to win the championship.
Armstrong also held the NWA National Tag Team Championship twice that year, once with his father, and once with Horner. At Starrcade '86: The Skywalkers on November 27, Armstrong faced Jimmy Garvin, but their match ended in a draw. He then moved to Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation (then known as Mid-South Wrestling). They lost the titles to The Sheepherders (Butch Miller and Luke Williams) on October 16.
A month later, Armstrong went back into singles competition as The Candyman, dressed in red and white tights and handing out candy to fans during his entrances. On November 15, The Iron Sheik upset The Candyman at a house show in Kansas City, ending his undefeated streak. At SuperBrawl I on May 19, Armstrong helped the Freebirds capture the vacant WCW United States Tag Team Championship from the Young Pistols, becoming Fantasia, the third member of the Freebirds under a mask and covered in black feathers. His name was quickly changed to Badstreet to prevent legal action from Disney. The three Freebirds then won the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship while Hayes and Garvin held the WCW United States Tag Team Championship. On July 5, 1992, Armstrong defeated Scotty Flamingo to win the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship (also known as the second incarnation of the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship and the first incarnation of the WCW Cruiserweight Championship). He returned weeks later, and remained with the company until early 1995.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling and United States Wrestling Association (1995–1996)
In June 1995, Armstrong joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He would split his time between SMW in Knoxville and the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in Memphis, winning the USWA Heavyweight Championship once and the SMW Heavyweight Championship twice during his stay. In the summer of 1997, he turned heel, changing his look, sporting short hair and a goatee, and developing a bad attitude and mean streak. By the end of the year, he developed a string of losses, which he blamed on the "Armstrong Curse". On February 22, 1998, he lost to Goldberg at SuperBrawl VIII during Goldberg's undefeated streak.
In 1999, he was repackaged as "B.A.", a member of The No Limit Soldiers stable. After the group disbanded, he began a feud with Berlyn, who attacked Armstrong's brother Scott and badmouthed the United States of America. On October 24, at Halloween Havoc, Armstrong defeated Berlyn. After Halloween Havoc, Vince Russo forced Armstrong to find a gimmick, eventually becoming "Buzzkill", a hippie with a Tie-dye shirt and a takeoff of his brother Brian's gimmick, Road Dogg.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2006–2012)
On September 15, 2006, Armstrong signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and began wrestling at ECW brand house shows against Eric Pérez and acting as a trainer to the younger members of the roster. The three-man booth did not last and Armstrong resumed his role as a producer. While working as a producer for WWE, Armstrong continued to wrestle for various independent promotions in the Southeast. At the same time, Armstrong worked at a health store in Marietta and volunteered at Shiloh Hills Christian School in Kennesaw, performing various functions including serving as field trip monitor and assisting with car duty on campus. His former Lightning Express tag team partner and best friend Tim Horner speculated that he died of a heart attack, which was confirmed by his brother Scott in a 2022 interview. Eulogizing Armstrong, Jim Ross described him as "one of the more talented in-ring performers I've ever worked with...one of the most underrated all-time greats ever in the business."
Championships and accomplishments
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Terry Allen
- Exodus Wrestling
- Exodus Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA National Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bob Armstrong (1) and Tim Horner (1)
- Mid-South Wrestling / Universal Wrestling Federation
- Mid-South North American Championship (1 time)
- UWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tim Horner
- NWA Rocky Top
- NWA Rocky Top Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ricky Morton
- Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
- MACW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ricky Morton
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Rookie of the Year (1982)
- Ranked No. 63 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1992
- Ranked No. 270 out of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
- Southeastern Championship Wrestling
- NWA Southeastern Continental Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Bob Armstrong (3), Scott Armstrong (1), and The Shadow (Norvell Austin) (1)
- NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 time)
- Smoky Mountain Wrestling
- SMW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- Tennessee Mountain Wrestling
- TMW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Armstrong
- United States Wrestling Association
- USWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- World Championship Wrestling
- WCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Most Underrated Wrestler (1987)
- Rookie of the Year (1981) <small>shared with Brad Rheingans</small>