WWE Hall of Famer ‘Bullet’ Bob Armstrong Passes Away

Another legend of the wrestling world has been lost, as WWE Hall of Famer “Bullet” Bob Armstrong has passed away. Armstrong’s sons “Road Dogg” Brian James and Scott Armstrong posted to Twitter to announce that their father has passed. He was 80 years old.

Armstrong was born James Melton James in 1939 in Marietta, Georgia. Enamored with wrestling as a child after his father took him to see a wrestling show featuring Gorgeous George, James first served in the Marine Corps and was stationed in Korea before he trained to wrestle, making his debut as Bob Armstrong in 1960. He was working primarily as a firefighter while wrestling at first, though as his popularity as a babyface in Georgia grew he eventually quit his firefighting job and turned to wrestling full-time.

Armstrong competed with NWA affiliates in the southeast United States and faced Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in October of 1974, though he was unsuccessful in winning the title. He would eventually start wearing a mask after he was disfigured during a bench pressing accident when the bench broke, requiring $38,000 of plastic surgery to fix. His masked persona was “The Bullet,” and he kept the name after he ditched the mask due to the surgeries being complete.

Armstrong had a host of title wins across territories including two reigns as NWA Southern Heavyweight Champion in Championship Wrestling from Florida, four NWA Columbus Heavyweight Championship reigns in Georgia Championship Wrestling, two runs with the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship in NWA Mid-America and many, many title runs in Southeastern Championship Wrestling. He eventually went into semi-retirement in 1988 and trained each of his sons to wrestle.

He would return to the ring for Smokey Mountain Wrestling from 1992 to its closure in 1995 and had runs with TNA in the early to mid-00s, serving as a component in the Four Live Kru vs. LAX feud. He would appear sporadically at events after and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011; his final match was wrestled in May of 2019 for Continental Championship Wrestling, defeating the Assassin.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends, and many fans of Mr. Armstrong. He will be missed.

It is with a very heavy heart we announce the passing of our Father and @WWE Hall of Famer “Bullet” Bob Armstrong. Information regarding funeral arrangements will come at a later date.

— Brian G. James (@BrianRDJames) August 28, 2020

It is with a very heavy heart we announce the passing of our Father and @WWE Hall of Famer “Bullet” Bob Armstrong. Information regarding funeral arrangements will come at a later date.

— Scott Armstrong (@WWEArmstrong) August 28, 2020