So, Brad Armstrong popped into my head the other week. Can’t even remember why exactly, maybe saw an old clip somewhere online, maybe just thinking about guys from WCW who could really go in the ring. Anyway, it got me thinking, I never really sat down and properly went through his stuff.
I decided, alright, let’s do this. Time to actually dig in. Fired up the old wrestling network subscription first. Started just typing his name in, seeing what came up. Loads of WCW Saturday Night matches, some Clash of the Champions appearances, pay-per-view undercard stuff mostly.
Digging Through the Tapes (Digitally, Anyway)
Spent a few nights just watching. Seriously, just clicking from one match to the next. Trying to follow the timeline, you know?
- Started with some of his earlier NWA/WCW work. Smooth technician, even back then.
- Then came the weird gimmicks. Man, oh man. Fantasia, then Arachnaman… felt like they were just throwing darts at a board. Remember that goofy spider suit? Yikes.
- Tried finding stuff from his run as Candyman. Not much easily available, but pieced together what I could.
- Then the Buzzkill gimmick later on. A parody of his own brother, Road Dogg? Felt kinda weird and uncomfortable to watch, honestly.
It was kinda frustrating. You’d see flashes of brilliance, like absolutely killer technical wrestling, just pure skill. He could make anybody look good. Seriously, watch him work with guys who weren’t exactly ring generals – Brad could carry them to a decent match. He had this smoothness, everything looked effortless. Great dropkick, solid Russian leg sweep.
The Underrated Worker Thing
But here’s the thing that started bugging me the more I watched. It felt like he was always there, always solid, always putting on a good show… but never really getting that big push. Always the guy putting someone else over, always stuck in the midcard or opening matches. Reliable as hell, but maybe too reliable? Like they knew he could always deliver a good match no matter where they put him, so they just… left him there.
And seeing all those different, often terrible, gimmicks they saddled him with? Arachnaman? Really? It felt like they just didn’t know what to do with a guy who was just purely a great wrestler, didn’t have some cartoonish character. It’s a shame, really. You watch him and think, this guy had main event talent, but just never got the shot.
I also looked into the whole Armstrong family history a bit more. Bullet Bob, Scott, Steve, Road Dogg… quite the wrestling dynasty. Maybe being part of such a big family made it harder to stand out? Or maybe it was just bad luck, bad timing, bad booking decisions. Who knows?
Just Watching, Mostly
So yeah, that was my little project. Didn’t build anything, didn’t write some grand thesis. Just spent a lot of time watching Brad Armstrong matches. Came away with a much bigger appreciation for his talent, but also kinda sad about how his career went. Felt like he deserved more recognition. Every so often now, if I’m scrolling through old shows, I’ll stop and watch a Brad Armstrong match. Just good, fundamental pro wrestling. Hard to find that sometimes.
