Brad Armstrong (wrestler)

Infobox Wrestler
name=Brad Armstrong
names=Arachnaman
Badstreet
Candyman
B.A.
Buzzkill
Mr. R
Brad Armstrong
height=6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
weight=convert|226|lb|kg st|abbr=on|lk=on
birth_date=birth date and age|1961|6|15
death_date=
birth_place=Marietta, Georgia
resides=
billed=
trainer=Bob Armstrong
debut=1980
retired=|

Brad Armstrong (born Bradley James on June 15, 1961) is an American professional wrestler. He is the son of Bob Armstrong and has three brothers that also wrestle, Steve, Scott and Brian. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment working on its ECW brand.

Career

Brad started out in Southeast Championship Wrestling in 1980. He was a face, or good guy, due to his good looks and superb wrestling ability. He feuded with Jerry Stubbs and Tom Prichard during his stay there and won the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) US Junior Heavyweight title there.

Later he moved to the Georgia part of the NWA and feuded with Ted DiBiase and with father Bob, the Fabulous Freebirds of Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts. He also became friends with Tim Horner. He and Horner formed a team called the Lightning Express, due to Horner's nickname of "White Lightning" and Armstrong's quickness.

Brad wrestled in the Universal Wrestling Federation with Horner and they feuded with the "Sheepherders", later known as The Bushwhackers, Butch Miller and Luke Williams. They also had some matches with future superstars Sting and Rick Steiner.

In May 1991, Brad was put in a mask as "Badstreet", the masked member of the Fabulous Freebirds along with Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin. They won the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Titles, while Hayes and Garvin also held the United States Tag Team title. Brad never revealed his Badstreet identity on television.

Later that year he was given another masked gimmick, Arachnaman, who looked so much like Spider-Man that Marvel Comics sued WCW, who soon dropped the gimmick. In July 1992, Brad won the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship (also known as the first incarnation of the WCW Cruiserweight Title), defeating Scotty Flamingo. He soon injured his knee during a tour of Japan and he was stripped of the title two months later at the Clash of the Champions. He returned in November 1992 and remained with the company until early 1995.

Armstrong worked for Smoky Mountain Wrestling for the rest of 1995, capturing their title in the process, but eventually returned to WCW in 1996. Between 1997 and 1998, he had developed a heel turn, where his string of losses was blamed by the "Armstrong Curse." In 1999, he was repackaged as "B.A.", a member of the No Limit Soldiers stable. After the group disbanded, he embarked on a feud against Berlyn, who attacked Armstrong's brother Scott. The feud ran through Halloween Havoc, where Armstrong defeated Berlyn. Due to Vince Russo's disrespect of Armstrong, due to "lack of character", he was given the gimmick of "Buzzkill", a takeoff of his brother Brian's gimmick Road Dogg. In fact, the theme song he used for the character was very similar to the New Age Outlaws theme song in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The gimmick was less successful due to fans feeling it an imitation of the Road Dogg persona, as well as a lack of awareness that the two were brothers.

He injured his knee early in 2000 in an accident backstage at a WCW Saturday Night taping, where Armstrong got run over, severely injuring his knee. After going through knee surgery, his WCW contract expired in 2001, and he left the business for a few years, until returning to the independent circuit in 2004.

On September 12, 2006, Armstrong signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and began wrestling at ECW brand house shows and acting as a trainer to the younger members of the roster. In December, around the time rumors of ECW color commentator Tazz leaving the company began to circulate, Armstrong began to make sporadic appearances as a "guest commentator" on the brand. The three-man booth, originally for a single match on the December 19 episode before expanding to a full show on January 9, did not last and Armstrong resumed his role as a producer.

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves:*Three-quarter facelock Russian legsweep:*Figure four leglock:*Rolling cutter:*911 DDT as one of the Fabulous Freebirds
*Managers:*Oliver Humperdink:*Diamond Dallas Page

Championships and accomplishments

*Championship Wrestling from Florida:*NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Magnum T.A.

*Georgia Championship Wrestling:*NWA National Heavyweight Championship (2 times):*NWA National Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Tim Horner (1) and Bob Armstrong (1)

*Mid-South Wrestling Association | 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 (Last)

*Southeastern Championship Wrestling:*NWA Southeastern Continental Heavyweight Championship (3 times):*NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Bob Armstrong (2), Scott Armstrong (1), and Norvell Austin (1):*NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 time)

*Smokey Mountain Wrestling:*SMW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

*Tennessee Mountain Wrestling:*TMW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Scott Armstrong [cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/other/2004-09.html | title=Independent Wrestling Results - September 2004 | accessdate=2008-07-05|publisher=onlineworldofwrestling.com]

*United States Wrestling Association:*USWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*World Championship Wrestling:*WCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) (Last):*WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin

*Pro Wrestling Illustrated:*PWI Rookie of the Year (1982):*PWI ranked him # 270 out of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards:*Most Underrated Wrestler (1987):*Rookie of the Year (1981) tied with Brad Rheingans

Notes