Sources tell me that “Bullet Bob” Armstrong is going into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame this year. (Others named so far are Shawn Michaels and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan.)
I don’t believe Armstrong, now 71, ever wrestled for WWE or its predecessor WWF; I know fans will quickly correct me if I’m wrong about that. But he had a long and distinguished career for southern promotions, and since WrestleMania is being held this year in Atlanta, his induction has a marketing hook.
An amusing offshoot is that this development triggered the return of WWE referee (and former wrestler) Scott Armstrong, Bullet Bob’s son. No one could figure out why Scott was released last year in the first place, since he got high marks for his work, but whatever. Scott is again gainfully employed by the world’s dominant pro wrestling promotion.
As readers of this blog and my book CHRIS & NANCY also know, Scott Armstrong was, along with wrestler Chavo Guerrero, a recipient of Chris Benoit’s final text messages, just before he killed himself after murdering his wife Nancy and their 7-year-old son Daniel. WWE’s explanation for why company higher-ups supposedly didn’t know about these messages for more than a day is full of inconsistencies. Guerrero’s public explanation on Fox News the next month (that the cryptic messages didn’t seem all that important at the time) directly contradicted another explanation, that he didn’t receive the messages because of transmission problems. Armstrong himself was said to have actually gone to the Houston airport on Sunday morning, June 24, 2007, in anticipation of picking up Benoit (who was supposed to be flying in from Atlanta for a pay-per-view show that night). Yet Armstrong too, according to WWE, did not see that top executives knew about Benoit’s text messages even after Benoit no-showed the Sunday night pay-per-view, necessitating script-doctoring.
Anyway ... Welcome to the Hall, Bullet Bob.
As for Hall of Fame valedictorian Shawn Michaels, see:
“Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels Should Speak Up on What Happened to Lance Cade,” February 14, http://wrestlingbabylon.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/wwe-hall-of-famer-shawn-michaels-should-speak-up-on-what-happened-to-lance-cade/
“Did WWE’s WWE’s Lance Cade Have Brain Damage? It May Not Be Too Late to Find Out,” February 15, http://wrestlingbabylon.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/did-wwe%E2%80%99s-lance-cade-have-brain-damage-it-may-not-be-too-late-to-find-out/
Irv Muchnick
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