Some wrestlers are born into the business. Some stumble into it. And then there’s Bob Armstrong—the Georgia firefighter and Marine Corps veteran who walked into the ring in 1960 and never really walked out, even after six decades, a shattered face, four wrestling sons, and one last match at 79 years old. They called him “Bullet” Bob, and he lived the gimmick until the day bone cancer finally slowed him down.
A Marine, A Firefighter, A Wrestler
Born Joseph Melton James in Marietta, Georgia, in 1939, young Bob was hooked early. His father once took him to see Gorgeous George, the flamboyant golden-haired villain who sprayed perfume in the ring and drove crowds insane. That single glimpse of pro wrestling’s theater lit the fire.
James grew into a Marine, stationed in Korea, where he earned honors for toughness. When he came home, he became a firefighter in Cobb County. In 1962, he swapped his hose for a pair of boots and tried out the family-friendly carnival called professional wrestling. By 1966, he was drawing crowds in Georgia as a fiery babyface under the name Bob Armstrong. In 1970, he left the fire department behind and chased the squared circle full-time.
Southern Hero
In the Southeast, Bob Armstrong became more than a wrestler—he was a folk hero. The clean-cut fireman who fought for justice against dirty, cheating heels. He wasn’t the biggest guy or the flashiest, but he had charisma, grit, and a left hook that fans believed in.
On October 9, 1974, he even challenged Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Miami. He lost, but just stepping into that ring proved his standing: Bob Armstrong wasn’t a sideshow; he was a contender.
The Accident That Made “The Bullet”
Wrestling gods are cruel. One day in a Georgia gym, Armstrong was benching 180 pounds when the bench collapsed. The weight crashed onto his face. His nose was ripped clean off. He needed $38,000 worth of reconstructive surgery.
But wrestlers never stop. Armstrong threw on a mask to hide the wreckage and reinvented himself as The Bullet. The new gimmick worked. The Bullet feuded with The Stud Stable in Continental Championship Wrestling, and fans rallied behind the man in the mask. Once his face was fixed, he ditched the hood—but the nickname “Bullet” stuck forever.
Raising an Army of Armstrongs
Bob Armstrong didn’t just wrestle; he built a dynasty. He trained all four of his sons—Scott, Brad, Steve, and Brian (later known as Road Dogg Jesse James of DX fame). The Armstrongs became a Southern staple in the ’80s and ’90s, often tagging together, brawling together, or fighting off invading stables as a family unit.
Few families in wrestling can match that—maybe the Harts, maybe the Von Erichs. But while other dynasties were cursed, the Armstrongs endured, thanks to their patriarch’s stubborn grit.
Semi-Retirement, Commissioner, and Comebacks
By 1988, Bob tried to retire. It didn’t stick. He popped up in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in the ’90s as the commissioner, playing the straight-shooting authority figure fans trusted. When heels pushed too far, the old fireman laced up his boots and fought back.
He wrestled in WCW house shows in the ’90s, even teaming with his son Brad against Lord Steven Regal. He tagged with Dusty Rhodes and Larry Zbyszko in 2001 against Barry Windham and others. Everywhere he went, fans treated him like a Southern sheriff keeping order with his fists.
Bullet in TNA
In 2002, at nearly 63, Bob Armstrong walked into the brand-new Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He was introduced as an authority figure, tangling with Jeff Jarrett and even donning the Bullet mask again. Later, he got roped into his son Brian’s Four Live Kru storyline, feuding with Konnan and the Latin American Xchange.
At Destination X 2006, Bullet Bob stepped into a six-man cage match alongside Kip and B.G. James. At an age when most men worry about lawn care, Armstrong was still throwing punches on pay-per-view.
Retirement Shows That Weren’t
In 2009, a “retirement show” was held for Bullet Bob in Dothan, Alabama. Old stars came out to honor him. The problem? Bullet didn’t retire.
In 2010, he wrestled “Cowboy” Bob Orton Jr. one more time, two old warriors reliving the past. Between 2010 and 2015, he popped up in Georgia indies. His last match came on May 11, 2019, at 79 years old, when he beat The Assassin in Continental Championship Wrestling. Nearly 60 years after his debut, Bullet Bob was still standing tall.
The Last Ride
In March 2020, Armstrong was diagnosed with bone cancer in his ribs, shoulder, and prostate. He refused treatment. He had lived his whole life on his terms, and he wasn’t about to let doctors dictate his final chapter. He died on August 27, 2020, at age 80.
Bullet Bob went out the same way he lived: tough, stubborn, and uncompromising.
Legacy
Bob Armstrong’s legacy is carved into Southern wrestling history:
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A beloved NWA star in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.
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A hero who overcame a crushed face and turned it into a new gimmick.
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The patriarch of a wrestling family that spanned generations.
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A man who wrestled for nearly six decades, refusing to fade.
He was never an NWA World Champion, never a global megastar. But he didn’t need to be. To the fans in the South, Bob Armstrong was their champion—the firefighter who fought back against every heel, every stable, every insult to honor.
Final Word
Bullet Bob Armstrong was the kind of wrestler promoters don’t make anymore. He wasn’t polished, he wasn’t glamorous. He was real. A Marine, a firefighter, a father, a wrestler. He lived the job, bled for it, broke his face for it, and kept coming back until he couldn’t anymore.
In an industry built on spectacle, Bullet Bob was simple: a man who stood up for what was right and punched anyone who didn’t.
When the final bell rang in August 2020, wrestling didn’t just lose a legend—it lost one of its last links to the era when wrestlers were working men who just happened to brawl for a living.
Bullet Bob Armstrong: the man who took a bullet to the face, wore it as a mask, and turned it into immortality.