Brad Armstrong

[10.0] "Originally posted on Sep 9th 2022: The write up is the same aside from some minor additions. I will also preface by saying his shortcomings booking wise subtracts very little because the bell to bell material is so good. he's every bit of a 9.75 // His career ended in an unfortunately long lukewarm streak, but was he was often a real joy to watch during his earlier years and is highly recommended up to a certain point. Always looked in tremendous condition, even deep into his career he kept in prime shape. His late 80's work in Crockett was definitely enjoyable and there was a great lil team there in the form of he & his father, as well as the team with Tim Horner as The Lightning Express. His interviews were tough though, he had serious trouble there. After Crockett was bought out he was sorta lost in the shuffle but almost always had superb matches (check out vs Bobby Eaton WrestleWar 91). I thought the Badstreet gimmick/character was very good, super into that look. I even legit enjoyed everything about Arachnaman. The negatives though... poor dude was given next to no televised wins, which made him look like a "jobber" at times. It's unfortunate that he never got a legitimate long term push and was for all intents and purposes: THE enhancement talent for WCW. Possessed one of the best drop kicks & side russian leg sweeps ever. He also had a freakin great leaping headlock takedown that was a thing of beauty. I'll compliment his dropkick one more time. Every match with Brian Pillman is really great, under multiple gimmicks across all of the years the two had magic together! Vs Dean Malenko at Slamboree '96 is fantastic & recommended as well. Top tier talent that had every right to be upper mid card, but was booked improperly far too long for it to be plausible. Rest in peace to a very gifted in ring competitor!"

[9.0] "Underrated in his time. An absolute master technician who could also go into high-flyer mode with the right opponents. It's a shame he was never a great promo, as that was the big thing holding him back. Definitely deserves more recognition from history."

[10.0] "Man, Brad Armstrong.... where to start with the compliments? haha. He had a great look. He was always in phenomenal shape. Was very versatile when it came to being able to work any style of wrestling or have a great match with any kind of opponent. He's on a count on one hand list of guys that in my time of watching I could say never had a bad match. When Brad was in the ring, he was very giving to whoever he was facing, wasn't selfish in the slightest, everything he done in the ring made sense/contributed to the whole point of the match, whoever he was in the ring with he made look like a million dollars, and they came out better for being in the ring with him. He was never gonna be the guy to sell out buildings or anything like that because he didn't really bring out his personality much on screen (if he did he'd probably be one of the biggest stars of all time), but he definitely played a role in laying the foundation on the card for those that did."

[8.0] "I'll be realistic. Brad was my favorite wrestler when I was growing up. The entire Armstrong family could do no wrong in my eyes. However, in my Tween and Teen years, I gravitated to Sting because of the larger-than-life persona. Brad was a superb technical wrestler. He had that niche to make any opponent look good. I know babyface managers were not really a thing but if he'd have had a mouthpiece to help get him over I think he could've reached the top of the card."

[7.0] "Brad was horrible on the mic, but if you take that away he was a very good in ring performer. The problem is you need to do both well, or one exceptional. He was very good in the ring, but his mic skills prevents me from ranking him hire. The Lightning Express were one of my favorite tag teams and would win more than the lost. Usually could not beat the great teams unless it was a DQ win. When teamed with his dad Bullet Bob had better success including upset wins in the Crockett Cup."

[8.0] "Super underrated worker IMO. Got a great look, and could go in the ring. Might not be very good on the mic, but his skills and technique are amazing. One of the best of the Armstrong's. It's a shame he never got a proper singles run as an upper midcarder."

[8.0] "Great undercard wrestler. Underrated big time. Very fast in the ring and a great crusierweight. Never got big pushes in his career."

[7.0] "Brad Armstrong was a really good worker, and he was great at making his opponent look good. He wasn't a bad talker when given the chance. His only downside was a lack of larger-than-life charisma , which, unfortunately, held him back."

[8.0] "One of the most underrated American wrestlers of his time. Great timing, super smooth, good look. Just kind of got lost in the shuffle in the 80s and by the 90s it was just too little too late. Still deserved much more in his career."

[10.0] "Hands down one of THE smoothest wrestlers ever. Seriously - go watch one of his matches and tell me the guy isn't phenomenal. Shane Douglas describes him as "Smooth as silk" and I think that is a good way of putting it. There's no wasted motion whatsoever. The guy could run a clinic on how to work and I could watch it all day long. He is, in a word, majestic. Died WAY too soon."

[7.0] "Ask any of the guys from that period, and they'd tell you that Brad Armstrong was one of the best workers in the industry. He could have a good match with anyone and he was fantastic at making others look good. It's really a shame that he didn't have the skills to cut a great promo because if he had, Brad would've been one of the biggest stars in the history of the industry."

[10.0] "Frankly I love me some Brad Armstrong. Unfortunately he never got a chance to have an extended major run but basically anywhere he pops up he is doing great work. He's not only athletic and technically strong, he's extremely versatile, one of those workers who can make just about anybody look good. Maybe that's why he was asked to put others over so often? Anyway you look at it, this is a guy who persevered through many lousy gimmicks and continued to excel whenever given the chance."

[8.0] "Very underrated / under-utilised wrestler who was tremendous at putting a match together with a wide variety of opponents. Capable of carrying severely less able opponents, and put someone like a Bobby Eaton or Barry Windham on with him and you've got a cracker."

[7.0] "Brad was undoubtedly the best of the Armstrong brothers from an in-ring standpoint, and an excellent technician by any account. What truly held him back was his lack of charisma (interestingly, people who knew him described him as a cut-up backstage; it just never translated to in front of the camera), as well as WCW's insistence on saddling him with numerous silly gimmicks. Had he been blessed both with his own wrestling ability and his brother Brian (Road Dogg)'s mic skill, Brad may well have been a top wrestler in WCW. As it was, he turned in a respectable career as a secondary wrestler marked by numerous strong in-ring performances, and saw some championship gold including two reigns as SMW Heavyweight Champion and reigns as WCW Light Heavyweight Champion and WCW World Six Man Tag Champion."

[8.0] "Very solid worker, better in ring than any of his brothers but not given much of a chance to get over."

[7.0] "Brad was the most talented in his family, highly underrated."