Breaking the Armstrong Curse Playlist Breakdown

The Armstrongs see themselves to the pay window.

7

Breaking the Armstrong Curse Playlist

Growing up, one of my favorite things about watching wrestling was cheering for the underdog. In a world of squash matches, I always wanted to see the ‘wimpy dude’ catch a fall on the star. It rarely happened.

This is part of the reason I gravitated towards Brad Armstrong (along with his brothers) being one of my favorite wrestlers of the 1990’s. Obviously, he was a level up from the Tony Zanes and George Souths of the world, but it felt like he could never get over that hump of defeating a top tier wrestler.

I was not thumbing through Dave Meltzer’s Observers at the time, but it was obvious how talented Brad was and it felt like he had a lot more to offer WCW than what was being allowed. Plus, I must admit, I absolutely loved his Rock Garden theme song that he and his brothers used from 1992 – 1999. It was also an indication that I can settle in for a good match regardless of the result.

All of the above served as inspiration to create a Breaking the Armstrong Curse playlist. In the mid 1990s, color commentator Larry Zbyszko never missed an opportunity to express that the Armstrong patriarch Bullet Bob passed down a curse that caused his sons to be unable to win a match in WCW. The attached playlist presents evidence to the contrary as it contains 50 matches featuring an Armstrong scoring a win on UWF, JCP, or WCW television spanning from 1986 – 1999. (Remember, these are matches not currently featured on the WWE Network.)

Without breaking down every video, here are some highlights to look for . . .

A rare television teaming of Bullet Bob and his son Brad.

The upstart Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner Lightning Express team win the UWF Tag Team Titles over Sting and Ric Steiner.

Candyman Brad Armstrong takes on future two-sport superstar Bob Holly in 1990.

Master Blaster Kevin Nash makes a cameo in a six-man tag team match opposing Brad in 1991.

Brad Armstrong scores unlikely victories over WCW TV Champion Lord Steven Regal and Paul Roma in separate bouts.

– With the emergence of Brian, Scott, and Steve, Brad teams up with each brother for victories in 1994 – 1996.

Brad Armstrong eliminates Dean Malenko from the WCW Cruiserweight Title Tournament in the spring of 1996.

A few weeks later, Armstrong gets a fall on Jushin Thunder Liger on WCW Worldwide.

The next week on {Pro}, he defeated Ric Flair by DQ (the match was taped when Flair was WCW Champion and aired after he lost the title to the Giant).

We see some short haired heel Armstrong wins in late 1997 – early 1998.

We finish off with Armstrong getting some pinfall wins on his way to his Halloween Havoc 1999 match against Berlyn.

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7 COMMENTS

  1. As a fan of The Armstrongs and Disorderly Conduct, Saturday Nights were tough. The only time I got to see either team get a win was when they faced each other! (and if Sid Vicious was lurking, not even then)

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