Jody Hamilton

Joseph Hamilton (August 28, 1938 – August 3, 2021) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. He was best known as one half of the tag team The Assassins where he was called "Assassin #1". When the Assassins ended, He wrestled as "The Assassin" and "The Flame" both while wearing a mask.

Hamilton teamed up with Tom Renesto in late 1961 to form the masked heel (bad guy) team known as "The Assassins" and, for over a decade, he and Renesto wrestled all over the world with great success. Once Renesto retired, Hamilton kept the Assassins team alive by partnering with wrestlers such as Randy Colley and "Hercules" Hernandez under the trademark gold and black masks of the Assassins.

Biography Early Career (1955–1961) Hamilton was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Before turning professional, he was a promising amateur boxer, but instead of continuing his training, he decided that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Larry Hamilton. Larry was a professional wrestler billed as "The Missouri Mauler". In May 1958, the Hamilton Brothers faced Rocca and Pérez in the main event of a Madison Square Garden show making Jody, age 19 at the time, the youngest man to ever co-star in a main event at Madison Square Garden. While in Georgia the team worked storylines with teams such as ”the Torres Brothers” (Ramon and Alberto), Terry and Dory Funk and the team of Ray Gunkel and Buddy Fuller. Their most successful and profitable feud came against the team of ”Tiny” Smith and Luke Brown known as "The Kentuckians". The matches between the Assassins and the Kentuckians drew sellout crowds up the east coast of the United States from Florida to the Carolinas. At times the Assassins would be backed up by Jody's brother the Missouri Mauler to take on the Kentuckians and their "fellow hillbilly" Haystacks Calhoun. Over the following years the Assassin would enlist several other "Assassins" to team with him as he fought against Mr. Wrestling II and various face partners. One of these partners was Randy Colley, who would go on to greater success as one of The Moondogs in the 1980s. Together Hamilton and Colley would hold the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship on two occasions. With Hamilton as director of the school it produced talent such as Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page, Bill Goldberg, and the Big Show over the years.

As well as working at the Power Plant, Hamilton was also used as a manager in 1993, mainly managing Paul Orndorff, in addition to Orndorff's tag team partners The Equalizer and Paul Roma. He was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame as part of the 1994 class on May 22, 1994 at The Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

When WCW was bought out by the WWF in March 2001, the Power Plant was closed but Hamilton continued to train wrestlers.

Deep South Wrestling (2005–2007)

In 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly World Wrestling Federation) reached an agreement with Hamilton wherein Hamilton would open a new version of Deep South Wrestling for WWE to use as a training ground. The company ran shows on a regular basis featuring WWE-contracted talent until April 18, 2007, when WWE ended its relationship with DSW. DSW ceased operations the next day in 2007, having held what turned out to be its final event on April 12.

Rampage Pro Wrestling In February 2009, Hamilton officially returned to the business, joining Rampage Pro Wrestling, an independent promotion based out of Warner Robins, Georgia. He was the director of their television show that airs locally on multiple channels in the middle Georgia area. His son, Nick Patrick, also joined the promotion, though only in the on-camera commissioner role. In April 2009, the promotion released Hamilton, citing that they needed to cut costs. Nick stayed on with the promotion and took over his father's job as the television show director. The company brought Hamilton back later in the year in October. Hamilton and Patrick became heavily involved in producing the company's weekly television show that aired in the Middle Georgia area on the local FOX affiliate.

Lawsuit against WWE In April 2009, Hamilton filed a lawsuit against WWE in Fulton County, GA over how the working agreement with his promotion, Deep South Wrestling, was terminated. His attorney claimed that WWE "fraudulently contrived a reason to end the agreement" without giving the 90-days notice that the contract required. The suit also claimed that WWE illegally entered the Deep South building in McDonough, GA and took property belonging to Hamilton. It also claimed the WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis, warned wrestlers who continued to work with Deep South or Hamilton would be blackballed in the wrestling business. Two unnamed professional wrestlers who were under WWE contract at the time confirmed Hamilton's claim that Laurinaitis made the threatening speech. WWE attempted to get the lawsuit dismissed before it went to trial, but was not successful. On January 22, 2010, Hamilton settled with WWE out of court. The settlement was not disclosed.

Personal life Hamilton's son, Nick Patrick, was a referee for Georgia Championship Wrestling/Championship Wrestling from Georgia from 1980–1985, WCW from 1988–2001, and WWE from 2001–2008.

Death Hamilton died in hospice care on August 3, 2021, at the age of 82. News of Hamilton's death was broken over social media by his son, Nick.

Championships and accomplishments Central States Wrestling NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (1 time) – with Assassin #2

Deep South Wrestling Deep South Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

Georgia Wrestling Georgia Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Assassins

NWA Mid-America NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (1 time) – with Assassin # 2