Joseph "Jody" Hamilton is a former professional wrestler and current wrestling promoter and trainer known as "The Assassin".

Early life and career

He was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, in August 1938. His older brother Larry was a wrestler billed as the "Missouri Mauler", and in the 1950s Jody followed in his footsteps, at first teaming with Larry. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the youngest person ever to wrestle in the main event at Madison Square Garden at age 19. In an active career spanning four decades, Hamilton worked all over the Southern United States and beyond, generally appearing under a mask.

Later accomplishments

As his career wound down, in 1986 Hamilton started a small independent promotion in Georgia called Deep South Wrestling. Finding success in the business, he also opened a training center, the Power Plant. In the 1990s the school became the official training center of World Championship Wrestling, with Hamilton as director, and produced talent such as Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page, Bill Goldberg, and the Big Show. Hamilton's last on-screen appearance in WCW was at WCW Starrcade '93 on December 27, 1993, as The Assassin and managing Pretty Wonderful ("Pretty" Paul Roma and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff) to the WCW World Tag Team Championship.

Hamilton was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame as part of the 1994 class on 22 May 1994 at The Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment 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.^[1] DSW ceased operations the next day, 2007, although DSW held its final event on April 12.

Hamilton's son, Nick Hamilton, was a long-standing referee in WCW and is now the senior referee for WWE's SmackDown! brand under the stage name Nick Patrick.

Championships and accomplishments

• National Wrestling Alliance
• National

• NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (2 times) - with Tom Renesto, as The Assassins

• Regional

• NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship (1 time) - as The Flame
• NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (11 times) - with Tom Renesto
• NWA Southeast Continental Heavyweight Championship (Southern Division) (4 times)
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) (1 time) - with Tom Renesto
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Tom Renesto

• World Championship Wrestling

• WCW Hall of Fame (Class of 1994)

External link

• Biography of Jody Hamilton