Jody Hamilton of legendary professional wrestling tag team “The Assassins” has passed away at 82 years old.
Hamilton’s passing was announced by his son Joe Hamilton Jr. (former WCW and WWE referee Nick Patrick) in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
“It is with heavy heart that I make this post. At 2:16 today my father took his last breath on this earth,” Hamilton Jr. wrote. “He passed comfortably, surrounded by the people that love him. Now our attention has to shift over to taking care of my mom. I want to thank everyone that sent out prayers and support for my family. I will put more information about pop out, but right now I’m kinda numb.”
Hamilton Jr. announced yesterday that his father had entered hospice care. Hamilton had been hospitalized last month.
The Assassins (Hamilton & Tom Renesto) were inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2015. Hamilton also was part of different versions of the team during his career, including with Randy Colley and Roger Smith.
Hamilton worked both behind the scenes and as a manager for WCW following his retirement from in-ring competition. He founded the WCW Power Plant training school. Hamilton also ran Deep South Wrestling, which originally existed in the 1980s and was then a developmental promotion for WWE from 2005-2007.