"The Masked Assassin" Jody Hamilton Passes Away

"The Masked Assassin" Jody Hamilton has passed away at the age of 82.

As noted earlier today, it was revealed that the legendary Hamilton had entered into hospice care. His son, former WCW/WWE referee Nick Patrick (Joe Hamilton Jr.), made the announcement on Facebook this afternoon, noting that his father passed away at 2:16pm.

"It is with heavy heart that I make this post. At 2:16 today my father took his last breath on this earth. 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," he wrote.

The legendary Hamilton debuted back in 1955 and worked for numerous promotions throughout his career. He had been retired since 1988 after suffering a broken back. Hamilton worked behind-the-scenes and in managerial roles for WCW after that, and later as a trainer at the WCW Power Plant.

Hamilton re-launched his Deep South Wrestling promotion in 2005, and that fed operated as a WWE developmental territory until 2007. DSW ceased operations shortly after that, and Hamilton filed a lawsuit against WWE over their working agreement for the developmental territory. The suit was settled out of court in early 2010, but terms were never revealed.

Hamilton was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1994, and inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013.