Leonard Ornstein, the professional wrestler known as “Wildman” Jack Armstrong, has died at the age of 79. His death on Sunday, October 25, 2026, was announced on Facebook by his longtime friend, the bodybuilder Laura Creavalle, who had travelled to Los Angeles to help care for him as his health declined.
“I’m sorry to announce that I lost my best friend Wild Man Jack Armstrong today,” Creavalle wrote. “He was a great wrestler and an even better friend.”
From the WWWF to the territories
Ornstein made his professional debut in 1963 for the World Wide Wrestling Federation in New York, wrestling at first as Lenny Solomon. As “Wildman” Jack Armstrong, with his mane of curly hair, he spent the 1970s working in Japan, the AWA, Georgia, Los Angeles and other territories. From 1983 to 1988 he appeared for the WWF when the company ran shows in Los Angeles. His mid-1980s feud with Jay Strongbow Jr. produced some notoriously bloody matches in California.
He also appeared in three films during his wrestling career: Grunt! The Wrestling Movie (1985), Bad Guys (1986) and Body Slam (1986).
The UWF’s only Junior Heavyweight Champion
In 1990 Armstrong joined Herb Abrams’s Universal Wrestling Federation. On September 23, 1994, at what turned out to be the promotion’s final show, he beat Mando Guerrero to become the first and only UWF Junior Heavyweight Champion.
A loyal friend
In her tribute, Creavalle recalled how Armstrong helped her when she was starting out: “The stories are too many to share, but he bought my first posing suit in LA and I lived with him for many years when I was a beginner struggling bodybuilder. Broke and homeless.”