THE “ROAD DOGG” Jesse James was one of the biggest stars of the WWE Attitude Era – but says he can’t remember much of it as he was “high the whole time”.
The now 54-year-old was born into wrestling royalty with his dad “Bullet” Bob Armstrong a huge name in the 1970s and 80s.
WWEThe ‘Road Dogg’ Jesse James was one of the biggest names in WWE’s Attitude Era[/caption]
WWEHe was part of the legendary D-Generation X faction[/caption]
Former US Marine James, real name Brian James, followed in his father’s footsteps and reached the top as one half of the Hall of Fame tag team “The New Age Outlaws” alongside “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn in the mid-90s.
The iconic Attitude Era was well under way at that point as the former tag champs joined ranks with Triple H to join D-Generation X.
However, he says that he cannot remember much of his heyday due to his drug addiction.
In an interview with Sportskeeda, he said: “I was on dope the whole time. I was high.
“I don’t remember the 90s because I was in my active addiction.”
James was fired by WWE in 2001 due to his drug problem, which included a pain killer addiction, and he soon started working on the independent scene before joining TNA.
He managed to return to WWE in 2011 after giving rehab another go and finding religion at a Christian-based facility.
He will be 13 years sober from drink and drugs next month.
Speaking on the WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves previously, he said: “I’ll tell you what I did do, you like to have a couple of drinks after you have a long day, I like to have a couple of cheeseburgers after a long day.
“So I’ve gained a lot of weight, as people can tell, but it was literally, that’s how I handled the stress for a long time.
“Instead of drinking or drugging, I just turned to food. And look, I still love a couple of good cheeseburgers, but I’m trying to get back into where I’m spiritually fit and physically fit at the same time. It’s a work in progress and then I pivoted to live television.”
In 2014 James started working backstage as a producer for WWE and would later be promoted to lead writer on Smackdown.
After WrestleMania 35 he resigned from that role and took up a new position from May 2019 until January 2022 at WWE’s Performance Center helping wanna-be superstars with promos and character development.
He suffered a heart scare in 2021 before James, who now hosts the hit Oh… You Didn’t Know podcast, was released by WWE in January 2022, but would later be rehired in August.
He took on the role of Senior Vice President of Live Events and is still in that today.
WWEThe former tag team champ admits he was ‘high’ for most of the 90s[/caption]
He’s now back working in a top job for WWE