Norvell Austin
Encyclopedia
Norvell Austin is a retired American professional wrestler
who made his debut in the late 1960s. Austin worked for most of his career in the Southern United States
, most often in tag team
competition. Norvell Austin is most famous for teaming with Sputnik Monroe
in one of the first "mixed races" villainous
teams seen in the south. Austin was also part of the original Midnight Express from 1981 to 1983. Later on he would team with fellow African American
Koko B. Ware as one half of the "Pretty Young Things".
/Alabama
area. At the time, African American wrestlers in the south were utilized in very specific ways. They were mainly restricted to wrestling other African Americans and if they were to wrestle white opponents, they were always fan favorites
who could not cheat or use underhanded means to beat their white opponents. These restrictions meant that Austin worked as a face initially and mainly in singles competition since no all African American tag teams were used at that time.
formed a tag team, what was unique for the team at the time was that they were heels
(bad guys) a first for the Southern United States wrestling promotions
. Norvell would dye a blond streak in his hair to match Monroe's and even hinted that Austin could be Sputnik Monroe's son. Together the team won the NWA Mid-America version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship
from the team of Bearcat Brown and Len Rossi in May 1972. They’d lose the titles to Karl and Kurt Von Brauner about a month later. Winning the tag team gold was far from the only achievement Austin and Monroe had while in Mid-America, in what was a reversal of an infamous angle that saw "The Interns" paint Bearcat Brown with white paint the heel duo dropped black paint on white wrestler Robert Fuller
. This lead Sputnik Monroe to state that "Black is Beautiful" to which Norvell Austin replied "White is wonderful", something that would become a catch phrase for the team. Austin and Monroe also saw success outside the Alabama area where NWA Mid-America operated, mainly in Florida where they worked for Championship Wrestling from Florida under promoter
Eddie Graham
. In Florida the team won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
on October 10, 1972 by beating Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden
. Austin and Monroe held the titles until November 16, 1972 where Jack
and Jerry Brisco
beat them for the titles.
On October 1, 1973 Austin won his first singles title when he became the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Champion, something which helped cement Austin Novell as one of the pioneers in breaking down the racial barriers in the south. In 1975 Austin teamed up with Rocket Monroe (Sputnik's storyline brother) to briefly hold the Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling
version of the NWA United States tag team titles. After working together for three years which saw the team even tour Japan Norvell Austin decided that it was time to work as a singles wrestler ending his association with Sputnik Monroe. From 1975 Austin kept working for NWA Mid-America both the southern part of the territory that was promoted by Nick Gulas
and the northern part promoted by Jerry Jarrett
that would later split off and become Continental Wrestling Association
(CWA). Despite wanting to wrestling more as a singles wrestler Austin was usually booked in the tag team division, teaming with for instance Butch Malone to win the NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship
. After the title loss Austin was given an opportunity to feud with his former partner Butch Malone for a brief period of time. The feud with Malone did not convince the bookers to give Austin more of a singles push
but instead put him back in the tag team division with a variety of partners such as Bill Dundee
, Pat Barrett
and Jimmy Golden
all of whom he held tag team championships in NWA Mid-America or Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling (renamed Southeast Championship Wrestling (SECW) in 1978).
's previous partner Don Carson retired. Condrey teamed up with Randy Rose
and won the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship
shortly after they started teaming up. The team started a storyline feud with Austin who wrestled as "The Junkyard Dog" before the more famous version of the Junkyard Dog
used the name in wrestling. Austin recruited various partners such as Paul Orndorff
, who were successful in capturing the Southeast tag team gold briefly. In an attempt to throw Rose and Condrey off Austin would adopt the masked persona of "The Shadow" and together with Brad Armstrong defeat the team for the Southeast tag team gold on May 4, 1981 and held onto the gold until July 27, 1981 where Condrey and Rose regained the titles. After the title loss Austin turned on Armstrong and joined up with Condrey and Rose to form a stable (group) known as The Midnight Express. In the book The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams Condrey explains that the name did not stem from the movie Midnight Express
(although later versions of the Midnight Express would use the film’s theme as their own theme music) but from the fact that they all dressed in black, drove black cars and were out partying past midnight. Together the three men would win the AWA Southern Tag Team title in the CWA and invoke a rule that would later be referred to as the Freebird Rule, which allowed any two of the three men to defend the titles on a given night so that their opponents never knew what combination to expect. The Midnight Express would lose the AWA Southern tag team title to Bobby Eaton
and Sweet Brown Sugar
before returning to SECW in the spring of 1982.
In Southeastern Championship Wrestling, the Midnight Express would win the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Title a further six times. The Express won and lost the titles to such teams as Jimmy Golden and Robert Fuller, Mongolian Stomper
and Stomper Jr., ”Dizzy” Ed Hogan and Ken Lucas and Brad and Scott Armstrong.
's stable of wrestlers known as the First Family
.
During a tag-team tournament in 1984 Norvell Austin was teamed up with the masked Stagger Lee
on "Fargo's Fabulous Ones" (Tommy Rich
and Eddie Gilbert). During the course of the match Stagger Lee's mask was removed to reveal the man beneath it (Koko B. Ware), something which prompted a heel turn for Ware. Austin and Ware became a regular tag team dubbed "The Pretty Young Things" or "The PYT Express". The two men soon began wearing red leather jackets and each had a single white glove on in an obvious imitation of Michael Jackson
to further enhance their "pretty boy" image.
The team managed to defeat the colossal team of Elijah Akeem and Kareem Mohammad
for the AWA Southern Tag Team titles in February 1984 although they would only hang on to the gold for a little under 2 weeks before Akeem and Mohammad regained the titles. the PYT Express remained in Memphis for a period of time after this before moving on to other promotions such as World Class Championship Wrestling
in Texas
and later on Championship Wrestling from Florida. On February 26, 1985 Austin and Ware defeat Jay
and Mark Youngblood
to win the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship
. Two weeks later on March 5, 1985 the team lost the titles back to the Youngbloods.
After dropping the gold in Florida the Pretty Young Things returned to the federation that first put them together, the Continental Wrestling Association where they won the AWA Southern Tag Team titles twice, both times from The Fabulous Ones
(Steve Keirn
and Stan Lane
) as they feuded with the top face team of the promotion.
to form a team called "Soul Patrol". On September 23, 1985 the Soul Patrol defeated the Nightmares
to win the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship, which was Norvell Austin's tenth reign with that particular title. The Soul Patrol lost the championship back to the Nightmares only a few weeks later on. After the Soul Patrol broke up Austin became involved in a heated storyline with the at the time reigning NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Champion "Exotic"” Adrian Street
. On January 6, 1986 Austin defeated Street for the title and held on to it until Street with the help of his valet Miss Linda regained the title on February 17, 1986. In the late 1980s Norvell Austin retired from professional but has made a few special "Legends" appearances in the last couple of years, last time on September 25, 2004 where he teamed with Randy Rose to defeat the team of Texas Roughrider and Luke Goldberg in Continental Wrestling.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
who made his debut in the late 1960s. Austin worked for most of his career in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, most often in tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
competition. Norvell Austin is most famous for teaming with Sputnik Monroe
Sputnik Monroe (wrestler)
Sputnik Monroe was a professional wrestler from the mid 1940s through the early 1970s. Monroe was a headliner in many territories, and was best known in Memphis, where he and Billy Wicks set an attendance record that lasted until the Monday Night Wars boom period.-Life:Sputnik was born Rosco...
in one of the first "mixed races" villainous
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
teams seen in the south. Austin was also part of the original Midnight Express from 1981 to 1983. Later on he would team with fellow African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
Koko B. Ware as one half of the "Pretty Young Things".
Career
Austin began his professional wrestling career in the late 1960s in the FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
/Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
area. At the time, African American wrestlers in the south were utilized in very specific ways. They were mainly restricted to wrestling other African Americans and if they were to wrestle white opponents, they were always fan favorites
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
who could not cheat or use underhanded means to beat their white opponents. These restrictions meant that Austin worked as a face initially and mainly in singles competition since no all African American tag teams were used at that time.
Breaking the racial barrier
In late 1971 Austin along with a man who had been fighting for equality in wrestling for a long time, Sputnik MonroeSputnik Monroe (wrestler)
Sputnik Monroe was a professional wrestler from the mid 1940s through the early 1970s. Monroe was a headliner in many territories, and was best known in Memphis, where he and Billy Wicks set an attendance record that lasted until the Monday Night Wars boom period.-Life:Sputnik was born Rosco...
formed a tag team, what was unique for the team at the time was that they were heels
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
(bad guys) a first for the Southern United States wrestling promotions
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
. Norvell would dye a blond streak in his hair to match Monroe's and even hinted that Austin could be Sputnik Monroe's son. Together the team won the NWA Mid-America version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship
AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship from its inception through 1977, when it was renamed the AWA Southern...
from the team of Bearcat Brown and Len Rossi in May 1972. They’d lose the titles to Karl and Kurt Von Brauner about a month later. Winning the tag team gold was far from the only achievement Austin and Monroe had while in Mid-America, in what was a reversal of an infamous angle that saw "The Interns" paint Bearcat Brown with white paint the heel duo dropped black paint on white wrestler Robert Fuller
Robert Fuller
Robert Welch is a professional wrestler and manager better known by his ring names Robert Fuller and Col. Robert Parker. Robert and his brother Ron co-owned Continental Championship Wrestling for a time.-Career:...
. This lead Sputnik Monroe to state that "Black is Beautiful" to which Norvell Austin replied "White is wonderful", something that would become a catch phrase for the team. Austin and Monroe also saw success outside the Alabama area where NWA Mid-America operated, mainly in Florida where they worked for Championship Wrestling from Florida under promoter
Promoter (entertainment)
An entertainment promoter i.e. music, wrestling, boxing etc is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting live events such as concerts/gigs, boxing matches, sports entertainment , festivals, raves, and nightclubs.- Business model :Promoters are typically hired as independent...
Eddie Graham
Eddie Graham
Edward Gossett was a professional wrestler. He was also the promoter and booker for Championship Wrestling from Florida and President of the NWA in the 1970s. His son, Mike Graham, was also a professional wrestler.-Career:Edward F...
. In Florida the team won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in Pro Wrestling Fusion. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and lasted until 1990 when it was abandoned. It was picked back up in 1997 by NWA Florida, where it was the primary...
on October 10, 1972 by beating Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden
Jimmy Golden
James "Jimmy" Golden is an American professional wrestler, who is better known as Bunkhouse Buck.Golden has many relatives in wrestling: his cousins are Robert & Ron Fuller, his father is Billy Golden and his uncle is Buddy Fuller and his nephew is Eddie Golden. His grandfather is Roy Welch...
. Austin and Monroe held the titles until November 16, 1972 where Jack
Jack Brisco
Freddie Joe Brisco was an American professional wrestler, better known as Jack Brisco or Uvalde Slim. He performed for various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance , becoming a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA Tag Team Champion with his brother Gerald Brisco...
and Jerry Brisco
Gerald Brisco
Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco is a former American professional wrestler, and prior to June, 2009, worked as a road agent for WWE on its Raw brand....
beat them for the titles.
On October 1, 1973 Austin won his first singles title when he became the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Champion, something which helped cement Austin Novell as one of the pioneers in breaking down the racial barriers in the south. In 1975 Austin teamed up with Rocket Monroe (Sputnik's storyline brother) to briefly hold the Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling
Continental Championship Wrestling
Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based out of Knoxville, Tennessee from 1974 until 1988 and Dothan, Alabama from 1978 to 1990, managed by Ron Fuller. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods, it changed name to the Continental Wrestling Federation...
version of the NWA United States tag team titles. After working together for three years which saw the team even tour Japan Norvell Austin decided that it was time to work as a singles wrestler ending his association with Sputnik Monroe. From 1975 Austin kept working for NWA Mid-America both the southern part of the territory that was promoted by Nick Gulas
Nick Gulas
Nick Gulas was an American professional wrestling promoter in the Southern United States. Also known as The King of Managers and King B, Gulas helped start the careers of such wrestling stars as Tojo Yamamoto, Jackie Fargo, and Jerry "The King" Lawler in the 1960s and '70s, the Bounty Hunters with...
and the northern part promoted by Jerry Jarrett
Jerry Jarrett
Jerry W. Jarrett is an American promoter and former professional wrestler, and the father of wrestler Jeff Jarrett. He is the co-founder and former part-owner of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
that would later split off and become Continental Wrestling Association
Continental Wrestling Association
The Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
(CWA). Despite wanting to wrestling more as a singles wrestler Austin was usually booked in the tag team division, teaming with for instance Butch Malone to win the NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship
NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship
The NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship was a secondary tag team title promoted as the name indeicates mainly in the Tennessee region from 1967 until 1977, first by Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling from 1967 to 1974 then by its successor Southeast Championship Wrestling from 1974 to 1977 when it...
. After the title loss Austin was given an opportunity to feud with his former partner Butch Malone for a brief period of time. The feud with Malone did not convince the bookers to give Austin more of a singles push
Push (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a push is an attempt by the booker to make the wrestler win more matches and become more popular or more reviled with the fans depending on whether they are a heel or a face...
but instead put him back in the tag team division with a variety of partners such as Bill Dundee
Bill Dundee
William "Bill" Cruickshanks is a Scottish born-Australian professional wrestler better known by his stage name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of Jamie Dundee and the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton....
, Pat Barrett
Pat Barrett
Patrick "Pat" Barrett is a former Irish professional wrestler who is best known for his time with NWA and WWWF. He has wrestled in many areas which include Ireland, Pacific Islands, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and United States of America.-Career:The Irish wrestler Pat Barrett started wrestling...
and Jimmy Golden
Jimmy Golden
James "Jimmy" Golden is an American professional wrestler, who is better known as Bunkhouse Buck.Golden has many relatives in wrestling: his cousins are Robert & Ron Fuller, his father is Billy Golden and his uncle is Buddy Fuller and his nephew is Eddie Golden. His grandfather is Roy Welch...
all of whom he held tag team championships in NWA Mid-America or Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling (renamed Southeast Championship Wrestling (SECW) in 1978).
The Midnight Express
In 1980 a new team was formed in Southeast Championship Wrestling when Dennis CondreyDennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey is an American professional wrestler, best known as being one half of the tag team Midnight Express....
's previous partner Don Carson retired. Condrey teamed up with Randy Rose
Randy Rose
"Ravishing" Randy Rose is a professional wrestler.-Career:Randy Rose competed in 1981 in Alabama's Southeast Championship Wrestling and formed The Midnight Express with Dennis Condrey and Norvell Austin. They dominated the tag team scene there until Condrey signed with Mid-South Wrestling in 1984...
and won the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship
NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship
The NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship was the major tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Alabama territory known as Southeast Championship Wrestling. It existed from 1974 until 1986, when it became the NWA Southeast Continental Tag Team Championship...
shortly after they started teaming up. The team started a storyline feud with Austin who wrestled as "The Junkyard Dog" before the more famous version of the Junkyard Dog
Junkyard Dog
Sylvester Ritter was an American professional wrestler and professional football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as The Junkyard Dog...
used the name in wrestling. Austin recruited various partners such as Paul Orndorff
Paul Orndorff
Paul Parlette Orndorff, Jr. is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling as "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff...
, who were successful in capturing the Southeast tag team gold briefly. In an attempt to throw Rose and Condrey off Austin would adopt the masked persona of "The Shadow" and together with Brad Armstrong defeat the team for the Southeast tag team gold on May 4, 1981 and held onto the gold until July 27, 1981 where Condrey and Rose regained the titles. After the title loss Austin turned on Armstrong and joined up with Condrey and Rose to form a stable (group) known as The Midnight Express. In the book The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams Condrey explains that the name did not stem from the movie Midnight Express
Midnight Express (film)
Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...
(although later versions of the Midnight Express would use the film’s theme as their own theme music) but from the fact that they all dressed in black, drove black cars and were out partying past midnight. Together the three men would win the AWA Southern Tag Team title in the CWA and invoke a rule that would later be referred to as the Freebird Rule, which allowed any two of the three men to defend the titles on a given night so that their opponents never knew what combination to expect. The Midnight Express would lose the AWA Southern tag team title to Bobby Eaton
Bobby Eaton
Robert Lee "Bobby" Eaton is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, who made his debut in 1976. Eaton is most famous for his work in tag teams, especially his days as one-half of the team the Midnight Express. Under the management of Jim Cornette, Eaton originally teamed with Dennis...
and Sweet Brown Sugar
James Ware (wrestler)
James Ware , better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware, is a retired American professional wrestler who made his professional wrestling debut in 1978. He gained most of his popularity in the World Wrestling Federation when he was known as the Birdman...
before returning to SECW in the spring of 1982.
In Southeastern Championship Wrestling, the Midnight Express would win the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Title a further six times. The Express won and lost the titles to such teams as Jimmy Golden and Robert Fuller, Mongolian Stomper
Mongolian Stomper
Archie Gouldie is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name The Mongolian Stomper.-Stampede Wrestling:Gouldie held the North American heavyweight title a record ten times between 1968 and 1984, quite a streak of longevity for that time frame...
and Stomper Jr., ”Dizzy” Ed Hogan and Ken Lucas and Brad and Scott Armstrong.
PYT Express
The Midnight Express disbanded in late 1983 when Norvell Austin went back to the CWA in Memphis and Dennis Condrey moved on to Mid-South Wrestling. In Memphis Austin became a part of Jimmy HartJimmy Hart
James "Jimmy" Ray Hart is a professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling under his nickname "The Mouth of the South." He has managed many professional...
's stable of wrestlers known as the First Family
The First Family (professional wrestling)
The First Family was the name of two professional wrestling stables led by Jimmy Hart, first in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association, then in the late 1990s in World Championship Wrestling.-CWA stable:...
.
During a tag-team tournament in 1984 Norvell Austin was teamed up with the masked Stagger Lee
James Ware (wrestler)
James Ware , better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware, is a retired American professional wrestler who made his professional wrestling debut in 1978. He gained most of his popularity in the World Wrestling Federation when he was known as the Birdman...
on "Fargo's Fabulous Ones" (Tommy Rich
Tommy Rich
Thomas Richardson , better known by his ring name, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich, is a professional wrestler. He is best known for his wrestling career in Georgia and Memphis throughout the 1980s.-Professional wrestling career:...
and Eddie Gilbert). During the course of the match Stagger Lee's mask was removed to reveal the man beneath it (Koko B. Ware), something which prompted a heel turn for Ware. Austin and Ware became a regular tag team dubbed "The Pretty Young Things" or "The PYT Express". The two men soon began wearing red leather jackets and each had a single white glove on in an obvious imitation of Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
to further enhance their "pretty boy" image.
The team managed to defeat the colossal team of Elijah Akeem and Kareem Mohammad
Ray Candy
Ray Canty , known by the ring name Ray Candy, was an American professional wrestler for the Jim Crockett Promotions and various other regional wrestling territories...
for the AWA Southern Tag Team titles in February 1984 although they would only hang on to the gold for a little under 2 weeks before Akeem and Mohammad regained the titles. the PYT Express remained in Memphis for a period of time after this before moving on to other promotions such as World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and later on Championship Wrestling from Florida. On February 26, 1985 Austin and Ware defeat Jay
Steven Romero
Steven Nicolas Romero was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Jay Youngblood. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions in a tag team with Ricky Steamboat...
and Mark Youngblood
Mark Youngblood
Mark Romero is a retired American second generation professional wrestler better known by his ring name Mark Youngblood.-Career:...
to win the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship
NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship
The Florida version of the United States Tag Team Championship was a major professional wrestling tag team championship. The title was defended sporadically in the National Wrestling Alliance affiliated Championship Wrestling from Florida from 1961 to 1962, 1978 to 1980, and then 1983 until 1986...
. Two weeks later on March 5, 1985 the team lost the titles back to the Youngbloods.
After dropping the gold in Florida the Pretty Young Things returned to the federation that first put them together, the Continental Wrestling Association where they won the AWA Southern Tag Team titles twice, both times from The Fabulous Ones
The Fabulous Ones
The Fabulous Ones was a professional wrestling Tag team consisting of Stan Lane and Steve Keirn that was active between 1982 and 1987 with brief reunions during the 1990s...
(Steve Keirn
Steve Keirn
Stephen "Steve" Paul Keirn is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for being part of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, with Stan Lane, and later for a run in the World Wrestling Federation as Skinner, a gimmick that portrayed him as a tobacco spitting alligator hunter from...
and Stan Lane
Stan Lane
Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane is an American professional wrestler, trained by Ric Flair, who started wrestling in 1974 in Championship Wrestling from Florida. For a brief time in Florida, he was nicknamed Nature Boy...
) as they feuded with the top face team of the promotion.
Later years
By the end of the summer of 1985 the Pretty Young Things went their separate ways with Austin returning to his old stomping grounds in Southeast Championship Wrestling. In SECW Austin was teamed up with fellow African American Brickhouse BrownBrickhouse Brown
Frederick Seawright is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Brickhouse Brown, who has wrestled primarily in the United States Wrestling Association and other southeastern promotions.-Career:...
to form a team called "Soul Patrol". On September 23, 1985 the Soul Patrol defeated the Nightmares
The Nightmares
The Nightmares is a post-punk/gothic rock bank from Jihlava in the Czech Republic. The band became a publicly known group shortly after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, whose original members were Roman Prochazka, Martin Turek, Petra Komarkova and Michal Neuhoffer...
to win the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship, which was Norvell Austin's tenth reign with that particular title. The Soul Patrol lost the championship back to the Nightmares only a few weeks later on. After the Soul Patrol broke up Austin became involved in a heated storyline with the at the time reigning NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Champion "Exotic"” Adrian Street
Adrian Street
Adrian Street is a Welsh professional wrestler known for his flamboyant, androgynous wrestling persona, brought to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s. Street was often accompanied to the ring by his long-time manager Miss Linda, and the two worked primarily as villains...
. On January 6, 1986 Austin defeated Street for the title and held on to it until Street with the help of his valet Miss Linda regained the title on February 17, 1986. In the late 1980s Norvell Austin retired from professional but has made a few special "Legends" appearances in the last couple of years, last time on September 25, 2004 where he teamed with Randy Rose to defeat the team of Texas Roughrider and Luke Goldberg in Continental Wrestling.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- Diving headbutt
- MoonsaultMoonsaultA moonsault, moonsault press, or back flip splash is a professional wrestling aerial technique. Much of its popularity in American wrestling is attributed to The Great Muta, despite it being used in North America by "Leaping" Lanny Poffo years before Muta came from Japan.In a standard moonsault,...
- ManagersManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
- Jimmy HartJimmy HartJames "Jimmy" Ray Hart is a professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling under his nickname "The Mouth of the South." He has managed many professional...
- Percival Pringle IIIPercy PringleWilliam Alvin "Bill" Moody , better known by his ring name Paul Bearer, is a professional wrestling manager and former wrestler best known for his time in World Class Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation, later known as the WWE.-Early career:He entered the wrestling business in...
- Jimmy Hart
Championships and accomplishments
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Florida Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in Pro Wrestling Fusion. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and lasted until 1990 when it was abandoned. It was picked back up in 1997 by NWA Florida, where it was the primary...
(1 time) – with Sputnik MonroeSputnik Monroe (wrestler)Sputnik Monroe was a professional wrestler from the mid 1940s through the early 1970s. Monroe was a headliner in many territories, and was best known in Memphis, where he and Billy Wicks set an attendance record that lasted until the Monday Night Wars boom period.-Life:Sputnik was born Rosco... - NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (1 time) – with Koko B. WareJames Ware (wrestler)James Ware , better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware, is a retired American professional wrestler who made his professional wrestling debut in 1978. He gained most of his popularity in the World Wrestling Federation when he was known as the Birdman...
- Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling / Southeastern Championship Wrestling / Continental Championship WrestlingContinental Championship WrestlingContinental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based out of Knoxville, Tennessee from 1974 until 1988 and Dothan, Alabama from 1978 to 1990, managed by Ron Fuller. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods, it changed name to the Continental Wrestling Federation...
- NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) (1 time)
- NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (10 times) – with Jimmy GoldenJimmy GoldenJames "Jimmy" Golden is an American professional wrestler, who is better known as Bunkhouse Buck.Golden has many relatives in wrestling: his cousins are Robert & Ron Fuller, his father is Billy Golden and his uncle is Buddy Fuller and his nephew is Eddie Golden. His grandfather is Roy Welch...
(1), Paul OrndorffPaul OrndorffPaul Parlette Orndorff, Jr. is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling as "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff...
(1), Brad Armstrong (1), Dennis Condrey (3), Randy Rose (3), Brickhouse Brown (1) - NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Southeastern Junior Heavyweight Championship was a secondary title for wrestlers considered "Junior Heavyweights", that is weighing under 230 lbs...
(2 times) - NWA Tennessee Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Tennessee Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship was a secondary tag team title promoted as the name indeicates mainly in the Tennessee region from 1967 until 1977, first by Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling from 1967 to 1974 then by its successor Southeast Championship Wrestling from 1974 to 1977 when it...
(1 time) – with Butch Malone - NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Gulf Coast-Version) (1 time) – with Rocket Monroe
- NWA Mid-America / Continental Wrestling AssociationContinental Wrestling AssociationThe Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
- AWA Southern Tag Team ChampionshipAWA Southern Tag Team ChampionshipThe AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship from its inception through 1977, when it was renamed the AWA Southern...
(6 times) – with Bill DundeeBill DundeeWilliam "Bill" Cruickshanks is a Scottish born-Australian professional wrestler better known by his stage name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of Jamie Dundee and the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton....
(1), Dennis CondreyDennis CondreyDennis Condrey is an American professional wrestler, best known as being one half of the tag team Midnight Express....
(1), Randy RoseRandy Rose"Ravishing" Randy Rose is a professional wrestler.-Career:Randy Rose competed in 1981 in Alabama's Southeast Championship Wrestling and formed The Midnight Express with Dennis Condrey and Norvell Austin. They dominated the tag team scene there until Condrey signed with Mid-South Wrestling in 1984...
(1), and Koko B. Ware (3) - NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version)AWA Southern Tag Team ChampionshipThe AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship from its inception through 1977, when it was renamed the AWA Southern...
(2 times) – with Sputnik Monroe (1) and Pat BarrettPat BarrettPatrick "Pat" Barrett is a former Irish professional wrestler who is best known for his time with NWA and WWWF. He has wrestled in many areas which include Ireland, Pacific Islands, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and United States of America.-Career:The Irish wrestler Pat Barrett started wrestling...
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