Professional Wrestling Career
McCord graduated from Robinson High School in Tampa, Florida. He started wrestling as Iron Mike McCord, a superheavyweight powerlifter in 1972, and became a star in a number of southeast promotions, holding many titles in the United States Wrestling Association (Memphis), Georgia, Birmingham, Texas All Star & Mid Atlantic territories. McCord also had a stint in the WWWF with Lou Albano as his manager. He also worked main event matches against then world champion Pedro Morales. McCord was the passenger on a small airplane, along with Gary Hart, and flown by Buddy Colt, which crashed in 1975 into Tampa Bay, Florida, killing fellow wrestler Bobby Shane.
After a period of inactivity healing from two broken ankles, he emerged with bleach-blonde hair, over 100 lbs lighter, and the new ring name "Universal Heartthrob" Austin Idol.
Idol is well known for a long-running feud with the popular Jerry "The King" Lawler in the CWA and AWA territories. In a 1981 angle, Idol dressed up as a masked Mexican wrestler, presenting the "Top Rated Wrestler in Mexico" award to Lawler on TV before sucker-punching him. Afterward, he delivered an interview where he promised to clean up Memphis rid it of Lawler. On April 27, 1987, Idol defeated Lawler in a steel cage match with the assistance of "Wildfire" Tommy Rich, who hid underneath the ring for the entirety of the event, winning the AWA Southern Heavyweight championship and causing Lawler to lose his hair.
Idol semi-retired in 1990, wrestling only every few years until the mid-1990s. In addition, he promoted his own promotion in Alabama in 1993. After appearing on Memphis Power Pro Wrestling's first television show in 1998, he officially retired. Idol has since become a popular motivational speaker.
Read more about this topic: Austin Idol
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