Norvell Austin (born March 9, 1951) is a retired American
professional wrestler
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
. Austin worked for most of his career in the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
, most often in
tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
competition. Norvell Austin is most famous for teaming with
Sputnik Monroe
Roscoe Monroe Brumbaugh (born Rosco Monroe Merrick; December 18, 1928 – November 3, 2006) better known by his ring name Sputnik Monroe, was an American professional wrestler and civil rights activist. He was a headliner in many territories, and ...
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
Koko B. Ware
James W. Ware, Jr. (born June 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware is an American retired professional wrestler. He debuted in 1978 and became widely popular in 1986. He later went on to the World Wrestling Federation, where he ...
as one half of the "Pretty Young Things".
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1971–1981)
Austin began his professional wrestling career in 1971 the
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
/
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
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.
In late 1971 Austin along with a man who had been fighting for equality in wrestling for a long time,
Sputnik Monroe
Roscoe Monroe Brumbaugh (born Rosco Monroe Merrick; December 18, 1928 – November 3, 2006) better known by his ring name Sputnik Monroe, was an American professional wrestler and civil rights activist. He was a headliner in many territories, and ...
formed a tag team, what was unique for the team at the time was that they were
heels
The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg.
Structure
To distribute the compressive forces exert ...
(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 The NWA Southern Tag Team Championship is any of a group of professional wrestling tag team championship titles in the National Wrestling Alliance.
Specific titles include:
* The NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Florida version)
* The NWA South ...
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
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...
under
promoter Eddie Graham
Edward F. Gossett (January 15, 1930 – January 21, 1985), better known as Eddie Graham, was an American professional wrestler. He was also the promoter and booker for Championship Wrestling from Florida and President of the NWA in the 1970s.
...
. In Florida the team won the
NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in NWA Florida Underground Wrestling. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was ...
on October 10, 1972 by beating Robert Fuller and
Jimmy Golden
James "Jimmy" Golden (born August 1, 1950) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bunkhouse Buck. He also appeared in WWE as Jack Swagger Sr.
A member of t ...
. Austin and Monroe held the titles until November 16, 1972, when
Jack
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
and
Jerry Brisco
Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco (born September 19, 1946) is an American retired professional wrestler. Brisco is best known for his time in the wrestling promotion WWE, where he was a backstage producer, and, during the 1990s, an on-screen character, ...
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 was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wr ...
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
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
that was promoted by
Nick Gulas
Nick Gulas (September 3, 1914 – January 21, 1991) was an American professional wrestling promoter in the Southern United States, partnered with Tennessee promoter Roy Welch for decades. Gulas was also known as "The King of Managers", "King B", ...
and the northern part promoted by
Jerry Jarrett
Jerry Winston Jarrett (born September 4, 1942) is an American retired professional wrestling promoter and professional wrestler. Along with his long-term business partner Jerry Lawler, Jarrett is a key figure in the history of professional wrestli ...
that would later split off and become
Continental Wrestling Association
Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship 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 ref ...
(CWA). Despite wanting to wrestle 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
The NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship was a secondary tag team title promoted as the name indicates mainly in the Tennessee region from 1967 until 1977, first by ''Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling'' and occasionally NWA Mid-America from 1967 to ...
.
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 may refer to:
Music
* Mike Dierickx (born 1973), a Belgian producer also known as Push
Albums
* ''Push'' (Bros album), 1988
* ''Push'' (Gruntruck album), 1992
* ''Push'' (Jacky Terrasson album), 2010
Songs
* "Push" (Enrique Iglesias s ...
but instead put him back in the tag team division with a variety of partners such as
Bill Dundee
William Cruickshanks (born 24 October 1943) is a Scottish-born Australian professional wrestler and author better known by his stage name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of J. C. Ice, Jamie Dundee and the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby E ...
,
Pat Barrett and
Jimmy Golden
James "Jimmy" Golden (born August 1, 1950) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bunkhouse Buck. He also appeared in WWE as Jack Swagger Sr.
A member of t ...
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 (1981–1983)
In 1980 a new team was formed in Southeast Championship Wrestling when
Dennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey (born February 1, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association, Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling in the 1970s and 1980s.
...
's previous partner Don Carson retired. Condrey teamed up with
Randy Rose
Randall Alls (born July 19, 1956) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Randy Rose.
Professional wrestling career
Randy Rose began his career in 1974 in Tennessee.
In 1980, Rose formed a tag team with Denn ...
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
Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD), a nickname h ...
used the name in wrestling. Austin recruited various partners such as
Paul Orndorff
Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Cham ...
, 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
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
(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
Bobby Lee Eaton (August 14, 1958 – August 4, 2021) was an American professional wrestler best known as "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. He was most famous for his work in tag teams, especially as one-half of The Midnight Express. Under the managemen ...
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
Archibald Edward Gouldie (November 22, 1936 – January 23, 2016) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He wrestled for Stampede Wrestling for decades as Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie, with the nickname coming from the wrestler's reputation of ...
and Stomper Jr.,
"Dizzy" Ed Hogan and Ken Lucas and Brad and
Scott Armstrong.
Pretty Young Things (1983–1985)
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
The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level rival ...
. In Memphis Austin became a part of
Jimmy Hart
James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World ...
'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
Thomas Richardson (born July 26, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tommy “Wildfire” Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion and Smoky Mountain Wrestling ...
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 "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 Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
to further enhance their "pretty boy" image, and even used Jackson's
song of the same name as their entrance music.
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 onto 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 (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...
in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and later on Championship Wrestling from Florida. On February 26, 1985, Austin and Ware defeat
Jay
A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...
and
Mark Youngblood
Mark Romero (born July 21, 1963) is a retired American second generation professional wrestler better known by his ring name Mark Youngblood.
Professional wrestling career
Mark Romero is the son of Ricky Romero. He started wrestling as Mark Young ...
to win the
NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship
The Florida version of the NWA 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 fr ...
. Two weeks later on March 5, 1985 the team lost the titles 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 were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Stan Lane and Steve Keirn that was active between 1982 and 1991 with brief reunions during the 1990s. The Fabulous Ones competed primarily in North American territories such as ...
(
Steve Keirn
Stephen Paul Keirn (born September 10, 1951) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories as Steve Keirn as one-half of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, as we ...
and
Stan Lane
Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane (born August 5, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler and color commentator. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), Jim Crockett Promotions and World Champi ...
) as they feuded with the top face team of the promotion.
Late career (1985–1986, 2004)
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 Brown
Frederick Seawright (August 11, 1960 – July 29, 2018) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Brickhouse Brown. He was a top heel in several Southern promotions in the 1980s and 1990s.
Professional wrestling care ...
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 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 wrestling, 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.
Championships and accomplishments
*
Championship Wrestling from Florida
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...
**
NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in NWA Florida Underground Wrestling. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was ...
(
1 time) – with
Sputnik Monroe
Roscoe Monroe Brumbaugh (born Rosco Monroe Merrick; December 18, 1928 – November 3, 2006) better known by his ring name Sputnik Monroe, was an American professional wrestler and civil rights activist. He was a headliner in many territories, and ...
**
NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' (
1 time) – with
Koko B. Ware
James W. Ware, Jr. (born June 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware is an American retired professional wrestler. He debuted in 1978 and became widely popular in 1986. He later went on to the World Wrestling Federation, where he ...
*
Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling / Southeastern Championship Wrestling / Continental Championship Wrestling
**
NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**
NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship ''(Northern Division)'' (
1 time)
**
NWA Southeastern 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 Continental Championship Wrestling, Southeastern Championship Wrestling. It existed from 1974 until November 19 ...
(
10 times) – with
Jimmy Golden
James "Jimmy" Golden (born August 1, 1950) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bunkhouse Buck. He also appeared in WWE as Jack Swagger Sr.
A member of t ...
(1),
Paul Orndorff
Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Cham ...
(1),
Brad Armstrong (1), Dennis Condrey (3), Randy Rose (3), Brickhouse Brown (1)
**
(
2 times
"2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...
)
**
NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship
The NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship was a secondary tag team title promoted as the name indicates mainly in the Tennessee region from 1967 until 1977, first by ''Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling'' and occasionally NWA Mid-America from 1967 to ...
(
1 time) – with Butch Malone
**
NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Gulf Coast-Version)'' (1 time) – with Rocket Monroe
*
NWA Mid-America / Continental Wrestling Association
**
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 ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ince ...
(
6 times) – with
Bill Dundee
William Cruickshanks (born 24 October 1943) is a Scottish-born Australian professional wrestler and author better known by his stage name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of J. C. Ice, Jamie Dundee and the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby E ...
(1),
Dennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey (born February 1, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association, Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling in the 1970s and 1980s.
...
(1),
Randy Rose
Randall Alls (born July 19, 1956) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Randy Rose.
Professional wrestling career
Randy Rose began his career in 1974 in Tennessee.
In 1980, Rose formed a tag team with Denn ...
(1), and Koko B. Ware (3)
**
NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' (
2 times
"2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...
) – with Sputnik Monroe (1) and Pat Barrett (1)
[
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Norvell
1951 births
20th-century African-American people
20th-century professional wrestlers
21st-century African-American people
African-American male professional wrestlers
American male professional wrestlers
Living people
People from Pensacola, Florida
Professional wrestlers from Florida
The First Family (professional wrestling) members
NWA United States Tag Team Champions (Florida version)
NWA Georgia Tag Team Champions