"The ladies' pet and the men's regret", Austin Idol first started wrestling in the early 1970's as Mike McCord.  Austin wrestled in the Carolinas where he was named "Rookie of the Year" and he spent time in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) as "Iron" Mike McCord. 

After the second most famous wrestling plane crash of 1975, Idol was sidelined with foot and leg injuries for several months before he rehabilitated himself and came back with a new look and name- that of a muscular blond wrestler named Austin Idol

Austin Idol wrestled in Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), Championship Wrestling Association (CWA), Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW), Southeast Championship Wrestling (SCW) and several small promotions. 

One memorable moment in SCW involved Idol donning a mask to challenge NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair as "Mr. Southeast".  Idol also helped his friend Robert Fuller after Bob Armstrong turned heel on Fuller.  Armstrong was special referee for a title match between NWA champion Ric Flair and Fuller and attacked Fuller when it looked like Fuller had the match one.  Idol raced to his friend's defense, saving him from further damage.

Idol was involved in a short program in MACW where he brought a home movie camera to ringside and he filmed the matches of other wrestlers.  However nothing materialized with the angle and Austin left the territory.

CWA was where Austin found the most success as a wrestler.  He was an original member of Jimmy Hart's First Family of Professional Wrestling and feuded with Jerry "The King" Lawler.  Later on, Idol turned babyface and he worked programs with CWA's top heels such as "Ravishing" Rick Rude, "King Kong" Bundy and others.  One of Idol's toughest opponents was Randy "Macho Man" Savage over the International Heavyweight Title.  Prior to a title defense against Savage, Idol was blasted with a baseball bat after Savage leaped off the top rope with it.  Savage capitalized on the pre-match attack and won the belt from Idol.  Idol would recapture the belt only to lose it a month later to Masao Ito after being blasted with nunchukas by Ito's manager.

Idol also feuded with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart after Neidhart broke Austin's nose.  Neidhart had previously lost a televised match to Jerry "The King" Lawler under questionable circumstances (Lawler had struck Neidhart with a steel chair when the referee was down) and he was protesting his loss by sitting in the ring.  After Idol called Neidhart a chronic loser, Neidhart attacked him and left him laying.  The next week, Idol surprised Neidhart and laid him out with a board.

Jerry Lawler and Austin Idol had a love/hate relationship in CWA.  Either they were close friends or bitter enemies.  One of their biggest feuds was in the mid-80's.  Lawler shocked Idol by beating him in less than a minute for the Southern Heavyweight Championship.  The match was a chain match and while Idol's hand was being tied to the chain, Lawler undid his chain and secured it to the ring rope.  He then pulled out his own chain, blasted Idol with it, and won the title.  A furious Idol demanded a rematch and challenged Lawler to a hair vs. hair cage match for the title.  He went even further by stating that he would refund the fans ticket money if Lawler beat him.  The match went back and forth until Idol took out the referee.  Lawler rallied back and piledrived Idol, seemingly having things under control until Tommy "Wildfire" Rich came out from underneath the ring and helped Idol beat up Lawler.  The duo then took Lawler by his legs and rammed his groin into the ringpost, injuring "The King".  Idol pinned Lawler, winning the title and forcing Lawler to have his head shaved.  Idol and Rich nearly started a riot in Memphis after destroying Lawler and they barely escaped the Mid South Coliseum with their lives.