Norvell Austin facts for kids

Norvell Austin, born on March 9, 1951, is a retired American professional wrestler. He spent most of his career wrestling in the southern parts of the United States. He was often part of a tag team, which is a team of two wrestlers.

Norvell Austin became famous for teaming up with Sputnik Monroe. They were one of the first wrestling teams in the South with wrestlers of different races who played the "bad guys" (also called heels). Norvell was also a member of the first group known as The Midnight Express from 1981 to 1983. Later, he teamed up with Koko B. Ware to form a popular duo called the "Pretty Young Things".

Norvell Austin's Wrestling Journey

Starting Out in Wrestling (1971–1981)

Norvell Austin began his professional wrestling career in 1971. He started in the areas of Florida and Alabama. At that time, African American wrestlers in the South were usually limited in how they could wrestle. They mostly wrestled other African Americans. If they wrestled white opponents, they always had to be the "good guys" (called fan favorites). They were not allowed to cheat or use unfair tricks to win against white opponents. Because of these rules, Austin first worked as a good guy. He mainly wrestled by himself, as there were no all-African American tag teams back then.

In late 1971, Austin teamed up with Sputnik Monroe. Monroe had been working for a long time to bring equality to wrestling. What made their team special was that they were "bad guys" (heels). This was a first for wrestling shows in the Southern United States. Norvell even dyed a blond streak in his hair to match Monroe's. They even hinted that Austin might be Sputnik Monroe's son.

Breaking Barriers in Tag Team Wrestling

Together, Austin and Monroe won the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship in May 1972. They won it from Bearcat Brown and Len Rossi. They lost the titles about a month later to Karl and Kurt Von Brauner. Winning titles was not their only big achievement. In a famous moment, they dropped black paint on white wrestler Robert Fuller. This was a reversal of an earlier event where white wrestlers had painted a Black wrestler white.

After this, Sputnik Monroe famously said, "Black is Beautiful." Norvell Austin replied, "White is wonderful." This became a popular saying for their team. Austin and Monroe also found success outside Alabama, especially in Florida. They worked for Championship Wrestling from Florida. There, they won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship on October 10, 1972. They beat Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden for the titles. They held the titles until November 16, 1972. Then, Jack and Jerry Brisco defeated them.

On October 1, 1973, Austin won his first singles title. He became the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Champion. This helped show that Austin was a pioneer in breaking down racial barriers in the South. In 1975, Austin teamed with Rocket Monroe (Sputnik's storyline brother). They briefly held the Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling version of the NWA United States tag team titles.

After working together for three years, Norvell Austin decided to wrestle more as a singles wrestler. He ended his partnership with Sputnik Monroe. From 1975, Austin continued to work for NWA Mid-America. He worked in both the southern part and the northern part. The northern part later became Continental Wrestling Association (CWA). Even though he wanted to wrestle more by himself, Austin was usually put in tag teams. He teamed with wrestlers like Butch Malone to win the NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship. After losing that title, Austin had a short rivalry with his former partner, Butch Malone. This rivalry did not lead to Austin getting more chances as a singles wrestler. Instead, he was put back into tag teams. He teamed with various partners like Bill Dundee, Pat Barrett, and Jimmy Golden. He won tag team championships with them in NWA Mid-America or Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling.

The Midnight Express Era (1981–1983)

In 1980, a new team was formed in Southeast Championship Wrestling. Dennis Condrey teamed up with Randy Rose. They won the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship soon after. This team started a storyline rivalry with Austin. Austin wrestled as "The Junkyard Dog" at this time. Austin brought in different partners, like Paul Orndorff. They were successful in winning the Southeast tag team gold for a short time.

To surprise Rose and Condrey, Austin started wrestling as a masked character called "The Shadow." Together with Brad Armstrong, he defeated Condrey and Rose for the Southeast tag team gold on May 4, 1981. They held the titles until July 27, 1981, when Condrey and Rose won them back. After losing the titles, Austin turned on Armstrong. He then joined Condrey and Rose to form a group known as The Midnight Express.

The Freebird Rule and Team Success

In a wrestling book, Condrey explained that the name "Midnight Express" came from them all dressing in black. They also drove black cars and partied late into the night. The three men won the AWA Southern Tag Team title in the CWA. They used a special rule that became known as the Freebird Rule. This rule allowed any two of the three men to defend the titles on any given night. This meant their opponents never knew which two wrestlers they would face. The Midnight Express lost the AWA Southern tag team title to Bobby Eaton and Sweet Brown Sugar. Then, they returned to SECW in the spring of 1982.

In Southeastern Championship Wrestling, The Midnight Express won the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Title six more times. They won and lost the titles to teams like Jimmy Golden and Robert Fuller. They also faced Mongolian Stomper and Stomper Jr., and "Dizzy" Ed Hogan and Ken Lucas. Other opponents included Brad and Scott Armstrong.

The Pretty Young Things (1983–1985)

The Midnight Express group broke up in late 1983. Norvell Austin went back to the CWA in Memphis. Dennis Condrey moved to another wrestling company. In Memphis, Austin became part of Jimmy Hart's group of wrestlers called the First Family.

During a tag team tournament in 1984, Norvell Austin was teamed with the masked Stagger Lee. During their match, Stagger Lee's mask was removed. This showed that he was Koko B. Ware. This moment made Ware become a "bad guy" (heel). Austin and Ware became a regular tag team. They were called the "Pretty Young Things" or "PYT Express." The two wrestlers soon started wearing red leather jackets. They each wore a single white glove. This was a clear imitation of Michael Jackson. They wanted to look like "pretty boys." They even used Jackson's song "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" as their entrance music.

The team managed to defeat the large team of Elijah Akeem and Kareem Mohammad. They won the AWA Southern Tag Team titles in February 1984. However, they only held the titles for less than two weeks. Akeem and Mohammad quickly won them back. The PYT Express stayed in Memphis for a while. Then, they moved to other wrestling companies. These included World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas and later Championship Wrestling from Florida. On February 26, 1985, Austin and Ware defeated Jay and Mark Youngblood. They won 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 losing the titles in Florida, the Pretty Young Things returned to the Continental Wrestling Association. This was the company that first put them together. There, they won the AWA Southern Tag Team titles twice. Both times, they won from The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane). They had a big rivalry with this top "good guy" team.

Later Career and Retirement (1985–1986, 2004)

By the end of summer 1985, the Pretty Young Things went their separate ways. Austin returned to his old wrestling area in Southeast Championship Wrestling. In SECW, Austin teamed up with another African American wrestler, Brickhouse Brown. They formed a team called "Soul Patrol." On September 23, 1985, the Soul Patrol defeated the Nightmares. They won the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship. This was Norvell Austin's tenth time holding that specific title. The Soul Patrol lost the championship to the Nightmares only a few weeks later.

After the Soul Patrol broke up, Austin became involved in a big storyline with the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Champion, "Exotic" Adrian Street. On January 6, 1986, Austin defeated Street for the title. He held onto it until February 17, 1986. On that date, Street, with help from his valet Miss Linda, won the title back.

In the late 1980s, Norvell Austin retired from professional wrestling. However, he has made a few special appearances as a "Legend" in recent years. His last known appearance was on September 25, 2004. He teamed with Randy Rose to defeat Texas Roughrider and Luke Goldberg in Continental Wrestling.

Championships and Accomplishments

• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sputnik Monroe
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (1 time) – with Koko B. Ware
• 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 (10 times) – with Jimmy Golden (1), Paul Orndorff (1), Brad Armstrong (1), Dennis Condrey (3), Randy Rose (3), Brickhouse Brown (1)
  • NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship (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 (6 times) – with Bill Dundee (1), Dennis Condrey (1), Randy Rose (1), and Koko B. Ware (3)
  • NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (2 times) – with Sputnik Monroe (1) and Pat Barrett (1)