Austin Idol

Dennis McCord (born on October 26, 1949[1] in Tampa, Florida) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name the "Universal Heartthrob" Austin Idol.

Career
McCord graduated from Robinson High School in Tampa, Florida. He started wrestling as Austin Idol 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 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 and good friend Bobby Shane.

After a period of inactivity healing from 2 broken ankles, he emerged with bleach-blonde hair and the new moniker of "Universal Heartthrob" Austin Idol in 1978. His flamboyant personality and muscular physique led him to a successful career in the era preceding the World Wrestling Federation's emergence in the mid 1980s. Idol challenged for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight Championship several times versus Harley Race (1980) and Ric Flair (1981-84). He also competed in the AWA throughout the '80s.

Idol is well known for a long-running feud with the popular Jerry "The King" Lawler in the CWA and AWA territories. In a famed 1981 angle, Idol dressed up as a Mexican wrestler in a mask, presenting the "Top Rated Wrestler in Mexico" award to Lawler on TV before sucker-punching him. Afterwards, he delivered a memorable interview vowing to clean up Memphis and get rid of Lawler. On April 27, 1987, Idol famously 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