Austin Idol Shoot Interview (FULL INTERVIEW)

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[@RELopez-mk4ic]

My Mom who was a beautiful woman loved Austin Idol. She was not a wrestling fan. However, when me and my brothers would be watching Georgia Championship Wrestling she would always watch Austin Idol when he was on. Once his promo or match was over she could not care less about the rest of the program. Thanks Austin for bringinh a little happiness into my Mom's life!

[@jeffreyivery4299]

My Mom Was Like That When She Saw Ric Flair So I Know What Your Talking About

[@paulbecker4784]

I'm 70 years old I've been watching wrestling probably for about 65 of those years never have I seen a better interview ever anywhere

[@troylowe814]

Idol had many great rivalries BUT the feud with Jerry Lawler in 1987 is legendary.

[@MichaelAnderson-jo8iq]

Definitely one of my favorite wrestlers back in the day. The Las Vegas figure-four leglock baby.

[@biggair6969]

This guy should be in the HOF just for the promo's alone that he did over the year's ! ! Keep Rocking Idol....

[@warrenlouisiana2277]

He will be one day

[@chrismorgan7494]

He'd better be in the HoF. It ain't legit without him.

[@sccc6758]

Austin idol is not in the hall of Fame? That's a joke

[@acgarner9464]

He wouldn't show up

[@Pillmanized]

promos not promo's and years not year's

[@canttouchthis6439]

Austin was ahead of his time in my opinion. If Austin would have arrived maybe 10 years later he would been a bigger star

[@jmarcguy]

Watched him on Georgia Championship Wrestling as a kid. Wahoo, Tommy Rich, Tony Atlas, Mr Wrestling…. Great times!!

[@uriustosh]

Definition of a wrestler right there. The guy when in gimmick is almost unrecognizable to his real life persona. No one would ever accuse Austin Idol the wrestler of being a soft spoken, thoughtful and level headed communicator. Likewise no one would ever accuse Mike McCord of being a bombastic flashy loudmouth.

[@randyhagofsky5860]

It's good to see him on NWA Powerrr right now, too. A performer through and through.

[@larrybratton5295]

Him and jimmy valiant are my all time favorites

[@alanmcmlxvi]

The two of them were my favorites as well

[@jasonwashburn3414]

I watched this guy on Memphis wrestling every Saturday. He was in the upper tier of wrestling super tough super cool. Universal heart throb baby.

[@shayneholder9300]

Great to see Austin Idol after all these years good to see he’s doing well

[@Pillmanized]

it was filmed almost 15 years ago....you do understand that right?

[@Spooky_515]

Love the legends from my childhood. Austin Idol takes me back to when I was a young kid going to the monthly matches. Something about the guys who worked the territories that can’t be taught today. Thanks for posting!

[@rict5878]

Idol is still one my favorites to watch on KZbin.

[@chrismorgan7494]

He's the Eternal Austin Idol! He never ages.

[@pbanik]

He looks amazing for his age, and pretty good for someone at any age. I'm guessing it's a combination of genetics and how he takes care of himself in terms of exercise, nutrition and rest. Some people show their age, or look older than they actually are.

[@chrismorgan7494]

@@pbanik You're absolutely right. Austin Idol is 72 and looks 50 at the most. He is big on nutrition and fitness.

[@pbanik]

@@chrismorgan7494 He could possibly pass for someone younger than that. I am not sure if I will get his program or not, because I have books on exercise and nutrition, but based on this shoot, his book sounds like it could be fascinating to delve into, not only for the pro wrestling portion of his life, but the other aspects as well.

[@VAHOSS]

​@chrismorgan7494 he was only around 60 when this interview took place. Still aged well though

[@chrismorgan7494]

@@VAHOSS 60? Is that all? He was older than Archie Bunker for Christ's sake. Lol

[@greggraham9785]

My favorite!! The universal Heartthrob! Austin Idol!!

[@LeoWamBamSlamJam]

Great interview with one of the all-time greats! Man, he still seems to be in great shape after so many years!

[@machohogan]

For such a muscular guy he has a very slim face. The face of a guy who you’d expect to weigh 160lbs. I’m 45 and a UK guy. Started watching in 90, we had USWA tapes in all the music shops on the early 90’s, I got lots Pi Yi Chu Hi, Kimala (not Kamala), Stunning Steve, Adams, Lawler etc but no Austin Idol. He’s one of those rare wrestlers that you didn’t hear about over here. Just a few years to early and retiring in 90 as the boom hit in the UK. Fascinating going back and checking him out. Most US things are similar to the UK, one thing that isn’t simple is the south, Memphis, Tennessee etc. We can identify with the big cities, African American culture, music, tech and films but we have no real link to guys like Austin Idol. That’s why I’m enjoying him so much.

[@billyjoe6933]

Cashing the check story was awsome I'd loved to seen the promoters faces when they seen he'd cashed it.idol is awsome I'd pay to see him today what a great career I'm glad to see him look so good and can still tell the great stories. Idol mania is were hulk got hulkamainia.

[@bjdeee1239]

him and Rich..that feud with Lawler...vintage

[@billyjoe6933]

Austin idol is a legend in Georgia .a great wrestler his matches were always great his enterviews were always great darlin.

[@tonymazz9912]

He looks and sounds great like He did 40 years ago. The Man is ageless, GOD bless him

[@stevenstrickland5159]

YEA!!!

[@GreggF65]

Always gave great promos , Austin Idol

[@MP-zb9vm]

I remember watching Iron Mike McCord in the 1973 in WWWF. I never realized until many years later that Mike and Austin Idol were the same man.. He lost 100 pounds and completely changed his body.

[@jasonwashburn3414]

Hells yea he belongs in hall of Fame. I remember seeing him in the Memphis territory for a long time. Was one of my and still one of my all time favorite dudes in the business. The good ole days of wrestling. Will not see that kinda wrestling anymore like those territory days.

[@luish777]

This guy was playing chess while everybody was playing checkers in the wrestling business. Like that he used wrestling to his advantage.

[@mmafan3]

Wow..I remember watching GCW on Saturdays, when his back took up the entire TV lol..great to see he is well

[@TNGuy901]

Remember the Memphis promo with him splashing around in the hot tub…the man is a legend.

[@stephenyouree4109]

A very articulate, classy guy. Iconic.

[@Bazzeboy]

And a liar as well about being a tough guy, rebelling against Fritz and giving him an ultimatum concerning that pay-off. Thanks to the excellent brain of the interviewer!

[@cjwmd7175]

I remember seeing him in the early 70s in the old WWWF. Looked much different back then. Was known as Iron Mike Mccord and managed by Lou Albano.

[@frankjohnson5936]

The guy is do cool,an smart too,great promos,great wrestler,I love how he lived the way he wanted in the business,he got in an got out when he felt like it,an not to many can make this claim BEST WISHES AUSTIN IDOL!!

[@johnmesser6352]

He looks unbelievable !

[@kage1695]

When I was about 8 years old, me and my brother (who was about 13) were bored one cold afternoon and we decided to put on a wrasslin match, he chose to be Rick Rude and I was The Universal Heartthrob Austin Idol. Long story short, he threw me into the corner of our coffee table, I split my head open and ended up getting 6 stitches. I'll never forget that lol

[@brunopaolucci6594]

What a cool dude! Looks great for his age!

[@spectrumlocalb191]

I have met every wrestler probably out there in working for The Philadelphia Spectrum for so many years and became friends with so many of them and i must say Austin Idol "Mike McCord" is a very interesting person hands down.

[@tommysmith4797]

Great interview. My three favs of all time were Wahoo Mcdaniel, Masked Superstar and Austin Idol. If he had stayed in a territory for a long time I think the NWA would had put the title on him. Would been a great champion and would had suited him too I think. Then a champ was all over the country. Mr Mccord you were and are the man. Thank you

[@MrChristopherHaas]

Idol, Superstar and Wrestling 2 are mine RIGHT NOW being the Midwesterner I am that didn’t get a chance to see any of them until you tube came along.

[@robintaylor680]

This is one of the best interviews I have ever watched in regards to a wrestling type shoot interview

[@GreggF65]

Thank you so much for the video I really am enjoying this

[@tonypastor705]

It’s weird that he was in Airplane ✈️ crash 💥 with Buddy Colt, Gary Hart and Bobby Shane! He was a lot younger than them!

[@shannonbarnwell3114]

Thanks for all your hard work Idol!!

[@biarritz84]

Austin Idol still looks exactly the same today as he did years ago

[@bryantipton5573]

Years of taking care of his body.

[@AngelEyes-bt6qp]

I hope you're not referring to the way he looks in this video...just because it was posted recently does not mean it was filmed recently. This video is most likely well over 15 years old.

[@bigloo609]

@@AngelEyes-bt6qp You're right. This interview is from 12 years ago.

[@stevelowe2647]

I thought he was a new wrestler.. who am I thinking of. Austin something. I'm not a massive fan, just casual, mostly enjoy interviews & Cornette

[@jackbarnes9728]

@@stevelowe2647 you may be thinking of Steve Austin.

[@TJ-pc3mx]

Good to see one of the guys made it and still has a working brain.

[@KayFabe87]

The 87 cage match in Memphis (Mayhem in Memphis) was one of the most heated angles in the last 35 years. The level of believability being felt by the fans in attendance was off the charts and things could have gone sideways fast as the fans surrounded the ring after seeing their hometown hero Lawler get cheated and having his head shaved (into a pretty neat, close haircut as opposed to being shaved bald). Great angle, excellent match with phenomenal psychology, as well as a heated finish with some post match tension. All that being said, Idol may be giving himself a bit too much credit for coming up with every angle and idea along the way in building this match, Tommy Rich under the ring, etc. Great interview.

[@pooddescrewch8718]

Bobby Shane was the Shawn Michaels of his era .

[@daveschannel747]

This interview was spot on... with the exception of all the whispering u can hear when Idol was answering questions...not too professional in my eyes.. as if your not paying attention to his answers but instead conversating with whomever else is in the room..prob a stat guy/fact finding guy...that's sloppy!

[@TryRickPayton]

I admired him as a kid from Las Vegas he wrestled in Memphis Tennessee

[@user-oq7iu5zu7u]

Austin Idol was great and his contributions in the Wrestling business were very important and historic. He had the look he could work he could talk he was very entertaining. He had a great nack of telling a story and he was especially good in Georgia and Memphis.

[@rhettboy1]

Excellent get! What a great storyteller

[@bbuildingfan01]

Great interview

[@robintaylor485]

Wow that was an entertaining interview I loved it very nice and I also love the background colors the yellow and blue and it looks good

[@timfox5337]

Modern bookers and “writers” need to be picking this man’s brain. He has a lot of solid gold ideas. Along with Lawler, Dundee, etc. There is no emotion in pro wrestling today. Pro wrestling is a bad word, and that’s a big problem in itself.

[@bigdickdudley9119]

One of my all time favs as heel or fan fav still own mayhem in memphis VHS I got at ecw show in reverse 97

[@butcherbaker1001]

They caught him lying about telling off Fritz.Watch his face when the loser leaves town match is mentioned

[@robintaylor680]

One of the all-time great heels this dude could really piss people off

[@pooddescrewch8718]

As a construction worker I can tell you that scaffolds are far more rickety than you would expect .

[@joekerr1771]

Best Austin Idol story Wins battle royal in some southern territory and given huge $10k check (huge as in oversized) brings said check to local bank where promoter has account bank worker is a wrestling fan who was in attendance and saw Idol win battle royal gets check cashed leaves territory

[@russblack443]

It was in Georgia,Macon Georgia. It was Fred Wards check. Ward was a notorious cheapskate and no body liked him

[@joespitler3929]

I pissed myself when I heard him tell that story, on Jim Cornette's podcast I believe I heard it.

[@marktyler9168]

The problem with that story is that Idol said he cashed it in Columbus, cashed it in Atlanta, and had the Tampa police come to his house asking for it and he had put it in a sock drawer (it wasn't a giant check) and forgotten about it so he gave it to them.....

[@gerardkowalski7683]

Check was for 5 grand .

[@jivancich]

Awesome, I was once with Kevin Sullivan in Vegas. Austin just called Kevin they talked for a min. Then almost immediately someone comes up and says to Kevin. Hey have you seen Austin? Kevin goes no he's in prison...lol I was in shook.nice rib Taskmaster! That's was cac in 2018

[@josephsantoro5682]

1974. I remember when Mike McCord fought Chief Jay Strongbow on TV and Lou Albano interfered by smashing a cast on Strongbow's head, cutting him wide open. Supposedly, the story goes like this. Chief Jay Strongbow "jumped" Albano in the locker room and broke his arm. He had that cast on for weeks and weeks. As the weeks turned into months, Vince McMahon became suspicious on television, by asking Albano when he was going to get that cast removed. Well on that night, he took it off alright, at Strongbow's expense. Mike McCord was disqualified, but the damage was done. Tony Garea and Dean Ho came out to help the bleeding Chief out of the ring. McMahon tried to get and interview from Strongbow and he cried, "Albano! You sonofabitch!" Classic! Does anyone have a link of this match? Would love to see it again.

[@pooddescrewch8718]

I don't think I would ever fly a plane without instrument training

[@David-pt6zk]

Idol still the man always will be

[@coreysmorgan8488]

Plane Crash story is Heavy

[@1946pepper]

I don't even remember him being in WWF, must have been WWWF during Backlund, Sammartino.

[@Blacattacsquadron]

These dumb comments about Idol's age is hilarious!!! This interview was done in 2008!!!

[@rowds]

People seem to think because something was uploaded recently, that it must have been filmed recently. Very simplistic minded people you deal with here on KZbin. I don't think it bodes well for humanity in general.

[@bryanelam7431]

I've never heard a grown man brag about little league. I don't say that as a knock, just never heard that before. I respect what wrestlers do & go through, especially old school guys that went thru crazy beat downs before they were smartened up & let into the business!!

[@SonOfKong33]

Huge impact.... I'm a Hulkamaniac, and I acknowledge his influence on Hulkamania. Absolutely should be in the HOF. Should have been amongst the first. It's a joke that he's not in.

[@coachrobinson9958]

Mike McCord/Austin Idol, real smooth cat! ☺

[@samright4661]

I remember the Austin and Tommy “matches”

[@bigglilwayne7050]

He was a mainstay in Pensa Cola with the Fullers

[@richhava]

Wrestling was a means to make money. That's it. So he never had to compromise himself.

[@1946pepper]

Loved Austin Idol in Georgia, would of been huge in WET but was a shrewd business man and knew he was box office.

[@Pillmanized]

would have not would of

[@norms3913]

The man with the 24 inch biceps then came superstar Billy Graham

[@robintaylor680]

We had Turner Broadcasting System aka TBS in Kansas City in like 1979. I don’t know if they made it out to California I don’t know where they stretch to but I know we had them here in Kansas City does anybody from California I remember having TBS growing up back in like the early 80s late 70s?

[@aarontooley570]

Anybody get his health and work out video? Love to see him in FL when I go down in December

[@perrymason7492]

Idol maina he was and is still one of the very best his Memphis run was legendary tommy rich jerry lawler

[@bigdickdudley9119]

This intv took place around 08 housing bust .

[@bangmygavel]

I think Idol was around 60 in this interview. Still he looks 45!!!

[@davestuddaman8127]

Often Idol 😆 I kinda like it🤘🤘

[@traceywoodward1354]

The universal heartthrob darlin

[@scu2r]

I saw idol wrestle Rich at the Omni in 1980 and he sneaked up on him while he was entering the ring and just dominated him. Of course idol was DQ'd in the match. Good memories

[@raleighwelborn1136]

Met Idol at a waffle house about 1 in the morning in Nashville. He tried kayfabing us at first. Then turned into the Idol. Signed autographs and took pics while waiting on his order. Bill Dundee, Chris Champion, & Tracy Smothers came in shortly afterwards.

[@lonewolftrucker99ky90]

Austin idol is the reason my mom let me watch rasslin!

[@shavingdave1]

Austin Idol looks good! Nice!

[@rowds]

2008....

[@shavingdave1]

@@rowds Oh. Got it now. Thanks.

[@JerichoMile4]

Austin Idol attended Robinson high school in Tampa Florida ! Dick Slater and Mike Graham and Steve Keirn and Hulk Hogan also went to Robinson high school. (Knights of Robinson high school)

[@pooddescrewch8718]

I always wondered why he spent his career mostly in Jerry Lawlers shadow in Memphis . He must have been one of the few people who was not Lawler that made money there .

[@bambam5130]

Met him when I was a kid in the mid 80s at a Wal-Mart in the panhandle of Florida

[@bigdickdudley9119]

He was a big star that area with fuller's Armstrong's arn got his big break there too flair met him there .

[@bambam5130]

@@bigdickdudley9119 I think I still have the picture of him somewhere and I have a flag autographed by all the Armstrongs from around the same time. It was before Road Doggs Wwe fame for sure. This was in Walton county FL and I had family all over Pensacola and all and my dad use to go watch all them wrestle over there.

[@bigdickdudley9119]

@@bambam5130 started watching wwwf 79 but really got hooked on tvs Georgia champ wrest it was the best fir almost 3 yrs till black sat . Idol only wrestled in northeast for savokdis ice for bit brody also

[@sheldonhchambliss1385]

The ric flair of Georgia

[@rodneyelwood2533]

he's right, Lawler would make sure ppl got paid, Jarrett wanted all of the money, and he's still the same...even with family

[@alanmcmlxvi]

That was the problem between Jerry Jarrett and his mother, Christine, as well. The love of money! SMH

[@chanceearley6272]

Lemme teh ya sumthin DAHLIN Austin Idol is one of the best of all time, great talker great wrestler a champions champion and he IS a legend jack, he's the women's pet and the men's regret and there will NEVER be another Universal Heartthrob you can make book on that DAHLIN.

[@gmoney8585]

still got that charisma

[@GreggF65]

blackjack Mulligan would. always slap around Ole Anderson btw

[@deanw0rmer]

Lawler was always way ahead of Dundee. But I don’t think the book was taken away from him. He was part owner. From his book he says he would take off and give someone else the book to recharge

[@billyjoe6933]

I'd vote for him

[@Mrsmassflex]

It's hard to beleive this man is 70 + years old. Took care of himself and GTHO of wrestling ...now there's a lesson. Looks great! Glad you found him!

[@jeffroberts8246]

I loved Austin Idol when I was a kid. I watched him when he wrestled on Dothan and Ga

[@pooddescrewch8718]

He didn't bump a lot .

[@darrinhale8931]

This interview is 13 years old

[@pooddescrewch8718]

No one wanted to work with Randy for 2 reasons ...a) He may upstage you B) he was very controlling . He wanted to choreograph entire matches .

[@aronraygetchapull42071]

Austin Idol I'll be damned!! 😂

[@mikesilvers486]

He looks like Ernest T Bass now 😂

[@phildirt3]

Should have been champ

[@AbnormalPecker]

He should have been a way bigger player.... He's smart. He had the look. He had the gimmick.... World Champion written all over him.

[@warrenbates2949]

He's right he screwed up leaving WWF.

[@MrKrypton327]

Does anyone know when the book is coming out?

[@rowds]

Considering this was 2008 he's had quite a while...

[@raysullya.k.amassholehead817]

Was the Dude playing Guitar Hulk Hogan ?