His last wrestling persona, Waylon Mercy, was inspired by Robert De Niro's portrayal of Max Cady in the 1991 remake of Cape Fear.

[10] Spivey spent several years working in a number of jobs in Tampa before meeting professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes, who offered to train him to wrestle.

[3] Spivey was trained as a wrestler by Dusty Rhodes, the then-booker for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) and made his debut in 1983.

[1][3] In 1984, Rhodes moved from Championship Wrestling from Florida to the Charlotte, North Carolina–based Jim Crockett Promotions, bringing Spivey and Hall with him.

The highlight of their stay in Jim Crockett Promotions was being defeated by Arn and Ole Anderson when the rookies challenged for the NWA National Tag Team Championship.

After working in MACW the duo joined Bob Geigel's NWA Central States territory based in Kansas City in 1985.

The duo had a shot at the NWA Central States Tag Team Champions Marty Jannetty and "Bulldog" Bob Brown but did not manage to win the titles.

As the "Golden Boy", Spivey wrestled in yellow trunks and boots, this colour choice combined with his height, build and blond hair saw him resemble the then WWF Champion.

[18] Spivey stayed with the WWF until the spring of 1988, becoming a heel and competing mainly against such low carders as Lanny Poffo[19] and Outback Jack.

[21][22][self-published source] After working exclusively in the United States since his debut, while making some appearances in Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling Council, Bruiser Brody talked to Spivey about going to Japan, Spivey started to tour with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in the summer of 1988 and kept touring with the company every year until 1995, when he signed with the WWF.

While in the Varsity Club, Spivey feuded with Rick Steiner and the Road Warriors, acting more as back-up while former tag team partner Mike Rotunda and Steve Williams were pushed as the stars of the group.

When the Varsity Club disbanded, Spivey came under the management of ex-referee Teddy Long and started teaming with newcomer Sid Vicious under the name of The Skyscrapers.

The Skyscrapers' (so named due to their height and leanness) first taste of success came at the Great American Bash pay-per-view, where they first co-won a Two-Ring King of the Hill Battle Royal with Sid being the survivor in one ring and Spivey surviving in the other.

[26] Shortly after Halloween Havoc, the Skyscrapers faced the Steiner Brothers at Clash of the Champions IX in a hard hitting match.

However, in the days before the scheduled Chicago Street Fight at WrestleWar 1990,[31] Dan Spivey suddenly left WCW, leaving the bookers to scramble for a replacement.

Spivey stated in a shoot interview that he left the company over money issues, as well as his dislike of the Road Warriors themselves for taking what he perceived as liberties with his tag-team partner "Mean" Mark Callous.

Spivey and Hansen formed a very popular Gaijin team that almost won AJPW's "World's Strongest Tag Determination League" in 1990.

[32] On September 1, Spivey made his return to WCW when he substituted for former partner Sid Vicious against Lex Luger at a house show in Greensboro, NC, losing via countout.

Spivey's next appearance came at Halloween Havoc 1990, where he threw a cowbell to AJPW partner Stan Hansen to use in a match against United States Champion Lex Luger.

In May he formed a short-lived tag-team with The Angel of Death (Dave Sheldon), the duo making their debut on the June 6 edition of WCW Pro and defeating Larry Santo and Keith Hart.

[42] He was originally booked to team with The Barbarian at the Clash of the Champions XX in a match against Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes, but was replaced by the newly arrived Butch Reed.

On television, his biggest match during this time was his appearance at Starrcade where he teamed with Van Hammer to defeat Johnny B. Badd and Cactus Jack to advance in the "Lethal Lottery".

[29] Spivey rejoined the WWF in June 1995, adopting the name "Waylon Mercy" in a character based on Robert De Niro's portrayal of Max Cady in the 1991 remake of Cape Fear.

Like Cady, he had jet black hair, wore white attire with a Hawaiian shirt, and sported several strange tattoos, including one of a dagger on his forehead (Spivey's were temporary).

In the final vignette before premiering the character in-ring, Spivey predicted that soon, "Lives are gonna be in Waylon Mercy's hands," a phrase that would later feature in his entrance music.

[46] Mercy was pushed upon his debut with victories over numerous enhancement talents (including a young Jeff Hardy), as well as established stars such as Bob Holly,[47] The 1-2-3 Kid,[48] and Doink The Clown.

[58] On August 1, 2015, Spivey, at age 62, who hadn't wrestled since 1995 due to injuries, returned to the ring for Dory Funk Jr.'s !BANG!