Ross is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

During his eight-year military career, Ross participated in several combat and rescue missions including Operation Urgent Fury[1] before becoming a professional wrestler.

Ross wrestled for the Knoxville, Tennessee-based promotion Continental Championship Wrestling, where he briefly held the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship defeating Moondog Spot in January 1988 before losing the title to Jonathan Boyd in Birmingham, Alabama on January 11, 1988.

He had a short-lived feud with The Iron Sheik defeating him by disqualification at Clash of the Champions VI on April 2, 1989.

[4] Defeating The Terrorist at Clash of the Champions VII in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on June 14,[7] he was eliminated in the two-ring battle royal by former tag team partner Ron Simmons (Ross would later eliminate Simmons while in the second ring before being eliminated by Dan Spivey) at the Great American Bash on July 23 [8][9] Although losing to Sid Vicious at Clash of the Champions VIII on September 12,[10] he would later feud with The Cuban Assassin as well as defeating Rusty Riddle and Bob Emery during the next several weeks.

[4][11] During the match, Cactus Jack would turn on Ned Brady, giving Ross and Tommy Rich the victory.

[12] During the next two years, he would wrestle for the promotion on a limited basis losing to Mike Rotunda at a house show in Hammond, Indiana, on January 11, 1990.

They faced and beat an up-and-coming tag team known as The VIP (Violence In Progress) which consists of Tommy Lee and Loco Motive.