[2] Following the end of the NWA territory system, Link relocated to his native North Carolina where he became a trainer and promoter of independent wrestling in the Southeastern United States.
It was on the independent circuit that he reinvented himself as a formidable "hardcore" wrestler[3] and engaged in bloody brawls with Abdullah the Butcher,[4] The Iron Sheik, Buddy Landel, Jimmy Valiant and Wahoo McDaniel.
He was among the many foreign wrestlers to appear on the country's long-running wrestling programme On the Mat and whose opponents included Lars Anderson, Mark Lewin, Curt Kummala and Steve Rickard.
[5] Years later, Link became the first wrestler to appear in New Zealand cartoonist Jason Conlan's "On The Mat" comic strip for Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
[12] Link was managed by Jimmy Hart[13] during his first run in the territory and whose "gimmick" included eating a raw chicken walking to the ring or during interviews.
The Link-Lawler feud was immensely popular with wrestling fans at the time partly due to the connections with the ongoing rivalry between Lawler and Andy Kaufman.
Jason "MonkeyBoy" Phillips, a disc jockey for WKQQ-100.1 FM, has claimed that his all-time favourite match was between Man Mountain Link and Jerry Lawler at Louisville Gardens.
Lawler's surprise tag team partner was eventually revealed to be longtime enemy Austin Idol with the two later going on to defeat Link and Patera in front of nearly 7,000 fans.
[23] While in the territory, Link also won the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship with "Triple 6" Jim Star defeating Buzz Sawyer and "Bulldog" Bob Brown.
[11][27] His final CWA appearance was a tag team match with Larry Wright against Ric McCord & John Paul at the Mid-South Coliseum on October 13, 1986.
[4][31] By the mid-1990s, Link had gained a new generation of fans through "hardcore"-wrestling style matches[3] against Abdullah the Butcher,[4] the Iron Sheik, Buddy Landel, Chuck Coates, Jimmy Valiant and Wahoo McDaniel.
He eventually headlined countless regional promotions performing in a series of thumbtack death matches and had memorable bouts against Major DeBeers, Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony, Justin Feeche and his student King Konga.
In October 1997, Link feuded Ken Spence, a fellow student of his trainer Johnny Hunter, over the NDW Heavyweight Championship in a series of "bloody" steel cage matches.
[32] On July 17, 1998, Link headlined a New Dimension Wrestling (NDW) supercard with Buddy Landel, Tully Blanchard, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, the Iron Sheik, "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas, One Man Gang and Abdullah the Butcher at the Motor Sport Park in Concord, North Carolina.
[38] At the end of the month, he and Fernandez joined forces in Link's feud with The Dream Warriors[2] defeating them in a tag team match in Thomasville on December 26, 1998.
[39] The following year, on May 15, 1999, Link successfully defended the NDW Brass Knuckles Championship against Fernandez at the Break The Barrier supercard at Philadelphia's Viking Hall.
[41] He was also a regular in Southern Championship Wrestling, which helped produce future WWE superstars Shane Helms, Joey Matthews, Shannon Moore and the Hardy Boyz, where he was part of manager Count Grog's "heel" stable The Brotherhood with Major DeBeers, Boris Dragoff, Manny Fernandez, K. C. Thunder and Frank Parker.
[48] Link and Willie Watts represented CWE at the 3-day 2007 NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest at the Hilton University Place Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina from August 10–12, 2007.
On February 2, 2008, Link defeated Scrap Yard Dog & Dick Foley in a handicap match at Alternative Championship Wrestling's Night of Legends in Seagrove, North Carolina.
In exchange, Charles agreed to appear at GOUGE's second anniversary show in Raleigh, North Carolina in a "gimmick" of Grog's choosing which was revealed to be dressing up in drag.
[52] One year later, on January 31, 2009, Link was among the many independent wrestlers who performed at the 7th-annual Seagrove Supershow, co-promoted by ACW and GOUGE, which included George South, Malia Hosaka, Brandi Wine, Scrap Yard Dog, Ric Converse, Lumbee Warrior, Rob Killjoy, Semour Snott, Count Grog, Cowboy Willie Watts, Leroy Green and Otto Schwanz.