Daniel Eugene Spivey (born October 14, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestler best known under the ring names "Dangerous" Dan Spivey, Dangerous Dan, The Left Hand Man, Danny Spivey, Mr. America, and Waylon Mercy, initially working under the name Starship Eagle. Throughout his career, he has worked extensively for World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation, and All Japan Pro Wrestling. He retired from wrestling in 1995 due to injuries and now works in alcoholism counseling in his native Florida.
Spivey spent a lot of his career as part of various tag teams and is especially known in the U.S. for teaming with Sid Vicious and then with "Mean" Mark Callous as "The Skyscrapers" in WCW and teaming with Mike Rotunda to form The U.S. Express in the WWF. He started his career teaming with Starship Coyote, collectively known as "American Starship". In Japan he teamed with various wrestlers over the years winning the World Tag Team Championship with Stan Hansen and teaming with Johnny Ace for long periods of time.
His last wrestling persona, Waylon Mercy, was inspired by Robert De Niro's portrayal of Max Cady in the 1991 remake of Cape Fear. While he only worked a few matches under that name, he later inspired the creation of the Bray Wyatt character as Spivey worked with Windham Rotunda to initially develop it.
Early life Spivey was born in Tampa, Florida. He attended the University of Georgia, where he played football for the Georgia Bulldogs for three seasons as a defensive end and was named an All-American football player in his sophomore year. Spivey aimed to play football professionally and was drafted by the New York Jets but did not sign with the Jets, instead deciding to sign with the Jacksonville Express of the World Football League in June 1975. He was released by the Express in late July 1975, before the start of the regular season. 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.
Professional wrestling career
Championship Wrestling from Florida (1983–1984) Spivey was trained as a wrestler by Dusty Rhodes, the then-booker for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) and made his debut in 1983. Spivey and Scott Hall formed a tag team in CWF called "American Starship". Spivey adopted the ring name "Eagle" and Hall the ring name "Coyote". The men wore furry boots, bright masks and silver pants.
Jim Crockett Promotions / Central States Wrestling (1984–1985) In 1984, Rhodes moved from Championship Wrestling from Florida to the Charlotte, North Carolina–based Jim Crockett Promotions, bringing Spivey and Hall with him. Initially, American Starship worked only sporadically. At first, they were booked so sparingly that the two were given a job for the Charlotte Orioles (which Jim Crockett owned at the time) as part of the ground crew. When the two men did get into the ring it was with little success. The highlight of their stay in Jim Crockett Promotions was being defeated by Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson when the rookies challenged for the NWA National Tag Team Championship.
In March 1985, American Starship joined Bob Geigel's Central States Wrestling promotion based in Kansas City, Missouri. 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. Spivey's stay in the Central States territory was short-lived; according to Scott Hall, Spivey did not like Kansas City.
In June 1985, Spivey returned to Jim Crockett Promotions where he worked as "American Starship Eagle". He wrestled there until October 1985.
World Wrestling Federation (1985–1988)
In October 1985, Spivey signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and started wrestling without a mask and under his real name. Spivey was brought into team with Mike Rotunda as the American Express after Barry Windham left the federation. The team was sometimes referred to the U. S. Express II since the patriotic gimmick of the original U. S. Express was recycled, with Spivey taking Barry Windham's place.
The team had their first match together on November 1, 1985 less than a month after Spivey joined the WWF. The team continued the U.S. Express' feud with the Dream Team, but once they were proven unsuccessful, the two did not team from January to May as Rotunda briefly left the WWF. During this time Spivey took part in the WrestleMania 2 "wrestlers and football players" battle royal. Spivey was eliminated by The Iron Sheik without much fanfare. Once the American Express reunited, they feuded with The Moondogs, the Hart Foundation, and the Islanders, whom the team faced in their last match together on February 9, 1987.
Not long before Rotunda left the WWF, Spivey began to be billed as "Golden Boy" Danny Spivey which continued for his singles run after Rotunda left. His in-ring appearance at the time led to many fans labelling him a Hulk Hogan clone. 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. Spivey took part in the 1986 King of the Ring tournament, losing to Nikolai Volkoff in the first round. He also tried a new tag team partner. In March 1987 Spivey teamed with Tito Santana to unsuccessfully challenge the Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Spivey was also part of the 1987 King of the Ring. This time he lost to Rick Martel in the first round. Spivey stayed with the WWF until the spring of 1988, becoming a heel and competing mainly against such low carders as Lanny Poffo and Outback Jack.
In 1991, Spivey testified that Dr George Zaharian had illegally supplied him with anabolic steroids in the late 1980s. Zaharian was ultimately found guilty.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1988–1995) 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. In his first tour, Spivey gained ring experience by competing with Japanese wrestling legend Genichiro Tenryu. Spivey also teamed with Johnny Ace, a man he would team with many times during his Japanese tours.
Spivey kept on touring with AJPW while working for the NWA, mainly teaming with Stan Hansen. Spivey and Hansen formed a very popular Gaijin team that almost won AJPW's "World's Strongest Tag Determination League" in 1990.
Spivey and Hansen won the All Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag-Team Championship from Terry Gordy and Steve Williams in Tokyo, Japan on April 18, 1991.
Spivey and Hansen would lose the tag-team titles back to Gordy and Williams. After the title loss, Spivey started to team with other wrestlers, mainly with Johnny Ace, but also linked up with Jim Brunzell, Kendall Windham and Jim Steele.
Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling (1989–1992)
The Varsity Club (1989)
In early 1989, Spivey returned to Jim Crockett Promotions. Spivey was made a member of The Varsity Club as a replacement for Rick Steiner, who left the group. Spivey's background as a football player at the University of Georgia was touched upon to lend credibility to his inclusion in the group. 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 "Dr. Death" Steve Williams were pushed as the stars of the group.
The Skyscrapers (1989–1990)
When the Varsity Club disbanded in June 1989, 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. The rules called for the two to fight each other but manager Teddy Long convinced them to shake hands and share the prize money. Later in the night, the Skyscrapers defeated The Dynamic Dudes due to their overwhelming size and power.
The Skyscrapers quickly became involved in a feud with the Road Warriors, sparked by Teddy Long's actions while he was still a referee. The two teams were very evenly matched in power and intensity, creating a series of matches that did not favor one team over the other. Spivey and Vicious were disqualified against the Road Warriors at Halloween Havoc. Shortly after Halloween Havoc, the Skyscrapers faced the Steiner Brothers at Clash of the Champions IX in a hard hitting match. Sid Vicious suffered a punctured lung due to a broken rib. With Vicious out of action, Teddy Long brought in another tall newcomer in the same mold as Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey and dubbed him "Mean" Mark Callous. At the same time while working for the NWA as one of the Skyscrapers, Spivey also competed in his home state of Florida, winning the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship in late 1989. However, this title win was not referred to on NWA Television. Spivey would go on to hold the title until July 1992, when he lost it to Lou Perez.
The New Skyscrapers immediately picked up the feud with the Road Warriors and kept on having inconclusive matches with them. At Clash of the Champions X the Skyscrapers finally got the better of the Road Warriors, not in the match, but afterwards when they beat the Road Warriors down. At this point in time, no one had ever been able to physically dominate the Road Warriors, something that pointed that big things had been planned for the Skyscrapers. However, in the days before the scheduled Chicago Street Fight at WrestleWar 1990, 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.
On September 1, 1990, Spivey made his return to WCW when he substituted for former partner Sid Vicious against Lex Luger at a house show in Greensboro, North Carolina, losing via count-out. Spivey returned to television on the September 14 edition of the WCW Power Hours, where he discussed facing Brian Pillman. On the same show he would defeat Lou Perez. On the September 16 edition of WCW Main Event, Spivey prevented Pillman from running the Gauntlet and won $5,000. 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. Hansen used the weapon and ended Luger's record title reign; this would in turn lay the groundwork for an eventual feud between Luger and Spivey. But before this could take place it was announced that the original Skyscrapers would reunite at Starrcade '90: Collision Course. This took place, and he and Sid Vicious made short work of The Big Cat and The Motor City Madman.
Various storylines (1991)