
In 1984, Fernandez debuted in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and formed a tag team with Dusty Rhodes, and they won the WCW World Tag Team Titles from Ivan Koloff and Don Kernodle. They feuded with them and Ivan's "nephew" Nikita Koloff until losing the titles to the Koloffs in early 1985.
Fernandez soon became involved in a feud with Arn Anderson after being attacked by Anderson and laid out. He teamed with Thunderbolt Patterson to feud with Arn and Ole Anderson.
In late 1985, he started helping Jimmy Valiant in his war against Paul Jones and his "Army". He formed a team with Valiant called the "B and B Connection" ("Boogie Woogie" and "Bull"). He had some matches against Abdullah the Butcher and The Barbarian. He also formed a tag team with Hector Guerrero in 1986 called The Latin Connection. In the summer of 1986, Fernandez accepted Jones' money and turned on Valiant, starting a feud between the two. Later in the year, Jones also brought in Rick Rude. Pairing Fernandez and Rude together, the duo defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express for the WCW World Tag Team Titles. They feuded with the Express and kept the titles until June 1987, when Rude left the promotion, which was resolved with a "phantom title change".
He was soon in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), feuding with Wahoo McDaniel after he attacked Wahoo and destroyed his headdress. The two veterans engaged in an "Indian Strap match" at the AWA pay-per-view SuperClash III.