
In 1985, Nailz wrestled as Thor for World Class Championship Wrestling, where he had feuds with Bobby Fulton and Brian Adias.
Nailz debuted in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) as Kevin Kelly in 1984, as a babyface midcarder. By 1986, he was a top heel and challenged for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship.
In 1987, he was managed by Sherri Martel and regularly issued arm wrestling challenges. This led to a feud with Tommy Rich, who answered one of his challenges on an edition of AWA Championship Wrestling. Rich appeared to have the contest won, when Martel interfered on Kelly's behalf. In retaliation, Rich tore off her dress. Rich would then dominate a series of matches between the two.
After Martel left the AWA, Kelly took Madusa Miceli as his manager. He often teamed with Nick Kiniski as "The Perfect Tag Team" to contend for the AWA World Tag Team Championship. He left the AWA in 1988.
Kelly received a tryout match on June 6, 1989 at a WWF Superstars taping in Madison, Wisconsin, defeating Tim Horner. One night later, he defeated Jim Powers at a Wrestling Challenge taping, but was not signed to a contract that year. Later, he received another tryout match, this time at a WWF Superstars taping on May 6, 1991, defeating Brian Costello. The following night at a Wrestling Challenge taping, he defeated Gary Jackson in a dark match.
In 1992, Kelly debuted in the WWF as Nailz, an ex-convict who, in a series of promos, alleged he was abused by former prison guard Big Boss Man during his incarceration. He also claimed to be innocent of his crimes. Following Big Boss Man's squash of Dave Roulette on the May 30 episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Nailz (dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit) attacked Boss Man, handcuffing him to the top rope before repeatedly hitting and choking him with his own nightstick. Nailz easily defeated numerous jobbers en route to defeating Boss Man's ally Virgil at SummerSlam. He attacked Sgt. Slaughter before a match ended in a no contest in September 1992. He continued to feud with Boss Man, who had recovered from Nailz's beating. The feud came to its climax when Big Boss Man defeated Nailz in a nightstick match at Survivor Series. Before Nailz finished the feud with Boss Man, he began another feud, this time with The Undertaker. The two had a stare down on the October 24 episode of Superstars. He had a few matches losing to WWF Champion Bret Hart. He also had a short feud with The Ultimate Warrior. In December 1992, Nailz was released from his contract.
Nailz appeared at World Championship Wrestling's Slamboree event in 1993 as The Prisoner (looking identical to his Nailz persona), losing to Sting.
He returned to WCW for a few appearances from 1997 to 1998. On October 6, 1997, he defeated Yuji Nagata in a dark match before Monday Nitro. His last appearance was on April 17, 1998, where he defeated Barry Darsow at a house show.