Houston debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the spring of 1987, making his debut on May 9, 1987, by defeating Sika on a house show in St. Louis, Missouri. Houston was undefeated in his first month, defeating Terry Gibbs, Steve Lombardi, and others at television taping dark matches and arena shows. On June 7, he made his first television appearance, defeating Gibbs on Wrestling Challenge in a match taped in Houston, Texas. At the same event, Houston came out to help a newly-arrived Ted DiBiase (who had made his first WWF appearance as a babyface) clear the ring of The One Man Gang.
Houston's first loss came a few weeks later when he was defeated by another new arrival, Bam Bam Bigelow, at a house show in Jackson, Mississippi on June 25. One night later in Houston, Texas, he teamed with DiBiase against The One Man Gang and Ron Bass. The babyface duo lost when DiBiase turned heel on his partner. Houston remained off television, wrestling opening matches on house shows against Tiger Chung Lee, Jose Estrada, Barry Horowitz, and others, winning most of these encounters. He finally made his television debut on October 31, 1987, on WWF Superstars, when he upset Danny Davis, handing the former referee his first televised loss. He moved into the winter wrestling Outlaw Ron Bass on the house show circuit, with many of the matches ending in draws. In December 1987, he began a series with Danny Davis, trading wins with him on various house show matches in a feud that lasted all the way into June 1988, and would continue sporadically into 1989. During his time in WWF, he teamed with fellow cowboy Scott Casey on a number of occasions and a match that included Jake Roberts, with Houston saving Roberts from elimination on a number of occasions.
He wrestled in the first ever Royal Rumble match on January 24, 1988, and two months later made his first pay-per-view appearance when he appeared at WrestleMania IV's twenty man battle royal. That summer, Houston entered a house show series with Big Boss Man, but unlike his previous house show series, he was winless. Houston also fell in matches against King Haku, Frenchy Martin, and the newly-arrived Mr. Perfect and Terry Taylor. His biggest win in the summer of 1988 was against Jos LeDuc. He also continued to gain televised victories on Prime Time Wrestling, and was usually successful against lower-level competition such as Steve Lombardi. He made his second pay-per-view appearance of the year when he teamed with The Ultimate Warrior, The Blue Blazer, Jim Brunzell, and Brutus Beefcake in a winning effort against Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine, Ron Bass, Bad News Brown, and Danny Davis in the second annual Survivor Series.
Houston defeated Steve Lombardi in the dark match at the 1989 Royal Rumble but was unable to move past lower-level competition. On the February 11 edition of WWF Superstars, he lost to The Honky Tonk Man in less than two minutes. After this, Houston wrestled primarily on house shows, facing Barry Windham and The Genius. In 1990, he appeared sporadically, although he wrestled Jerry Sags in the dark match of the 1991 Royal Rumble. His final match was against The Barbarian on February 7, 1991, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
After continuing to flounder in the WWF's mid-card as a jobber to the stars, Houston left the WWF in February 1991 and joined World Championship Wrestling. His first appearance came on April 17 in Gadsden, Alabama, when he defeated Jack Victory. On the May 12 edition of WCW Main Event, Houston lost to WCW World Champion Ric Flair. Houston would go on to face The Diamond Studd, Larry Zbyszko, Arn Anderson, and Steve Austin that summer. His final match came on August 11, when he was defeated by The One Man Gang at a house show in Roanoke, Virginia.
Houston returned to WCW in the summer of 1993, appearing first at a house show in Burlington, North Carolina in a match against Frankie Lancaster. On September 7, he wrestled in a dark match for WCW Saturday Night, teaming with Mark Starr to defeat JD Wolfe and Chick Donovan. In a match taped that night and aired on October 9, 1993, Houston and Starr were defeated by Harlem Heat. A follow-up appearance came on October 16, teaming with Pez Whatley against The Nasty Boys. His final appearance would come on September 26, 1994, when he was defeated by The Honky Tonk Man at a WCW Pro taping in Knoxville, Tennessee.