In early 1989, Norton debuted in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he sometimes teamed with John Nord as the Yukon Lumberjacks. He then challenged Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Larry Zbyszko to an arm wrestling match; nothing became of the challenge. By the end of 1989, Norton left the AWA.
Norton signed with World Championship Wrestling in 1993. He began feuding with Sting, but Norton quit before Slamboree 1993, and was replaced by the Prisoner.
Norton made an appearance on a WWF house show in Sunrise, Florida on October 9, 1994. He was defeated by Thurman "Sparky" Plugg.
Norton returned to WCW in September 1995, where he briefly feuded with Shark, after the latter inadvertently helped Randy Savage defeat Norton on the September 11 edition of WCW Monday Nitro.
During a WCW Saturday Night taping, Norton squared off against Ice Train. The bout ended in a double count out when both men clotheslined the other, knocking each out. After the match, the two shook hands and Norton explained to announcer Gene Okerlund that he felt that they would make a formidable tag team because of their similar wrestling styles. The team was quickly named Fire and Ice. At Slamboree, Norton and Ice Train were randomly drawn to be on the same team and easily defeated the makeshift team of Big Bubba Rogers and Stevie Ray. The team advanced to the "Lord of the Ring" battle royal, but neither won the match.
At The Great American Bash, Fire and Ice came head to head with the Steiner Brothers. The two teams were engaged in a mini-feud of sorts, as the two teams tried to show who was better powerhouse team. On that night, the Steiner Brothers won, but Fire and Ice were not deterred. After a pre-pay-per-view loss to The Rock 'n' Roll Express at Bash at the Beach, dissension started to appear between the two, a dissension that turned into battle as Norton attacked Ice Train after another team loss. Norton defeated the Ice Train at Hog Wild in a submission match, but lost to Ice Train in a rematch a month later.
In late 1996, Norton joined the New World Order (nWo), which gave his WCW career some direction after the breakup of Fire and Ice. In the nWo, Norton teamed with Buff Bagwell as Vicious and Delicious. They feuded with the Steiner Brothers, but were never able to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
Norton soon began playing a smaller role in WCW, becoming part of the nWo "B-Team", which often placed him in mid-lower card matches; although he would continue to squash jobbers frequently in singles competition. He left WCW completely in 1999 after losing a match against Goldberg on the September 30 episode of Thunder.