In late 1987, Warlord debuted in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and began teaming with Ivan Koloff with Paul Jones as their manager. In 1988, he then formed a permanent tag team with the Barbarian known as "The Powers of Pain", the heel counterparts to the Road Warriors, while retaining Jones as their manager.
While continuing to team with Koloff, The Powers of Pain feuded heavily with The Road Warriors, and defeated them and Dusty Rhodes for the World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. Warlord and Barbarian left WCW soon after.
Upon their arrival in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1988, the Powers of Pain were faces, initially managed by Tito Santana, and The Warlord began using face paint during this tenure. They feuded with WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition (Ax and Smash), who had defeated Strike Force (Santana and Rick Martel) for the titles and then injured Martel. The Powers were introduced as mercenaries to help Martel and Santana gain revenge on Demolition for both the title loss and the injury to Martel. They were soon after managed by the Baron.
At Survivor Series, the Powers' team defeated Demolition's team in a tag team elimination match, with the Powers being the sole survivors of their team. Near the end of the match, Demolition's manager Mr. Fuji double-crossed them and after they beat him up and left, the Powers came to his aid, gaining Fuji as their manager in the process, in return for which his interference helped the Powers eliminate the last remaining opponents, the Conquistadors. Afterwards, the Powers and Fuji celebrated until Demolition returned and drove them from the ring. As a result, the Powers became villains while Demolition became fan favorites. In 1989, Warlord entered the Royal Rumble as the twenty-first entrant, but lasted only two seconds before being eliminated by Hulk Hogan. The Powers of Pain then teamed with Fuji in a losing effort to Demolition in a match for the World Tag Team Championship.
In March 1990, The Powers of Pain split, with Fuji selling Barbarian's contract to Bobby "The Brain" Heenan while selling Warlord's contract to Slick. After the team's split, Warlord received an attire change, where he abandoned his Road Warrior-like reverse mohawk and face paint in favor of a shaved head and a silver metallic Cyborg-style half-mask and black armor. He also brought a metal staff topped with a W with him to his matches, and used it as a weapon on occasion. He began a feud with the British Bulldog, leading to a match at WrestleMania VII. He was granted a chance at the WWF World Championship against Hulk Hogan on February 8, 1991, in which he was defeated. He then began a long-running series of matches with the Texas Tornado, which rarely had either man winning. However, he did manage to score a singles victory over a high profile wrestler in Jake Roberts on August 23, 1991. On April 17, 1992, Warlord lost to Virgil in his final match for the WWF.
On October 11, 1995, Warlord and Barbarian made their return to World Championship Wrestling. They were now dubbed the Super Assassins, wrestled under masks, and were managed by Colonel Robert Parker. The Super Assassins were defeated by The Nasty Boys in their first match. Both wrestlers participated in the three-ring battle royal in the main event of WCW World War 3 on November 26. On December 16, they earned their first victory, defeating The State Patrol on WCW WorldWide. Their last match was on the January 1, 1996 edition of Monday Nitro, where they fell to Lex Luger and Sting, after which the team was disbanded.