Gordon left WCW with a record of good performance, but he did leave an off-the-job situation hanging over his head. While still with WCW, the company changed Gordon’s flights from Delta to Kiwi. He wasn’t happy about the change. Not only did he and Smoky take vacation trips on Gordon’s Delta frequent flyer miles, but a lot of the attendants knew him. He was a regular and they treated him like one. They would make allowances if he occasionally drank too much, and perhaps even chastise him for lighting a cigarette on a plane. "Gordon used to sneak a wet towel into the bathrooms on the airplanes," said Harley Race. "He used to put the damp towel over the smoke detector and sit in the airplane restroom and smoke cigarettes. Gordon was the reason that the airlines added signs about not tampering with their smoke detectors."



When Gordon learned that some WCW staff members were still flying Delta, he was doubly ticked off. Chip on his shoulder and all, Gordon got on a Kiwi flight and began belting down some drinks, and then fired up a cigarette. When a flight attendant began to reprimand him, she got a strong dose of verbal abuse from him. When airline personnel complained to WCW about Gordon’s behavior, someone at WCW filed that away in their memory for use at a future date.