The Fabulous Freebirds

The Fabulous Freebirds
Statistics
Members	Michael P.S. Hayes Buddy Roberts Terry Gordy Jimmy Garvin
Name(s)	The Freebirds The Fabulous Freebirds
Debut	1979
Disbanded	1994
Promotions	AWA NWA / WCW UWF WWF WCCW

The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team that attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed under the Freebirds name.

History

The Fabulous Freebirds started performing together in 1979 when Michael "P.S." Hayes, Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy, and Buddy "Jack" Roberts decided to form a "three man gang" type of tag-team -- an unusual concept at the time. They usually worked as heels but also had several face runs as well.

The group wrestled in the Dallas-based World Class Championship Wrestling territory, where they had a legendary feud with the Von Erichs (David, Kevin, Kerry, Chris and Mike). This feud featured an infamous incident where Michael Hayes dressed as Santa Claus gave Kerry Von Erich a beatdown.

They also performed in the NWA-affiliated Georgia Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, and the Oklahoma-based Universal Wrestling Federation. While in the AWA they feuded primarily with the Road Warriors, costing them the World Tag Team Titles in a match against long time Freebird ally Jimmy Garvin and his partner Steve Regal.

They had a very brief run in the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, where they were a part of the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection period. In the WWF, they wrestled under the guidance of Cyndi Lauper's manager David Wolff, but soon left the promotion when WWF officials wanted to split the team up.

The group then moved on to their AWA run, returned to World Class, and then started a stint in the UWF where Gordy became the promotion's champion, Roberts held its TV title, and Hayes usually acted as their manager or served as a heel commentator on television broadcasts. After JCP purchased UWF in 1987, Hayes wrestled in World Class and several independent promotions, sometimes with Gordy, who began spending most of his time in Japan, and Roberts began to wind down his career.

Hayes and Garvin were paired as the Freebirds in WCW in 1989, enjoying several reigns as tag-team champions, and were joined by Gordy for a while as well. They later employed the services of masked third partner Fantasia/Badstreet and manager Little Richard Marley. The Freebirds were last together when Hayes, Gordy, and Garvin worked for the Global Wrestling Federation in 1994, ending the group after 15 years.

Their name was inspired by the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Free Bird," which would be their theme song until "Badstreet USA" (sung, composed, and co-written by Hayes) replaced it in 1984. It is often claimed that the Freebirds were the first to use entrance music for their ring introductions, though this is not completely true. The Freebirds were the first to use Rock 'n' Roll entrance music. The first to use actual entrance music was Gorgeous George ("Pomp and Circumstance") in the 1940s.

In 1999, Hayes became the manager for the Hardy Boyz and, although it was never said on camera, this was WWE's attempt to create a new version of the Freebirds, but the alliance was short lived as the Hardys turned on Hayes and joined forces with Gangrel to create the new Brood.

Freebird Rule

During the Freebirds' career in the NWA, they won its tag-team championship. While holding the title, promoters added a sub-gimmick to the team: the (unofficial) "Freebird Rule", which allowed any two of the three members of the team to defend the title on any given night.

This rule has been re-used by a number of other companies when a three (or more) man team captures a tag-team championship. Examples include:

• The Midnight Express (Southeastern Championship Wrestling, 1981–1983)
• The Russians: Ivan Koloff, Nikita Koloff, and Krusher Khruschev (NWA, 1985–1986)
• Demolition: Ax, Smash, and Crush (WWF, 1990)
• The Wolfpac: Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Syxx (WCW, 1997)
• The Jersey Triad: Diamond Dallas Page, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Chris Kanyon (WCW, 1999) (Unlike other uses, the Jersey Triad was allowed to switch between the three members during a match, as long as one member was on the floor)
• Triple X: Elix Skipper, Low Ki, and Christopher Daniels (TNA, 2003)
• 3 Live Kru: Konnan, B.G. James, and Ron Killings (TNA, 2003–2004)
• The Spirit Squad: Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky, and Mikey (WWE, 2006)
• Team Pacman: Adam "Pacman" Jones, Ron "The Truth" Killings, and Consequences Creed (TNA, 2007)
• Chri$ Ca$h, Sexxxy Eddy, Nate Webb and J.C. Bailey (Combat Zone Wrestling)
• The Dudebusters: Trent Barreta, Caylen Croft and Curt Hawkins (Florida Championship Wrestling, 2009–2010)
• The Beautiful People: Lacey Von Erich, Velvet Sky, and Madison Rayne (TNA, 2010)
• The Band: Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Eric Young (TNA, 2010)

In some cases, the Freebird rule has been applied to singles titles, most notably when Chyna and Chris Jericho co-held the WWF Intercontinental Championship in 2000. Other such cases included when 3 Count won the WCW Hardcore Championship in 2000, and when Matt Bentley and Frankie Kazarian co-held the TNA X Division Championship in 2004. In 2010, after Layla won the WWE Women's Championship, Team Lay-Cool (Layla and Michelle McCool) co-held the title. This was a slight variation to the Freebird rule, as while both divas defended the title, only Layla was recognized as the official champion. Later that year, the same rule was instituted when Michelle McCool won the WWE Divas Championship; both members of Team Lay-Cool defended the title, but only McCool was recognized as official champion.

Offshoots

Blackbirds

The Blackbirds were formed in 1988 in World Class Championship Wrestling by Iceman Parsons. He had just teamed with Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts as the "Blackbird" in their feud with Michael Hayes. He teamed up with Perry "Action" Jackson and Harold T. Harris to form the Blackbirds. They also wrestled as The Blackbirds in the Global Wrestling Federation in 1992.

Extreme Freebirds

The Extreme Freebirds were formed in NWA Wildside and the NAWA by the son of Terry Gordy, Ray Gordy. He teamed up with Tank and Iceberg in 2004 to form this group.

Other appearances

The original three Freebirds briefly appear in action against Greg Gagne, The Tonga Kid, and Jim Brunzell during the opening sequence of the 1986 film Highlander, which occurs at an arena-based wrestling show in "Madison Square Garden" (the actual site was the Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey, as they didn't take the Meadowlands banners down for filming but was said to be Madison Square Garden), as wrestlers in-action.

Members and incarnations

• Main Members
  • Michael Hayes was the leader of the group. Nicknamed "P.S." (Purely Sexy), he has been known to get the crowd going with his antics.
  • Terry Gordy was the powerhouse of the group. Nicknamed "Bam Bam," he loves to fight and beat his opponents down.
  • Buddy Roberts, nicknamed "Jack" for his love of Jack Daniels' whiskey, was the speed of the group, who would often frustrate other wrestlers into chasing him, until Hayes and/or Gordy surprise them with a move. Buddy has also been acknowledged as the best ring technician of the group.
  • Jimmy Garvin's association with the Freebirds began in 1983, as he had often teamed with Hayes, Gordy, and Roberts in WCCW and AWA. In 1988, he teamed with Steven Dane while Hayes was injured as a watered-down version of the Freebirds, and with Hayes during a reignited WCW run between June 1989 and July 1992. He was always considered the fourth Freebird by Hayes, Gordy and Roberts, although no one really believed it until 1989, when Hayes and Garvin (nicknamed "Jam") teamed up for the NWA World Tag Team Championship tournament.

• Associated members
  • During the Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy feud against Michael Hayes:
    • Iceman Parsons – in late 1987, he joined Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts after Michael Hayes left the Fabulous Freebirds to help them get revenge on him. Parsons was known as the "Blackbird" during this feud.
    • The Angel of Death teamed with Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts and Iceman "King" Parsons in the late-1987-1988 version of the Freebirds. He had previously feuded with Gordy, Roberts and Michael Hayes in the UWF prior to joining the group.
  • During the Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin tag team era:
    • Steve Cox teamed with Hayes as The Freebirds in WCCW, CWA, and AWA. When Hayes was injured, he would team with Garvin.
    • Badstreet – Brad Armstrong under a mask in WCW, and the group's light-heavyweight/cruiserweight. Originally appeared as "Fantasia", but WCW changed the name to Badstreet to avoid a legal confrontation with Disney.
    • Big Daddy Dink – the Freebird alias of manager Sir Oliver Humperdink; in keeping with the Freebirds' "frustrated rock & roll band" gimmick, he was referred to as their "tour manager"/"road boss" in WCW (1991).
    • Little Richard Marley – WCW jobber Rocky King, who as "Little Richard Marley" served as a ringside pest to Freebird opponents in late-1990.
  • Lately:
    • Ray Gordy formed a one-night Freebirds reunion with Michael Hayes, in tribute to his father, Terry Gordy.

• Managers
  • David Wolff
  • Diamond Dallas Page
  • Sunshine

Championships and accomplishments

• Global Wrestling Federation
  • GWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - Gordy & Garvin

• Georgia Championship Wrestling
  • NWA National Tag Team Championship (3 times) – Hayes and Gordy
  • NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Hayes and Gordy

• NWA Mid-America
  • NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship (2 times) – Hayes and Gordy

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1981 for Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy.
  • PWI Ranked Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy #3 of the 100 best tag teams during the PWI Years in 2003.

• Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts) | Mid-South Wrestling
  • Mid-South Tag Team Championship (2 times) – Hayes and Gordy (1), Gordy and Roberts (1)
  • UWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Gordy
  • UWF Television Championship (1 time) – Roberts

• World Championship Wrestling
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)¹ – Hayes
  • WCW United States Tag Team Championship (2 times) – Hayes and Garvin
  • WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Hayes, Garvin and Badstreet
  • WCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times)² – Hayes and Garvin
    • The Fabulous Freebirds had a WCW World Tag Team reign with a length of -6 days, since the day they lost was taped before the day they won.

• World Class Championship Wrestling
  • NWA American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Gordy
  • NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Hayes and Gordy
  • WCCW Six-Man Tag Team Championship (6 times) – Hayes, Gordy and Roberts (5 times) Gordy, Roberts and Parsons (1 time)
  • WCCW Television Championship (1 time) – Roberts
  • NWA Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (1 time) – Gordy
  • WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Parsons

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Tag Team of the Year award in 1980. – Gordy and Roberts
  • Feud of the Year award in 1983. – Freebirds vs. the Von Erichs
  • Feud of the Year award in 1984. – Freebirds vs. the Von Erichs
  • Match of the Year award in 1984. – Freebirds vs. the Von Erichs (Kerry, Kevin, and Mike), Anything Goes match, July 4, Fort Worth, Texas
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2005) – Hayes, Gordy, and Roberts

¹Hayes' reign as NWA United States Heavyweight Champion occurred after Ted Turner purchased Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling from Jim Crockett, Jr. in 1988, which resulted in renaming the promotion World Championship Wrestling. This was also prior to the title's name being changed to the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship and prior to WCW's withdrawal from the NWA.
²During Hayes and Garvin's first reign, the titles were known as the NWA World Tag Team Championships.

See also

• Dangerous Alliance
• Diamond Exchange
• Hollywood Blonds

Further reading

• Greg Oliver and Steve Johnson (2005). "Top 20: #7 The Fabulous Freebirds". The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-5502-2683-6.