Fabulous Freebirds

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Fabulous Freebirds
Stable
MembersMichael Hayes (leader)
Buddy Roberts
Terry Gordy
Jimmy Garvin
Badstreet
Blackbird
Name(s)The Freebirds
The Fabulous Freebirds
Debut1979
Disbanded1994
Years active1979–1994, 1999–2000, 2017 (reunions)

The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team who 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. The Freebird lineup of Hayes, Roberts, and Gordy was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015, and members Hayes, Roberts, Gordy, and Garvin were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016.[1]

History

The Fabulous Freebirds started performing together in 1979 when

Mid South Wrestling promoter Bill Watts put together the duo of Michael "P.S." Hayes and Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy. Though originally meant to be a tag team, he soon added former Hollywood Blond Buddy "Jack" Roberts into the mix, and they became a "three man gang" type of tag-team—an unusual concept at the time. They invented a concept that is now called the "Freebird Rule" in their honor, in which any two of three members can defend the team's championships. They usually worked as heels, but also had several face
runs as well.

After wrestling for Watts in Mid South, they worked for Memphis based Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) where they feuded with Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee.

In late-1980, the Freebirds moved to Georgia Championship Wrestling, where they won the National Tag Team titles in the Omni, from Mr Wrestling 1 and 2. Throughout the first half of 1981, the 'Birds had some of the biggest feuds and most legendary matches in the history of GCW. In one famous match shown on WTBS, (Now known as the piledriver match) Terry Gordy gave Ted DiBiase four consecutive piledrivers, which led to Dibiase being taken away in an ambulance. In mid 1981, Buddy Roberts left GCW. Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes then had a falling out, and a subsequent feud against each other, with Hayes as the hero, and Gordy as the villain. Hayes and Gordy eventually patched up their differences, and reformed the Freebirds as a duo. They feuded with Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen over the NWA world tag team titles, throughout the summer of 1982.

The group next wrestled in the Dallas-based

Confederate battle flag, as a group symbol to counter it.[3]

They also performed in the

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

Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection period. In the WWF, they wrestled under the guidance of Cyndi Lauper's manager David Wolff,[4] but soon left the promotion after an altercation with André the Giant, who was upset when the Freebirds arrived late to a show.[5]

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. When Gordy lost the title to

Starrcade '87
to wrestle Eddie Gilbert, Rick Steiner and Larry Zbyszko to a draw.

The rest of the Freebirds went to World Class intending to continue their feud with the Von Erichs. When Hayes arrived in the territory in early 1988, he announced his intention to bury the hatchet with the Von Erichs, putting himself at odds with Gordy, Roberts and their new ally,

Iceman Parsons. After Gordy interfered to help Parsons defeat Kerry Von Erich for the World Class championship after the Dallas Sportatorium lights mysteriously went out, Hayes wrestled Gordy in a hair vs hair match at the 1988 World Class Parade of Champions. Gordy won, but afterwards refused to cut Hayes hair and instead turned on Roberts and cut his hair. This left Roberts, alongside Parsons, feuding with Hayes, Gordy and the Von Erichs. In retaliation, Roberts brought in the Samoan SWAT Team
to eliminate his former fellow Freebirds. Gordy also wrestled on the independent circuit and 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 World and United States tag-team champions, and were joined by Gordy for a while as well. They later employed the services of masked third partner

Little Richard Marley and Precious (Garvin's real-life wife and longtime valet). The Freebirds were last together when Hayes, Gordy, and Garvin worked for the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF) in 1994,[6]
ending the group after 15 years.

In 1999, Gordy and Hayes reunited as they fought

The Hardy Boyz
.

Gordy died of a

Airline Transport Pilot
.

On April 2, 2016, The Fabulous Freebirds (Hayes, Gordy, Roberts, and Garvin) were inducted into the

The New Day
.

Entrance music

The Freebirds concept was heavily derived from the

We Shall Not Be Moved" and Chris Colt's use of "Welcome to My Nightmare" by Alice Cooper
all predate the Freebirds.

During the mid-1980s, a number of North American wrestling promotions who licensed copyrighted music faced difficulties in continuing those licenses. Other promotions which did not license music were under scrutiny for the practice. Promotions began looking for solutions. The WWF, which hired Jimmy Hart and Jim Johnston in 1985, used their talents to write and produce music under which the copyrights could be controlled by the company. Around this same time, Hayes recorded the song "Badstreet USA" and released a music video, which included the other Freebird members, as well as a cameo by a young Jim Ross. This song would largely be used as the entrance music for the Freebirds from that point forward, though they would use the other songs on occasion.

Freebird Rule

During the Freebirds' career in the NWA, they won several of its regional tag-team championships. While holding the title, promoters added a sub-gimmick to the team – "The Freebird Rule" – which allowed any two of the three members of the team to defend the title on any given night.[10]

This rule has been re-used by a number of other companies when a three (or more) member team captures a tag team championship.[11] Examples include:

In some cases, the Freebird rule has been applied to singles titles, most notably when

Adam Page, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson, were recognized as official champions.[18] In February 2024, after Charlie Dempsey won the NXT Heritage Cup, his stable, No Quarter Catch Crew (NQCC), announced the "Catch Clause" where the whole stable will defend the Cup. Under the Catch Clause, NQCC as a whole referred to themselves as the NXT Heritage Cup Champions but WWE only recognize Dempsey as the official champion.[19][20]

Offshoots

Blackbirds

The Blackbirds were formed in 1988 in

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 a match against

Brendan Byrne Arena
across the river).

Members and incarnations

  • Main Members
    • Michael Hayes was the leader of the group. Nicknamed "P.S." (Purely Sexy), he was the main talker, and was known to get the crowd going with his antics.
    • Terry Gordy was the powerhouse of the group. Nicknamed "Bam Bam", he loved to fight and beat his opponents down.
    • Buddy Roberts, nicknamed "Jack" for his love of Jack Daniel's whiskey, was the speed of the group, who would often frustrate other wrestlers into chasing him, until Hayes and/or Gordy surprised them with a move. Buddy was also acknowledged as the best ring technician of the group and the guy who would often take the high spot bumps.
    • Jimmy Garvin's association with the Freebirds began in 1983, as he had often teamed with Hayes, Gordy, and Roberts in WCCW and AWA. He teamed with Hayes during a reignited WCW run between June 1989 and July 1992. He was considered the fourth Freebird by Hayes, Gordy and Roberts.
  • Associated members
    • During the Buddy Roberts feud against Michael Hayes, with Terry Gordy initially siding with Roberts before crossing to 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.
      • Samoan SWAT Team were brought in by Roberts and Parsons after Gordy crossed over to Hayes's side. Rogers claimed that "SWAT" was an acronym for "Samoans Will Annihilate Traitors" referring to Hayes and Gordy.
      • Steve Cox teamed with Hayes as The Freebirds in WCCW, CWA, and AWA.
    • During the Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin tag team era:
      • Steven Dane (Steven Casey) teamed with Garvin in 1990 in WCW, while Hayes was injured.[22][23]
      • 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).[24]
      • Little Richard Marley
        – WCW jobber Rocky King, who as "Little Richard Marley" served as a ringside pest to Freebird opponents in late 1990.
    • Later:
  • Managers

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

  1. ^ a b The Fabulous Freebirds join the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016, retrieved 2021-06-30
  2. ISBN 0-671-63224-8
    .
  3. ^ "Michael Hayes Explains Why The Fabulous Freebirds Used The Confederate Flags". WrestlingNewsSource. 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  4. ^ a b Cohen, Daniel; Susan Cohen. Wrestling Superstars II. p. 89.
  5. ^ Greenberg, Keith Elliot. "Remembering Andre the Giant's Larger Than Life Career and Complexities". Bleacher Report.
  6. ^ New Wave Wrestling, February 1995 issue, number 15, p.42.
  7. ^ "Matches « Terry Gordy « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on 2020-07-06.
  8. ^ "411MANIA". Kevin Von Erich Comments on Buddy Roberts’ Passing.
  9. ^ "WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross comments on the death of Buddy Roberts, wrestlers need to "create their push"". prowrestling.net.
  10. ^ Oliver, Greg. ""Crush" Brian Adams dead at 44". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved 2007-10-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ "The Fabulous Freebirds". WWE.
  12. ^ a b c d "Teams that used 'Freebird Rule': photos". WWE.
  13. WWF Magazine
    September 1990
  14. ^ Wrestling 93: Rulebreaker, Spring 1993 issue, p.10.
  15. ^ Wrestle America, June 1993 issue, p.60.
  16. ^ "New Day – WWE.com". Archived from the original on 2015-05-02. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  17. ^ Barnett, Josh (October 12, 2017). "Bullet Club vs. The Kingdom: 10/12 ROH Global Wars in Buffalo, NY report". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  18. ^ "Main Event Signed for ROH Elite in Ft. Lauderdale". Ring of Honor. 30 October 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017. The trio defended the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Titles, officially held by Adam Page and the Young Bucks, under "Bullet Club Rules", allowing any three members to defend the titles.
  19. ^ Powell, Jason (March 5, 2024). "NXT TV results (3/5): Moore's review of NXT Roadblock with Carmelo Hayes vs. Tony D'Angelo for a shot at the NXT Title, Kabuki Warriors vs. Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley for the WWE Women's Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  20. ^ "NXT Heritage Cup". WWE. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  21. ^ Difino, Lennie. "Catching up with Buddy Roberts". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  22. ^ https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bilanzen&wrestler=6222&jahr=1990&monat=3
  23. ^ https://thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw-results-1990/
  24. ^ Matt Mackinder (January 17, 2008). "Sir Oliver Humperdink recalls career of yesteryear". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  25. ISBN 0-8239-3493-4
    .
  26. ^ "N.W.A. National Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  27. ^ "N.W.A. Georgia Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  28. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on November 30, 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  29. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners: Tag Team of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  30. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 100 Tag Teams of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  31. ISBN 978-0-9698161-5-7
    .
  32. ^ "N.W.A. American Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 19, 2020.

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 978-1-55022-683-6
    .

External links

Fabulous Freebirds on WWE.com

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