Michael Hayes (wrestler)

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Michael Hayes
Hayes, c. 1985
Birth nameMichael Seitz
Born (1959-03-29) March 29, 1959 (age 65)
Pensacola, Florida, U.S.[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Dok Hendrix
  • Lord Michael Hayes
  • Michael "P.S." Hayes
  • Screaming Eagle
  • Freebird Michael Hayes
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[2]
Billed weight255 lb (116 kg)[2]
Billed fromBadstreet U.S.A. in Atlanta, Georgia
Trained byAfa Anoa'i[1]
Sika Anoa'i[1]
Mike Boyette[1]
Debut1977[1]
Retired1999[1]

Michael Seitz (born March 29, 1959) is an American retired

producer
.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1977–1982)

Hayes started wrestling in 1977 in the

promotions. In 1978, he wrestled his first tour overseas in Germany for Catch Wrestling Association
.

In 1979, wrestling for

The Fabulous Freebirds. Hayes became Michael "P.S." Hayes, and they strutted their way to many tag team titles along with Buddy "Jack" Roberts. Hayes also started moonwalking in the ring like Michael Jackson used to do at his concerts.[4] The Freebirds spent 1980 through 1982 in the NWA's Georgia Championship Wrestling area, where they won the NWA National Tag Team Championship a few times, split and feuded, then mended fences.[4]

World Class Championship Wrestling (1982–1986)

In 1982, they left for

The Fabulous Freebirds and The Von Erichs and ended a good respectful friendship between both groups. The Freebird-Von Erich feud ended for good in 1993 during a memorial card in tribute to Kerry Von Erich.[4] Hayes was always the leader of the group with his exceptional mic skills and he recorded the team's new theme song, Badstreet USA, in 1983. The video to the song features all three of The Fabulous Freebirds as well as Jimmy Garvin, who was often considered the fourth Freebird. They had used the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Free Bird" and Willie Nelson's version of "Georgia on My Mind" up to that point and would on occasion in the future.[4]

In 1984, The Freebirds had a brief stint in the

The Fabulous Freebirds, working his Purely Sexy gimmick on the turnbuckle while writhing free of his ring robe.[4]

Universal Wrestling Federation/Jim Crockett Promotions (1986–1988)

Hayes (right) places his tag team partner Buddy Roberts's foot on the ropes to prevent him from getting pinned by Terry Taylor, 1987

The Freebirds also spent several months in the

Big Bubba Rogers win the title from him, and saw the Freebirds form an alliance with their former enemy Williams against Devastation Inc.[4]

After the breakup of the Freebirds, Hayes became a full-fledged babyface and remained in the UWF, which was later sold to

NWA World Champion Ric Flair and frequently teamed with Jimmy Garvin.[4]

Return to WCCW (1988)

figure four leglock
being applied by Roberts, c. 1988

Hayes returned to World Class Championship Wrestling to find that his former Freebird partners Gordy and Roberts, in alliance with

Samoan Swat Team as well as old Freebird enemies Devastation Inc, of whom Parsons was now a member.[4]

While all this was going on, Hayes continued with his music career, often playing concerts with his Badstreet Band at the Dallas Sportatorium, World Class's main arena. Inevitably, the music career overlapped with World Class' storylines when, at one such concert, Roberts appeared onstage and hit Hayes over the head with a guitar. Hayes also formed a new tag team with "Do It To It" Steve Cox and together they twice briefly beat the Samoan Swat Team for the World Class tag team titles, on September 12–16, 1988 and October 15–17, 1988.[4]

World Championship Wrestling (1989–1994)

In 1989, Hayes went to

The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson).[4]

In 1991, The Freebirds feuded with "

Madusa. In 1993, Hayes became a fan favorite again and feuded with Paul Orndorff over the TV Title and then briefly teamed (and later feuded) with Johnny B. Badd and also did some commentating before quitting WCW in January 1994, after being offered a $75,000 a year contract (Hayes would make one final appearance in WCW at SuperBrawl IV
in February).

Return to Dallas (1994–1995)

He went back to Dallas to the Global Wrestling Federation and reunited with Garvin and Gordy as The Freebirds, whom he managed them to win their Tag Team Championship, before the company folded that September.[4] After the GWF folded, Hayes remained in Dallas for the National Wrestling Alliance's stay in Dallas, which lasted until April 1995.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (1995–present)

Dok Hendrix (1995–1999)

Michael Hayes received a tryout match with the

SummerSlam 1995
.

Managing The Hardy Boyz (1999)

Hayes returned to active competition in 1999 for

handicap match; he was fired by them in August.[4]

Backstage roles (1999–present)

Hayes speaking at a WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in 2009

He then became a backstage

producer) and color commentator for the WWF. Initially appearing for one night on the September 23, 1999 broadcast of SmackDown!, Hayes became a color commentator on Sunday Night Heat alongside Michael Cole and Kevin Kelly from 2000 to 2001, although he was mostly used on the international broadcasts of that show. At WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, 2001, he competed in the gimmick Battle Royal, but was eliminated by the One Man Gang.[10] During the December 5, 2005 episode of RAW, he became involved in verbal sparring with Edge in which Hayes attacked Edge's lack of main event experience and the details of his love life (with regard to Matt Hardy and Lita). Hayes was later attacked by Edge.[11]

In October 2006, Hayes became the head creative writer for the SmackDown brand after Alex Greenfield's departure from the company. He can be seen on the second season of

The Nexus.[13] On the May 12, 2011 episode of WWE Superstars, Hayes accompanied Tyson Kidd to the ring but turned on him a week later after Kidd lost his match to Yoshi Tatsu. Hayes hit Kidd, stating he had better things to do than hang around losers.[14]

In October 2013, Hayes took a leave of absence from WWE for personal reasons,[15] but he returned to work on December 2, 2013.[16] On August 1, 2014, Hayes appeared in a short segment on the online series JBL and Cole Show in which he stared at a "Free Birds, call to enquire" flier.[17] In February 2015, Hayes partook in a WWE.com interview alongside Arn Anderson with Michael Cole to discuss Triple H and Sting's match at WrestleMania 31.[18] On April 2, 2016, Hayes was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame with the Fabulous Freebirds. Hayes accepted the award alongside Jimmy Garvin.

Music career

In 1987, on the back of the popularity of the "Badstreet USA" theme, Hayes recorded and released an album, Off The Streets. He also performed live concerts to promote the album with his backing band, the Badstreet Band. The July 1988 issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated (written circa March 1988) contained a (possibly kayfabed) column by writer Dave Rosenbaum in which he visited the box office for a Badstreet Band show and surveyed what sort of people would actually go to Hayes' concerts.[19] In 1992, Hayes performed a duet with music producer Darwin Conort called "Freebird Forever" on the WCW album, Slam Jam 1.[20] In 2011, Hayes paid tribute to his Freebird brother Terry Gordy, who died of a heart attack caused by a blood clot in 2001, with a song entitled "Freebird Road" produced with Darwin Conort, based on Johnny VanZant's "Brickyard Road" (with permission). His music video was an emotional and stirring trip down memory lane as a Freebird and shows shots of him at Gordy's grave.[21]

Championships and accomplishments

Discography

Single

  • Badstreet USA Grand Theft Records 1984[37]

Album

  • Off The Streets – Grand Theft Records 1987[37]

Track list:[38]

  1. "Everything Is Alright" (4:00)
  2. "When The Love Comes Down" (3:55)
  3. "The Night You Can't Remember" (4:14)
  4. "Ain't Superstitious" (3:46)
  5. "Touch My Level" (3:32)
  6. "I Gotta Have It" (3:35)
  7. "
    The Boys Are Back In Town
    " (4:49)
  8. "You Made Me The Way I Am" (4:49)
  9. "Blue Jean Queen" (5:25)
  10. "Heartbeat Away" (4:42)
  11. "Badstreet USA" (4:21)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Michael Hayes". Cagematch. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "OWW profile". OWW. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  3. ^ "The 50 greatest ring names ever". WWE.com. October 7, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-55022-683-6
    .
  5. ISBN 0-06-103101-1
    .
  6. ^ a b "NWA (Mid-Atlantic) World Tag Team Championship". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  7. ^
    ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  9. ^ "1995". thehistoryofwwe.com. January 16, 2023.
  10. ^ "WRESTLEMANIA X-SEVEN". WWE. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  11. ^ "McMahon to Bischoff: "You're fired!"". WWE. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  12. ^ "December to disrespect". WWE. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  13. ^ Powell, Jason (June 28, 2010). "6/28 Powell's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Will the anonymous Raw general manager be revealed? What's next for the NXT faction? Rock star and movie director Rob Zombie hosts". Prowrestling.net.
  14. ^ Kester, Ryan (May 19, 2011). "5/19 Kester's WWE Superstars Review: Tyson Kidd and Michael Hayes already have issues, The major Browskis reunite, and an excellent main event match". Prowrestling.net.
  15. ^ "Official WWE Statement on Michael Hayes' Status". Pro Wrestling Insider. October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  16. ^ "BIG WWE CREATIVE FORCE BACK TO WORK | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  17. YouTube
  18. YouTube
  19. ^ No Hold Barred column by Dave Rosenbaum, Pro Wrestling Illustrated July 1988
  20. ^ WCW Slam Jam - 05. Fabulous Freebirds - Freebird Forever, YouTube
  21. ^ Freebird Road, Michael PS Hayes YouTube Channel
  22. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on August 9, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  23. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  24. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  25. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  26. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  27. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on November 30, 2014. Retrieved November 28, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  28. ^ "PWI 500 1992". The Turnbuckle Post. Archived from the original on July 26, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  29. ^ a b "PWI 500 of the PWI Years". Willy Wrestlefest. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  30. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  31. ^ "WCW United States Championship". Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  32. ^ "WCW World Tag Championship". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  33. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  34. ^ "N.W.A. American Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  35. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  36. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  37. ^ a b "Badstreet U.S.A. by jdpapa - Discogs Lists". www.discogs.com.
  38. ^ "WrestlingMedia.ws - Michael Hayes & the Badstreet Band - Off The Streets". www.wrestlingmedia.ws.

External links

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