Recent pro wrestling is full of trios like The New Day, The Shield, and so on, and that tradition can be traced back to the Fabulous Freebirds. Consisting of good old Southern boys Michael “P.S.” Hayes, Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy, and Buddy “Jack Roberts” typically working heel, the Freebirds didn’t just hold myriad tag team titles, but defended them interchangeably thanks to what they called “The Freebird Rule.”
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Introduced in Mid-South Wrestling in the late 1970s, the Freebirds’ heyday was in the 1980s, where they put on classic feuds all over the various wrestling territories, including WCW. Let’s take a look at what the ‘80s was like for this legendary trio.
10 Started The Decade As Mid-South Tag Team Champions
As stated, The Fabulous Freebirds were born in late 1970s Mid-South Wrestling, but it wasn’t long before the group started collecting gold. Having already held the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship earlier that year, it was in late November of 1979 that Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy defeated Bill Watts & Buck Robley to capture their first Mid-South Tag Team Championship, which they held until March of 1980. From there, the Freebirds would hold the Mid-South belts two more times throughout the year for a total of three reigns.
9 Moved On To Georgia After Mid-South
After finishing up in the Mid-South territory, The Fabulous Freebirds made their way to the popular Georgia Championship Wrestling territory, where they quickly won the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship in October of 1980. After about a month, following their first major feud in GCW with Kevin Sullivan and Austin Idol, GCW replaced the belts with the NWA National Tag Team Championship, with Roberts and Gordy becoming the inaugural champions by winning a tournament. The Freebirds ended up capturing the National Title a total of three times.
8 The Piledriver Match
During their time in GCW, The Fabulous Freebirds were responsible for one of the more violent moments in the promotion. In 1981, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts were taking on Junkyard Dog and Ted DiBiase when the Freebirds decided to deliver four piledrivers — including one on the floor! — to DiBiase, who back then was a babyface.
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The incident, referred to as “The Piledriver Match” was a memorable affair for many fans, and only ended when DiBiase’s regular tag team partner, Tommy Rich, threw in the towel.
7 Recorded Their Own Entrance Music
The Fabulous Freebirds’ gimmick had a strong streak of rock ‘n’ roll to go along with their Southern-ness, so it’s only natural that the trio had some rockin’ entrance music. In fact, it’s been said that the Freebirds helped popularize the concept of entrance music, though they were by no means the first wrestlers to do it. While they had some well-known songs like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” in their repertoire, in the mid-1980s they actually recorded their own special theme music with a track called “Badstreet USA,” going as far as shooting a music video for it.
6 Briefly Split Up In 1981
It was in GCW in the early 1980s that The Fabulous Freebirds experienced its first break-up angle. After Buddy Roberts moved on from the territory, Michael Hayes spent several weeks wrestling in other territories before returning to GCW and cutting an impassioned promo that turned him babyface. However, after Hayes did rule-following interference in too many of Terry Gordy’s matches, Gordy officially turned on his former partner, going as far as destroying a cup that Hayes gave as a gift to Gordy’s son — who would later become a wrestler himself.
5 Debuted For World Class In 1982
After a feud between Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes resulted in the two reuniting as babyfaces, The Fabulous Freebirds made their way to Texas to join up with World Class Championship Wrestling. There, they continued to work babyface, going so far as aligning with the Von Erich family around whom the promotion was built. The 1982 event Christmas Star Wars had David Von Erich replacing an absent Buddy Roberts to help the boys win the WCCW World Six-Man Tag Team Belts and Hayes guest refereeing a Kerry Von Erich’s NWA World Title steel cage match against champion Ric Flair.
4 Legendary Feud WIth The Von Erichs
While Christmas Star Wars 1982 seemed like a big old Freebirds/Von Erich love fest, it certainly didn’t end that way. Despite David Von Erich helping The Fabulous Freebirds win the six-man belts earlier that evening, a miscommunication in the main event resulted in Michael Hayes thinking Kerry Von Erich attacked him when it was really Ric Flair. This resulted in a heel turn for the Freebirds, who ended up taking the cage door to Von Erich’s head.
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A long, bitter, and wildly popular rivalry ensued between the Von Erichs and The Fabulous Freebirds that involved the two groups trading the Six-Man Title multiple times before the Freebirds were finally ousted in a Loser Leaves Town match in September of 1984.
3 Forgotten Run In WWE
After losing the above match in World Class, The Fabulous Freebirds made their way to the east coast, debuting in WWE in August of 1984. Given their gimmick, they were a perfect fit for WWE’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling era — they were even managed by Cyndi Lauper’s manager/boyfriend David Wolff — but their time in WWE would last only a matter of months and amount to a bunch of bouts with The Moondogs. Outside the ring, the Freebirds lived the rockstar gimmick, which led to an encounter with the legendary Andre the Giant. When they arrived to a show late and drunk, Andre personally fired them from the company, which they complied with despite the legend not having any sort of firing power.
2 Broke Up In 1988
After WWE, The Fabulous Freebirds continued to wrestle all over the territories until 1987. In 1988, all three were back in World Class, but things were different. While Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts remained heels, Michael Hayes decided to reconcile with the Von Erich family, becoming a babyface again and once more feuding with Gordy. This led to a hair vs. hair match between the two, which Gordy won. In the aftermath, however, Gordy couldn't go through with cutting his ex-friend’s hair and attacked Roberts instead, kicking off a different feud.
1 Reunited In WCW (Kinda)
The late 1980s saw a revival of The Fabulous Freebirds in WCW, albeit with a dramatically different lineup. Initially composed of Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin, the group briefly included Terry Gordy, but more memorably had “Badstreet” (Brad Armstrong in a mask) along with Diamond Dallas Page as their manager. During this much criticized run, the new Freebirds ended up holding the NWA World Tag Team Championship and the WCW World Six-Man TAg Team Championship, with notable feuds being with The Steiner Brothers, The Midnight Express, and The Dynamic Dudes.
