The Fabulous Freebirds

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.

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 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 . The group next wrestled in the World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) territory, where they had a legendary feud with the Von Erichs (David, Kevin, Kerry, Chris and Mike). This feud was ignited by an infamous incident in which Terry Gordy slammed Kerry Von Erich's head in a steel cage door inciting a riot and igniting the legendary wrestling feud. During this feud, they started using the flag of Georgia, which at the time contained the Confederate battle flag.

Subject ID: 9575

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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.

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 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 . The group next wrestled in the World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) territory, where they had a legendary feud with the Von Erichs (David, Kevin, Kerry, Chris and Mike). This feud was ignited by an infamous incident in which Terry Gordy slammed Kerry Von Erich's head in a steel cage door inciting a riot and igniting the legendary wrestling feud. During this feud, they started using the flag of Georgia, which at the time contained the Confederate battle flag.

They also performed in the NWA-affiliated Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), and the Oklahoma-based Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). 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 (WWF) 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 after an altercation with André the Giant, who was upset when the Freebirds arrived late to a show.

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, and Roberts began to wind down his career.

Subject ID: 9575

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