Backstage Stories Wrestling Fans Should Know About The Fabulous Freebirds (2025)

Factions are a quintessential part of pro wrestling storytelling. When it comes to trailblazing, heat-seeking, longstanding groups—and particularly those without a WWE legacy to hang their hats on—the conversation has to come around to The Fabulous Freebirds. Michael PS Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts represented a truly inspired trio, with performers like Jimmy Garvin, Ice Man King Parsons, and Brad Armstrong (as Badstreet) entering the mix to add their unique flavors at key times.

While most fans have some recollection of The Freebirds' iconic rivalry with the Von Erich family, a lot of other pieces of their legacy get overlooked. All the more so, as time has gone on, a lot of Freebird backstage stories are lost to the sands of time, but they’re worth looking back on all these years later.

Andre The Giant Played A Role In The Freebirds’ Limited Run In WWE

Michael Hayes And Company Arrived To The Arena Late

• For all their successes elsewhere, The Freebirds didn't accomplish much of anything in WWE.
• The Freebirds purportedly arrived late for a WWE performance.
• After a confrontation with Andre the Giant backstage, The Freebirds were on their way out of WWE.

A long run in WWE is conspicuously absent from The Fabulous Freebirds’ resume. There actually was an effort to make things work with the group in the largest promotion in the world in the 1980s, but things quickly went awry.

While the details are murky, the general consensus is that Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts were late arriving to the arena. Andre the Giant didn’t take kindly to the show of disrespect, which was probably paired with him being skeptical about their reputation as party animals. A stern confrontation followed, and The Freebirds were packing their bags to move on from the territory shortly thereafter.

Bill Watts Gets Credited With Putting The Freebirds Together

Though The Freebirds Did More Famous Work Elsewhere, They Got Rolling In The Mid-South

• The Fabulous Freebirds represented a unique combination of three complementary talents.
• Bill Watts first put Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy together as a tag team.
• The team would go on to greater success in other territories.

It’s hard to imagine The Fabulous Freebirds without any of their core members given the clear roles they played. Michael Hayes was a great talker who connected with the crowd. Terry Gordy was a big man and one of wrestling's genuine tough guys who was immediately credible in any match-up. Buddy Roberts was their resident bump-taker, who sold and worked well against a range of opponents, playing a key role in taking the group’s collective comeuppance time and again.

It was Mid-South promoter Bill Watts who first placed Hayes and Gordy into a tag team, though. Little could he have known that he was setting the foundation for a team that would span territories and decades as a hugely important unit.

Michael Hayes Came Up With The Freebirds Name

The Wrestling Faction Name Came In Tribute To Lynyrd Skynyrd

• The connection between the faction name and the classic rock song makes perfect sense.
• One of The Freebirds' WCW entrance songs was a direct homage to the Lynyrd Skynyrd song.
• Michael Hayes shared that the group name was directly inspired by the southern rock anthem.

When fans consider the Freebird name, it’s not unusual to speculate about it having a connection to the iconic southern rock anthem, “Freebird,” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The timing makes sense for the faction to have derived its name from the song, not to mention that one of their WCW theme songs (even featured on the Slam Jam entrance music compilation) feels highly derivative of that classic tune.

On an episode of Dark Side of the Ring (h/t 411mania) Michael Hayes confirmed that he pitched the tag team name, and it was a direct tribute to the band and this legendary song that he felt a real connection to and saw relating to the wrestling act.

The Freebirds Collaborated With The Steiner Brothers To Rib Diamond Dallas Page

Long Before Singles Stardom, DDP Managed The Freebirds

• Rick Steiner suggested The Freebirds didn't like working with Diamond Dallas Page as their manager.
• A battle royal offered a chaotic enough atmosphere to rib DDP in front of the live crowd, with The Freebirds and Steiner Brothers stripping him naked.
• Rick Steiner was critical of Diamond Dallas Page's approach to wrestling.

In a 2002 shoot interview transcribed by The Smart Marks, Rick Steiner suggested that The Fabulous Freebirds weren’t all that fond of Diamond Dallas Page, despite the fact that (or perhaps because) he’d been assigned as a manager for them in WCW.

Steiner described a particular rib they played during a battle royal, in which they actually stripped DDP naked in front of the live audience. The Dog-Faced Gremlin went on to suggest some of the animosity came from Page overplanning matches, even going so far as to suggest Page was a bad influence after he moved up the card, because he was so dependent on planning spots over learning to read the crowd organically and respond accordingly.

Badstreet USA Is Generally Recognized As The First Original Entrance Music For A Pro Wrestling Act

The Freebirds Were Ahead Of Their Time On Music

• The Freebirds are generally accepted as the first act to routinely use entrance music in pro wrestling.
• Badstreet USA was the first song specifically recorded to be an entrance theme, with Michael Hayes on vocals.
• The use of music helped The Freebirds stand out in wrestling.

The Freebirds are widely cited as the first act to consistently use entrance music in pro wrestling. Moreover, when Michael Hayes himself went into the studio to record Badstreet USA, it became the first theme song written for and regularly played for a wrestling act.

The song itself was catchy, but all the more so may have represented how ahead of his time Hayes and his group were. Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine wrestling without entrance music, but at the time, this element really helped The Fabulous Freebirds stand out.

The Freebirds No-Showing An Event Set Up A Unique Match In World Class

A Rare Von Erich Vs. Von Erich Match Ensued

• The Freebirds are largely synonymous with World Class Championship Wrestling for their iconic feud with the Von Erichs.
• The Freebirds once no-showed a live event.
• Kevin Von Erich reports that his father advised him to wrestle his brother Kerry as a make-good for the fans in attendance.

The Freebirds quite arguably achieved their greatest successes in World Class Championship Wrestling feuding with the Von Erich brothers. The feud was white-hot and occurred over a span of years in different iterations.

In a shoot interview documented by The Smart Marks, Kevin Von Erich described that one night, The Freebirds no-showed an event. He called his father to ask for advice, given fans weren’t going to be happy with this top act missing, and the solution was a unique dream match as for one night only, Kevin wrestled his brother Kerry in a rare brother vs. brother match.

The Fabulous Freebirds Went Too Far Ribbing Missy Hyatt

• Ribs are a part of pro wrestling culture.
• A number of wrestling ribs have crossed lines and tested lines of what was morally acceptable.
• Rick Steiner spoke in a shoot interview about The Fabulous Freebirds urinating on Missy Hyatt.

Pro wrestling has a unique culture and ribbing is a key part of it. At its best, these pranks have been a source of humor and camaraderie on the road. However, they also had a tendency to test the standards of human decency with acts of violence, belligerence, or deep disrespect.

In his shoot interview documented by The Smart Marks, Rick Steiner discussed coming upon The Freebirds pinning down valet Missy Hyatt so they could pee on her at the side of the road. Steiner discussed all this in the context of Michael Hayes often being annoying and Buddy Roberts being disgusting behind the scenes.

Terry Taylor Remembers Having Some Stiff Encounters With The Freebirds

Whipping Matches Invited Some Real Brutality

• Leather strap matches tend to be physically brutal.
• Terry Taylor found himself facing off with The Freebirds in Whipping Matches.
• Terry Taylor spoke of Michael Hayes being stiff, but also being fine taking stiff punishment in return.

Variations on leather strap matches have a long history in pro wrestling. The weaponry ups the physical stakes of a match with audible smacks that it’s clear wrestlers aren’t altogether faking.

Case in point, when Terry Taylor gave a shoot interview in 2001, transcribed at The Smart Marks, he described the “whipping matches” he had with The Freebirds as a miserable experience, because of how stiffly everyone involved would work. Taylor spoke to a sense of mutual respect for Michael Hayes in particular, though, in noting he “took it as good as he gave it.”

The Freebirds Improvised When They Needed Firewood

• On screen, Chris Adams feuded with The Freebirds, but behind the scenes they were friends.
• Chris Adams recounted hanging out with The Fabulous Freebirds one night when they ran out of firewood.
• Buddy Roberts improvised by destroying a coffee table for more firewood.

As a fellow staple performer of World Class Championship Wrestling, Chris Adams had his share of run ins with The Fabulous Freebirds. While they tended to feud on screen, they were friendly behind the scenes.

In a 2003 interview documented by The Smart Marks, Adams shared that they hung out and one night ran out of firewood. Rather than go without, or someone going out to buy more wood, he looked in surprise as Buddy Roberts gamely smashed up a coffee table so he could use the wood from that to feed the fire.

Michael Hayes Made The Choice For Who Would Induct The Fabulous Freebirds Into The WWE Hall Of Fame

Hayes Handpicked New Day For This Position

• Some old school fans turned up their noses at New Day inducing The Freebirds into the Hall of Fame.
• Michael Hayes explained that he personally picked Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Big E for this role.
• New Day may have been picked as a modern trio of comparable composite talents who used the Freebird rule, or simply because Hayes knew they'd resonate with the fans in attendance.

When The Fabulous Freebirds accepted an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016, a number of old school fans shook their heads at the choice to have New Day introduce them. Even for those fans who had nothing against Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, an undercurrent remained that someone like Kevin Von Erich who’d legendarily feuded with them, or Bill Watts who’d put them together ought to have done the inducting.

Michael Hayes himself asked for New Day, though. While he hasn’t offered much explanation, it’s reasonable to intuit that he saw a lot of Freebird in this modern day successful three-man team. After all, New Day had capitalized on “The Freebird Rule” of sharing the tag titles and defense of them between their trio. Moreover, while there are a lot of differences between the groups, they also did share a flair for entertaining fans, not to mention a makeup that includes a big man enforcer type (Terry Gordy and Big E), a loud mouth (Hayes and Woods), and an underrated excellent in-ring worker (Buddy Roberts and Kingston). On top of all that, as a savvy wrestling mind, Hayes likely knew that having an entertaining modern act was more important than a historical connection in getting a big reaction from the live audience.