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The Not So Fabulous Freebirds Through the Years

The Not So Fabulous Freebirds Through the Years

Posted: Oct 2nd 2024 By: Brian Damage - RingTheDamnBell.Wordpress.com

Hailing from Badstreet USA, the Fabulous Freebirds are widely regarded as one of the finest groupings in wrestling history. Today we look at all the men that rode with the group as they made their way to the top, from hangers on to management and everything in-between.

The Fabulous Freebirds are arguably one of…if not the greatest factions in all of professional wrestling. Sure, the Four Horsemen are up at the top of the list as well…but no question that the boys from Badstreet USA are right up at the top with the Horsemen. Their longstanding feud with the Von Erich boys in World Class Championship Wrestling in the 1980’s was one of the hottest battles of that particular era. Each of the three member team had a purpose and gelled together perfectly.

There was the worker in Buddy Jack Roberts..the mouthpiece in Michael ‘PS’ Hayes and the power in Terry ‘Bam Bam’ Gordy. Individually they all had there strengths and weaknesses…but together as one unit they were nearly flawless. Oh sure, they were headache at times to the various promoters they worked for. Their bad boy image wasn’t really an image at all, as they wrestled hard and partied just as hard. The thing was, promoters would often overlook their transgressions outside the ring because they filled arenas and made lots of money where ever they went.

Gordy, Roberts and Hayes were “heat magnets” and whether it was feuding with the Von Erichs or winning titles in the Georgia or Mid-South/UWF territories…the Fabulous Freebirds were all about success. They are immediately the three best remembered as the Freebirds…but in wrestling…things change..sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worst. This piece will look at the other not so well regarded versions and members of this infamous faction. Some fit in quite nicely…while others…well…they were like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Jimmy Garvin

Let’s first start out with the individual often regarded as the fourth member of the team from almost the get go…’Gorgeous’ Jimmy Garvin. Garvin would often team with the ‘Birds in WCCW and other territories. He didn’t become a full fledged member until he and Hayes joined WCW back in 1989. Together, Garvin and Hayes won the WCW world tag team titles, the United States tag team titles and the WCW world Six man tag titles.

Badstreet

This member was originally nicknamed “Fantasia” until threats of legal action from Disney forced WCW to rename the masked character Badstreet. It was actually none other than Brad Armstrong under a mask. He was the third member of WCW’s version of the team and won the Six man tag titles with Garvin and Hayes.

The Angel of Death

The Angel of Death was the bodyguard to the Freebirds back in the mid 1980’s when the “boys from Badstreet” were competing in the old Mid South/ Universal Wrestling Federation run by Bill Watts. The Angel of Death turned on the Freebirds and joined Skandor Akbar’s Devastation Incorporated turning the Freebirds into babyfaces.

Diamond Dallas Page

Long before Diamond Dallas Page became an active wrestler…he was utilized as a manager and worked it as the manager of The Freebirds in WCW in 1991.

Big Daddy Dink

Sir Oliver Humperdink joined the Freebirds under the moniker of ‘Big Daddy Dink’ and was used as a co manager (along with DDP) and called a Road manager. In real life, Humperdink hated the gimmick citing that it never fit well with who he was as a pro manager and wound up quitting the company.

Steve Cox

Steve “Do It To It” Cox was a protege of Michael PS Hayes back in the mid 1980’s. He became a pseudo member of the group after that…often teaming with Hayes.

Iceman King Parsons

In 1987, Iceman King Parsons briefly replaced Michael Hayes as the mouthpiece of the trio while Hayes was in WCW. When Hayes returned to Texas…he began a feud with the “new” Freebirds.

Little Richard Marley

Little Richard Marley acted as a roadie/manager/valet to the Freebirds back in their WCW days. Marley was really WCW perennial jobber Rocky King who was repackaged in this new gimmick.

David Wolff

During the Freebirds extremely brief WWF run…they had David Wolff as their manager. Wolff was a real life manager of Cyndi Lauper and brought in along with Lauper during the WWF’s Rock N Wrestling era.

All in all, some of these choices if not all just didn’t compare to the original trio that wreaked havoc throughout professional wrestling from the late 1970’s to the 1980’s. As Michael Hayes eloquently stated in several promos…”Heaven don’t want us and Hell is afraid we’ll take over.”

 

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Spotlight in History

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Week of Sun 06-07 to Sat: 06-13

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  • 06-07 2008 Ky-ote Johammed def. Dane Griffin for the 3DW Violent Division Title
  • 06-07 2008 Mo'Body Gillespie def. Ky-ote Johammed for the 3DW Violent Division Title
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  • 06-07 2013 Ignition def. Super Skunk Ape, Jr. for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 06-07 2013 The Canadian Red Devil def. Michael York for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 06-07 2014 Steven Sterling def. Sam Stackhouse for the ComPro Showtime Title
  • 06-07 2014 Jake O'Brien def. The Canadian Red Devil for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 06-07 2014 Terry Montana def. Ignition for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 06-07 2014 Havoc def. Buster Cherry for the SWCW All-American Title
  • 06-07 2014 Rick Russo def. David Kyzer for the SWCW Luchadore Title
  • 06-07 2014 Kevin James Sanchez def. Kareem Sadat for the SWCW Hardcore Title
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  • 06-07 2014 Terry Pantera became the BPPW Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-07 2025 Frankie Lee def. K. J. Gold for the RDW Iron Man Title
  • 06-08 1959 Frankie Kovacs & Jerry Miller def. Pretty Boy Collins & Duke Scarbo for the TSW Louisiana Tag Team Titles
  • 06-08 2013 L. J. McDaniels became the SWCW Hardcore Champion
  • 06-08 2013 Hurricane Ross def. Billy Ray for the NAW Heavyweight Title
  • 06-08 2019 Michael Duplanti def. Anarchy [2nd] for the NAW Lightweight Title
  • 06-08 2019 Big Smooth def. Hurricane Ross for the NAW Heavyweight Title
  • 06-08 2024 Billie the Kiid became the NAW Indigenous Land Champion
  • 06-08 2024 Daniel Aaron Michalles def. Pastor Brent for the WAH Hunger Dojo Title
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  • 06-08 2024 Speeding Bullet (Mike Gunnz & Stephen Nitro) def. The Texas Outlaws (Bobby Burns & Manico) for the NAW Tag Team Titles
  • 06-09 1959 The Golden Giant became the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
  • 06-09 1966 Johnny Valentine def. Fritz Von Erich for the WCCW American Heavyweight Title
  • 06-09 1980 The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts) def. Junkyard Dog & Buck Robley for the MSW Mid-South Tag Team Titles
  • 06-09 1989 Jeff Jarrett & Mil Mascaras def. Super Zodiac & Cactus Jack for the WCCW World Tag Team Titles
  • 06-09 2017 The Rising (Matt Durden & Riker) def. Team Dean Machine (Christopher Dean & Jerry Dean) for the BPPW Oklahoma Tag Team Titles
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  • 06-09 2023 Red James def. Mr. Nasty for the CPW 918 Title
  • 06-10 1979 Bruiser Brody def. Mark Lewin for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 06-10 1985 Tim Brooks def. Scott Casey for the WCCW Television Title
  • 06-10 2006 Dexter Hardaway became the AACW Mid-American Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-10 2023 MLP became the XDWF New GenX Champion
  • 06-11 1984 Chris Adams became the WCCW Television Champion
  • 06-11 2009 Sage became the SWCW Art of War Champion
  • 06-11 2011 Jake O'Brien def. Robbie Awesome for the MERC Patriot Title
  • 06-11 2011 The Ring Intruders (Jon Cross & Fuel) became the SRPW Tag Team Champions
  • 06-11 2011 Jake O'Brien became the SRPW Patriot Champion
  • 06-11 2011 Kareem Sadat def. Rick Russo for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 06-11 2011 Tim Storm def. Michael Faith for the NWA-OK Oklahoma Heavyweight Title
  • 06-11 2022 Pastor Brent & Andrew Fenix def. The Rejecs LM (Elijah Sparks & Dr. Corvus) for the WAH Tag Team Titles
  • 06-11 2022 Connor Smith def. Romeo Reese for the WAH Spotlight Title
  • 06-11 2022 Umbra def. Koko for the WAH Living Hope Title
  • 06-11 2022 Dan Webber def. Paul Puertorico for the WAH Heavyweight Title
  • 06-12 1982 The Spoiler def. Frank Dusek for the WCCW Television Title
  • 06-12 2009 El Latino became the NWA-OK Oklahoma Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-12 2021 Brawler Morrison def. Blade [2nd] for the UWO Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 1960 Tony Borne def. Bull Curry for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 06-13 1969 Chuck Karbo became the TSW North American Champion
  • 06-13 1978 Karl Krupp became the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
  • 06-13 1998 The Bad Boys (Splash Jackson & Bull Schmitt) def. The Texas Outlaws (Dan Wilder & Bernard Funk) for the OPW Oklahoma Tag Team Titles
  • 06-13 2008 Brent Albright def. Slam Shady for the NWA-OK Oklahoma Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 2008 High Society (Al Farat & Thomas Trump) became the NWA-OK Oklahoma Tag Team Champions
  • 06-13 2008 Josh Michaels became the ACW Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-13 2009 The Canadian Red Devil became the ComPro Showtime Champion
  • 06-13 2015 Seth Angel & Adrian Dell def. Nemesis (Bobby Starr & Damien Morte) for the ComPro Tag Team Titles
  • 06-13 2015 Killista def. Paul Puertorico for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title
  • 06-13 2015 Rolling Thunder def. Michael Duplanti for the NAW Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 2015 Paige Turner def. Erica for the IZW Queens Title
  • 06-13 2015 Michael Wolf def. Jake O'Brien for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
  • 06-13 2015 Jake O'Brien def. Michael Wolf for the ComPro Heavyweight Title
06-12
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