The Fabulous Freebirds started performing together in 1978 in
NWA Mid-America when the duo of
Michael "P.S." Hayes and
Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy began teaming. Though originally meant to be a tag team, they later added former
Hollywood Blond 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. In late-1980, the Freebirds moved to
Georgia Championship Wrestling, where they won the National Tag Team titles in the Omni, from
Mr Wrestling 1 and
2. Throughout the first half of 1981, the 'Birds had some of the biggest feuds and most legendary matches in the history of GCW. In one famous match shown on
WTBS (now known as the piledriver match), Gordy gave
Ted DiBiase four consecutive piledrivers, which led to Dibiase being taken away in an ambulance. In mid 1981, Roberts left GCW. Gordy and Hayes then had a falling out, and a subsequent feud against each other, with Hayes as the hero, and Gordy as the villain. Hayes and Gordy eventually patched up their differences, and reformed the Freebirds as a duo. They feuded with
Ole Anderson and
Stan Hansen over the NWA world tag team titles, throughout the summer of 1982. The group next wrestled in the Dallas-based
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 Gordy slammed Kerry Von Erich's head in a steel cage door, inciting a riot. During this feud, as the Von Erichs would wave the
flag of Texas, the Freebirds started using the
flag of Georgia, which contained the
Confederate battle flag, as a group symbol to counter it. 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. When Gordy lost the title to
One Man Gang, the Freebirds feuded with Gang's stable,
General Skandor Akbar's Devastation, Inc. After JCP purchased UWF in 1987, Hayes wrestled for JCP, teaming with Garvin and
Sting at
Starrcade '87 to wrestle Eddie Gilbert, Rick Steiner and Larry Zbyszko to a draw. The rest of the Freebirds went to World Class intending to continue their feud with the Von Erichs. When Hayes arrived in the territory in early 1988, he announced his intention to bury the hatchet with the Von Erichs, putting himself at odds with Gordy, Roberts and their new ally,
Iceman Parsons. After Gordy interfered to help Parsons defeat Kerry Von Erich for the World Class championship after the Dallas Sportatorium lights mysteriously went out, Hayes wrestled Gordy in a hair vs hair match at the 1988 World Class Parade of Champions. Gordy won, but afterwards refused to cut Hayes hair and instead turned on Roberts and cut his hair. This left Roberts, alongside Parsons, feuding with Hayes, Gordy and the Von Erichs. In retaliation, Roberts brought in the
Samoan SWAT Team to eliminate his former fellow Freebirds. Gordy also wrestled on the independent circuit and began spending most of his time in
Japan, and Roberts began to wind down his career. Hayes and Garvin were paired as the Freebirds in WCW in 1989, enjoying several reigns as World and United States tag-team champions, and were joined by Gordy for a while as well. They later employed the services of masked third partner
Brad Armstrong (under the name Badstreet) and managers
Diamond Dallas Page,
Big Daddy Dink,
Little Richard Marley and
Precious (Garvin's real-life wife and longtime valet). The Freebirds were last together when Hayes, Gordy, and Garvin worked for the
Global Wrestling Federation (GWF) in 1994, ending the group after 15 years. In 1999, Gordy and Hayes reunited as they fought
Glen Kulka and
JR Smooth to a no contest for
Power Pro Wrestling on May 28, 1999. On January 21, 2000, Gordy and Hayes wrestled for Oklahoma Pro Wrestling where they lost. Gordy died of a
heart attack, caused by a
blood clot on July 16, 2001, at age 40 while Roberts died on November 29, 2012, at the age of 67, of
pneumonia and on November 1, 2012, Armstrong died of a suspected
heart attack making Hayes and Garvin the only living members of the Freebirds. Hayes (who retired from in-ring competition shortly after the Freebirds disbanded) is currently the head of the road agents/producers within WWE, while Garvin retired from wrestling shortly after disbanding and has become an
Airline Transport Pilot. On April 2, 2016, The Fabulous Freebirds (Hayes, Gordy, Roberts, and Garvin) were inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame by
The New Day. ==Entrance music==