Birds of a feather...

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
Listen to the podcast

Follow my blog with Bloglovin 

The Fabulous Freebirds will join Sting and the Godfather in the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016.  This has been speculated for some time and is a long overdue honor for Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts and Jimmy Garvin.

Hayes & Kerry Von Erich scuffle

I grew up in the 80's when wrestling was going through a rebirth.  One of my favorite promotions at that time was World Class Championship Wrestling.  I was a huge mark for Kerry Von Erich.  In fact the moment when Gordy slammed the steel cage door in Kerry's face while he was wrestling Ric Flair is one of my first wrestling memories.  I became hooked as the Freebirds and Von Erich brothers engaged in one of the greatest rivalries the business has ever seen.  

'Birds in New York (the first time) 

The 'Birds briefly left Texas for WWF, but not with much success.  Eventually they would return to World Class and Hayes would align with the Von Erichs in one of the most unlikely, but awesome relationships in wrestling.  Hayes would reunite with Gordy in WCW as "Bam Bam" helped P.S. win the U.S. title from Lex Luger.  

WCW Freebirds

Hayes and Freebird ally Jimmy Garvin would bring new life to the team and win the WCW World and U.S. tag team titles.  They quickly became a duo I loved to hate.  While they lacked the luster of the original trio, I always thought Hayes and Garvin were underrated as a unit.  I'm glad WWE is including Garvin in the induction.  Thanks for the memories.

Gone, But Not Forgotten: Buddy Roberts

Buddy Roberts

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

I couldn't let the passing of Buddy Roberts go by today and not write a few words about it.  For those who remember World Class Championship Wrestling from the mid 1980's, Roberts was one third of the Fabulous Freebirds.  Along with Michael Hayes and (the late) Terry Gordy, Roberts was one of the company's best heels.

When I was a kid I hated the Freebirds.  They of course were engaged in war with the hometown superheroes The Von Erich brothers.  One of my favorite memories of Roberts was when he was battling Iceman King Parsons in a hair match.  Roberts cheated to win, but ended up losing his hair anyway when Parsons rubbed the mysterious "Freebird Hair Cream" on Roberts' head.  He ended up wearing head gear after that for a time, using it to gain the upper hand in his matches.  Here's the link to that match.

The 'Birds and the Von Erichs battled it out for years in WCCW, trading the six man tag team championships several times.  Roberts would go on to manage the Samon Swat Team and team up with Parsons after he turned on the Von Erichs too.  His raspy voice (due to years of smoking) was his trademark, as well as his love of Jack Daniels, earning him the nickname "Jack."

In addition to tag team gold, Roberts won the UWF TV title as well as the WCCW version of the belt.  He may not have been the biggest dog in the fight, but at times he was certainly the dirtiest.  He truly had a man you love to hate type personality in my view.

The Freebirds with singles gold

Prior to his time as a Freebird though, Roberts was a part of the Hollywood Blonds with Jerry Brown.  This was in the 1970's, long before I started watching wrestling, but it's my understanding the duo was successful in Florida, Georgia, and other parts of the mid-south region.

Roberts was successful wherever he went, but an underrated star of the 70's and 80's.  He was just 65 years old.  Rest in Peace Buddy Jack.

Boo: No Judge, No Jury...

Killer Kowlski & Big John Studd

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger

The Executioner gimmick is one that has been used by several different wrestlers through the years.  In the 1970's the tag team version of the gimmick held the WWWF tag team titles.  The men wore masks to conceal their identities, but we know that Big John Studd and Killer Kowalski were the original duo.  They added a third executioner during their tag team title reign: Nikoali Volkoff.  Back then it was before the "Freebird" rule in tag team wrestling and the Executioners were stripped of the tag titles for using all three members to defend.

Buddy Rose

Another Executioner in the WWF was played by "Playboy" Buddy Rose.  He wrestled under a mask and was in the opening match with Tito Santana at the first Wrestlemania.  Rose's version of the Executioner was nothing more than a jobber in the 1980's.

Duane Gill & Barry Hardy

In the 1990's more jobbers donned the mask and wrestled under the Executioner title.  Duane Gill (aka Gillberg) and Barry Hardy (I don't think he's related to Jeff & Matt) lost to teams like Men on Mission, the Quebecers, and the Rock N Roll Express.

Terry Gordy

The most recent Executioner (I believe) was Terry Gordy.  The former Freebird had returned to the WWF in 1996.  He joined forces with Paul Bearer and Mankind to attack the Undertaker.  Gordy didn't stick around long in the WWF.  He only wrestled a couple of matches in his brief stint.  I wasn't a fan of this gimmick for Gordy, because I felt like the WWE was hiding the identity of one of the most gifted big men in the business.

Gordy had a lot of success with Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts as the Fabulous Freebirds.  Then he and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams formed one of the best tag teams of the early 90's.  They won multiple titles in Japan and had a decent run in WCW.

Gordy

So I don't know if Gordy's deal was a short term one or if he was terminated.  My guess is he was just brought in to feud with Undertaker and after getting tombstoned during an "Armageddon Rules" match at In Your House: It's Time.

The Executioner gimmick didn't do much for the men who portrayed it, but I thought it deserved a mention during this month of Halloween posts.

Two Lost Legends

Brody vs. Gordy

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

I must admit with all the buzz surrounding the WWE Money in the Bank match featuring CM Punk and John Cena, I lost site of just about everything else wrestling related.  I knew the anniversary of Bruiser Brody's death was nearing, and ended up missing it.  It was Sunday (July 17th).

Brody was one of the best big men in the business.  Another great one, Terry Gordy died July 16, 2001.  Both men captured my attention back in the 1980's and World Class Championship Wrestling.  You can see in the pic to the left, the two were extreme long before ECW came around.

Let's start with Bruiser Brody.  As a kid, I remember watching his wild antics on World Class Championship Wrestling.  He was tough as nails and kicked as every time he was in the ring.  Although he jumped back and forth from being babyface and heel, my best memories of him are when he was helping the Von Erichs battle the Freebirds.  Brody also waged war on Skandor Akbar and his Devastation Incorporated.  Gary Hart also had his men, including Abdullah the Butch battle Brody.  Those two took each other to the limits, carving up one another's foreheads with whatever weapons they could find.

I only got the chance to watch Brody live in action.  It was in 1985, and he was battling the NWA World champion Ric Flair.  They were the main event of an NWA house show in St. Louis.  Much to my disappointment Brody beat Flair, but only by disqualification, so the title didn't change hands.

I remember one of the wrestling magazines from my youth named Brody the best wrestler.  I think this was in 1986.  He scored just above Ric Flair for the top spot.  Brody was great.  He could brawl and go toe to toe with just about anyone.  In fact, he wrestled Andre the Giant to a double DQ at a house show in St. Louis in the early 80's.

Brody was a heel in his days in the AWA.  Gen. Adnan al Kaissie was his manager.  At that time he feuded with Greg and Verne Gagne and Crusher Blackwell.  It was a surprise to me that the big man never won the world title in either the NWA or AWA.  There were also rumors that Verne Gagne offered him a large sum of money to attack Mr. T on his way to the ring at the original Wrestlemania.  Can you imagine if that would have happened?  I often wonder what would have happened had Brody signed a contract and wrestled in the WWF.  Would he have been fed to Hulk Hogan like other big men of that day, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, and Nikolai Volkoff all come to mind.

Of course Brody was in a class all his own.  I would have loved to seen him come in and destroy Hulkamania.  I say that now, but as a kid I would have likely protested that idea.

On July 16, 1988 was stabbed in the locker room of an arena in Puerto Rico.  He died the next day. Wrestler Jose Gonzalez stood accused of the crime after other wrestlers saw him holding a knife after Brody went down.  But because no one would testify against him, and because Gonzelez claimed it was self defense, he was acquitted of any wrong doing.

I remember reading of Brody's death in the St. Louis Post Dispatch and later in an issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated.  Back then there was no internet to alert fans of such tragic events.  Brody's life was taken way too soon.  And although he accomplished a lot during his career, I can't help but to think there was much more in store for this legendary big man.  I hope Vince McMahon one day inducts Brody into the WWE Hall of Fame.

The Fabulous Freebirds

The 10 year anniversary of Terry Gordy's death was over the weekend too.  Another great big man who I first saw wrestle on WCCW.  He was teaming up with Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts against the Von Erichs.  At first though, it seemed they were all friends.  Then Gordy slammed a steel cage door in Kerry Von Erich's face as Kerry was challenging Ric Flair for the NWA title.  This was Christmas 1983 and set up on of wrestling's greatest rivalries of all time.

Gordy played the brawn of the Freebirds while Hayes was the brains of the operation.  The trio ventured briefly to the WWF in the mid 80's before coming back home to WCCW.  They also wrestle in Bill Watts' UWF where Gordy was the company's champion.  He feuded with the likes of Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Ted DiBiase, and Steve Williams.

Williams and Gordy would eventually team up overseas to much success.  They also had a semi successful run together in WCW in the early 90's, having a classic feud with the Steiner Brothers.  After bouncing between the U.S. and Japan, Gordy signed with the WWF in the late 90's and played the Executioner.  He and Mankind were managed by Paul Bearer.  But Gordy's time in the company was brief.

In 2001, Gordy died of a heart attack, caused by a blood clot.  He was only 40 years old.  Gordy's son, Ray wrestled in the WWE as Jessie and than Slam Master J.  The company never acknowledge the legacy.  That's a real shame, because I think they could have played that up more.  Here's to hoping that Gordy and his Freebird brothers also find their way into the WWE Hall of Fame one day.

Share your thoughts here or on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.