The Freebirds (w/Lauper/Wolff/limo) wrestle in WWF

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

Don't know if this has been posted yet, apologize if it has. The Freebirds make their 1984 debut for Vince in Philly at The Spectrum (as faces).

The Fabulous Freebirds vs. Rene Goulet, Ron Shaw & Charlie Fulton
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Z9oz0LkuE

[Joe Neglia]

Took me years to track down this footage a while back, and I have to say, it's kind of a good thing they only lasted a couple of weeks. They just didn't fit at that time.

And to bring them in as babyfaces? This was a theme McMahon revisited around 1987-88, where he brought back a ton of near-lifetime heels as faces (Patera, Studd, Muraco, SBG, Dick Slater). Just didn't work.

One legend has it that Gordy and Roberts were shown the door a couple of weeks into their stint after Buddy fell asleep on the ring apron. Another version has him falling asleep during a meeting. Hayes lasted solo another couple of weeks or so before taking off to rejoin the 'birds.

[littlenaitch]

Was Badstreet USA really playing or did WWE dub that in?

[Joe Neglia]

nope, was really playing. Wolff helped Hayes get that song made.

[littlenaitch]

That's pretty sweet. I never knew that.

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

Yeah, I always assumed that Vince brought the 'Birds in during 1984 because they were the hottest act on the WTBS shows in 1980-early1982, drew huge TV ratings (because there were so few cable channels), and he just obtained that same time slot.

But I don't think he really used them on that TBS show, though granted, they didn't stick around long enough to tell. And as faces, they were like Flair, they were just so much more fun as heels.

Plus, from the beginning, I think Vince had his sights set on mostly using Hayes. He was a great talker, great heel, and had a really cool look (for back then). The bad part was he couldn't work.

Could be wrong, but legend has it that Bill Watts brought Buddy Roberts into Mid-South in '78 or '79 just so Hayes wouldn't have to work the majority of the Freebirds matches, yet could still talk for the group and draw. In WWF, Hayes is inexplicably starting off the match for the team, and worked much of it...even though in just about every other Freebirds 6-man I've ever seen, Hayes is usually the last guy that the other team gets a shot at.

Vince is generally the smartest dude around in wrestling, but he clearly didn't "get" the Freebirds...unless there was a huge heel turn planned. Kudos to Terry Gordy though, for possibly inventing the powerbomb during that finish. And it was really weird to see Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts hugging Cindy Lauper.

[Joe Neglia]

Yeah, Watts wanted Gordy, but Gordy wouldn't sign without Hayes (whom Watts didn't want) coming along as well. To balance it out, he added Roberts and tried to keep Hayes as the mouthpiece of the trio. Good thing too, as Hayes would eventually be one of the biggest heels ever to work for Watts.

Complete 180 from McMahon, who really wanted Hayes, but had to take the other two.

[littlenaitch]

This thread has really given me an education about The Freebirds as I didn't know any of this til now.

[Skeleton Crew]

aaaaaaaaa said:

Don't know if this has been posted yet, apologize if it has. The Freebirds make their 1984 debut for Vince in Philly at The Spectrum (as faces).

The Fabulous Freebirds vs. Rene Goulet, Ron Shaw & Charlie Fulton
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Z9oz0LkuE

Wow and sequin green ring attire (Looks like Patterson picked out the FreeBirds attire )

[stevierichardsfan]

why didnt the freebirds last long

[Joe Neglia]

stevierichardsfan said:

why didnt the freebirds last long

read the last part of my first post. There's a couple of different versions of what happened, but there's some truth somewhere in there between the two we believe.

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

waylonmercy2006 said:

Wow and sequin green ring attire (Looks like Patterson picked out the FreeBirds attire )

The Freebirds wore green and yellow (and those exact same sequined robes/vests) for much of their 1979-80 run in Mid-South, and their early days on WTBS. They used to wear Light Blue/Maroon a lot too. Don't think they went mostly red & black until the World Class days.

EDIT: For trivia sake, Pat Patterson WAS Michael Hayes' tag team partner in WWF for the week or so that Hayes worked there after Gordy/Roberts left.

[Joe Neglia]

The 'birds also wore the green and yellow during their brief Florida stint, where they turned heel on Mike Graham.

[lildude8218]

I'm not sure if the music is an overdub or not. It sounds pretty good, usually their overdubs are pretty blatant.

But over at the History of the WWE, the results say this:

Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, & Buddy Roberts (w / David Wolff & Cyndi Lauper) defeated Ron Shaw, Rene Goulet, & Charlie Fulton at 5:12 when Gordy pinned Fulton with a powerbomb; the Fabulous Freebirds used Lynard Skynard's "Freebird" as their entrance music for the bout (the Freebirds' debut)

It'd just be weird for them to throw in a random factoid at the end of a result like that if it was false.

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

lildude8218 said:

I'm not sure if the music is an overdub or not. It sounds pretty good, usually their overdubs are pretty blatant.

But over at the History of the WWE, the results say this:

Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, & Buddy Roberts (w / David Wolff & Cyndi Lauper) defeated Ron Shaw, Rene Goulet, & Charlie Fulton at 5:12 when Gordy pinned Fulton with a powerbomb; the Fabulous Freebirds used Lynard Skynard's "Freebird" as their entrance music for the bout (the Freebirds' debut)

It'd just be weird for them to throw in a random factoid at the end of a result like that if it was false.

Somebody on YouTube claims they were at The Spectrum that night, and they played "Freebird". Plus, no WWF TV announcers are heard talking during the entrance while the music played, which is usually impossible and implausible without some sort of overdub.

Either way, I didn't even know about Wolff helping them get "Badstreet USA" made until this thread. That's cool, although I liked "Freebird" so much more as their entrance (don't like the song, but it was great for a wrestling entrance).

[Joe Neglia]

It's been a while since I watched the original tape; I *could* be wrong on them using Badstreet during their debut, but Hayes was definitely using it within the month, before he left. I'll go dig out the tape, it's from the original show, so it wouldn't be overdubbed.

[lildude8218]

The song definitely existed at the time so it's definitely possible the results page is wrong. I was only a month away from turning 2 at the time and not yet watching wrestling so there would be no way for me to know lol

[hutter]

admin said:

nope, was really playing. Wolff helped Hayes get that song made.

Wrongo, that's a dub since Vince doesn't want to pay any royalties to the Skynyrd song used for their WWF tenure. Several moons ago I had the privilege to watch a 100th generation copy of that match ,and even with the muddy picture and audio (plus the lousy sound system in the Spectrum), you could tell it was Freebird playing in the background.

[Joe Neglia]

hutter said:

admin said:

nope, was really playing. Wolff helped Hayes get that song made.

Wrongo, that's a dub since Vince doesn't want to pay any royalties to the Skynyrd song used for their WWF tenure. Several moons ago I had the privilege to watch a 100th generation copy of that match ,and even with the muddy picture and audio (plus the lousy sound system in the Spectrum), you could tell it was Freebird playing in the background.

Yes, I already conceded being mistaken earlier in the thread, thank you.

I simply got it mistaken with one of Hayes' solo WWF matches a few weeks later, and by that time, he was using Badstreet.