Michael Hayes On the Origin Of the Freebird Rule, The Rule Still Being Used Today

Michael Hayes recalled the origin of the famous “Freebird Rule” and the rule’s relevance today in a new interview. Hayes appeared on this week’s episode of The Bump and talked about the famous rule of tag title retention that has been used by the New Day and others. You can check out highlights below, per Wrestling Inc:

On the origin of the Freebird Rule: “Well, Terry Gordy and I were wrestling as teenagers in a territory in Mississippi. We were the only boys in a man’s world. He [Gordy] always had the wrestling talent, and I could always run my mouth. I just said to him, ‘You’re going to make it, and I am, too. But we’ll make it there faster if we do it together.’ Then, we picked up Buddy Roberts two years later and Jimmy Garvin along the way. And we rock-n’-roll all over this world.”

On the rule still being relevant today: “I’m still glad it’s impacting the business. It was actually – this is really hard to say – not my idea or Terry or Buddy’s idea. It happened to be the guy that sold us from Billy Watson in Louisiana and took us to Georgia Championship Wrestling, the guy by the name of Ole Anderson. That was his idea.”

On the Freebirds’ WWE Hall of Fame induction: “It was very special. I really, really thought it was going to happen in Atlanta at WrestleMania 27. And then, it didn’t, and I just kind of like tapped out. Kevin Von Erich texted me, and he was wondering about coming to WrestleMania in Dallas. So, I was asking Triple H about it, and he said, ‘Oh, yeah, he’s going to be there, anyway, to watch you guys go into the Hall of Fame.’ Tears rolled up, and he said, ‘Don’t tell anybody until after the first of the year.’”

On the group’s legacy : “I just hope that everybody knows how close we were and still are. It wasn’t just an act on television; we were really like brothers. That undoubtedly propelled us into the next hemisphere of being something that will be talked about long after your gone, and maybe after I’m gone.”