wrestling / Video Reviews
The Enlightenment: Wrestletapes.net’s “Best Of The Fabulous Freebirds” Vol. 1
Matt Long of Wrestletapes.net was kind enough to hook me up with this. Go now for all that is good and pure.
This is a five volume set of the Best of the Fabulous Freebirds. For those of you who only remember the Freebirds from their days in WCW, you don’t know the real Freebirds. That would be akin to judging Ric Flair by his last five years.
The Freebirds were made up of three diverse parts, much like the American federal government:
Michael Hayes: The spiritual leader of the clan, and probably the best talker to ever touch a mic — rivaling and perhaps surpassing even Ric Flair. His in-ring ability left a lot to be desired. Thankfully, he knew how to work a crowd like no one else.
Terry Gordy: The meat, the backbone, the workhorse of the group. He would garner a reputation as one of the toughest man both stateside and abroad. He even no-sold Death twice before finally succumbing a few years ago. Like a Barry Windham or Stan Hansen, his style wasn’t always pretty, but there was never a moment when you doubted its authenticity.
Buddy Roberts: I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Buddy. One the one hand, he’s a solid wrestler, much like Val Venis. He’ll give a solid, but not spectacular, showing every time out. On the other hand, he also had a kind of grating personality, much like X-Pac that made you just want to reach through your TV screen and slap the shit out of him. I guess that’s a good heel for you.
As far as tape quality is concerned, on a scale of zero to five — five being WWE DVD quality, zero being “I accidentally dropped it in the sink while doing dishes” — I’d say it varies between a 3 and a 4. The audio is what suffers most, but remember that this was a time before stereo VCRs were readily available, so this is as good as you’re going to get without the master footage. Just about everything here is taped off of ESPN.
Hayes is a babyface here, having befriended David Von Erich in Georgia, so he’s over by proxy. They both stall a bit to start, and Hayes trips him to the outside. Back in, Hayes hits a sloppy second-rope fist and drops an elbow. He knocks Ernesto over the top with a right and struts Memphis style. Back in, Hayes finishes the squash with a bulldog and a piledriver at 3:21. After the match, Ernesto jumps Hayes from behind and gets his ass handed to him. Hayes disposes of Ernesto and announces that the Freebirds are coming to town. Just a squash to bring Hayes into the territory hot. 1/4*
Hayes comes down to “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” which is just awesome entrance music. Hayes is hugely over. Irwin stalls to start. Hayes suckers him into an armdrag. Irwin shoves him off and hiptosses him. Hayes kicks him away and armdrags him back down. Hayes hopscotches over Irwin on a dropdown and tags him with a right. They botch a bodyslam spot, and Hayes armdrags him down again. Irwin tries to slam out of it, but Hayes rolls through. Irwin whips him into the corner and charges. Hayes sunset flips over him for two. They pull each other’s hair, and Irwin goes into the turnbuckle. Irwin suddenly gets the bicycle kick out of nowhere to take over. He knees Hayes in the gut and hits a running knee in the corner. Hayes counters a bulldog by throwing Irwin into the turnbuckle. Hayes gets a bulldog and sets up for the piledriver, but Irwin backdrops him over the top rope for the disqualification at 7:59. Hayes takes exception to it, and they brawl until Irwin runs away. **
Destroyer is not to be confused with the one who gained popularity in Japan. Not sure who’s playing this one, but smart money is on either Bill’s brother Scott Irwin or Gary Young. Destroyer is subbing for King Kong Bundy who is Irwin’s regular partner but no-showed here. Hayes and Irwin start out, and Hayes tosses him around. Gordy comes in and just dismantles Irwin with a shoulderblock and a stomp to the face to counter a reverse monkey flip. Hayes comes back in for a side headlock. Irwin tries to force his way to the corner. He makes the tag, and the Destroyer comes in for more of the same. Irwin provides a distraction, allowing Destroyer to take over on Gordy with a front facelock. Gordy leapfrogs over him and gets a slam. Destroyer is disoriented, so Gordy sunset flips him for two. Irwin comes in and takes a vertical suplex. Hayes makes the blind tag and grabs a front facelock. The Freebirds deliver a double dropkick for two, and we go to commercial. We come back to Irwin dominating Hayes. He gives him a Snake Eyes on the top rope. Destroyer and Irwin take turns working Hayes over. Irwin hits the bicycle kick. Destroyer locks in a cobra clutch. They’re really doing a good job of keeping Hayes in their corner. Hayes vaults over the Destroyer and makes the hot tag to Gordy. Gordy knocks Irwin out of the ring and finishes the Destroyer with the Gonzobomb at 11:33. Pretty much your standard WWF tag main event with the heels selling like nuts to put the Freebirds over. **3/4
This is a week later. The Freebirds were in hot pursuit of Bundy and Irwin who were the WCCW tag champions. Of course, Bundy no-showed last week, and the Freebirds took care of his lackey sub the Destroyer. This one doesn’t even have a chance to get underway before King Kong Bundy and Bill Irwin attack the Freebirds from behind. Bundy is about to avalanche Hayes, but Gordy pops up out of nowhere to knock Bundy down on his considerable ass with a lariat. Marcus and the Destroyer try to separate them. Al Madril comes in to help get them separated. The announcer has to tell the fans to keep away from the ring because the people in the front row are trying to help the Freebirds. Finally, Bugsy McGraw comes down and clears the ring so the match can start. Gordy backdrops the Destroyer and gives him a long-delayed bodyslam. Grand Marcus gets more of the same treatment. The Freebirds finish Marcus with a spiked piledriver at 3:22. Hayes gets on the stick and threatens Irwin and Bundy. Obviously, the match isn’t the important thing here. The brawl was just wild as usual in the southern states. 1/2*
Two refs for this one. Brooks looks a little like Skinner. Dusek was a journeyman in the 1980’s and is one of the most knowledgeable guys willing to talk with the “smart” crowd. He looks a little like Larry the Cable Guy with long hair. Brooks and Hayes scuffle to start. Gordy and Dusek hook it up next. Gordy just bowls him over with a shoulderblock. Gordy chases him out of the ring on a dropdown. That’s a spot that someone needs to bring back. Brooks pulls Hayes’ hair to take him down. Brooks bites Hayes’ fingers, so Hayes bites his nose. Dusek comes in and knees Gordy in the gut to take over on him. Dusek slaps the cobra clutch on Gordy. Gordy powers out of it and tags Hayes. Hayes comes in and works Dusek’s arm. Gordy slips over Dusek’s shoulder and gives him a backdrop suplex. Brooks comes back and wails on Hayes. Hayes crawls through Dusek’s legs and tags Gordy. Gordy scoops Dusek up into a fireman’s carry, and Hayes drops an elbow on his exposed neck for the win. Damn, I thought I’d invented that move (10:32). Simple, low-concept storytelling. **1/2
This is Christmas night and was supposed to be Buddy Roberts on the Freebird’s side. He got snowed in in Denver (I remember that storm and it was brutal). Hayes is about to accept a handicap match before David comes in and says he knows Hayes & Gordy would be there for him if his brothers weren’t there. Well, that’s interesting. Mike Sharpe, you probably know, as the world’s loudest jobber in the WWF. Mike and Gordy match power-for-power. Hayes comes in and grabs a front facelock on Sharpe. David comes in with a dropkick and a kneedrop for two. Ben Sharpe (his brother) gets the tag but misses a kneedrop. Gordy comes in and backdrops Ben. He follows up with a powerslam and a kneedrop as we go to break. We come back to Gordy getting a delayed vertical suplex. Hayes gets caught in the wrong corner but boots Steele in the chest to get out of trouble. Von Erich tags back in and gets another dropkick. He drops Steele on his head with a piledriver, but he’s near the ropes, so Mike Sharpe snaps his neck off the top rope. Hayes tags in and gets all Hogan on Sharpe’s ass. Sharpe bails out and stalls. Hayes gets caught again, and the Canadians work him over in their corner. Mike puts him in a bearhug, much to the horror of the crowd. Hayes draws on the strength of the crowd and punches his way out of it as we go to break. Steele cuts off the tag and locks in a sleeper. Hayes fights out of this too and snapmares Steele to the mat. Steele dodges an elbow, though, and drops a fist to the eyes. Finally, Hayes avoids a charge and makes the hot tag to Gordy. Gordy dominates Steele but misses a charge to the corner for a double KO. Mike Sharpe comes in and misses an elbow, allowing Gordy to tag Von Erich. All six men jump in there for a pier-six brawl. During the chaos, David hits Mike Sharpe with a high knee and gets the pin and the titles at 18:01 (clipped from around 21:00). ***1/4
Roberts looks different here. Kind of like a squat Billy Gunn. Adias outwrestles him to start, prompting Roberts to complain about cheating. Adias flips over a reverse monkey flip and dropkicks Roberts to the floor. Roberts pulls Adias’ tights to take him down into an armbar. Adias keeps trying to punch his way out of it, but Buddy pulls him back down again. Buddy starts using the ropes for leverage to piss off the crowd. The ref finally catches him, allowing Adias to make the comeback. Adias gets two off a sunset flip. Roberts misses a charge to the corner, hitting his head on the ringpost. Adias doesn’t capitalize fast enough, however. Roberts gets a backbreaker. Adias comes back with a surprise sunset flip for two. The bell rings, signaling the ten minute time limit. Roberts gets one more cheapshot in and runs off. 8:00 of 10:00 shown. **
If you read any of my early Mid-South reviews, you know Madril from his feud with Chavo Guerrero Sr.. Hayes does a lot of cheap heat tactics early on. Madril runs him down and punches him in the grill. Madril spreads Hayes’ legs over the ropes like Golddust used to do in prep for the Shattered Dreams. The ref stops him from doing anything, and Hayes goes to the eyes. And we HIT THE CHINLOCK! Madril suckers Hayes into ramming his head into the turnbuckle. Madril misses a charge and bounces off the ropes. Hayes drops him with a piledriver (called an “atomic drop” by the announcer). Hayes doesn’t want the win, though, and chokes Madril out. Jose Lothario (trainer of HBK) makes the save at 8:00. *3/4
This was supposed to be a 5-man match, but Kerry demanded to be included to get a piece of Gordy. Kerry and Gordy go at it before the bell, and then Andre comes in and kicks ass. Hayes trips up Kerry, allowing Gordy to throw him over the top. Kerry goes back in and brawls with Gordy until the locker room empties to pull him to the back. That leaves Andre and Bugsy against Bundy, Irwin and Gordy. Andre grabs Gordy in a neck twist. Bundy tries to help by coming off the second rope with a double ax-handle. That sends Andre spilling on top of Gordy, squashing him on the mat. Bugsy gets eliminated off screen. That means a 3-on-1 for Andre. It’s funny because Andre has a chokehold on Gordy and won’t let it go no matter how much the other two pound on him. Irwin scales the ropes and fires away. Andre lets go of Gordy briefly to snapmare Irwin all the way to the mat. Bundy goes through the ropes, and Andre chokes Gordy again. Irwin finally takes him down with a double ax-handle. The pattern keeps repeating, with Andre going after Gordy only to get caught by Bundy and Irwin. Gordy and Bundy each grab an arm, trying to keep Andre prone. Irwin charges, but Andre gets a boot up and atomic drops him over the top. Andre whips Gordy and Bundy into one another. Hayes saves Gordy from elimination, prompting Andre to climb over the top and chase Hayes to the back. Andre eliminates himself. The match cuts off after that, so I’m not sure who won. (12:31 shown). It started out okay with the Kerry-Gordy brawl, but the Andre vs. the World portion really dragged. *3/4
Final Thoughts: A fairly middling look at the Birds here. That’s largely due to the booking strategies of the times. We get the build up to the Birds vs. Bundy/Irwin, but no match because the big matches played on the house show circuit. The lack of the cage match is disappointing, but the second tape has the highlights, so if you look at it from the perspective of a set, it’s excusable. Other than those flaws, the tape shows a decent look at the way the Freebirds psychologically worked the crowd, both as heels and faces even when the matches weren’t barnburners. That’s enough to squeak out a recommendation from me.
Very mild recommendation. Pick it up at Wrestletapes.net
J.D. Dunn
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