Just two weeks after his title win, one would think that Terry Gordy should have been headlining the summer show. Instead, on June 14, 1986,Watts topped the card by teaming with fellow Midnight Rider Dusty Rhodes and Sooner compadre Dr. Death to defeat the evil comrades Korchenko and Ivan and Nikita Koloff. In contrast, Gordy and Buddy Roberts were relegated to tagging in a mid-card match to defeat the young (and still very green) Bladerunners (now individually known as Sting and da Warrior). On the same show, Michael Hayes was disqualified against Ted DiBiase due to the outside interference of the Freebirds.

Despite his rather inauspicious debut on the “big” stage as the promotion’s top champion, Gordy soon roared into high gear. Ready made feuds with DiBiase, Duggan, and Williams waited. Thanks to the Freebirds’ attacks on Watts during the summer of ’86, they even managed to add the big Cowboy from Bixby to their enemies list. One particularly outstanding match involved Gordy and DiBiase. DiBiase lost a controversial decision (what loss to the Freebirds WASN’T controversial?), and was insulted by the trash talking Hayes. Of course, all the Freebirds joined in on a DiBiase beating, but Dr. Death ran in to save his fellow face and tag team partner. In a bit of déjà vu, Williams took a nasty piledriver from Gordy outside of the ring, much like the one Gordy applied to DiBiase several years earlier in Georgia Championship Wrestling. Watts was indignant and commentator Jim Ross downright apoplectic at the Freebirds’ dastardly actions. Typically, both announcers “sold” the angle very believably and made it seem as though Williams’ career was in danger.

Gordy also had a string of memorable matches with Hacksaw Duggan. In one such extraordinary brawl, Michael Hayes and Ted DiBiase were banned from ringside, but Buddy Roberts ran in to interfere on behalf of his Freebird brother. Not to be outdone, DiBiase put on a mask and proceeded to help his former nemesis Duggan clean house! Hayes took the microphone and demanded that DiBiase be suspended. Great booking like this led to 6-man tags involving the “Birds against DiBiase, Duggan and Terry Taylor and even Watts, Duggan and Taylor in wild, edge-of-your-seat battles.

The Freebirds ability to incite violence from their nemeses extended beyond direct confrontations. One example involved Gordy and Roberts taking on Brett Sawyer and Gary Young. Young was an excellent wrestler who had worked for Paul Boesch several years previous to the Houston Wrestling/Mid-South collaboration. Brett Sawyer is the younger brother of the late Buzz Sawyer. The upstart Young-Sawyer team gave the Freebird duo all they could handle before eventually falling in defeat. After the match was over, Gordy and Roberts continued to pound their opponents. Very angry from previous injustices, DiBiase and Williams ran in to battle the ‘Birds. Hayes tried to help his partners, but the four faces managed to send the Freebirds scurrying away.

Then there were the “specialty” matches. In one lumberjack match, Hayes and Roberts took on DiBiase and Williams in one of the wildest brawls I’ve ever seen. None of that carefully calculated WWF mayhem-the war outside the ring among the “lumberjacks” was just as intense as the bout inside! During a singles match between Hayes and Terry Taylor, good old P.S. removed the referee’s belt and proceeded to whip Taylor with it. Ted DiBiase came to the aid of his sometimes tag team partner and fellow face Taylor and declared that he would make Hayes pay for his actions. As a result, Bill Watts booked Hayes to face DiBiase in a Country Whipping Match. Unfortunately, as with many of these battles, television time ran out before a victor was declared. However, I did get to witness a Coal Miner’s Glove Match, live and in person, in 1987 in the Sam Houston Coliseum between DiBiase and Hayes. I will have more on that one in a future “One Night at the Coliseum” piece.

But, as we shall explore further in our next installment, perhaps the greatest individual battles involving a Freebird pitted Terry Gordy against Steve “Dr. Death” Williams. In one classic match, the guys legitimately broke the ring ropes in the middle of the bout. Gordy and Williams would later become friends and team up to dominate the Japanese tag ranks as fearsome gaijin. While few have made comparisons with Flair-Steamboat or Hart-Michaels in terms of great rivalries, the argument can be made that the relatively brief time that Gordy and Williams feuded produced some of the best matches between “big men” this country has ever witnessed.

Well, that’s it for this time. One thing I hope to have conveyed with this installment is how great the Freebirds were during the brief but glorious heyday of the UWF. They could draw great heat just by showing up and would invariably wind up facing the promotion’s best talent. Bill Watts, Ted DiBiase, Steve Williams and Hacksaw Duggan all declared war on the wild-eyed southern boys. However, the Freebirds remained undaunted. With Michael Hayes calling the shots, Gordy as the UWF’s world champ and Buddy Roberts at his career best, the Freebirds knew how to pick their fights and then back them up with action.  Involvement in multiple, simultaneous feuds was nothing for the boys from Badstreet, USA. And, to paraphrase Michael Hayes, the wilder it got, the better the Freebirds were.

Thanks for taking the time to read this installment. Extra special thanks to the folks who have e-mailed me with comments regarding my UWF memories I am glad that my memories are shared with many of you. Stop on by the UWF Message Board here at Kayfabe Memories sometime.  And finally, an extra, extra special congratulations to Vince Fahey on the one year anniversary of Kayfabe Memories. I have been here since the start, when I was lucky enough to have Vince ask me if I wanted to contribute to this great website. Without getting too mushy, I can say that it is my privilege to be a part of such a unique piece of the Internet. There is truly no other place like Kayfabe Memories.

May you have many more Kayfabe birthdays, Vince!

NEXT MONTH: 

Even MORE Freebird adventures in the UWF.

Until then, happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads out there and happy Independence Day to all Americans everywhere. I’m sure Bill Watts will be flying his flag on the 4^th.