WWE Hall of Fame 2016: 5 Things you should know about The Fabulous Freebirds

Things you should know about the FreebirdsWrestling trios are not a rare figure these days. We had the Shield a few years back, The Wyatt family was a trio initially and now, we have the New Day. But there was a time when three-man teams were a rarity. The Fabulous Freebirds broke this trend and used this situation for their rise in the wrestling business.The Freebirds had a successful reign in the wrestling business for more than two decades and now, they are set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. There are certain things that we should know about the Fabulous Freebirds and here is a look at them.

#5 The members and their roles

Each wrestler had a specific role

The original Fabulous Freebirds consisted of three members, Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts. Hayes was the leader of the stable and had the nickname PS which stood for Purely Sexy (not many people know it even now). Meanwhile, Terry Gordy was nicknamed ‘Bam Bam’ and was the power house of the stable.

Buddy was known for his speed and was nicknamed Jack as he loved Jack Daniels. Jimmy Garvin also had an association with the Freebirds from 1983 onwards and used to team up with Hayes often. When the time passed by, Badstreet also joined the stable as co-members but were short lived and less successful than the original Freebirds.

#4 Jimmy Garvin is an airline transport pilot

Garvin had a well thought out retirement plan

Jimmy Garvin had a professional wrestling career that lasted almost three decades. He made his debut in 1968 and hung up his boots in 1994. He had stints in WCW, Global Wrestling Federation, NWA and the AWA. During the latter part of his career, Garvin had a clear cut view about what he wanted to do after his wrestling career.

Two years before his official retirement, Garvin had a hiatus from the wrestling business to take his Airline Transport Pilot license. He got the license in 1992 and then retired from the business two years later. Now that’s what one calls a well-planned retirement.

#3 Buddy Roberts was a cancer survivor

He was a cancer survivor

Bret Hart recently came into the limelight after he successfully fended off cancer. One-third of the Fabulous Freebirds, Buddy Roberts was also a cancer survivor. Roberts developed throat cancer in the mid-90s after his stint WCW as a manager. He had surgery to remove the same and urged everyone to stop smoking.

"Don't smoke. I think the reason this happened to me is because I was smoking too much. I recommend to anyone who smokes to quit now. It is hard, but it is worth it,” he said.

He survived cancer but succumbed to pneumonia at the age of 65 due to the disease.

#2 Terry Gordy was the Executioner

Paul, Mankind and the Executioner

The chances of WWE fans remembering the Executioner as slim. He was a character that wrestled during a brief period in 1996 and 1997. Executioner used to come into the ring under a mask and a plastic axe and was managed by none other than Paul Bearer. He was used in the feud between Undertaker and Mankind at that time and made his debut by interfering in the buried alive match between Taker and Mankind.

Taker later faced off against the Executioner in an Armageddon rules match and once he lost, the Executioner left the company. It was Terry Gordy who played the character, and Vince had brought him from ECW for the sole purpose of portraying the same.

#1 Hayes tried to turn Cena heel

He tried turning Cena heel and failed

The heel turn of Cena is something that the professional wrestling world is looking forward to. Hayes, who saw a new Stone Cold Steve Austin in John Cena, tried to do the same back in 2003 but the idea bombed big time.

Hayes started to work in a backstage role in WWE from 1999. He has been involved in numerous storylines and backstage incidents. He wanted Cena to turn on his tag team partner Chris Benoit but the live crowd did not react well to the storyline. The idea of Hayes was to add some edge to the Cena character and build him up like Austin. However, as the live crowd reacted badly, the storyline was cut from the television taping.