FREEBIRD FOREVER!

Not that Michael Hayes needs anyone to come to his defense for anything, he's a big boy and can take care of himself.  But last week I got some texts and calls about his latest video about his former partner Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy.  I consider Michael a friend.  I attended my first writer's meeting with Michael in Vince McMahon's office and somehow wound up sitting in on creative and writer's meetings.  I traveled with Michael on the road while I was on creative and we had a lot of fun.  I experienced things with Michael that not too many people would believe.  But I swear your honor, it's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

I had my third professional wrestling match against Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy, AKA The Freebirds in Shreveport, LA in 1979.  I can't remember who my partner was, but I took their finish; Michael back dropped me into Terry's waiting arms. Bamm Bamm gave me a piledriver and pinned me.

My second ever match was that same day against Lord Jonathan Boyd on the first set of tapings.  I lost that one too.  But Jon is another story for another time.

(Lord Michael Hayes, Percy Pringle, Terry Gordy)

Before the TV tapings that day, Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy did some pre taped promos in the studio that fed the monitor in the dressing room.  Michael could talk his ass off!  I just knew these guys had been around a lot longer than I had and they were certainly older!  Come to find out, Michael was 20 (so was I)  and Terry was a couple years younger.  Wise beyond their years for sure.  They had been wrestling a couple years around the southern end of Mississippi and Alabama but now they were starting for Bill Watts.

They both were cool and easy.  I was nervous and green, but they took care of me in the ring.  They called themselves  The Freebirds and though they weren't the first to come to the ring with music, they certainly were the first of this generation to want to come out to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird.  For 1979, it was different.
I've known Michael over 30 years. And like I said earlier,  I consider him a friend.  He recently cut a song and video to honor Terry Gordy called "Freebird Road."  I got 4 texts the day it came out telling me I HAD to watch it.  I did.  I cried.

Jimmy Garvin, Buddy Roberts, Michael, Ray Gordy, Kevin Von Erich

Now wait. Let me explain, because I know what a lot of people are saying.  The critics talk about the similarities between Michael's song and Skynyrd's "Brickyard Road" and how Michael ranged from cheesy to ridiculous to pandering.  I cried because I knew how close Michael and Terry were and I can relate when someone you know and love in this business dies suddenly and way too young.


Pro wrestling is my life. It is who I am. I love rock and roll.  My older brothers Ken and Chris are musicians and I have always been amazed and respect anyone who can play an instrument or sing. I can't do either.  My two favorite rock and roll front men of all time are David Lee Roth and Steven Tyler.  I never was a Van Halen fan. I was a David Lee Roth fan.  I love Tyler and Areosmith.

(Jimmy Garvin, Sir Oliver Humperdink, MIchael Hayes and Badstreet)

For me, Dave brought that rock and roll attitude on and off stage.  I liked the fact he screamed and you couldn't always understand the words.  He wasn't looking for perfect; he was looking for 'right.' If there was a story to be told, he didn't let the facts get in the way, hell it's rock and roll!  Make it bigger, better, badder! In fact, make it up as you go along. Damn the  facts!  I'm sure DLR did his share of partying and playing but how much is myth, fact, or a little and a lot mixed in together?  I've seen Dave in concert a few times and heard the same stories, catch phrases and intros including "impromptu" jabs at the crowd to get a reaction.  Dave couldn't really sing but he could perform and make you pay attention to him.  With Van Halen, he helped sell out arenas.  On his own, he played to half full (the optimist in me refuses to say half empty) buildings and smaller venues.  He had the sizzle, VH had the steak.
An interview with DLR was full of quotable lines, my favorite being "You don't get a poem from ice tea" and he knew people would talk about what he wore, said and how he acted  on and off camera.  He wouldn't dress like a civilian if there was a chance to be noticed.  He always had an answer or something interesting to say on interviews.  Even if they might have stretched the truth just a bit.

Steven Tyler is the same kind of guy who likes to wrap himself in mystery and doesn't like to be seen as normal (whatever that is).  Both he and Dave had some cool moves and a good rap onstage, big difference was Steven Tyler can actually sing.

Michael in concert at the Dallas Sportatorium

I think Michael always wanted to be a rock star.  He was a star, make no mistake about it.  Ask anybody who witnessed the Freebird - Von Erich feud in the '80s if Michael didn't know how to connect emotionally with a crowd and understand psychology better than most during that era. The famous "Freebird hair cream" almost ended the career of The Junkyard Dog in Louisiana and I believe there was one particular incident in New Orleans that a fan actually pulled on gun on Michael!  The New Orleans police were nobody to play with and I'm pretty sure that "fan" was 'interregated' to the fullest extent.

Michael wrote a song called "Badstreet" and put out an album. Michael, Terry Gordy and Buddy Jack Roberts made a music video as The Freebirds and made it clear they lived on the last house on the block! And everybody knows it "just got badder the further you walked down that street." Classic stuff I'm sure you can find on YouTube.  Some might call it cheesy. I'll stick with classic.

Now, I like David Lee Roth's singing.  I've bought his CDs (except for the folk singing) and actually appreciate his rhymes, lyrics and stories.  They're not sophisticated.  They're entertaining.  I'm not listening for the music as much as the story, sights and sounds.  I didn't get KISS or Alice Cooper until I started seeing what they were going for.  It ain't about the music kid!  We got us a show goin' on here!

And I can appreciate guys like Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Diamond Dave who are in their 60s or late 50's still rockin' and rollin' and putting on a two hour performance with energy and passion that can't be manufactured.  I've seen Aerosmith four times live and in living color and was never disappointed.  Those guys might be a lot older and not always getting along, but onstage with Steven Tyler out front, there was no denying they were having a party with  thousands of close friends in attendance!  Passion, feeling, emotional attachment.

Terry, Jimmy, Michael

Buddy, Terry, Michael

To me, Michael Hayes is the David Lee Roth of wrestling.  Michael and Terry Gordy WERE the Freebirds.  There were other members; Buddy 'Jack' Roberts, Jimmy 'Jamm' Garvin, for a brief period a masked Brad Armstrong as 'Badstreet' and there was even King Parsons as a 'Black Bird.'  But when all said and done, it was Michael 'PS' Hayes and Terry 'Bamm Bamm' Gordy who were the Freebirds. 

Without David Lee Roth Roth, Van Halen became Van Hagar.  Sammy might have been a better singer, guitar player but nobody could match Dave in wits and bringing the party to life.  Hell, DLR was the party!  Van Halen might have played better music but they didn't have the same attitude without Dave.  I'll take a great show over great music any day.  But that's just me.

Areosmith tried to keep rolling without Steven Tyler.  Didn't work out so well.  There is only one Areosmith and only one guy who can be in front.  Steven Tyler.

Without Michael, Terry found success.  He was bound to.  He had the size, look and talent.  Terry teamed with Steve 'Dr. Death' Williams in Japan for years and they were unstoppable.  But the problem sometimes with being unstoppable is you don't have anyone there to say STOP!

("Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy)

Terry and Doc were two of the greatest, big hearted men in the business.  If you were their friend they would do anything in the world for you.  Both liked to party.  We all liked to party.  With Michael, for all the crazy and insane things I've seen him do and done with him, he was a voice of reason and protection with Terry. Sometimes we can't help ourselves and need to have someone who knows us better than we do to step in and say "Stop what you're doing.  I love you and you're going to die if you keep doing what you're doing.  I care about you and I won't let you die.  Fight me if you want because you're going to have to!"


Michael tried to do that with Terry.  I remember when Terry came to WWE after he had experienced an overdose in Japan and wound up in a coma years before.  He wasn't the same Terry we all new but he was still a good person.  Michael begged everyone to please not give Terry anything if he asked. He knew Terry wasn't what he once was but he wanted to help and take care of him as best as he could.  And sometimes it doesn't matter what anybody does because we can be our own worse enemies.

Michael tried but inevitably it just wasn't to be.  Michael is one of the most creative and smartest people I know in this business.  He's made some bone headed mistakes and is by no means perfect.  But when you get to know the real Michael Hayes, his heart is in the right place.  It's a ruthless business no doubt.  Caring about people is a good way to become emotionally bankrupt after so many years of people telling you "I've got your back" only to find out their words are empty. 

Michael and Terry had each other's back.  It was their bond and they were brothers from different mothers.  Michael and Terry made magic and created an aura and mystic to what the Freebirds were.  Believe me, they lived their gimmick.  There was no pretending or "acting" as a character.  I have too many stories of walking into a bar or restaurant and all heads turning to see this long haired, loud mouthed, uncouth Southern rebel slide up to the bar and order rounds of Jack Daniels "for my friends!"  On one occasion we just sat down, ordered drinks from the waitress and as soon as she left, Micheal head butted a hanging light over our table!  It was funny and stupid, and the manager immediately came over and not-so-politely told us to "get out, NOW!"  Michael tried to apologize but the guy would have none of it and we left and found a better place with a little less restrictions (and a lot more fun!)

There's been many incarnations of the Freebirds but Michael and Terry were the originals. Michael has made some mistakes, said and done inappropriate things at times, but those without sin go get stoned and take the first hit....or something like that.  I think you get what I'm trying to say.  Nobody's perfect.  We all don't get it right the first time!  So show me a man who never got any heat in this business and I'll show you a man who's never been in this business!

I have a ton of Michael Hayes stories.  Maybe not a ton, but a lot.  I've been white water rafting with Michael, Terry, Brad Armstrong, Nick Patrick and Tommy Rich.  That was a great adventure from start to finish.  I rode with Michael when I was an producer.  We'd go to dinner when he came to Stamford and then go back to his hotel room to write ideas down.  Well, Michael had the ideas.  I pretty much listened. 

I've been to a few social events with Michael and there always seemed to be a story, lesson or adventure involved.  It was never boring.

(Michael, Bruce, John Valdostri, Me, Sgt. Slaughter holding John's bride Beth on their wedding day)

I've been to a couple weddings with Michael.  One wedding in particular,  Michael commandeered the microphone from the band's singer and took over the wedding party!  He was singing and dancing onstage and on the dance floor as the MC! Michael's wife Lori was so pissed, she made him go to the room.  The bride and groom loved it!  The band was pissed but screw that, this happy couple just had Michael PS Hayes sing and perform an unforgettable moment at their most special moment in their lives!  How many people can say that? 
Yeah, how many people would 'want' to say that?  I know....That's why I say this ain't for everybody!

One wedding Michael really affected was mine.

It was December 19, 2000. We were in Charlotte NC finishing taping Smack Down.  The weather was bad.  Cold, rainy and now they're expecting snow in the mountains overnight. 

I'm supposed to get married the next day in Pigeon Forge Tennessee in a romantic cabin in the Smoky Mountains.  My soon to be wife lived in Knoxville at the time and didn't want to get married in Vegas, so Pigeon Forge it was.

Michael, my brother Bruce and I had a flight out the next morning but the weather reports were getting worse by the minute.  I said I would never get married after my first go round and it looked like hell had really froze over the day before number two!

As we left the building, Michael was driving and said "Look, Bruce wants me to bring you straight to a strip club for your bachelor party.  I don't feel good but I'm going to go for a little bit and you have to go or you're a pussy."  What?  OK.  I had no problem going to a strip club in Charlotte in horrible weather.  Sounds like lots of fun!  Michael was feeling the flu or a cold coming on.

Anyway, at the club was Bruce, Sean Morley, Andrew Martin and some of the production crew.  Uh, and some naked girls.  Now I'm not a big liquor drinker but of course I had to do the shots they brought over.  And get the obligatory bachelor lap dances.  Michael stayed about 45 minutes and said he felt horrible and went back to the  hotel.

I don't remember what time we left, all I know is we got back to the hotel and went straight to the crew bus.

I don't want to incriminate any innocents here so I will just say that I stayed on the bus until 5 AM.  I then staggered into the hotel, got to my 12th floor room, jumped in the shower, packed my bags and went downstairs to meet Bruce and Micheal to hit the airport for a 7 AM flight to Knoxville.

Michael drove the car back to the rental return and I rode with Bruce.  When we all got on the shuttle to the terminal, Michael looked at me, shook his head and started singing an Eric Clapton song.  Yes, I'd been up all day and night.  I looked and felt like HELL!

I couldn't wait to get settled in my seat on the plane for a short trip to K-town, sleep, get up, get married and relax.  Yeah, right....

Our flight was cancelled.  ALL flights were cancelled!  Uh oh... Before I knew it Michael was at the  rental car counter, got a car and said "Let's go!"  Michael got behind the wheel and started driving. 

I knew he wasn't feeling good the night before and he wasn't feeling much better that morning, although I'd bet he felt a lot better than I did! Bruce got in the back and I rode shot gun.  I was still a little buzzed and one of my favorite, annoying things to do is point at somebody about an inch away from their face and say "I'm not touching you!" Childish, I know.  But I messed with Michael for about 30 minutes until I crashed and burned. 

Michael drove through the icy mountains of North Carolina to Knoxville Tennessee while Bruce and I slept.  When we pulled into the Knoxville airport, Bruce and Micheal checked into their hotel, I rented another car and I drove to Pigeon Forge to try and get a couple hours of sleep.

That night we had an intimate gathering at a very nice cabin.  It was cold but not as bad as the night before.  A friend of mine made a Badstreet USA CD that I just happen to have with me.  I played that after the wedding in honor of Michael risking his life to get me there.  We drank cheap champagne and rock and rolled.  Cheesy?  I prefer classic.  Who else can say they had Michael PS Hayes drive them through the ice and snow to get them to their wedding in Pigeon Forge Tennessee?  Especially after I out partied his ass the night before!

Me. And that's why I can understand Michael's heart was in the right place when he made his tribute video to his best friend and brother, Terry Gordy.  Michael Hayes is far from perfect.  But show me someone who is.  In this self promoting, self absorbed, selfish, pandering, ego driven business it's easy to point fingers and criticize.  I say walk a block in his shoes.  Not a mile.  A block will do.  I don't know too many people these days that could even turn the corner.

Thanks Michael.  Not just for getting me to my wedding on time, but for your creativity, passion and imperfections.  I don't want perfect.  I can't always be right.  But I appreciate loyalty and passion.  There's no denying you have both. 

Naabs!