The Fabulous Freebirds to be Inducted Into WWE Hall of Fame

It was previously reported that The Fabulous Freebirds would be the next inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame, class of 2016. The company confirmed this today, and sent out a notification via the WWE App that this would in fact be the case.

Rolling Stone has written an article about the legendary career of The Fabulous Freebirds. Below are some excerpts from that article, along with some quotes from former member Michael P.S. Hayes:

On finally being inducted into the Hall of Fame:

“Well, I don’t know what the rush was. Every year around this time, I’d be on pins and needles, hoping we’d get in, because our career speaks for itself. We put asses in seats…and I think you could take a poll of anybody who ever paid their hard-earned money to come see us, and they’d say they got more than their money’s worth. And that was huge to us, because we were wrestling fans too.”

On the origins of the group:

“Terry and I were just brash, smart-ass, let’s-go-do-it teenagers, riding up and down the road listening to [Lynyrd] Skynyrd. I’d notice when I went to wrestling matches or rock concerts, I would see the same people at both. There was a crossover there, but the people that were in charge of wrestling at the time, they didn’t see it. They weren’t chasing the young customer – they weren’t chasing me.

“I always wanted to be an entertainer, and Terry always wanted to be a wrestler, so the Freebirds were a way of doing both. We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to come out to music?'” he continues. “It took a lot of convincing, but finally, Jerry Jarrett bought in, and so we debuted it in 1979 at the Mid-South Coliseum. The custodian was in charge of dropping the needle on the last song on the Skynyrd album. I was like, ‘Man, we’re going to come out to ‘Gimme Three Steps’ or something.’ But it worked out, ‘Free Bird’ hit, and the whole audience was in awe.”

On his induction speech:

“I’ve never been a person who is at a loss for words, so I’m pretty sure I’ll have some things to say. They may not let me curse, but I want to pay homage to Terry and Buddy and the group, so I’m going to tell as many stories as they’ll let me get away with. Believe me, I’ve got plenty of them.”

You can find the entire Rolling Stone article at this link. WWE.com has also posted a story detailing their storied career, which you can find at this link.

Editor’s Note:

It’s about time! The Fabulous Freebirds have always been one of the most important stables in wrestling history. Their battles with the Von Erich family are still talked about to this way, and the Freebirds have paved the way for so many successful tag teams to this day. Congratulations on a well-deserved induction into the WWE Hall of Fame!

Follow @Dericho06