The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael P.S. Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts) first wrestled in the World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) territory, where they had a legendary feud with the Von Erichs (David, Kevin, Kerry, Chris and Mike). This feud was ignited by an infamous incident in which Terry Gordy slammed Kerry Von Erich's head in a steel cage door, inciting a riot.
They also performed in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the American Wrestling Association (AWA). While in the AWA, they feuded primarily with The Road Warriors, costing them the World Tag Team Titles in a match against long time Freebird ally Jimmy Garvin and his partner Steve Regal.
They had a very brief run in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1984. In the WWF, they wrestled under the guidance of Cyndi Lauper's manager David Wolff, but soon left the promotion afterwards.
Hayes and Garvin were paired as the Freebirds in WCW in 1989, enjoying several reigns as World Tag Team and United States Tag Team Champions, and were joined by Gordy for a while as well. They later employed the services of masked third partner Brad Armstrong (under the name Badstreet) and managers Diamond Dallas Page, Big Daddy Dink, Little Richard Marley and Precious.
On April 2, 2016, The Fabulous Freebirds (excluding Brad Armstrong) were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by The New Day.