The two groups had previous differences in World Class Championship Wrestling, but the cause for battle this time was General Scandor Akbar signing the Angel of Death, who was the ‘Birds bodyguard and sometimes tag partner, to a contract with Devastation.

The Freebirds were the apparent choice of the fans in this feud, given the genuine hatred that Akbar could inspire, but most of the time crowds were split, not knowing who the good guys were supposed to be. That wasn’t so bad, though. The cool thing about the feud is that there was never any face turn by either faction and both retained their identities. They would beat the heck out of each other and the fan favorites as well. The whole time Terry Gordy and the One Man Gang were fighting each other, both guys were also dealing with “Dr. Death” Steve Williams. Gordy, Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts may have got some of the cheers, but they remained wild-eyed, crazy, hell raising Freebirds. When I saw a show on April 3 in Houston, the house was clearly behind the Freebirds. Unfortunately, it was not a good night for the boys, as Gordy and Roberts were defeated by the Devastation Inc. duo of the turncoat Angel of Death and Wild Bill Irwin.

Kareem Muhammed joined the UWF in April 1987, giving Devastation an even larger manpower advantage over the Freebirds. Undaunted, the Freebirds continued fighting Akbar’s crew on main events throughout the territory. A unique twist occurred on the same cards as Steve Williams challenged the One Man Gang in UWF Heavyweight title matches with Terry Gordy as special referee. All of this led to the aforementioned Superblast at the Superdome on April11, 1987. The Freebirds were pretty busy that night, participating in four of the card’s eleven matches. Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts defeated Chavo Guerrero and the Missing Link in a Coal Miner’s Glove match when Hayes pinned the Link, who was still in the midst of his hopeless infatuation with the ‘Birds valet Sunshine. Sunshine was in a match herself, a four-woman catfight involving Nickla Roberts, Missy Hyatt and Dark Journey. Roberts, the only wrestler of the bunch, emerged victorious. Steve Williams beat the One Man Gang, but the title did not change hands because Gang was disqualified. If I recall correctly, Gordy was the referee in this match, and Devastation stormed the ring and incited an angry quarrel. A fracas erupted with the Freebirds and Devastation going at while Williams was in the middle of all the action. This set up the night’s main event, with all three ‘Birds facing the Angel of Death, Bill Irwin and the Viking. The Freebirds won the final battle of this evening, with Gordy pinning the Viking.

Even in the pre-Internet “inside information” days, it was clear that the UWF was undergoing major changes, none of which benefited the company. The Superblast show, while very entertaining, drew less than 5,000 people to the Superdome. Terry Gordy continued to chase the UWF title, wrestling the One Man Gang to a draw in Fort Worth on April 18. However, the title scene would change drastically the next night in Muskogee, OK, as Big Bubba Rogers downed the Gang in a huge upset to win the UWF Heavyweight Title. The Gang left the promotion and headed to the WWF after the loss. It was now evident that the UWF was losing a lot of its major talent. The Gang, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Ted DiBiase all jumped to the WWF and deprived Bill Watts of three proven main-eventers. Paul Boesch ended his alliance with Watts and entered into a working agreement with Vince McMahon and the WWF, costing the UWF the widespread exposure that Houston Wrestling provided. Finally, the oil-based economies in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana were in an overwhelming slump. A fair portion of the UWF’s fanbase worked in the petroleum industry and no longer had the disposable income needed to attend wrestling matches.

By itself, Terry Gordy’s inability to regain the UWF Heavyweight title at this time seemed insignificant. However, the sudden ascent of Big Bubba Rogers—a relative newcomer and unknown save for his role as the Midnight Express’ bodyguard in Jim Crockett’s promotion—foreshadowed the UWF’s future. Things would change even more around the company going into the summer of 1987.

One thing was certain, though. The Freebirds would keep fighting. If they fell, you could count on them getting back up quickly and bracing themselves for more action. They always did.

Well, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading this. Stop by the UWF Message Board sometime. 

“After all this time
I tell myself that
I'm not just wasting time
Oh you know I'm not that way inclined
Brothers fight or fall
It's man for man and one for all
No more can we crawl
Brothers, brothers hear the call
After all this time
I tell myself that
I'm not just wasting time
Oh you know I'm not that way inclined
Brother, brother
Brother, brother
Brother, fight or fall
It's man for man and one for all
Brother, brother
Brother, brother
What do you want?
We gotta fight for one another!”

NEXT MONTH: 

The Freebirds fight ‘til the end.