10 People You Had No Idea Worked For WWE

7. The Fabulous Freebirds

Dave Meltzer Triple H
WWE

The Fabulous Freebirds as they were known and loved made all their waves (and a sh*tload of money) outside of Vince McMahon's orbit in the 1980s.

In 1995, Michael Hayes had his hair shortened, his moustache sharpened and his name adjusted to Dok Hendrix when he signed on as a broadcaster for the company. Terry Gordy had his WWE cup of coffee through the gap in his Executioner mask a year later. But the pair and longtime associate Buddy Roberts very nearly spent their most profitable years in New York following the briefest dalliance with the company in 1984.

Seemingly a perfect fit as part of the burgeoning Rock N Wrestling movement alongside Cyndi Lauper et all, the Freebirds allegedly lived the gimmick a little too much to last in the company's locker room. Andre The Giant was one of several stalwarts upset with their backstage attitudes, and after only a handful of appearances for the company they were back to the more familiar surrounds of the AWA and World Class Championship Wrestling.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett