The Von Erichs vs The Fabulous Freebirds

credit: pro wrestling stories

The Von Erichs vs Freebirds rivalry was a legendary feud, probably the most revered and most well known program to come out of the Texas territory in the 1980s. It started on Christmas Day 1982 when the 'Birds cost Kerry a World Title match against Ric Flair, which Michael Hayes was the referee for. Before then, the Birds and Von Erichs were allies, but when Kerry refused Hayes's approach to cheating a victory against Flair, Gordy slammed the cage door in Kerry's face. From there the feud sustained through 1983 and subsequent revisits as the Birds came and went from the territory. Underneath this pro wrestling feud sat a deep-rooted regional rivalry between Texas and Georgia, with the Birds often coming out to 'Georgia On My Mind' and wearing the confederate flag, to which the Texan fans often chanted 'Go home Freebirds'.

The two sides had over 100 matches together in various iterations with different family members and formations. Here are some of the best matches from this rivalry based on the footage available online.


The Von Erichs vs The Fabulous Freebirds, 27/2/83 [Lumberjack March]

Good grief the crowd are nuclear for this one, the Freebirds have only been feuding with the Von Erichs for a month and are already as over as any heel act as you’ll hear. This was dead simple pro wrestling, a bunch of charismatic babyfaces throwing hands which some dirtbag heels. Kevin and Kerry were especially fired up and moving a million miles an hour. The Birds cut the ring in half, get their heat, and have a bunch of amusing facial expressions throughout. At one point Gordy gets bonked on the head and looks like he’s Elmer Fudd seeing stars dance around his noggin. The lumberjacks did very little, which is probably for the best, but the inability to go to the floor and stall meant the Birds were forced to stand and fight, and the pace was pushed as a result. Fun match showing this rivalry got off to a hot start.

The Von Erichs/Iceman King Parsons vs The Fabulous Freebirds, 20/5/83

A similarly simple but hot match. Wrestling doesn’t need to be more complicated than beloved babyfaces and hated heels throwing fists, and that’s exactly what this feud is all about. All of these guys had a lot of energy and some great punches, and I especially liked Gordy bouncing around on his toes while boxing like he thought he was Ali or some shit. Iceman was a solid addition to the formation and had some heavy hands himself. We get a hot FIP section on David including two great disallowed tags to Kevin, who was chomping at the bit and working the apron like a mad man, and when the hot tag finally comes the place explodes. The ending is a bit abrupt by modern day standards; we’d expect a good run after that tag with the babyfaces making their comeback, here we just get a minute or so of pandemonium and bodies flying with the Birds stealing one out of nowhere. The Von Erichs looked a bit dumb letting the pin happen metres behind them, but I doubt anyone in the arena paid it any mind.

The Von Erichs vs The Fabulous Freebirds, 4/7/83 [2/3 Falls]

This is one of the most famous and revered matches from this rivalry, taking place on the 4th July in front of one of the loudest crowds you’ll ever hear. Going 30 rather than 13 though, there was a lot more padding. Buddy Roberts had been shaved bald and comes in wearing a wig and head-gear, which is something pretty wonderful. Due to the length this was a bit more mid-tempo than the previous matches, with more stalling, more playing to the crowd, more rest-holds, though the fisticuffs are still on point when they throw down. After the second fall the ref gets on the mic and cuts a promo about how if both sides don’t start following the rules more, he will DQ them both, and brings out a second ref to help him. AEW should give his guy a job. He still ends up taking a bump in the end, but it is at least a manly ref bump getting dump tackled by David out of the ring by mistake. Watching this in 2022 feels a lot more 'good match with an all-time crowd' than it does a real classic, I prefer the shorter, sprint-ier runs of this match-up.

Kerry Von Erich vs Michael Hayes, 24/11/83 [Loser Leaves Town, Steel Cage Match]

The blow-off to the nearly year long feud. This is as hot of a 10 minute brawl in a cage as you’ll see; no need to run 40 minutes, no constant nearfalls, no NXT facial reactions, just 2 guys who hate each other punching each other in the face in front of a rabid crowd. Both dudes have great punches, Hayes bleeds, and this is moves as fast as any modern day match. Hayes chokes Kerry with tape from his knee-pad, and Kerry pays him back for it. The final minute is pure mayhem as the other 2 Birds try to interfere – Fritz fights off Gordy, Buddy tries to climb into the cage and gets crotched on the top (which looked wild for a comedy bump), and Kerry uses the brass knucks thrown into the cage to nail Hayes and finally vanquish the birds. Fritz slamming the cage door in Gordy’s face was a wonderfully violence piece of symbolism and the image of the Freebirds left in the cage, beaten, bloody, and exiled as the crowd go bananas is an all-time wrestling moment. What a tremendous bit of business this was.