Terry Gordy

Terry Ray Gordy Sr. (April 23, 1961 – July 16, 2001) was an American professional wrestler from Soddy-Daisy, TN. Gordy appeared in the United States with promotions such as Mid-South Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling and the Universal Wrestling Federation as a member of The Fabulous Freebirds. He also appeared in Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling as one-half of The Miracle Violence Connection.

Gordy held many championships throughout the course of his career, including the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, AJPW World Tag Team Championship, WCW World Tag Team Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship, UWF Heavyweight Championship and SMW Heavyweight Championship. He was posthumously inducted into the Wrestling Observer, Professional Wrestling, and WWE Hall of Fame. He left behind three children: Amber Gordy, Miranda Gordy, and Ray Gordy.

Gordy was a standout high school football and baseball player at Rossville High School, but dropped out of high school following his freshman year. Trained by Archie Gouldie, he started wrestling at the age of 13 in 1974 as "Terry Mecca" for the International Wrestling Association.

In early 1979, Gordy began wrestling under his real name and formed the Fabulous Freebirds with Michael Hayes, with Buddy Roberts later added to the group. Gordy and Hayes had met while training in Mississippi the year prior.

In 1980, the Freebirds moved to Georgia Championship Wrestling, where they won the territory's tag team championship. The Fabulous Freebirds had many feuds while there, including feuds against Tommy Rich, Junkyard Dog, Kevin Sullivan, Austin Idol, and Ted DiBiase, and they became one of the first acts to use entrance music. One match on the Saturday night WTBS Georgia Championship Wrestling show saw the Freebirds take on the Junkyard Dog and Ted DiBiase; toward the end of the match, Gordy gave DiBiase 4 consecutive piledrivers, which led to DiBiase being taken away in an ambulance.

In 1981, the Freebirds split up after Buddy Roberts left the area. Michael and Terry then had a falling out, which led to them feuding against each other. Terry and Michael eventually put their differences aside and reformed the Freebirds as a duo in 1982, and they feuded with Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen.

In late-1982, the Freebirds went to the Dallas, Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling promotion and feuded with the Von Erichs (David, Kevin, Kerry and Mike). The feud ignited when Gordy slammed the cage door on Kerry during his cage match on March 15 at WCCW Star Wars against Ric Flair, during which Michael Hayes served as the special guest referee. Gordy's action incited a riot among the fans in attendance. The Freebirds and Von Erichs traded the six-man title back and forth a few times over the years. At one point, Gordy was also one half of the WCCW American Tag Team Champions. While in WCCW, Killer Khan taught Gordy how to perform the Oriental Spike, which he dubbed the Asiatic Spike.

Gordy's connection with All Japan Pro Wrestling began in March 1982, when he challenged Giant Baba for the PWF Heavyweight Championship at a Georgia Championship Wrestling show at the Omni in Atlanta. The match would air in Japan. Seventeen months later, Gordy made his debut for AJPW in August 1983. He was immediately paired with Stan Hansen and took part in Terry Funk's first retirement match on August 31, 1983. It was during this time that Lou Thesz taught Gordy what would be his main move, the powerbomb.