Roberts (pictured right) with his Freebirds cohorts Michael Hayes (center) and the late Terry Gordy (left)
It is sad to report that one-third of the legendary Fabulous Freebirds trio, Buddy “Jack” Roberts, has passed away at the age of 65. Although he had a string of health problems later in life, including a battle with throat cancer, the cause of death is currently undetermined.
Roberts is undeniably best known as the third member of The Fabulous Freebirds, a wrestling trio that included Michael “P.S” Hayes and the late Terry “Bamm Bamm” Gordy, that most notably shook up the wrestling world in the early to mid-1980’s with their feud against The Von Erichs in Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling. The feud, which raged on for a decade in various forms, is seen as one of the greatest wrestling feud/rivalries of all-time. Roberts also had a notable feud in WCCW with “Iceman” King Parsons which resulted in the loss of his hair and the subsequent wearing of a wig under amateur wrestling headgear, a gimmick that Kurt Angle would himself use during his WWE run.
As a younger wrestling fan who was born just after the Freebirds/Von Erichs feud cooled off I never really got to see Roberts do his thing outside of random scattered matches on WWE Classics on Demand. However I’ve always enjoyed his work on one level or another; he was the guy on The Freebirds who normally took the pinfall loss or the one who did the majority of the bumping against The Von Erichs or other foes. He also gave good interviews and had a very distinct voice which he was unfortunately robbed of due to the cancer. In essence he was the less appreciated member of The Freebirds, but still performed an integral role and he will be missed by wrestling fans new and old alike.
Rest in peace, Buddy Jack.
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