Terry Gordy

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Terry Gordy
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Terry Mecca Terry Gordy The Executioner Terry Bam Bam Gordy
Billed height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Billed weight	286 lb (130 kg)
Born	April 23, 1961(1961-04-23) Chattanooga, Tennessee
Died	July 16, 2001 (aged 40) Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee
Trained by	Afa Anoai
Debut	1978

Terry 'Bam Bam' Gordy (April 23, 1961 - July 16, 2001) was a professional wrestler who was most famous in the United States for being a member of the Fabulous Freebirds.

Contents 1 Career 2 In wrestling 3 Championships and accomplishments 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Career

Terry Gordy started wrestling in 1978 at the age of 16 as Terry Mecca. In early 1979, he began wrestling under his real name and formed the Fabulous Freebirds with Michael Hayes. Buddy Roberts was later added to the group. In 1982, the Freebirds went to World Class Championship Wrestling and had a legendary feud with the Von Erichs (David, Kevin, Kerry and Mike). They spent some time in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions where they split to feud briefly but then reunited. They also spent a very brief time in the WWF but left when management tried to split them up.

In 1986, when the Freebirds were in the Universal Wrestling Federation, Gordy won their title and held it for 6 months, losing the UWF Title via forfeit to The One Man Gang after an angle the same night where Gordy was injured at the hands of Dr. Death Steve Williams. In 1989, Gordy helped Hayes reform the Freebirds with Jimmy Garvin in Jim Crockett Promotions.

He soon left and started teaming with Williams as the "Miracle Violence Connection" in All Japan Pro Wrestling. During his time there, he held the AJPW Triple Crown Championship on two occasions. In 1993 Gordy, while traveling to Japan for a tour, overdosed on pain medication . He was brain damaged during the subsequent coma. He returned to action later that year, but never received a shot at the Triple Crown again.

Gordy and Williams came to WCW in 1992 and won the World Tag Team Titles in a tournament at the Great American Bash card in Albany, Georgia; they had a feud with Rick and Scott Steiner. In Japan, this was played as a feud between the best foreign teams of their respective promotions (the Steiners were competing for rival New Japan Pro Wrestling at the time). Despite advances by New Japan, Gordy and Williams, out of loyalty to Baba, refused to compete for the promotion.

In 1994, Gordy had a small reunion with Hayes and Garvin as the Freebirds in the Global Wrestling Federation where he won the Tag Team Titles with Garvin.

In 1996, Gordy showed up in Extreme Championship Wrestling to challenge Raven for the ECW World Heavyweight Title, as the "Internationally recognized #1 Contender." He had been working for the IWA promotion in Japan, wrestling deathmatches. He lost, but went on to team with Tommy Dreamer and would later reunite with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to wrestle against The Eliminators.

He had a brief run in the WWF as The Executioner in 1996. He teamed with Mankind under a mask for manager Paul Bearer and feuded with The Undertaker. The Executioner would come to the ring under a mask and carry a plastic ax, and despite his concealment, many wrestling fans knew it was Gordy under the mask. The Executioner made his TV debut at the In Your House pay-per-view, Buried Alive, where he hit The Undertaker with a shovel and proceeded to buried him with the help of several other wrestlers. However, at It's Time, The Undertaker got away with an easy victory in an Armageddon Rules match, and Gordy left the promotion shortly afterwards.

Gordy died of a heart attack on July 16, 2001 due to a blood clot. His son Ray wrestles for WWE on its SmackDown! brand.

[edit] In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Backdrop driver
  • Powerbomb
  • Oriental Spike (Thumb choke hold)
  • Piledriver
  • DDT
  • Lariat

• Managers
  • Sunshine
  • Paul Bearer
  • Jim Cornette

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[1]
  • AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship (7 times) - with Stan Hansen (2) and Steve Williams (5) ^[2]
• Georgia Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Michael Hayes^[3]
  • NWA National Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Michael Hayes (3 First) and Jimmy Snuka (1)
• Global Wrestling Federation
  • GWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jimmy Garvin^[4]
• Mid-South Wrestling Association | Universal Wrestling Federation
  • Mid-South Louisiana Championship (1 time)
  • Mid-South Mississippi Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Mid-South Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Michael Hayes (1) and Buddy Roberts (1)
  • UWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) (First)
• NWA Mid-America
  • NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Michael Hayes
• Southeastern Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[5]
  • NWA Southeast Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[6]
• Smoky Mountain Wrestling
  • SMW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[7]
• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Steve Williams^[8]
• World Class Championship Wrestling | World Class Wrestling Association
  • NWA American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Michael Hayes
  • NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)
  • NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (6 times) - with Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts (5 First and Last) and Iceman Parsons & Buddy Roberts (1)
  • WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts (First)²

¹Won while WCW was still affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance and prior to the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Championships being briefly unified.
^{2</supThe Freebirds' 5th reign carried over after the title's name was changed to the WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship since they were the champions at the time the title was renamed.}

^{[edit] References}

^{[edit] External links}

• ^{Terry Gordy at Online World of Wrestling}