Will questioned me calling Gordy the superworker and Hayes the supertalker of the Freebirds in the Buddy Roberts thread but I didn't mean it the way he thought I did. I was by no means slighting Hayes as a worker but when it came to that team that was the roles they had in the team even though both were just as solid in doing the other. Hayes as a worker was extremely underrated and you can mainly thank Bill Watts for that as he was the one who preached that Hayes was better as a manager/announcer than a wrestler so it made guys like Meltz and others at the time take that meme and run with it. It just wasn't true as the more Hayes got a chance to work in the ring the better he got and in World Class he was a damn great worker. Watts smartened up some when they came to the UWF and Hayes worked more where he was part of some real classic matches there. Hayes had another great run when he returned to World Class in 1988 where he lost weight and toned up becoming an even better worker. He went back to NWA in 1989 where he continued his solid run but would gain the weight back in 1990 and ticked down a bit but still was a good hand. I don't need to post videos here as everyone saw Hayes at his best and if you saw the World Class or Mid-South sets then you should know what I'm talking about.

Really underrated worker. The Texas set proved that. Great at short sprint brawls. One of the best ever at it. I haven't seen all of his Texas stuff but from what I've seen he's been a decent revelation.

He had a great punch. Of all the Freebirds he was more versatile in the sense he was a great heel, and was a great face. His charisma was off the charts, and an incredible talker.

I will make a longer post later about why Hayes was so great at his peak but Kris, you really should just complete the trifecta and make the case why Gordy was such a great wrestler. Every time, I discover someone new, Gordy keeps dropping down my list and I don't see enough new Gordy to help him bump back up.

You know I hate to say this, but I agree with Will. As a Chattanooga born guy I have always had a special place in my heart for Gordy, but he's someone who has not jumped out of the pack to me in any rewatching over the last seven or eight years. Maybe if I ever get around to watching 90's AJPW.

 

In any case I think Hayes was the best worker on the Texas Set. I could see arguments for others, but Devon nailed it in saying that he was the master of the sprint brawls and that is really Texas at it's best. Hayes babyface work also really surprised me from that period. I'll grant that the guy moves around somewhat awkwardly, but he's not David Von Erich in there, and if anything I think it sort of adds to his act. In some respects I think he's very comparable to Piper as a guy who's rep is "good talker, mediocre worker," when in fact he was pretty great at both.