Steve Austin Wants Michael Hayes, Freebirds in WWE Hall of Fame. Would that Be a PR Disaster?
In late August, Stone Cold Steve Austin joined Ric Flair’s podcast. During the conversation (a snippet of which is above), Austin made his case for inducting Michael P.S. Hayes and the Fabulous Freebirds into the WWE Hall of Fame in the festivities for WrestleMania 32 at JerryWorld. In introducing Hayes as his podcast guest this week, Flair said that Austin would be boycotting the extravaganza in his home state of Texas if this did not happen. If accurate, this puts WWE in an unenviable spot, because having Austin at the event would be massive for its drawing power, but honoring Hayes could trigger a lot of backlash.
Hayes has worked backstage for WWE since 2009. While everything behind-the-scenes in wrestling is murky — which is, in effect, an additional layer in the storyline — it’s generally understood that he’s as influential as anybody not in the McMahon clan in booking (scripting) and talent development now. Hayes and his Freebird teammates Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy and Buddy “Jack” Roberts (both of whom are sadly no longer with us) wrestled throughout the Southern territories in the 1980’s and in pre-Bischoff WCW.
One of the Freebirds’ legendary feuds came with the Von Erich family in their Dallas-based WCCW promotion. If you don’t have a half-hour to watch this whole 1983 match (and I’ll be honest, I didn’t), at least skip to the 29-minute mark and watch how bonkers the crowd gets at the finish:
With all this regional history, combined with Hayes’ backstage power, this would seem like a slam dunk, right? Well, there are some blemishes on his record that will get picked up if WWE makes a big show of honoring him. In 2013, Grantland’s Masked Man wrote a piece all about the history of racism in pro wrestling, and this was the section about Hayes:
Michael “P.S.” Hayes, ringleader of the Fabulous Freebirds, often resorted to race-baiting to intensify feuds: The Freebirds’ feud with Junkyard Dog turned on Hayes calling JYD “boy,” and the Freebirds once came to the ring in a major match against the Road Warriors at Comiskey Park with the rebel flag painted on their faces. In 2008, Hayes was suspended from his backstage duties with WWE for supposedly telling African American wrestler Mark Henry, “I’m more of a n—– than you are.” He was said to have used the N-word casually over the years without causing a stir. He is also credited with the notion that black wrestlers don’t need gimmicks because being black is their gimmick.
The latter two of these are more problematic for WWE than Hayes’ gimmick in the 1980s, which could otherwise be rationalized away as symptomatic of a different time and place. The suspension is recent enough to be damning, and is a matter of public record. WWE jettisoned Hulk Hogan from his legends contract for comments that were made prior to Hayes’ alleged interaction with Mark Henry.
A few years ago, WWE perhaps would’ve been able to induct Hayes without drawing a tidal wave of attention — there would’ve been some backlash, but it might’ve dissipated. Now, the bullet points on Hayes’ resume could be problematic given a) the social media climate, and b) WWE’s relatively new intertwinement with brands like ESPN and the Today Show.
For awhile now, Austin has been coy about whether he’d ever fight again in WWE. He’s said he’s fought his last match in WWE, but one cannot rule out a situation where the story and the MONEY present an offer he can’t refuse. Austin is a massive draw. If he fought somebody like The Rock or Brock Lesnar, there would be remarkable interest, and untold amounts of WWE Network subscriptions would be sold. Many would cancel, but those who like the product will stick around (as will people for whom the recurring $10 monthly fee isn’t substantial enough for them to bother unsubscribing).
This will be a situation worth monitoring over the next few months.