Freebirds vs. The Shield, best trios in American history?

[Grimmas]

Going to do a show on this on Tuesday and was looking for others opinions. I think these are the two best, but are there other contenders? Which of these are better. There is so many ways to look at this.

[JerryvonKramer]

Some other three-man stables you might want to think about:

The Mega Bucks and Virgil.

Neither The Shield nor The Freebirds were ended bosses of an arcade game. Their drawing power in the first half of 1988 would be interesting to look at vs. either Shield or Freebirds. As far as longevity goes, you COULD argue that they remained as a tacit and implied unit until Wrestlemania V, because of DiBiase's run-in during the Jake-Andre match.

 

The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette

 

You could argue that Jim Cornette is just as good a talker as Hayes, that Eaton is a better workhorse than Buddy Roberts and that Gordy is overrated, and that you'd take Dennis Condrey or Stan Lane over him. Still, MX are as good as any three-man unit I can think of. Obviously Corny is not a wrestler, but he's totally integral to the package.

 

The Rat Pack

 

DiBiase, Duggan and Matt Borne. They were certainly a hot act in Mid-South and their break-up produced a hotter feud than any of the Freebirds vs. Freebirds stuff. They surely drew vs. Watts / JYD. Part of some legendary angles.

 

Demolition

 

Just padding out the numbers to be honest, but but but but ... has there ever been a cooler-looking Survivor Series team than The Perfect team?

 

 

Perhaps, but I thought it's probably the best Demolition ever looked.

 

The Original NWO

 

Let's face it, NWO was all about Hogan, Nash and Hall. Arguably, in 1996 they were AS HOT as the Freebirds ever were, if not hotter, and hotter than The Shield in terms of getting people to watch the product. Longevity is their issue, how long is it before more were added?

 

The Russians

 

People will rag on Krusher Krushsev, but for a while there, Nikita was the top heel in JCP headlining shows, and Ivan and Krusher were tag champs having near ***** matches with the Rock n Roll Express.

 

Too Cool and Rikishi

 

I don't think I've ever hated anything in my life as much as their dancing shit in the middle of the attitude era. I hated it then, I hate it now. But about as over as a midcard act can get for a while there.

 

The Brood

 

Will be maligned for Gangrel, but again these guys were really over for a while and this group was arguably the platform that launched two major stars of the next decade.

[victory]

I don't think you can talk about the Freebirds without at least mentioning the Von Erichs.

[SomethingSavage]

The Freebirds had a freaking rule and stipulation named after them. No such honor exists for The Shield.

 

Boom. Endgame.

In all seriousness, I think The Shield needed a lengthier run - maybe just another year or two - to really stand a chance of looking in the same league as the 'Birds. Maybe that's just me though.

 

In reality, if we're judging on the terms of the stars that the stable launches - then that's another story. Obviously, that's the criteria that a group like The Brood holds, but it's not necessarily what I'd look for in terms of deciding which "trios" band is the absolute best. Because we won't know for sure just where The Shield stands in history until years from now, as far as the success of the three guys as individuals goes.

 

Oh, and Parv. Nice list. I honestly think a case could be made for the original nWo and even the original DX trio (yes, with Chyna) as far as importance and impact goes.

 

I know there's probably nobody on the face of the earth that would agree with me on this, but I think an honorable mention should go out to the Jersey Triad of Page, Bigelow, and Kanyon from '99 WCW. Yeah. I know they weren't great, but they were tearing it up frequently with quality matches against Benoit, Saturn, Malenko, Raven, and company for awhile there.

 

And they felt like they TRULY fit the bill of the original Freebirds formula. Kanyon's your fall guy, your bumper, and your annoying pest. Bammer was your big bully brawler in the mold of Gordy. And Page was your heat-seeking mouthpiece.

[thebrainfollower]

To take these one at time Parv

 

Megabucks and Virgil - not really a team. Yeah Dibiase and Virgil teamed up a bit but Virgi's a stooge and was treated as barely a wrestler. It's the Mega Bucks and some moron who's their gofer.

 

MX and Cornette - Okay Cornette wrestled occasionally but as a manager and a joke. I think he wants wrestler trios.

 

Original NWO - hotter than the Freebirds by far. Didn't jumpstart a territory they jumpstarted the entire wrestling business. My only question is this - how many matches are there with them and ONLY them on one side? I would assume next to none (hogan didn't wrestle at BATB and by the time they started wrestling on TV the NWO was much bigger.

 

The Russians - Great upper midcard act that could main event as Nikita did. Put them a step below the Shield and Freebirds.

 

Too Cool - Great choice. As you say arguably the hottest mid card act in wrestling history.

 

Demolition - Shadows of their former selves when Crush came in. They did main event against Warrior and LOD but it didn't exactly light the world on fire. I'd argue that push was more about sabotaging what was left of Warrior then them being over.

 

The Brood - Not really that over at all. Top of the bottom half of their era at best. E and C are a totally different beast than the Brood.

 

The Rat Pack - Place them a shade above the Russians and a shade below the Shield.

[thebrainfollower]

And yeah I'd put the Freebirds ahead of the Shield but a lot of that is how the business changed. Hotshotting breakups faster and a lack of different places to go are two reasons why.

[JerryvonKramer]

I should point out that not all of my picks are serious, I just got a kick out of trying to argue that The Mega Bucks and Virgil were a three-man stable. Ha ha ha.

[ohtani's jacket]

You forgot the Machines, Parv.

[Tim Cooke]

MX/Cornette are a good pick, especially once the competition dies almost completely after the Freebirds. I would need to go through the MX scrapbook to see all the matches, but considering he had at least five or six that made TV off the top of my head, their could be a lot of house show matches in both Mid South and Crockett. He also has a few SMW one's as well.

 

Cornette isn't under rated as an actual wrestler but he is really good at eating his spots and bumping. His fist drop was very solid.

[JerryvonKramer]

You forgot the Machines, Parv.

 

 

Yip, and another one that people often overlook: The Valiants

 

We loved them in 1979 on Titans. John Valiant is a great talker. Jimmy is very good at crowd control, and Jerry Valiant might be one of the most underrated bumpers in history. You can make a good argument that The Valiants were at least a decade ahead of their time. And certainly you can see aspects of The Valiants that end up in The Freebirds -- has Michael Hayes talked about The Valiants anywhere?

 

Honestly, in what has been a very shitty tag division in WWF from 79-81 so far, these guys were the shining beacons of hope.

[goodhelmet]

I picked the Freebirds and I don't even think it is close due to drawing money, being huge in three territories although they broke up in Georgia and influence (although it is too early to see the impact the Shield will have long term, that is more of a To Be Determined criteria).

[DMJ]

The original DegenerationX were a great trio (i'm not counting Rude as a real member), but Chyna didn't compete enough at the time to really be considered a wrestler. If she had, I think one could argue that they were a really unique, possibly underrated trio. That is not the case, though, as I'm not even sure the three ever had a single six-man tag match.

 

My vote would have to go to the Freebirds over the Shield due to longevity and impact. The Shield were a unit for what? 15 months? It was a good run and all, but I wouldn't even say they "dominated" all that much during that time, with no member ever capturing the World Championship, which is (no fault of theirs) the only title that means absolutely anything in the WWE. I had to google whether they even won the Tag Titles because I honestly couldn't recall (again, not their fault, its just that being champions of a division that only matters for maybe 8 weeks in any calendar year is hardly noteworthy).

[goodhelmet]

The Shield have a real case due to match quality. Even the Birds matches were contingent upon their opponents where the Shield were knocking shit out of the park week after week. As individuals, matchups with Hayes and Gordy were out of this world great where I don't know where the great singles matches (while they were a trio) are at. Someone can fill that in for me.

[Grimmas]

I think you compare them separately as:

 

Buddy vs. Rollins

Hayes vs. Dean

Gordy vs. Roman

[dgrblue]

Some other three-man stables you might want to think about:The Mega Bucks and Virgil.

Neither The Shield nor The Freebirds were ended bosses of an arcade game. Their drawing power in the first half of 1988 would be interesting to look at vs. either Shield or Freebirds. As far as longevity goes, you COULD argue that they remained as a tacit and implied unit until Wrestlemania V, because of DiBiase's run-in during the Jake-Andre match.

 

The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette

 

You could argue that Jim Cornette is just as good a talker as Hayes, that Eaton is a better workhorse than Buddy Roberts and that Gordy is overrated, and that you'd take Dennis Condrey or Stan Lane over him. Still, MX are as good as any three-man unit I can think of. Obviously Corny is not a wrestler, but he's totally integral to the package.

 

The Rat Pack

 

DiBiase, Duggan and Matt Borne. They were certainly a hot act in Mid-South and their break-up produced a hotter feud than any of the Freebirds vs. Freebirds stuff. They surely drew vs. Watts / JYD. Part of some legendary angles.

 

Demolition

 

Just padding out the numbers to be honest, but but but but ... has there ever been a cooler-looking Survivor Series team than The Perfect team?

 

 

Perhaps, but I thought it's probably the best Demolition ever looked.

 

The Original NWO

 

Let's face it, NWO was all about Hogan, Nash and Hall. Arguably, in 1996 they were AS HOT as the Freebirds ever were, if not hotter, and hotter than The Shield in terms of getting people to watch the product. Longevity is their issue, how long is it before more were added?

 

The Russians

 

People will rag on Krusher Krushsev, but for a while there, Nikita was the top heel in JCP headlining shows, and Ivan and Krusher were tag champs having near ***** matches with the Rock n Roll Express.

 

Too Cool and Rikishi

 

I don't think I've ever hated anything in my life as much as their dancing shit in the middle of the attitude era. I hated it then, I hate it now. But about as over as a midcard act can get for a while there.

 

The Brood

 

Will be maligned for Gangrel, but again these guys were really over for a while and this group was arguably the platform that launched two major stars of the next decade.

Nice list, sir. Some light has been shed, at least recently, on Mid-Sout Wrestling/UWF territory, and one big stable was the rat pack. Matt Osborne(Borne) gets a bad rap because of the pile of shit te Big Josh character was in wcw, and he gets some crap foeb

for Doink the clown. I believe he was really good here with Ted, and Duggan.

[dgrblue]

The Shield have a real case due to match quality. Even the Birds matches were contingent upon their opponents where the Shield were knocking shit out of the park week after week. As individuals, matchups with Hayes and Gordy were out of this world great where I don't know where the great singles matches (while they were a trio) are at. Someone can fill that in for me.

 

Michael Hayes himself will tell you that he is not that good of a worker, but he knows how to run his mouth. Buddy Roberts was the worker of the group. Gordy was a good worker in his own right, however, he was more of the enforcer, in texas. He had much better matches in other places, notably in Japan.

[dgrblue]

The shield does not even hold a candle to the freebirds. Yes, the shield is,great, but it takes more than just good work to make a story great. In the territories, the shield would never have been put together. A big guy like reigns would probably be pushed fast and hard, to the top. Ambrose, probably would be a mid card champ, and Rollins is likely a in a tag team.

 

Heels were in stables, faces just had pals who watched each other's back. Now, that does not mean they could not be "related" to further the story.

[goodhelmet]

 

The Shield have a real case due to match quality. Even the Birds matches were contingent upon their opponents where the Shield were knocking shit out of the park week after week. As individuals, matchups with Hayes and Gordy were out of this world great where I don't know where the great singles matches (while they were a trio) are at. Someone can fill that in for me.

Michael Hayes himself will tell you that he is not that good of a worker, but he knows how to run his mouth. Buddy Roberts was the worker of the group. Gordy was a good worker in his own right, however, he was more of the enforcer, in texas. He had much better matches in other places, notably in Japan.

 

 

I don't trust wrestlers to tell me what I enjoy in a wrestling match. Also, I have seen enough Freebirds to know what kind of workers Gordy, Hayes and Roberts were.

[Dylan Waco]

I think it's far too early to tell what the impact and legacy of The Shield will be.

[Badlittlekitten]

I haven't seen enough Freebirds to give a rational argument. Fact is, Gordy bores me to tears and Hayes is irritating as fuck. Shield is in my top 5 favourite acts in wrestling history. Badstreet though. What a tune.

[Memphis Mark]

I pick the Original Midnight Express . The first team of Dennis Condrey , Norvell Austin and Randy Rose gets my vote. Much better all around wrestlers than the Freebirds.

[JerryvonKramer]

Do you really think Randy Rose was better than any one of Gordy, Roberts or Hayes? Seems ridiculous to me, but I have not seen a lot of Original Midnights in their original run.

 

Randy Rose, to me, is the epitome of a guy who could eek out a middling career in the territories but would have (and should have) been basically a jobber in the national era. Then again, I rather controversially think this about Robert Gibson too. And a lot of it is because I think they look like jobbers.

 

What are some performances that you'd point to to suggest that Rose was anything above a mediocre talent?

[The Chief]

No mention of Legacy?

 

 

 

Ok, I'll leave...

[goodhelmet]

I was going to mention Evolution with Flair as the manager but then Dylan might blow up the internet.

[Memphis Mark]

Do you really think Randy Rose was better than any one of Gordy, Roberts or Hayes? Seems ridiculous to me, but I have not seen a lot of Original Midnights in their original run.

 

Randy Rose, to me, is the epitome of a guy who could eek out a middling career in the territories but would have (and should have) been basically a jobber in the national era. Then again, I rather controversially think this about Robert Gibson too. And a lot of it is because I think they look like jobbers.

 

What are some performances that you'd point to to suggest that Rose was anything above a mediocre talent?

Randy Rose was average. However he worked well with Dennis Condrey , it just seemed to work . I think Dennis is better in the ring than all 3 of the Freebirds . Norvel Austin is underrated , he really could get heat . Norvell was very respected by the fans im the Memphis and Mobile regions.

 

Gordy has a great talent . I always though Hayes ring work was lacking, he main skill was his mic work/ getting heat . . Is Hayes any better than Rose ? Roberts was a solid vet but just past his prime during the Freebird run .

 

So , I think the first Midnight Express trio was superor to the Freebirds. Sure Gordy and Roberts are better than Randy Rose , but I was looking at the entire unit. This is just my POV .