In one of my daily YouTube treks into old-school wrestling, I came across a match I’d heard of but never checked out: Ted DiBiase & Junkyard Dog vs. The Fabulous Freebirds.
It took place in Georgia Championship Wrestling on a late March 1981 broadcast. The bout is often referred to as the “Four Piledriver Angle” or the “Four Piledriver Match”.
The Fabulous Freebirds Bringing the Viciousness
In this match, we had Michael Hayes at ringside with Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy taking on a young Ted DiBiase and Junkyard Dog.
Now, this was your substandard studio match. The ring was the lowest I’ve seen a ring. I mean the bottom of the ring posts were cut so damn low, the ring apron to the floor was a living room couch in height.
Also, these were some loose-ass ropes. Never mind all of that, the match itself was in the mediocre range but that wasn’t the fault of DiBiase or the Fabulous Freebirds. Those four did their jobs well. Michael Hayes was delivering the goods at ringside, Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy did well with a vicious beat down on DiBiase.
Oh, and Ted DiBiase took that beat wonderfully. I mean he got his ass beat by them in the second half of the match. It was that spill he took to the outside after Hayes pulled the ropes that turned the tables. He took all four piledrivers including one on the outside!
Mind you, these were my preferred piledrivers of the jumping persuasion. At least after the first one from Gordy on the outside. DiBiase was fading after each one but reached down and kicked out each time. Gordon Solie’s commentary was clutch and the fans were eating this up barehanded.
However….
Junkyard Dog Was the Sorriest Tag Partner Ever This Night
Seriously, folks. Junkyard Dog was just standing on the apron. Maybe he was working through an injury but this dude just stood there while Ted DiBiase was having his brains scrambled with FOUR PILEDRIVERS!
It was doomsday for the skull to quote the 1989 Nintendo wrestling classic Tecmo World Wrestling. How many times did DiBiase need to be drilled on his head by the Freebirds before Junkyard Dog said “That’s enough, damn it!”
Yet JYD didn’t waver. He stood his ground on that apron and he held that top rope. The man couldn’t even step that far to break up the pin each time. JYD treated this ring as if it was the WWE monster ring and the distance just wouldn’t have been traversable.
He agonized as his young partner lost brain cells with each leaping piledriver. Have you ever seen those tag team squash matches where the partner knows his role and shuts his mouth on the apron while his jobber partner takes a tag team finisher?
Junkyard Dog was doing his best impression of that even though he wrestled earlier in the match! It’s a good thing DiBiase had a ton of spirit and Tommy Rich made the save.
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