Soon-to-be WWE Hall Of Famer Michael Hayes recently appeared as a guest on Ric Flair's "WOOOOO! Nation" podcast to talk about his upcoming WWE Hall Of Fame induction as part of The Fabulous Freebirds. Below are some of the highlights.
On the upcoming WWE Hall Of Fame induction of The Fabulous Freebirds:
"Back about five years ago when WrestleMania was in Atlanta [Georgia], and before that, I used to sit on pins and needles wondering the whole time if this was the year. 'Will this be the year we go in the Hall Of Fame?' And when it didn't happen in Atlanta, it just broke my heart. I just couldn't believe it. And was like, 'really?'. It was just a cutoff point in my life because, from then on, I didn't worry about it. I just didn't. I became numb to it. I didn't hate it or anything of that ilk. I was just in a mindset of, like, 'okay' because I was always like, 'if we don't get in, fine. Our career validates itself. When you put asses in seats and you give people more than their money's worth, you are Hall Of Fame material, no matter what Hall Of Fame that is.' But then, of course, I found out from my job on the inside that [WrestleMania in] Dallas [Texas] was on the horizon and those feelings started coming back. And when Triple H told me some months ago, 'oh yeah, you guys are going in', I was like, 'oh, man.' And all these memories come flooding back in and all the times we had. Just unbelievable times back then."
On the families of the Freebirds members speaking at the induction ceremony:
"I'm happy for them [and] their families. Terry's son is going to speak about [Terry Ray Gordy]. Buddy Roberts, Jr. is going to be talking about his dad. Yeah, that's going to be super emotional, as you can imagine." Hayes added, "I wished Terry and Buddy would be there and I know they will be there and playing ribs on me all night long, but the recognition, it's cool."
On The Road Dogg turning his life around:
"I'm happy for them [and] their families. Terry's son is going to speak about [Terry Ray Gordy]. Buddy Roberts, Jr. is going to be talking about his dad. Yeah, that's going to be super emotional, as you can imagine." Hayes added, "I wished Terry and Buddy would be there and I know they will be there and playing ribs on me all night long, but the recognition, it's cool."
