Forever known to pro wrestling fans as the charismatic leader of the The Fabulous Freebirds, one of the upper echelon tag teams of all-time, Michael Seitz began his career as a referee in Tennessee promotions in 1977 before making the transition to in-ring competitor as the more-familiar Michael “P.S.” Hayes, wrestling throughout Tennessee and Mississippi (although he would also wrestle as “Lord” Michael Hayes on occasion during his early career.
In 1979, Hayes would form The Fabulous Freebirds as a tag team with the late Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy, becoming notable for starting the trend of using ring music to mark their entrance, using the hit “Freebird,” by Lynard Skynard. Adding Buddy “Jack” Roberts to the mix, the Freebirds would travel to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)’s Georgia Championship Wrestling territory in 1980, beginning a track record of controversial moments and championship successes, as Hayes would pick up a Georgia tag team title, two NWA Mid-American tag team championships and three reigns as NWA National Tag Team champion teaming with Gordy (Hayes would also team with Otis Sistrunk to win a fourth National tag title). It was little surprise when Hayes, Gordy and Roberts were awarded the Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) Tag Team of the Year Award for 1981. Over the course of the next two years, the trio would combine that championship success with a brief feud, eventually mending fences and heading to Texas and World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1982.
It wouldn’t take long for Hayes and The Freebirds to make an impact, as Christmas night 1982 saw Hayes serve as the guest referee for a NWA World Heavyweight Title steel cage match between WCCW favorite son Kerry Von Erich and then-NWA World Champion Ric Flair. During the match, Hayes knocked out “The Nature Boy,” all but handing the belt to Von Erich, but the face refused to take the pin under those circumstances, angering Hayes. Terry Gordy would later slam the door to the cage on Von Erich’s head, leading to Flair winning the match and retaining the title. The result of this would be one of professional wrestling’s most storied feuds – The Fabulous Freebirds versus the Von Erich Family.
This feud would consume a good portion of the remainder of the decade and would come to define Texas wrestling over that period, as well. Hayes and Gordy would win a WCCW American Tag Team title, the first of many belts over their time in Texas, by defeating the formidable combination of “Wild” Bill Irwin and King Kong Bundy. To close out 1982, Hayes, Gordy and David Von Erich (substituting for Buddy Roberts) defeated “Iron” Mike Sharpe, Ben Sharpe, and Tony Steele to be recognized as the first WCCW World Six-Man Tag Team Champions. Von Erich would hand his share of the title over to Roberts, only to see The Freebirds turn heel in the very next match on that event! These titles were the usual stakes when The Freebirds and the Von Erichs collided, with Hayes winning four more championships with Gordy and Roberts over the next three years in Texas.
In 1984, not only would Hayes and the Freebirds enter the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) for a brief stint, during which time they would wrestle on a few Madison Square Garden shows, mostly against jobbers, but Hayes would record the single “Badstreet USA,” which would become the trio’s new entrance music (although they would still use “Freebird” on occasion). During this period they were managed by Dave Wolf, boyfriend of 80s pop star Cyndi Lauper (who would be briefly involved in pro wrestling herself, appearing in Wendi Richter’s corner at the first WrestleMania). The stay would end with the Freebirds’ departure, due to a clash with WWF creative management at the time, in which the WWF wanted to split the three up and focus them in singles action. Notable about The Freebirds’ stay in the WWF was their appearance in the 1986 hit action film Highlander, as their entrance into the ring at a Madison Square Garden event was included in the opening scenes of the movie.
From the WWF, Hayes, Gordy, and Roberts would arrive in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), feuding with The Road Warriors over the AWA World Tag Team championships. While they would be unsuccessful in capturing the titles (in any combination), including losses to The Road Warriors at SuperClash (Hayes and Gordy) in September 1985, and at AWA WrestleRock (Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) in a steel cage match, they would be instrumental in The Road Warriors’ title loss shortly before returning to WCCW, winning another World Six-Man Tag Team Championship during 1986.
Over 1986 and 1987, the Freebirds would also make their name heard in Bill Watts’ Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), with Hayes (now known as Michael “Pretty Sexy,” or “P.S.” Hayes), feuding with The Fantastics, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, and “Cowboy” Bill Watts. In 1988, Hayes and company wound up their time in World Class Championship Wrestling, as Gordy and Roberts departed, leaving Hayes no other choice but to team with the Von Erichs to battle Gordy, Roberts, and Iceman Parsons, even winning the WCCW World Six-Man Tag Team title for a sixth and final time, ironically enough, teaming with Kevin and Kerry Von Erich! It was at this time that Michael “P.S.” Hayes began a second solo career. Although in late 1988 he teamed with protege’ Steve Cox to win two W.C.W.A. World Tag Team title twice, swapping the belts back and forth with Buddy Roberts’ Samoan SWAT Team, Hayes concentrated more on singles wrestling during this time.
In 1989, after ten years as the leader of The Freebirds, Hayes was flying solo again as he returned to the NWA. Teaming with the United States Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger against Hiro Matsuda’s “Yamasaki Corporation” (the post-Horsemen stable featuring Ric Flair, Butch Reed, and Barry & Kendall Windham), Hayes turned on his partner, joining the Yamasaki Corporation and going on to win the U.S. title in a huge upset from Luger in May as well (thanks in no small part to a shocking return by Terry Gordy to help Hayes!). While Michael Hayes was known more for his tag team expertise during the course of his career, the United States Heavyweight championship would not be the only significant singles title he would win. In January 1984, Hayes captured the NWA United National championship (this title is now known as the AJPW United National championship), losing the title a couple of weeks later to David Von Erich, shortly before Von Erich’s death.
While Hayes would soon drop the title back to Luger, more gold was right around the corner, as in June, he teamed with Jimmy Garvin, who had often been considered the “fourth” Freebird, to win a tournament at Clash of the Champions VII for the vacant NWA World Tag Team championship. From there, they feuded with The Midnight Express and The Rock N Roll Express. Gordy would leave the NWA by the end of 1989.
By 1991, Hayes was out to conquer World Championship Wrestling, as the NWA was now known. Along with Garvin, Hayes would add Badstreet (Brad Armstrong), a masked wrestler, to the new Freebird lineup as they battled The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers), among others. Badstreet would soon pay off dividends, as he helped Hayes and Garvin win the WCW U.S. Tag Team titles. The trio would also go on to hold the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team belts. Portraying a rock band-like gimmick, even referring to Big Daddy Dink (Oliver Humperdink) as their “Tour Manager,” this latest incarnation of the Freebirds would also feud with the Steiner Brothers over the WCW World Tag Team Championship, winning the belts in February 1991.
By 1992, however, the ship seemed adrift for Hayes. Badstreet was gone, and the succession of valets and managers (including Diamond Dallas Page briefly) had proved less than successful in keeping the spark alive. After winning the U.S. Tag Team Championship one more time, The Freebirds would split again in late 1992, with Hayes going on to manage the tag team of Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko, becoming loosely aligned with Paul E. Dangerously’s Dangerous Alliance (as Anderson and Zbyszko already were at the time). By 1993, Hayes was a face again, feuding with “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff over the WCW World TV title and teaming briefly with Johnny B. Badd, in addition to doing some commentating before leaving World Championship Wrestling in 1994.
After years of wrestling, injury would force Hayes to retire from active competition in 1995. Returning to the World Wrestling Federation repackaged as announcer Doc Hendrix, he would make his debut providing commentary with Vince McMahon at the first In Your House pay-per-view. Co-hosting the WWF Action Zone with Todd Pettengill and commentating on WWF Superstars and international broadcasts, Hendrix also provided backstage interviews for Monday Night Raw (occasionally filling in on commentary) and numerous monthly pay per views (he was the host for all the Free For All pre-show broadcasts.)
In 1999, Hayes would make a comeback, in a conventional fashion. While The Hardy Boyz were feuding with Gangrel and his Brood (Edge and Christian), the Brood called Hendrix by his real name before delivering a blood bath on an April 1999 episode of SmackDown. Hayes would then enter the fray as The Hardy Boyz’ manager, teaming with them in occasional six-man tag team matches against Gangrel and the Brood. During this time, Hayes would also test the singles waters again, heading back to Memphis for a spell and winning the Power Pro Wrestling (PPW) Heavyweight championship. The fans were not unappreciative, as Hayes would finish among the runners-up in voting for the PWI Comeback of the Year Award. The run with the Hardy Boyz was short-lived, and after being “fired” by The Hardy Boyz four months later in August, Hayes would return to a backstage role with the WWF as a road agent.
In 2000 – 2001, Hayes served as a commentator on Sunday Night HEAT with Michael Cole and Kevin Kelly, although he was mostly seen on overseas broadcasts. In addition, Hayes competed in the “gimmick” battle royal at WrestleMania X-7.
While WrestleMania X-7 served as the final in-ring appearance of Hayes’ often-controversial career, life behind the scenes has not been any less controversial over the years. In 2002, Hayes was a central figure in the now-infamous “plane ride from hell,” in which several drunken WWF stars created an incident on a flight during a UK tour (his hair was cut off and glued to a wall in the arena the WWF appeared at the following night, among other things). Hayes can still be seen occasionally on WWE programming, helping security and staff break up brawls.
2003 would feature Hayes be honored twice by Pro Wrestling Illustrated, as they would not only rank him #71 of the best 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years, but The Fabulous Freebirds as the 3rd best tag team during that period as well! In November 2003, however Hayes would draw some negative criticism following the November 13 episode of SmackDown, in which Hayes had created a storyline in which John Cena would turn on partner Chris Benoit following a tag team match victory, in what would be a huge heel turn for Cena. The problem was no one else thought the idea was going to pan out, and as a result, Hayes went over the entire creative staff to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, talking him into the idea. The crowd reacted so poorly to the angle that it was edited from the broadcast version of the episode.
Most recently, during the December 5, 2005 episode of Monday Night RAW, Hayes, along with Sgt. Slaughter, became involved in an on-air incident with Edge and Lita, who were cutting a promo on Ric Flair. Hayes and Slaughter came to the ring telling Edge to cut the segment. Edge responded with a shocking remark, that Hayes couldn’t do anything because his best friend, Terry Gordy, was dead! Firing right back, Hayes told Edge the only reason he was where he was at was due to “banging Matt Hardy’s ex-girlfriend!” The segment would end with a fight, with Hayes and Slaughter being laid out by Edge.
A longtime staff writer and producer, Hayes currently serves as the head creative writer for the SmackDown brand, assuming the role after Alex Greenfield left the company in October 2006.
