The Freebird Rule is a professional wrestling angle where a stable of three (or more) wrestlers can hold and defend a tag team championship on a rotational basis. That is, any two members of the stable can defend and possibly lose the championship regardless of which two members originally won them. Typically all members will be recognized at the champions.
The angle was named after the Fabulous Freebirds during their tenure in various regional promotions in the National Wrestling Alliance. Though it's likely that the Midnight Express express were the first to use the angle.
Notable examples[]
- The Midnight Express: Dennis Condrey, Randy Rose, and Norvell Austin (Southeastern Championship Wrestling, 1980–1983)
- The Russians: Ivan Koloff, Nikita Koloff, and Krusher Khruschev (JCP, 1985–1986)
- Demolition: Ax, Smash, and Crush (WWF, 1990)
- The Heavenly Bodies: Stan Lane, Tom Prichard, and Bobby Eaton (SMW, 1993)
- The Wolfpac: Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Syxx (WCW, 1997)
- Jersey Triad: Diamond Dallas Page, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Chris Kanyon (WCW, 1999) (Unlike other uses, the Jersey Triad was allowed to switch between the three members during a match, as long as one member was on the floor)
- Triple X: Elix Skipper, Low Ki, and Christopher Daniels (TNA, 2003)
- 3 Live Kru: Konnan, B.G. James, and Ron Killings (TNA, 2003–2004)
- Spirit Squad: Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky, and Mikey (WWE, 2006)
- Chri$ Ca$h, SeXXXy Eddy, Nate Webb and J.C. Bailey (Combat Zone Wrestling, 2004–2005)
- The Dudebusters: Trent Barreta, Caylen Croft and Curt Hawkins (Florida Championship Wrestling, 2009–2010)
- The Beautiful People: Lacey Von Erich, Velvet Sky, and Madison Rayne (TNA, 2010)
- The Band: Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Eric Young (TNA, 2010)
- The Family: Jessie Godderz, Rob Terry, Mohamad Ali Vaez, and Rudy Switchblade (OVW, 2012)
- The New Day: Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods (WWE, 2015–2016 (Raw); 2017–present (SmackDown))
- Cerberus: Ilja Dragunov, Julian Nero, and Robert Dreissker/Dirty Dragan (wXw, 2015–2016) (Robert Dreissker was replaced by Dirty Dragan on April 22, 2016 due a shoulder injury)
- The Wyatt Family: Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, and Luke Harper (WWE (SmackDown), 2016)
- Sanity: Alexander Wolfe, Eric Young, and Killian Dain (NXT, 2017)
- The Undisputed Era: Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong and Adam Cole (NXT, 2017–2018)
- The Dynasty: Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Richard Holliday, and Alexander Hammerstone (MLW, 2019)
Variations[]
Sometimes promotions adapt this rule to other style of championships to mixed success. Single championships have been co-held by two wrestlers, though typically only one is recognized as the official champion while the co-holder merely fills up for a given reason. Most high profile examples are Chyna and Chris Jericho co-holding the WWF Intercontinental Championship (though the WWE does not recognize the reign) and Michael Shane and Frankie Kazarian co-holding the Impact X Division Championship.
In 2017, the Bullet Club invoked "Bullet Club Rules" to allow Cody, Kenny Omega, & Marty Scrull to defend the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship despite Adam Page & The Young Bucks holding the titles, but Page & the Young Bucks are still only recognized as the champions.