Jimmy Garvin on his WWE Hall of Fame induction, his status as a member of The Freebirds

Jimmy Garvin spoke with Brian Fritz of Sporting News regarding his entry into the WWE Hall of Fame. The following are highlights of the story, which can be read in full at SportingNews.com or listen to the full podcast at Soundcloud.com/betweentheropes.

-Garvin on whether he was surprised to learn that he will be inducted as part of The Freebirds this year: “No, I was really quite surprised. Michael has mentioned something about it. We didn’t really talk too much about it because it was in Atlanta a few years back. People would say “Atlanta feels like the place” but Dallas is a great place, too, because of what we accomplished and what we did in Dallas.”

On his status as a Freebird: “I was always, from the time the Freebirds came together — of course, I was in another territory — but Michael and I always stayed close and our thoughts and beliefs of the business was so alike. I was born a Freebird, Michael was, too, and so was Terry and obviously Buddy. We just happened to finally get together. It’s one of those things, too, that it was just a matter of time before that happened. A lot of times in the years before they referred to me as the undercover Freebird before I was an official Freebird when I was doing the ‘Gorgeous’ Jimmy Garvin character. Of course, when I was doing ‘Gorgeous’ Jimmy Garvin and the Freebirds were doing their stuff in Dallas, I was a Freebird then. It just that I was busy doing ‘Gorgeous’ Jimmy Garvin, but who I was really? I was a Freebird but I had this character that I knew would do well, which it did, so I’ve always been a Freebird. I was born on Sept. 25, 1952, a Freebird. We were all too alike to not be together. And being a Freebird at the time was a dangerous occupation as well with all of things going on.”

Powell’s POV: Garvin also spoke about some dangerous moments in his career including being stabbed twice during a riot, and told a crazy story about a man who brought a rifle with the intention of shooting him. Now that’s heat, brother! It’s a good interview with Garvin discussing one of my favorite times in pro wrestling, the peak of World Class Championship Wrestling during the peak of The Von Erichs vs. The Freebirds feud.