Terry Gordy Terry Ray Gordy , Sr . ( April 23 , 1961 – July 16 , 2001 ) was an American professional wrestler who was best known in North America for being a member of the Fabulous Freebirds . Career . Gordy started wrestling in 1975 at the age of 14 as Terry Mecca for the I . W . A . In early 1979 , he began wrestling under his real name and formed the Fabulous Freebirds with Michael Hayes . Buddy Roberts was later added to the group . In 1982 , the Freebirds went to World Class Championship Wrestling and had a heated and memorable feud with the Von Erichs ( David , Kevin , Kerry and Mike ) . The Freebirds spent some time in the NWA ' s Jim Crockett Promotions where they split to feud briefly , but later reunited . They also spent a very brief time in the WWF , but left after management suggested splitting them up . In 1986 , when the Freebirds were in the Universal Wrestling Federation , Gordy won the UWF Heavyweight title and held it for 6 months , before losing it via forfeit to The One Man Gang , after an angle the same night which saw Gordy injured at the hands of " Dr . Death " Steve Williams . During this time , Gordy and the Freebirds had an ongoing feud with UWF fan favorite Hacksaw Jim Duggan , which saw Duggan and Gordy frequently squaring off , usually ending in a disqualification due to outside interference . In 1989 , Gordy helped Hayes reform the Freebirds , with Jimmy Garvin , in Jim Crockett Promotions ( which would become World Championship Wrestling in 1991 . After leaving JCP , Gordy teamed with Steve Williams as the " The Miracle Violence Connection " in All Japan Pro Wrestling . During his time there , he also held the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship on two occasions . Gordy and Williams came to WCW in 1992 and won the WCW World Tag Team Titles . They would also win the NWA World Tag Team titles in a tournament at the Great American Bash card in Albany , Georgia one week later , and unified the titles . They feuded with Rick and Scott Steiner , which , in Japan , was hyped as a feud between the best foreign teams of the two top Japanese promotions ( the Steiners were competing for rival New Japan Pro Wrestling at the time ) . Despite advances by New Japan , Gordy and Williams , out of loyalty to AJPW founder and promoter , Giant Baba , refused to compete for the promotion ( which had business ties with WCW at the time ) , leading to Gordy ' s departure from WCW before Halloween Havoc and Williams ' departure after Starrcade . In 1993 Gordy , while traveling from the United States to Japan for a tour , overdosed on pain medication and slipped into a coma , ultimately suffering permanent brain damage . He returned to action later that year , but never received a shot at the Triple Crown again . In 1994 , Gordy had a small reunion with Hayes and Garvin as the Freebirds in the Global Wrestling Federation where he won the GWF Tag Team Titles with Garvin . In 1996 , Gordy showed up in Extreme Championship Wrestling to challenge Raven for the ECW World Heavyweight Title , as the " internationally recognized # 1 contender . " He had been working for the IWA promotion in Japan , wrestling deathmatches . He lost , but went on to team with Tommy Dreamer and later reunite with " Dr . Death " Steve Williams to wrestle The Eliminators . He also wrestled Bam Bam Bigelow in what was billed as the first ever " Battle Of The Bam Bams . " Gordy lost the match due to outside interference from The Eliminators . He had a brief run in the WWF as The Executioner in 1996 . He teamed with Mankind , both managed by Paul Bearer , and feuded with The Undertaker . The Executioner would come to the ring under a mask and carry a plastic axe . The Executioner made his TV debut at the " In Your House " pay - per - view , " " , where he interfered in The Undertaker ' s Buried Alive match with Mankind , hitting him with a shovel and burying him with the help of several other wrestlers . However , at " " , The Undertaker made short work of The Executioner in an Armageddon Rules match , and Gordy left the promotion shortly afterwards . Gordy died of a heart attack , caused by a blood clot on July 16 , 2001 . He was 40 years old . His son Terry Ray Gordy Jr . has wrestled for WWE on the SmackDown ! brand as Jesse and Slam Master J before being released in 2010 . His nephew is Richard Acelinger , who competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling as Richard Slinger .