What is the birds of war in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia? Details explored

Season 5, Episode 7 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia introduces one of the show’s most absurd group personas, Birds of War. The episode centers around the Gang’s decision to host a wrestling match for American troops returning from overseas.

Instead of doing anything remotely respectful or organized, Dennis, Mac, and Charlie create a low-budget wrestling gimmick based on birds, painting abs on their torsos and duct-taping feathers to their arms. They call themselves the Birds of War, write a theme song, and rehearse a choreographed stomp‑clap entrance they think will bring the house down.

In It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Frank shows up in the middle of it dressed as “The Trashman,” a completely unrelated character who starts throwing trash in the ring and tries to eat it in front of the crowd. Rickety Cricket is roped in last minute as the villain, forced to wear a fake terrorist costume and take a beating. The audience doesn’t react the way the Gang expects.

The song falls flat, the performance makes no sense, and everything unravels fast. Dennis, Mac, and Charlie genuinely believe they’re putting on a patriotic tribute, but they haven’t thought through any part of it. From the duct-taped feathers to the confusing choreography, the entire Birds of War act turns into an awkward spectacle with no real payoff. It’s loud, it’s ridiculous, and it’s exactly the kind of public embarrassment they constantly walk into without realizing it.

How a patriotic wrestling tribute turned into total mayhem in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

The “Birds of War” is a three-man wrestling gimmick created by Dennis, Mac, and Charlie in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, introduced in Season 5, Episode 7, titled The Gang Wrestles for the Troops. Their goal is to organize a wrestling event to entertain U.S. soldiers returning from overseas.

Instead of hiring professionals or coordinating with anyone, they decide to headline the event themselves under a made-up persona involving patriotic eagles, stomping, and singing. The name “Birds of War” comes from their attempt to mix bald eagle imagery with over-the-top masculinity and shallow American symbolism.

Their costumes are made entirely from dollar store materials, feathers stuck to gym clothes, black paint used to draw abs, and duct tape to keep it all in place.

The theme song in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is written and performed by them, containing lines like “Yes we have feathers, but the muscles of men,” set to a stomp-clap rhythm that’s supposed to rile up the crowd. They practice the routine in the back of Paddy’s Pub with complete confidence, ignoring the fact that none of them have wrestling experience or any idea how to perform in front of a live audience.

The entire setup is filled with contradictions. They call themselves the Birds of War but don’t explain what that means. They promote themselves as a patriotic act but spend more time showing off their costumes than acknowledging the actual troops. The song they sing is completely disconnected from wrestling, full of awkward lines and confused metaphors. Their belief that pageantry alone can replace actual performance is part of what makes the gimmick fall apart so quickly.

They originally plan to have professional wrestler Da’ Maniac (played by Roddy Piper) face off against them. But when Da’ Maniac gets arrested offscreen, they panic and convince Rickety Cricket to step in. Cricket is dressed in a vaguely Middle Eastern outfit and introduced as “The Talibum,” a clear attempt to parody foreign villain tropes from 1980s wrestling.

Cricket doesn’t know what he’s doing, and the whole thing goes off-script almost immediately. Dennis, Mac, and Charlie try to perform their entrance routine in front of the crowd, but there’s no reaction. People are silent. Nothing lands the way they imagined.

Frank, without warning, interrupts the match by entering the ring as “The Trashman.” His costume is just as low-effort as theirs, black singlet, crazy hair, and a trash can. He begins throwing garbage at everyone, screaming that he eats trash. This derails the match entirely. Dennis panics, Charlie looks around confused, and the troops in the crowd finally start reacting, not because the act is good, but because the chaos is so intense it becomes entertaining.

By the end of the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode, the Birds of War gimmick is a complete failure in its intended purpose but a success in revealing how little the Gang understands about respect, organization, or basic entertainment. The name sticks with fans because of how confidently wrong every single part of it is.

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