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Thoughts on Terry Funk?

3K views 23 replies 21 participants last post by  Saturn 
#1 ·
Been wanting to do a few of these "thoughts" threads in the classic section, and wanted to start with one of my all time favorites, Terry Funk.

So basically in this thread just give your opinion on Terry, his promos, his feuds, how you feel about him personally, and if you can tell me how you felt the first time you saw him (match or promo.)


For me, growing up in the ruthless aggression era, Terry Funk is way before my time. (Though he obviously he was still wrestling) Eventually, as I got into wrestling and learning about some of all the old timers, Terry Funk is someone I gravitated too. I loved his promo style, and seeing as Mick Foley is my favorite of all time, I would watch Terry work with Foley a lot, and was shocked at the amount of punishment he would take at his age.

My love for Terry would grow with all the ECW shoots I would watch, The Rise and Fall of ECW DVD, and just seeing how Terry was the backbone of ECW early on, watching him moonsault, seeing his flesh ripped off his body, kinda made me appreciate him more.

But then I actually started watching his promos, his heel work early on, some of his promos I found to be awesome and just batshit crazy, and the way he portrayed himself, he came across as someone actually tough and insane, and I found him so good I can easily say he's in my opinon, the top 3 promo guys I've had the pleasure of saying, the other two being Foley and Piper.


Terry also holds a special place in my heart, seeing growing up I was an awkward kid, who really loved wrestling, but was too nervous to go to shows as I had no one to go with. Well I learned Terry Funk was going to work at Wrestlereunion show (Along with Piper) and knowing that I spent quite a bit of money that I had, to go see Terry Funk, and that would be my first wrestling show.

So yea, I seriously love Terry Funk. His passion is so strong, and it's kinda heart-breaking to see him wrestle for so many years, but I truly appreciate him. I love his brawling style, his moonsault, his Spinning Toe Hold (one of my favorite Submission moves) and I just find him so endearing.

One of my favorites that's for sure.



 
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#2 ·
Terry "Fucking" Funk is the man. You will never meet a more genuine and insightful person in your entire life. I mean this from the very core of my heart. Terry Funk belongs on everyone's top list. You won't ever see another Terry Funk again. Is there anyone tougher in the last fifty years? He defines grit and he is one of the best entertainers of all times.
 
#11 ·
Not sure of many other people that have given as much to the wrestling business as he has... literally drawing a blank right now.

He was a bit before my time (I started watching in the early 90's), but the stuff he did during that period was amazing. If nothing else, everyone should respect what he did for ECW in 1997. Someone his age holding nothing back to help get an up-and-coming company over is admirable, and shows his dedication and love for wrestling in general.

He also deserves credit for helping NAO get over. He let them beat him half to death to get heat on them/get them over.

I doubt we'll see another like him.
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
The_It_Factor said:
Not sure of many other people that have given as much to the wrestling business as he has... literally drawing a blank right now.

He was a bit before my time (I started watching in the early 90's), but the stuff he did during that period was amazing. If nothing else, everyone should respect what he did for ECW in 1997. Someone his age holding nothing back to help get an up-and-coming company over is admirable, and shows his dedication and love for wrestling in general.

He also deserves credit for helping NAO get over. He let them beat him half to death to get heat on them/get them over.

I doubt we'll see another like him.
Yeah, those hardcore matches were some of NAO's best early showings.

Pretty sure Kobe was a huge reason why the Lakers 3-peated and won back to back titles after Shaq left....
Not a prime Gasol and Bynum. Just Kobe. OK.

This. I was shocked when Hunter cut that AMAZING promo on Seth when Joe debuted, because when I was a kid Triple H was NEVER that good of a promo. He was merely OK. His moveset relied on one cooler finisher. His character work is probably the best part about him.

People who insist he's this GOAT are mistaking character(His character THINKS he's the GOAT) with reality(He's the original B plus player)
Promo was decent. Seemed like he was trying to elevate Seth Rollin's T-shirt sales. How many damn times did he say "Seth Frickin' Rollins"? A bit too much for me.

All his promos are pretty the same self bloviating thing.

I loved his heel run being built off of drugging Steph and bucking Vince who was unexplainably face just a few months after being behind The Higher Power Reveal. Imagine now if that storyline occurred all the Snowflakes would say HHH is rapist, sexist and so on.
 
#13 ·
The_It_Factor said:
Not sure of many other people that have given as much to the wrestling business as he has... literally drawing a blank right now.

He was a bit before my time (I started watching in the early 90's), but the stuff he did during that period was amazing. If nothing else, everyone should respect what he did for ECW in 1997. Someone his age holding nothing back to help get an up-and-coming company over is admirable, and shows his dedication and love for wrestling in general.

He also deserves credit for helping NAO get over. He let them beat him half to death to get heat on them/get them over.

I doubt we'll see another like him.
Yeah, those hardcore matches were some of NAO's best early showings. Enjoyed the Dumpster match at WM14.
 
#14 ·
A true legend. The Godfather of Hardcore.

I think the best thing you can say about him though came from Paul Heyman, I'm paraphrasing of course, Funk was smart enough to realize he had to help get the next generation ready so that their could be a next generation.

He was always willing to work with, teach, and put over younger guys, that's not something that can be said about a lot of guys from that generation.
 
#16 ·
One word, Legend.

Plus he was awesome in Roadhouse. "Mind your own business Dad!"
 
#17 ·
Even if you've never seen him pre-90's, how can you not love him? Just his 90's stuff alone is why he is a great in wrestling. He sacrificed his body and his life, poured his heart and soul into wrestling even at an old age and that's why he's so beloved. What he did for ECW, for The New Age Outlaws in the WWF was just amazing. His feud with Flair in 89 WCW is one of the GOAT feuds of all time.

The Lord Of Hardcore, a Legend, a GOAT...so many things you can say about the man.
 
#19 ·
You're gonna all shoot me for this but I met him in 2010 and I didn't know who he was. I'd not watched wrestling for a while and when I did I started to look back on the era's of WWE from early - mid 90's really which I fell in love with so I wasn't fully aware of him. I spent the day with him in 2010 and a few other legends and he was really lovely, he was asked if he liked Vince and his response was 'Do I like Vince, No, Do I respect him, Yes', then a friend of mine was like 'He's in that Roadhouse film' (I think it's Roadhouse) and then I realised how much of a legend he was when I looked more into his career which is fantastic.

The good thing about it was meeting him without any expectations or pre judegmental idea's and honestly, the guy was an absolute diamond. He came and shook everyone's hand before anything and was just so lovely, so in a word Terry Funk is not only a legend but is also a dude I've got mad respect for from a personal perspective.

It just makes me wonder why so much that their careers aren't as highlighted as they should be by the WWE, as I've mentioned with a few talents previously I feel are way underrated the WWE tend to only credit who they want to credit at the time.
 
#21 ·
I have immense respect for Terry Funk as he, from what I've seen, has always done what was best for the business and not for himself. Sure he's had his moments where he maybe went into business for himself...
(Pettingill, your mother's a whore!)

That said, he's had tremendous technical and hardcore matches, his promo's have always been full of passion and he could tell a story.
It's just sad that he's still out there wrestling at 70+ years of age.
 
#23 ·
Terry Funk was definitely fun to watch. I remember watching him in the early 80s with his feuds with Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, and Jerry Lawler. To me, the best promo I ever heard of his was right before his match at GAB 89 against Flair. The fans are chanting, "WE WANT FLAIR!" and then he suddenly breaks down and says, "I DO TOO! I WANT FLAIR! I WANT FLAIR!"
 
#24 · (Edited)
Just recently watched Terry Funk vs. Johnny the Bull on the WWE Network.

Man he's just a crazy bastard. Willing to just batter himself up through a match. It was a good, hardcore match by the way and worth checking out.


EDIT - watching the "Beyond The Matt" PPV and they talk about him a lot in it. Pretty interesting stuff.
 
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