View Poll Results: How do you see the OVERALL legacy of Terry Funk?

**Sho'nuff** · 10-10-2012, 03:20 AM

Only a legend for me. To say he's GOAT is ranking him above Flair, which I can't do and even then, I don't have Flair as GOAT but he is ahead of Funk.

Nothing against Funk, as I enjoyed him most in ECW, as he still performed at a good pace. It's just that the GOAT term gets thrown around so much and is undeserved in some cases. Some fans have GOAT lists with nothing but Attitude Era stars, some with old school stars, some with a mix of those 2 and international stars.

Funk is indeed a legend and an international star. But, I'd be lying to myself if I labeled him GOAT, considering I've never listed him any other time in GOAT threads. He revolutionized the wild, brawling style and from what I hear, had an impressive career in the 70s and 80s. He was actually 1 of the first wrestlers I've ever seen perform on TV (with Muta vs. Sting/Flair).

Legend indeed but, for my personal tastes, likely not in my top 25. Then again, I'm only 26 and most of his glory was before I was born.

**WOOLCOCK** · 10-10-2012, 04:20 AM

I wouldn't say calling him a GOAT is necessarily ranking him ahead of Flair, I mean I get a few in this thread have stated Terry is the best of all time to them, but me personally I listed because on any given day to me he's capable of becoming the best ever in my mind...however the abundance of quality professional wrestlers from America, Britain, Japan and Mexico means its impossible for me to ever truly rank one man ahead of the rest.

I mean at this very point in time Funk wouldn't leave my top 5 all time, but Fujiwara atm is who I consider to be the all time best, simply because I've watched a fair few more matches of him in the last month and its made me appreciate his quality work so much more.

As for Funk vs Flair...well to me its the battle between the guy with amazing wrestling attributes and an abundance of great matches against a guy who in his own right has a great array of matches, but who's made his name more through never delivering a bad performance and always bringing something innovative and good to any match he's involved in. Like if we would rank Funk vs Flair in terms of number of great matches...Flair has him beat like he does most wrestlers not named Lawler, Misawa and Fujiwara. However if we went by number of great performances...I'd say the difference between both is incredibly close and I'd even be tempted to rank Funk higher in terms of volume of great/outstanding performances.

nailz_jaggzy · 10-10-2012, 04:38 AM

Does GOAT mean greatest of all time?

I think he is a legend in the hardcore division. One of my all time favourite hardcore wrestlers, but I don't think I like the Funker as much as a lot of people in the IWC do. I definitely respect what he has done for the business though.

Jbardo · 10-10-2012, 05:10 AM

Can someone name some matches I should check out of his? I love his matches with Flair and would like to see more.

**WOOLCOCK** · 10-10-2012, 05:42 AM

Terry & Dory Funk vs Sheik & Abdullah the Butcher 1977 and 1979 (4 matches in total I believe, all super. Most on youtube but I can provide a link to others if they're not available).

Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen 4/14/83

Terry Funk & Dory Funk vs Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy 8/31/83

Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler NO DQ 3/23/81

Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler Empty Arena Match 81

Terry Funk vs Ricky Steamboat 1989

There are other 70s matches from All Japan, but those would be the necessary starting point IMO. He's sensational in the 1994 WarGames match as well btw.