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How do you see the OVERALL legacy of Terry Funk?

The legacy25: Terry Funk

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#1 ·
The Hardcore Legend, a guy who has worked across four decades and in 19 promotions excluding indies including WWE/WCW/TNA/ROH/AWA/NWA/ECW and transcended styles including the ones he was most popular for; Hardcore, Brawler suiting himself to the times. He still does not come up as a legend or a G.O.A.T outside the hardcore division in which he set precedents for Mick Foley.

How do you see his legacy?
 
#3 · (Edited)
G.O.A.T in so much as he's right there in the discussion for who is the all time best. When it comes to best American Wrestlers he has just as good an argument as Flair, Lawler, Windham, Murdoch, Hansen, Steamboat, Arn Anderson, Eaton, Morton etc. Then when you factor in puro and Lucha he once again seems comfortable alongside Tenryu, Kawada, Misawa, El Hijo Del Santo, El Satanico, Hashimoto, Ishikawa, Fujiwara etc.

Arguably the most naturally talented wrestler of all time, in so far as I don't think anybody ever 'got' pro wrestling and all the varying intagibles quite like Terry Funk. His ability to develop from a technician in the NWA days, to touring Japan as the scientifically gifted yet fiery and aggressive passionate babyface turned brawler, to his stint in the formation of ECW as an aging veteran who slowly altered into a bumping lunatic in a hardcore environment, to his days feuding with Lawler in Memphis and Flair in the NWA/WCW as the deranged psycho lunatic. He was as talented as they come in playing a multitude of characters and roles in any given setting in front of a hometown/foreign crowd and continually making it work and succeeding in each environment.

Perhaps the most expressive wrestler of all time. Watch his performance in the late 70s and early 80s as part of the Funk brothers team in All Japan. His battles with Sheik & Abdullah the Butcher as well as his later struggles against Stan Hansen demonstrate how charismatic and sensational he was as a plucky and resilient babyface fighting all the odds. In many ways he's the precursor to what made Ricky Morton a southern tag wrestling legend, bumping big, timing his offence to precision, having one of the most expressive and captivating comebacks in all of wrestling etc. The fact he was arguably as over as the most beloved Japanese homegrown talent during his All Japan days points to how utterly fabulous the man was, no gaijin has ever come close to having the Japanese embrace him as one of their own quite like the Funker did. Watch the 8/31/83 retirement tag against Hansen and Gordy, listen to the crowd whenever Funk enters the ring and then watch the post match promo: pure emotion and he receives the sort of heart tingling reaction many would be lucky to receive in front of a hometown US crowd let alone in a foreign promotion.

Sensational brawler, sound technician, terrific babyface, astute heel whether he was working comedy comeuppance spots or sheer lunatic pyschopath bloodbaths. He was the sort of crazed heel Jimmy Jacobs would later adopt on the Independent scene, and from Memphis to Philly to WCW he was able to get heat like it was the easiest thing in the world. Forget your Shawn Michaels' of the wrestling world, Terry Funk was the true 'showstopper' in terms of putting on a captivating, maticulate yet thoroughly riveting and entertaining performance. The man was simply a true genius in his work and could be trusted to work any given match style, opening match, undercard, uppercard or the main event and whether it was the Kings Road formula in Japan, the brawling and storytelling formula that drove Memphis or the NWA style he could excel and make it work and get the best out of whoever he worked.

You can never talk too much about Terry Funk. He has the catalogue of classic matches to be in the discussion when it comes to best wrestlers of all time, but he crucially has that ability to always look a cut above whoever he's working on any given night in any promotion and continually look like the best wrestler to grace the planet. I mean christ he managed to have an outstanding match against Lawler back in 2011 on a low level Independent show with both men past the age of 60, that is how good and how timeless Funk's approach and creativity is. The man knows no bounds in how to control a crowd and structure a match in spite of his ageing body and deteriorating physique and athleticism.
 
#2 ·
The Hardcore Legend, a guy who has worked across four decades and in 19 promotions excluding indies including WWE/WCW/TNA/ROH/AWA/NWA/ECW and transcended styles including the ones he was most popular for; Hardcore, Brawler suiting himself to the times. He still does not come up as a legend or a G.O.A.T outside the hardcore division in which he set precedents for Mick Foley.

How do you see his legacy?
Are you for real? You do realize that before he went hardcore in the 80's and 90's he was already 20 years in his career, among top 2-3 wrestling superstars on the planet and the NWA champion?

Terry is the absolute G.O.A.T. in every sense of that phrase.
 
#8 · (Edited)
So how many G.O.A.T threads have you seen at the least in this forum with Terry Funk's name in the poll or replies? I came across just twice in G.O.A.T threads compared to the numerous times we got Austin, Hulk and Rock.

P.S: I do not want to build this thread on those names for this is about Funk and not Funk VS any of those guys.
 
#4 · (Edited)
G.O.A.T.
Honestly my favourite wrestler of all time and anyone who thinks hes only notable for hardcore stuff seriously needs a history lesson, no one can make me believe in a story or angle quite like Funk can,guy could do it anything, the I quit feud with Flair would probably be my favourite of all.

Recently found this interview from I think the late 90s, couple of interesting nuggets about Flair and Hogan there
http://www.australiansportsentertainment.com/terryfunkbio.html
btw his WWF match with Hogan is well worth a look.

On top of all that he just seems like one of the most likeable respectable guys in the business. One of my fave Funk stories is from Foleys first book, Mick was having his first match against him and was most looking forward to taking and selling Funks legendery punch (the best in the business) and was a little surprised to find they werent worked but just looked so good because they were 100% real.
He mentions this to Funk after the match and Terry replies in his sweet old man voice
"oh Cactus Jack, all this time you just thought I was really good!"
 
#14 ·
Funk not appearing in a lot of GOAT threads on here shouldn't be indictive of his quality, he's just a victim of circumstance in that so many people on those lists are either Attitude Era stars or prior stars from the Golden Generation or before that, who've become enshrined in any 'GOAT' discussion through either their starpower, charisma, character or drawing ability.

Make no mistake about it, when you remove all the booking advantages, backing from the higher ups and the opportunity to become a major star, and instead focus merely on who is purely the best 'wrestler' (ring work, character work, getting an angle over, storytelling, selling, psychology, a general performance) Terry Funk absolutely belongs on any GOAT thread. The reason he is overlooked is that younger fans aren't brought up/encouraged to watch his prime years and are instead spoonfed to worship the likes of Hogan, Savage, Austin, Rock, Angle, Michaels, HHH, Foley etc. That isn't to say those guys I've just listed aren't worthy of being praised, its just that whether its WWE DVDs, youtube highlights of visuals that will stand the test of time (Hogan slamming Andre, Macho and Elizabeth reuniting, Austin 3:16, Backlash 2000, Montreal Screwjob, HIAC 1998) those guys are automatically the go to guys for a majority of people on here as to what they consider 'the best': though of course this usually takes into account additional attributes like drawing power, charisma, mic work, quality of feuds, length on top etc.

If you took a GOAT discussion and focused simply on ringwork and its additional attributes, Funk would absolutely make any list alongside Flair, Lawler, Windham, Rhodes (Dustin), Arn Anderson, Regal, Mysterio, Finlay, Steamboat, Dundee, Murdoch, Morton, Eaton, Backlund, Martel etc.
 
#17 ·
I'm not going to write a huge essay or anything but I comfortably concider him to be the greatest pro wrestler of all time and have for about 4-5 years now. Dude just fucking gets it and did/does everything amazingly well. The only real thing he has going against him is how much of his career isn't commercially available due to the territory system working like it did, and the fact the guy didn't always put his career first and wanted to be around his family. Most people have only seen his Hardcore stuff but the guy is so much more. When talking about the comparison of the greatest of all time between Ric Flair and Terry Funk Mick Foley once wrote "with Flair I always knew I was watching a performance, Terry Funk made me believe" and when it comes down to it IMO thats what really counts.
 
#30 ·
Funk is a bonafide GOAT. The only bad thing I would say about his career is "chainsaw charlie" ...
 
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#5 ·
Oh christ I forgot to add the famous punch-drunk selling, as well as his overall selling being in the upper echelon in wrestling history. Seriously I could see him sell Lawler's haymakers all day long, such a nifty genius and he's underrated in adding unique touches/spots to his matches I can't recall anyone else thinking to utilise.

Whilst I kept the brunt of my first post talking about his wrestling ability, the man's ability as a bonafide GOAT promo can't be overlooked. He has such a sooting and respectful voice that works when he conducts a professional and polite interview like you'd associate with Japan and the NWA, but oh man can he pull off the deranged and psychopathic voice/mannerisms to a tee. I'm convinced Eddie studied Memphis and NWA tapes of Funk in his lunatic best when he was perfecting his 2005 sociopath character.
 
#6 ·
He still does not come up as a legend or a G.O.A.T outside the hardcore division in which he set precedents for Mick Foley.
Lol.

Legacy? Being the best fucking wrestler ever, simply as that

Funk is probably the most versatile wrestler ever and has the only catalog of matches that can compare with Flair and Lawler in america.

There is no aspect in pro-wrestling that Funk can't do well. He was a sounding techinician, an incredible brawler, amazing promo man and when his injuries took the most of him he became this "crazy batshit hardcore bastard"
 
#12 ·
funk is G.O.A.T of his generation,and his time period, the man had a 20 year career basically with his brother dory, even before he was hardcore wrestler, then being the first man to become ECW champion on a ppv, the man was a great talker, a great wrestler in general.
 
#18 ·
I would say Legend.

Prominent wrestler in the territory days. Former NWA champion, 2 time ECW champion. Hardcore legend. Wrestled in every major promotion. Lots of classic feuds, including with Flair and Lawler to name a few.
 
#21 ·
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.
 
#22 ·
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.
 
#25 ·
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.
 
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