About Me
Terry Funk was born the second son of the legendary Dory Funk, Sr. in Amarillo, Texas on June 30, 1944. Funk was formerly a football player at the West Texas University, but he (much like his brother, Dory Funk Jr.) would soon follow in his father's footsteps and enter the professional wrestling business.
Funk started out his career in 1965, working in his father Dory Funk, Sr.'s promotion in Amarillo, Texas. He and his brother Dory Funk, Jr. quickly rose the ranks and became big money wrestlers by the end of the decade. In his tenth year as a pro, Terry defeated Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, then the most important wrestling championship in the business, and began a grueling fourteen-month title reign which ended in Toronto when he was defeated by "Handsome" Harley Race who won the title for the second time.
Funk took some time off after his world title reign but he and his brother traveled around the country (mostly in Texas, Florida, and Detroit) looking for a fight. Terry and Dory, Jr. also made a name for themselves in Japan where they became one of the top drawing foreign acts in the history of Japan, and they were the first gaijins to be considered faces in Japan. Terry himself became famous for his over the top mannerisms and sometimes colorful get-ups as well as his brawling ability.
Terry made his WWF debut in 1985 a memorable one. In his televised debut on Championship Wrestling he not only beat Aldo Marino, but he also beat up a ring attendant named Mel Phillips who was also at the time, one of the WWF ring announcers. Funk also had the gimmick at the time of carrying a branding iron with him to ringside and using it to "brand" his fallen opponents with it. Funk teamed with Dory (Calling himself "Hoss" Funk) and Jimmy Jack Funk (a storyline "brother"), and they were managed by Jimmy Hart.
In 1989, Funk joined the J-Tex Corporation. He began feuding with Ric Flair after Flair beat Ricky Steamboat at Wrestle War for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Funk, who was one of three judges for the main event, challenged Flair to a title match. Flair refused, saying that Funk was "spending time in Hollywood" instead of focusing on wrestling. Funk then attacked, piledriving Flair on a ringside table. A notable part of the feud was that Funk actually used a plastic shopping bag to suffocate Flair on television. Because this was obviously dangerous to anybody and to prevent children from emulating the incident, it was never replayed. The incident is an extra on Funk's portion of the second disc of The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection DVD.
Later in Funk's career, his style changed from wrestling traditional southern style wrestling matches to the more demanding and brutal style of hardcore and (more specifically) death match wrestling, which was the style his late father was famous for. As a result, Funk started to gain a completely new fanbase who loved his hardcore style and brawling.
In 1992, Funk began frequenting Eastern Championship Wrestling by lending his talent and notoriety to the promotion. In the promotion's early days, he feuded with the likes of Eddie Gilbert, Jimmy Snuka, Sabu, Shane Douglas and the Public Enemy, and would capture his first ECW World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Sabu on December 26, 1993. On February 5, 1994, Terry Funk participated in the first-ever Three-Way Dance match at ECW's The Night The Line Was Crossed, where he would wrestle both Sabu and Shane Douglas to a one-hour time limit draw; many would argue that this contest put ECW on the map. He would lose the title a month later to Shane Douglas in a Double Jeopardy match.
On July 14 at ECW's Heat Wave 1994, Terry and Dory Funk lost a no-roped barbed wire match against The Public Enemy. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the contest was Funk motioning to the audience to flood the ring with their chairs, which came to the point where the ring announcer threatened to stop the show if they didn't quit throwing chairs into the ring. Terry also got his face wrapped in barbed wire and Dory had to cut him out.
Funk also maintained a regular schedule wrestling in Japan, most notably in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and IWA-Japan, where Funk engaged in a very bloody feud with Cactus Jack. Funk was instrumental in the now legendary 1995 King of the Death Match Tournament, put on by IWA-Japan on August 20th at Kawasaki Stadium. Funk made it all the way to the finals, but lost to Cactus Jack.
In 1997, Terry Funk was a focal part of a wrestling documentary called Beyond the Mat. The documentary covered a majority of the year for Terry Funk both inside and outside of the ring. One of the biggest pieces of Funk's role in the documentary was the further elevation of ECW by Funk headlining ECW's very first Pay-Per-View, Barely Legal. The event was held on April 13, 1997 at the ECW Arena, and Funk would miraculously win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship from Raven, moments after a brutal Three-Way Dance against The Sandman and Stevie Richards to determine the #1 Contender. Funk held the belt until August 9th, 1997 when he was defeated by Sabu in arguably the most brutal and bloody Barbed wire match in American wrestling history at ECW's Born to be Wired event; both men had to be cut out of the wire at the end of the match, Sabu had tore his biceps on his left arm completely open, and Funk had a strand of barbed-wire wrapped around his neck! A week later (August 17th) at ECW's second Pay-Per-View, Hardcore Heaven 1997, Funk engaged in a Three-Way Dance against Shane Douglas and the champion Sabu. Funk and Douglas would collectively eliminate Sabu, but Funk would fall short of regaining the ECW World Heavyweight Championship when Shane Douglas pinned him with a Belly-to-Belly Suplex.
In September of 1997, Terry Funk held a show in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas and promoted it as "WrestleFest: 50 Years of Funk". The card was designed to celebrate not only the career of Terry, but his brother and late father as well. Before the main event, ECW owner Paul Heyman presented Terry with a belt (paid for through a collection taken up by wrestlers on the ECW roster) that declared him Lifetime ECW World Heavyweight Champion. Terry would lose to then WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart in the main event. Following the match, Terry expressed no complaints about the match and no regrets about his career, thanked everyone in attendence and walked to the back. This monumental event, as well as the backstage atmosphere of the event, was also covered in Terry Funk's portion of Beyond the Mat.
Funk's "retirement" wouldn't last long, as he would reappear in the WWF for a short period in 1998 as Chainsaw Charlie; Funk wore panty hose on his head, overalls and a red Long John shirt. As Chainsaw Charlie, Funk won the World Tag Team Championship with Cactus Jack at WrestleMania XIV, when they beat the New Age Outlaws in a Dumpster Match. The decision was reversed the next night on RAW due to the wrong dumpsters being used in the match. Funk would soon drop the Chainsaw Charlie gimmick and begin teaming with 2 Cold Scorpio, who also dropped a gimmick (Flash Funk) at around the same time. Funk would be released by the WWF shortly after this.
Funk wrestled for World Championship Wrestling from 1999- 2000 and won the WCW Hardcore Championship and the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. He was also the WCW Commissioner at one time and the leader of the short-lived Old Age Outlaws that feuded with the nWo. Throughout this period, Funk made spordic appearances in ECW, most notably at Guilty As Charged 1999 when he turned his back on Tommy Dreamer.
From 2002 to 2004, Terry Funk was a regular top star for the now defunct Major League Wrestling company based out of New York and Florida. Funk feuded with the Extreme Horsemen (Steve Corino, CW Anderson, and Simon Diamond), most notably in a 5 on 5 War Games match and challenging Steve Corino for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship in a no ropes Barbed-Wire Match. On the final MLW show, Funk was attacked by his former manager Gary Hart and his syndicate.
In 2005, WWE announced plans to hold an ECW pay-per-view event on June 12th called "One Night Stand", and extended an offer to Terry Funk. However, the Shane Douglas-led Hardcore Homecoming promotion also planned to hold an ECW reunion show on Friday, June 10th. Funk, realizing that he was too old to work two shows that closely together, had to choose between the high-paying check that awaited him in Hammerstein Ballroom, or returning to the former ECW Arena to headline the card in a Three-Way Dance against Shane Douglas and Sabu. As documented in the Forever Hardcore documentary, Funk videotaped his announcement that he would be participating in the Hardcore Homecoming show, citing that he wanted "to be with the guys that I love". Before the match took place, Funk asked for 20 minutes of the fan's time, because it was time "to get wired". Much to the fan's delight, they were treated to a Barbed-Wire Three-Way Dance, where Douglas was eliminated first, followed by Funk losing to Sabu. Funk would also participate in the final Hardcore Homecoming event, November Reign, on November 5th. Funk teamed with Sabu to face The Dudley Boys, and would lose.
Funk participated in WWE's revival of ECW in 2006, as well as One Night Stand 2006. As part of the buildup to the event, Terry appeared on the May 15, 2006 edition of WWE RAW, his first appearance on WWE programming since 1998. He confronted Mick Foley over the attack of Tommy Dreamer the previous week. The two argued over whether Foley's legacy was rooted more in ECW or WWE, and ended with a brawl after Funk told Foley "WWE sucks." It was confirmed on the May 22, 2006 edition of WWE RAW that Funk and Tommy Dreamer will take on the duo of Mick Foley & Edge (with Lita) at the ECW Pay-Per-View. Funk participated in an Over-The-Top 20-Man Battle Royal at the June 7th event entitled WWE vs. ECW: Head to Head. Funk would also be in Tommy Dreamer's corner when Dreamer faced off against Edge in singles competition. During the match, Funk punched out Foley and called him a piece of shit, busting him open and making him bleed from his left eye.
At ECW One Night Stand, Funk, Tommy Dreamer, and Beulah were defeated by the team of Edge, Mick Foley, and Lita. Midway through the match, Funk was hit with a barbed wire board, and was taken backstage complaining of an eye injury. Funk would later come back (With a bloody cloth tied over his eye) to hit Foley with a flaming 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire. He was later thrown onto the barbed wire board with Foley, and would have to be cut out of it at the end of the match via wire cutters. Footage of Funk's medical attention was broadcast on ECW.com; it appeared as though Funk needed 5 or 6 minor stitches, but the eye seemed to be not harmed in any major way. Funk left WWE after One Night Stand, but his profile is still up on ECW.com
Terry Funk has made his way into a children's book. A character based on his wild and woolly persona, is prominently featured in the second book in the popular "Shorty Stevens" series of chapter books. Hiram "Tornado" Funk is the side kick and running buddy of Black Jack Walker, storied adventurer, Hunter and Fisherman,Civil War Hero and local legend in Sheridan, Arkansas. The boys, age 9 meet Walker, a hermit for nearly 30 years and hear all of his exciting stories, as well as bring him back into the community,his antics, and solitude alienated him from. "More True Tales of Shorty Stevens...The Legend of Black Jack Walker" was written by Steve Buchanan, a true Terry Funk fan. Terry Funk was genuienely appeciative, and honored by the inclusion in the book.
Currently Funk is semi-retired, even though he has claimed to be retired many times. The concept of Funk's retirement has become a recurring joke among wrestling fans, as he always tends to return, working some dates on the independent circuit and in Japan. Regardless, Funk is viewed as one of the originators of Hardcore Wrestling, remembered for his heart, and is considered by many to be among the greatest wrestlers of all-time.
