Pioneer Singles Wrestler
Terry Funk
Akin with very few wrestlers of the current generation, Terry Funk has spent his whole life around wrestling. His father, Texas legend Dory Funk Sr., took him on the road with him from the early 1950's onwards, and from here Terry learned the tricks of the trade. His official debut came in 1965, when he met - and defeated - local heel Sputnik Monroe in his home town of Amarillo. The match was contested under the watchful eye of Dory Sr., who looked on from the aisle. Despite his father's scrutiny, Terry made it through his first few years in the mat game very well. By 1969 he was already near the top of the card, which was unusual for a four-year pro at the time - although being booked by his father in many cases did change the scenario somewhat.
Through the early 70's Terry, along with his brother Dory Jr., worked up and down the US, particularly throughout the South (more specifically, Texas) adapting to the pro environment. After nearly ten years of paying his dues, Terry got his reward: he won the National Wrestling Alliance World title in December of 1975 by beating Jack Brisco in a 60 minute best of three falls match.
Terry Funk had just taken the National Wrestling title from Brisco, which was a hard-fought 60 minutes - not as hard to come by in the seventies as they are now. Following his win, he went on a tour of defenses in all 26 territories of the NWA, and he held the belt for nearly two years. Almost every defense he made was a long match, many exceeding one hour, and Terry worked hard every time out. Eventually he lost the title to Harley Race in June of 1977, in Toronto. But during the reign he managed to hold the strap in matches with both of the Brisco brothers (Jack and Gerald), Harley Race, and his brother Dory Funk Jr. He and Dory were also consummate tag-team wrestlers, but never captured the NWA World Tag Team championships. This is somewhat of a surprise given how over and how able they were, but I'm not going to complain. Some while after dropping the World title and clearing himself from the tag team scene, Terry went to Memphis or a short time, where he had what was said to be a cracking feud with a young Jerry Lawler over the USWA Unified championship - one of the few belts he never raised. This included the legendary empty arena match in Memphis, one of the truly great matches of the 1980s. It was also a real precursor of some of the 'Funker's more crazy matches later on.
But he was also working in Japan at the time - he and brother Dory Jr. debuted in the Japanese Wrestling Association in 1970 as the wily American heels they played so well, and they captured the NWA International Tag Team title in the process - from the late Shohei 'Giant' Baba and partner Antonio Inoki. The pair, particularly Terry, then began to solidify the image of mental instability which has become the Funk calling card ever since. In Japan this was chiefly achieved through ambiguity - they were gaijins (heels, namely because they were foreigners) but insisted on fighting everybody. This blurring of a strict line was the beginning of a long string of crazy things undertaken by the Funker(s). Upon the disbandment of the JWA, the pair moved to Baba's newly formed All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972, where they captured no further championships. Shame really. But, soon after Dory departed from the group in the late 70s, Terry stepped up to the plate and became a headline attraction solo, but yet again he never raised a championship.
The next notable item on the Terry Funk timeline was his (first) retirement in 1983. At the time he was working chiefly for All Japan, and that's where a ceremony was held for him. Obviously that retirement didn't last too long, as financial problems lead him to return to the ring in 1985, this time with the World Wrestling Federation. He debuted just after Wrestlemania (the first one), and participated in several of the WWF's Saturday Night Main Event shows on NBC, on which he wrestled Hulk Hogan. Of course, the insane Texan heel went down, but it was the fashion at the time. Following his brief run against Hogan, he entered a memorable feud with the late Junkyard Dog. But, we are talking about Terry Funk here - he was gone by the end of 1986. From there on out he worked chiefly in Japan, but was doing regular US and European independent gigs. But in 1989 he moved back into the NWA, or more specifically World Championship Wrestling. From his debut onto his next retirement, Funk had a riotous feud with Ric Flair. His debut saw him piledrive The Nature Boy onto a table, and from there on out the pair assembled numerous classics throughout the year, including one particular thriller at the Great American Bash. With the Funker being the bad guy, he inevitably was the one to call it quits, as he ended up retiring before the year was out. But, he was back quicker than you could say 'happy 50th birthday!' The 1990s have seen Terry capitalize on his ever-present insane streak by participating in the most violent matches in history.
This started when he took his first trip to the more extreme side of Japan in 1991, where the ranch owner soon found plenty of creative ways to exhaust his endless supply of barbed wire, as he competed in Frontier Martial-arts Wrestling, the International Wrestling Association (a short lived promotion run by Victor Quinones), and also the smaller Big Japan Pro Wrestling - all barbed wire orientated garbage 'wrestling' groups. In FMW he has repeatedly met established hardcore icons Atsushi Onita, Shoji Nakamaki and Tarzan Goto, each time with new and 'improved' stipulations, all the while commuting back to the States for independent work between times. While back in the US he came to befriend Mick Foley, and in January 1995 he convinced the man known as Cactus Jack to take the plunge and join him in Japan. In the US the place the pair would often meet would be Extreme Championship Wrestling, a promotion which Funk (two time ECW World champion) helped make famous in July of 1994, at The Night The Line Was Crossed - that night he, Shane Douglas and Sabu wrestled a 60 minute three way dance to a draw, which garnered ECW the attention it needed to begin it's growth. A remarkable match. Skipping back to Japan (again) we find the King Of The Death matches tournament in focus, as our Terry made it all the way to the finals before falling to Cactus Jack in a match with too many stipulations for me to bother listing. Continuing to work both sides of that great expanse of water, Terry continued to have riotous matches with Cactus Jack in both countries until Cactus really turned on him in 1995, adopting Raven as his spiritual advisor. Terry consequently adopted Tommy Dreamer, and after the two teams did battle at November To Remember 95 it was time for another retirement.
Once again it didn't last long, and by mid 1996 he was back working all over the shop. In November he returned to ECW, and set about a campaign against ECW champion Raven that lead him to winning another World title at Barely Legal, ECW's first pay-per-view, on April 13th 1997. His reign didn't last long, nor was it too eventful, as he fell less than five months later to Sabu in a barbed wire match at the show aptly titled 'Born To Be Wired.' After the recap of the three way dance from July 94 with Shane Douglas and Sabu the next weekend, and he was gone again, in what many interpreted as another of his mini-retirements. Of course, he was working a retirement tour with FMW in Japan just a month later. Once again he came back 'home' in November 98, turning heel on a man he regarded as his protégé, Tommy Dreamer, and adopting Justin Credible instead. Yes, he was back as a heel.
Several things can be concluded about Terry Funk's life around the mat
game - he's nearly always been one of the best, and when he hasn't been
he worked his ass off to make up for it. While I personally doubt he'll
ever retire for good, there will be a day when - like every other grappler
has to - the boots are hung up for good, even if not by choice. God knows
what 'the Funker' will do with himself then .
Thank you Terry!!
(Compiled by Brett Schwan)
