A hardcore history with Terry Funk
Part 1
'The salaries in all sports have
escalated so much that it really tends to make a mockery of a fella who
fixes a toilet or drives a cab for a living'
By CHRIS GRAMLICH -- For SLAM! Wrestling
Terry Funk is a man riddled with contradictions. A polite, soft-spoken,
middle aged Texan, who after thirty years in the wrestling business is
as likely to apologize for cussing or spitting tobacco, as he is liable to
split another wrestler's head open with a broken bottle. Therein lies the
walking-talking paradox that is Terry Funk.
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Terry Funk as NWA World Champion in 1976.
VIDEO CLIP: Harley Race beats Terry Funk in Toronto for the NWA World Title. Clip: 2.2 MB.
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Not only is Funk "middle-aged and crazy" in the ring, outside of the ring
he is as equally unstable as evidenced by his favorite era of wrestling,
one which nearly cost him his life.
"I loved the era of the riots. In Puerto Rico there'd be riots where I'd
have to fight my way to the back, San Antonio, the Dallas/South Houston
area. It was absurd. They would have to stop the matches because too
many people would be hitting the ring. In Kentucky I can remember when
they took forty guns off of people coming to the show. I've had guns
pulled on me and knifes too," said "Terrible" Terry, as he is called.
"Corpus Christi is where I got stuck with a knife in the neck.
Fortunately, it wasn't that big a blade. It went all the way into the
hilt and I thought it was a dart or something, so I left it in. When I
got to the back and saw it was a knife my eyes got as big as saucers when I
realized what it was and that someone had tried to kill me."
While most people would view a riot and attempted homicide as signs of
taking things way too far, Funk derives another interpretation from them.
"The riots were a form of flattery. The greatest thing (for a heel
wrestler) is to do your job so well that someone wants to kill you.
What could be more wonderful? People who have done terrible things to me
and wanted me to charge them, well I wouldn't. I mean do I want to put
someone in jail because I convinced him or her that I needed to die? I
did it to them. That's how I look at it and that may be sick but it's
also beautiful," said Funk in town for the Apocalypse Wrestling
Federation's "Scar Wars" event which featured the legendary "Funker"
battling Abdullah the Butcher in the main-event.
SLAM! Wrestling's Greg Oliver and I were fortunate enough to have the
chance to sit down and talk with the hardcore institution over dinner and
few would argue that anyone has done a better job in professional wrestling
than Terry Funk. However, doing your job well in the world of wrestling
sometimes means losing, and Toronto is where Terry Funk lost one of his most
prestigious titles to the equally infamous Harley Race. February 6th 1977,
a date, match and opponent Funk remembers well.
"Sure Toronto has special memories, some that I'm not that especially
fond of. That was the end of my NWA reign as the Heavyweight Champion
against Harley. I always had respect for Harley because he came-up
through the school of hard knocks. He started out being a driver for
Happy Humphrey and he would do the carnivals and work his way up from
them. He was self-educated person and a man who did well in this
profession and as champion after he won the belt from me."
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Chris Gramlich interviews Terry Funk. -- photo by Greg Oliver, CANOE
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It is obvious from the respect in Funk's voice for people like Harley
Race, Lou Thesz and Mike Dibiase, that Funk appreciates tradition. Yet,
unlike many, Funk has kept up with the times practically inventing the
hardcore style of wrestling which is so popular now. Still, Terry can
remember when wrestling was more of a family affair.
"It was a wonderful thing as I grew-up and when I started, I think I
caught the tail-end of it. When my father started back in the forties
everyone had their own trailer and what a wrestler wanted to do (if he
had children), was get into an area (promotion or territory) where he
could stay for at least the school year for the children's sake. It
seemed like all the wrestlers lived in trailer courts and all the kids
became buddies. It was a great time," said Funk, who was also fortunate to wrestle alongside his brother, Dory Funk Jr., on many occasions.
"There wasn't wrestling on Sunday or even Saturday. You didn't fly
anywhere. You only worked five days a week and you went where you could
drive. On the weekend someone was always barbecuing and would invite
everyone over and it was very family-oriented. Divorce was something
which didn't plague our profession like it does now."
But in Terry's opinion, wrestling like all sports has changed with the
times. Whether these changes are for the better or worse, has yet to be
seen.
"Wrestling has definitely changed a great deal since when I started in
the business. I think not only in wrestling but in all sports that the
athletes are greedy right now and I can understand that. Not being greedy
for the sake of being greedy but because the salaries in all sports have
escalated so much that it really tends to make a mockery of a fella who
fixes a toilet or drives a cab for a living. It really doesn't make much
sense to pay one person more for a night or a year than another will make
in a lifetime. I can't really comprehend that."
Funk on Mike Dibiase (Father of Ted Dibiase)
"Mike Dibiase was a great help to me when I first started. I had some of
my first matches against him. He gave me some great advice and was a
great wrestler both amateur and professionally. It was people like him
who would open up your eyes and make you realize there were some great
people in this business, people who had values. We need that especially
young wrestlers, they need guidance we need more Mike Dibiase's and I
wish I could walk in his shoes but unfortunately I don't think my feet
are big enough".
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Funk on his toughest opponents
"I really don't like to say this guy is tougher than that one, because
there are so many different styles and then I would have to name styles,
but Sabu, Abdullah (the Butcher), Harley (Race). As far as who I was the most scared with?
Well, my first match I was scared to death, another one was when I
wrestled Lou Thesz or Gene Kiniski, I was shaking in my boots. Being in
the ring for the first time with Dick the Bruiser or the original Sheik.
Mike Dibiase who was a phenomenal wrestler, but there is no tape on him
and no one remembers him, but I remember him."
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