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This one hurts, it really does. I haven’t felt this way since the sudden passing of Dusty Rhodes. Like Dusty, Terry Funk has a huge place in the fabric of my wrestling fan DNA. Dusty’s Crockett booking was a big part of the hook that got me into loving this business. Terry took it to the next level.
There have been many times over my career in this business when I say, “If it hadn’t been for ….. you would have never heard of me”. There are a few people that are slam dunks where that statement is concerned for me. Tod Gordon. Paul Heyman. And Terry Funk. What he has meant to, first, the wrestling fan in me, and later the wrestling reporter in me, can’t be overstated. It’s simply impossible to do it.
The fan in me still remembers September of 1989, where Funk put the plastic bag over the head of Ric Flair, to start their legendary feud. Flair was The Dirtiest Player In The Game right? Not after Funk did that. Terry made me believe when I knew exactly what I was watching actually was. After it’s over, yeah we can talk about it being a work then. During the match? I will just get engrossed. He was so real. SO real.
Like a fine wine, Terry got better with age. A lot of guys have a midlife crisis. They get a sports car. They dye their hair, try to pick up young women, whatever. At fifty, Terry was doing moonsaults!
He also joined up with the aforementioned Tod Gordon to help this little startup company called Eastern Championship Wrestling get off the ground. He gave ECW much more than credibility, he gave it his heart and so, so many talents that came through the promotion were the lucky recipients of a legend giving back to the business.
That isn’t to say he was just there because he was a legend who had seen better days. He was there to help a company become legendary, both in and out of the ring. His storylines in ECW were the fabric of the tapestry of the company, they were the DNA of the promotion.
I won’t go into all of the great storylines, angles and matches that Funk gave to the ECW fans. Mike Johnson’s excellent tribute to Terry did that better than I could. What I will tell you is this. As great as Terry Funk the professional wrestler was, Terry Funk the man was even better. His tribute banquet on Barely Legal weekend was one of the best nights of my wrestling life. Everyone was there to pay tribute to the man who did all he could to get the promotion to its first PPV. Of course, by the end of the weekend he had won The ECW Title a minute or so before power went out to the PPV truck. There was no way karma would let the world miss that moment, none.
I could go on and on, and I am sure Mike and I will tomorrow on our show. But I will close with this. When ECW started, I was a fan in the bleachers. What I saw in Terry was completely from that side of the curtain. But as time went on, and I started The Wrestling Lariat in 1995, I was given access to most of the building and I got to see firsthand what Terry did for people. He advised, he listened, he led, he guided.
There’s an old saying that goes “Don’t meet your heroes”. In many cases, it’s true. They will disappoint you. And then, there are people who, after you meet them, you love them even more. That was was Terry Funk, Legend, GOAT, Placeholder on my Mount Rushmore. RIP Funker, you will be missed but your spirit and all you gave to people will live on forever.
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