Meet the "Real Terry Funk"

Terry Funk, His Words

Terry Funk Moonsault to the floor

The next !BANG! television taping is January 25th at the Dory Funk Arena.
Missy Hyatt with Osamu Nishimura in her corner will face the Funking Conservatory's
Red Power. WWE's Dr. Tom Prichard will be special referee assisted by "The Claw."
Adam Windsor will defend his Triple Crown Championship.
For more information, Click Here.
If you would like to attend, call - (352) 895-4658
E-mail Dory Funk Jr.
Join the Funking Conservatory
Visit Dory's Home Page
 

                Terry Funk is a man riddled with contradictions. A polite, soft-spoken,
                   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.

                 Terry's favorite era of wrestling, is 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 to the dressing room, San Antonio, the Dallas/
                    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,"

                   "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."

                   "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,"

                   "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.

                  "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."

                   Professional wrestling has obviously progressed from where a wrestler
                    worked for peanuts to the point where the top draws are making millions
                   of dollars. The one constant is, knowing what the fans want and giving it
                    to them.

                   "One of the reasons I think I've lasted as long as I have is because I try
                    to be a person who lives in the present, not the past and not the future.
                   That's really an important thing to convey to the fellas who are trying to
                    come into the business, is you need to keep yourself current, It's very
                    difficult to do, it happens to so many guys who get caught-up in the past
                    and they can't make the changes and wrestling is ever-changing."
 

                   "I think I was one of (if not) the first to use the table and go through it.
                   When you're wrestling independents or in Japan it becomes a question
                   of why did you do the things you did? The answer is out of necessity.
                   To be different, to grab that picture, especially with the media.

                   "I mean how many times have they seen some shooter stretching 'Joe
                   Blow' on the front page of a magazine Will fans look at that or will they
                    look at a wrestler (me), hanging from the rafters with barbed wire around
                    my throat? So which picture are they going to use?," asks Funk rhetorically.
                    "I depend on that to make a living. I need to grab that picture for myself
                    and my company to get the kind of money I want. I have to come-up
                    with stuff like that."

                   "The premise that I have lived by in this business is to give the people
                   their money's worth.

                   "I just hope people understand why I do these things. I think some
                   people would say what I do is stupid and maybe it is, maybe it is. But I
                   have a real love for this business and for the people and I want to
                   make them hate or love me more than they've ever hated or loved me
                   before and that's really important to me."

                Hating Terry Funk in this day and age isn't a popular notion,

                   There are some things I want to do with my wife and I love her dearly.
                    I think it is time for me to be back where I need to be... Nothing is forever
                    in the wrestling business and I'm certainly not, but I don't mind that, I really
                    don't. It's just really important that the wrestlers and the fans understand that.

The next !BANG! television taping is January 25th at the Dory Funk Arena.
Missy Hyatt with Osamu Nishimura in her corner will face the Funking Conservatory's
Red Power. WWE's Dr. Tom Prichard will be special referee assisted by "The Claw."
Adam Windsor will defend his Triple Crown Championship.
For more information, Click Here.
If you would like to attend, Call (352) 895-4658
E-mail Dory Funk Jr.
Join the Funking Conservatory
Visit Dory's Home Page