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Terrence Lynn (Terry) Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American professional wrestler, known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the later part of his career that inspired many later wrestlers, most notably Mick Foley. He is affectionately known as "The Funker".
Career
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. In the mid 1980s, Funk teamed with Dory (Calling himself "Hoss" Funk) and Jimmy Jack Funk (Jesse Barr), a storyline "brother." They were managed by Jimmy Hart. During that time he had a heated rivarly with the Junkyard Dog. 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 little kids to emulate the incident, it was never replayed (although footage of the incident does appear on Viva La Bam on MTV2). The incident is also an extra on The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection DVD.
In 1994, Funk promised to help the fledgling Eastern Championship Wrestling (later renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling) by lending his talent and notoriety to the promotion, which had just split from the National Wrestling Alliance.On July 14, 1994 Terry and Dory Funk lost a barbed wire match against The Public Enemy. Terry got his face wrapped in barbed wire and Dory had to cut him out. Funk maintained a regular schedule of wrestling for ECW in its early days while also competing in Japan. He had many feuds and wrestled programs with wrestlers such as Cactus Jack, "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, The Sandman, Sabu, and Terry's own protege, Tommy Dreamer. Terry Funk further elevated ECW by headlining their first Pay-Per-View, Barely Legal, on April 13, 1997 and winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship from Raven. He was later defeated for the title by Sabu in a much talked about Barbed wire match at ECW Born To Be Wired, in which the ropes of the ring were taken down and replaced with barbed wire. Both men had to be cut out of the wires at the end of the match. In September of that same year, a show was held in Funk's hometown of Amarillo. It was called "50 Years of Funk" and was designed to celebrate the careers of Terry, his father and his brother. Terry lost to then WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart in the main event. However, before the match, 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. Chainsaw Charlie was the name used by Terry Funk in WWF for a short period in 1998, wearing panty hose on his head and other attire. As Chainsaw Charlie, Funk won the World Tag Team Championship with Mick Foley (using the name 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 a technicality; the wrong dumpsters had been used in the match. Funk wrestled for World Championship Wrestling in 1999 and 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. In 1999, Funk was featured in director Barry Blaustein's wrestling documentary, Beyond the Mat. He has also appeared in notable movies such as Roadhouse, Paradise Alley , The Ringer, and Over the Top, as well as other film credits. His legendary toughness was attested to in the wrestling documentary when cameramen followed him to a doctor's visit where he was told he shouldn't even be able to walk without intense pain. 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 had several battles with the likes of the Extreme Horsemen (Steve Corino, CW Anderson, and Simon Diamond) including specialty matches such as an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match, Barbed Wire Match, and a 5 on 5 WarGames match. On the last MLW show, Funk was attacked by his former manager Gary Hart and his syndicate. Currently Funk is semi-retired (although he has claimed to be retired many times, he always seems to come back, which has become a running joke among wrestling fans) working some dates on the independent circuit and in Japan. In fact, Funk has wrestled self described "retirement" matches in each of the last three decades and in at least three different countries (Japan, Canada, and the United States). At Hardcore Homecoming Funk lost a 3 way barbed wire match to Sabu. Funk wrestled at ECW One Night Stand 2006 on June 11, 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 (the match was held in Lubbock, about 120 miles from Amarillo). 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." (A similar promo was done between the two in ECW in 1995, when Foley, as Cactus Jack, was doing a pro-WCW heel gimmick.) It was confirmed on the May 22, 2006 edition of WWE RAW that Funk and Tommy Dreamer would take on the duo of Mick Foley & Edge (with Lita) at the ECW Pay-Per-View. Funk was at the June 7, 2006 WWE vs. ECW Head to Head event in Tommy Dreamer's corner. At ECW One Night Stand, Funk, Tommy Dreamer, and Beulah were beat 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 may be found on WWE.com, it appears that Funk needed 5 or 6 minor stitches. Also the eye seemed to be not harmed in any major way. Funk left WWE after One Night Stand but it was not even definate that he was ever under a WWE contract in the first place. Terry Funk's wwe.com profile was removed. 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, each 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. In wrestlingFinishing and signature moves
Nicknames
ManagersChampionships and accomplishments
Quotes
Trivia
Acting career
BooksAutobiography: Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore 2005 References
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