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Showing posts with label Terry Funk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terry Funk. Show all posts

August 23, 2023

Wrestling Legend Terry Funk Dead At 79

WWE wrestling icon Terry Funk has died at age 79, his manager Timothy Beal confirmed to CBS News Wednesday. His cause of death was not immediately released, but Beal said that Funk "was in bad health for some time" and was "in a nursing home."

Funk's death was also confirmed in a statement by the WWE. 

For Funk, wrestling was a family affair. Growing up in in Amarillo, Texas, his father, Dory Funk, Sr., was a professional wrestler, and he started out as a tag-team wrestler with his brother Dory Funk, Jr., according to his WWE biography.

Funk broke out as a wrestling star in the 1980s when he appeared in a tag team with his brother at WrestleMania 2. He then competed singularly throughout the U.S. and in Japan over the course of his 50-year career, the WWE said. 

He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame with his brother in 2009. His final wrestling match was in 2017. 

Funk was also known for his breakout roles in Hollywood films. He appeared in "Roadhouse" with Patrick Swayze, "Paradise Alley" and "Over the Top."

March 17, 2013

This Day In Wrestling History


Today would have been Andrew "Test" Martin's 37th birthday.
March 17, 1975

"Beyond The Mat, a documentary on professional wrestling directed by Hollywood screenwriter Barry W. Blaustein, opens in theaters. The film focuses on Jake Roberts, Terry Funk, and Mick Foley, and also includes sections on Vince McMahon, Droz, New Jack, Koko B. Ware, and ECW's first Pay-per-view, Barely Legal. The film was originally set for only a small limited run in Los Angeles and New York City, but a fan campaign launched by the Strictly ECW fan organization leads to a full national rollout for the film in 298 theaters. The film would open at number 19 for the week and make $2,053,648 over its nine week theatrical run. The film would do well in the home video market with several different VHS and DVD releases.
March 17, 2000

Triple H defeated Chris Jericho (with Stephanie McMahon) for the WWF(E) Unified Heavyweight title at WrestleMania 18. The event also featured The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan.
March 17, 2002

December 15, 2012

This Day In Wrestling History


Wladek Zbyszko draws with The Masked Marvel (Mort Henderson) at the Manhattan Opera House.
December 15, 1915

The most important figure in the history of professional wrestling in Japan, Rikidozan, dies of complications from a stab wound suffered on December 8th at the age of 38. Rikidozan, who debuted in 1951, helped to popularize professional wrestling in post-WWII Japan, and would train Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, who would become two of the most influential and powerful individuals in Japanese wrestling. While it was thought that Rikidozan, whose Japanese name was Mitsuhiro Momota, was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in truth he was Korean. Because Koreans were heavily discriminated against in Japan, his real background was kept secret, not being revealed until long after his death. Rikidozan's final match was on December 7th, teaming with Great Togo & Michiaki Yoshimura to battle The Destroyer, Buddy Austin & Illio DiPaolo to a draw. Stories of what happened the night Rikidozan was stabbed are cloudy, with legend and fact often getting mixed up. He was stabbed in a nightclub and allegedly it was by a member of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. However, stories have circulated for years that he beat up his attacker and partied into the night before going to the hospital, which is why the wound got infected and ended up killing him. Obviously, there are many that doubt that account of the stabbing.
December 15, 1963

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk wrestled a legendary match against Abdullah The Butcher and The Sheik in Japan. The match turned the Funks fan favourites in Japan because of the extreme violence.
December 15, 1977

A tribute show to Stu Hart was held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at the Calgary Corral, the site of many Stampede Wrestling shows.
December 15, 1995

Triple H defeated Shawn Michaels in a two-out-of-three falls match in 38:30 to capture the Raw World Title.
December 15, 2002

partial source: pwinsider.com

October 28, 2012

This Day In Wrestling History - ECW Goes Too Far


Arena recap filed by Dave Scherer of pwinsider.com on October 28, 1995:

On this night, ECW totally dropped the ball.

The singularly most stupid series of events in wrestling history occurred. Raven and Cactus pulled out a chair that had towels affixed to it somehow. These towels were soaked in lighter fluid or some other flammable liquid and they used the branding iron to ignite the whole mess. As the flames rose off of the chair, the sickening feeling in my stomach worsened. Cactus winds up and hits Dreamer with the chair, and he catches on fire. The fans were stunned, and did not even pop. I said into my recorder, “Death must be the next bump.”

Cactus tries to pick up the chair, but it is flaming almost uncontrollably. He somehow picks it up and as he winds up, the towels that are burning are coming loose, which someone should have thought of as it is pretty hard for something that is burning to stay attached to a chair. He throws the chair at Funk, who is now laying on the floor near the ring barricade, and fire goes everywhere.

Funk is literally a man ablaze. As Funk is running around ringside, fans are trying to put him out. The towels are laying on the floor burning and the crowd starts to go nuts. A few people came over with the fire extinguishers and as the shoot the towels, they actually go into the crowd making matters worse. If one person, as I was told was the plan, had suffocated the fire, it would have gone out, instead it was shot across the Arena floor.

I was told that the whole fire gimmick was thought up by Funk and Cactus, and was not known to Paul Heyman beforehand. In any event, the buck stops with Heyman and it is ultimately his responsibility.

All of this was bad enough. People were scared and nervous, and undoubtedly some of the world’s true sick sons of bitches were actually enjoying all of this. And then the stupidest of all things happened. Off went the house lights. The big finale of this was to be an angle where Raven took Dreamer up to the crows nest and hung him up there and “crucified him.” To get him up there and set it up, they needed the lights out. For about 2 minutes.

But for the love of God, at this point in the show, given the fire was going astray, had just been extinguished, and that people were startled to run for, turning off the lights for the purpose of doing a f**king angle is ludicrous and should never have happened. The lights going off caused people to head for the doors, When the lights came back on, there was Raven licking and biting the blood of the crucified Dreamer.

What Paul Heyman was thinking while all of this was going on is a mystery to me, but this was the worst judgment he could have possibly shown. A major mistake was made.

At this point, I went outside and watched the people come out, helping anyone I could. People were coughing from getting sprayed with the fire extinguishers, people were bleeding from getting hurt in the melee (one guy broke his nose and I was told another broke a leg), and some people were actually burned.

Terry Funk and his wife came out and he was taken to the hospital with second degree burns on his right arm, from his bicep to his elbow. He returned later to the hotel in pretty good spirits and was said to be doing well. Before leaving, Funk went ballistic backstage and was throwing chairs, (one of the which that went through the wall) yelling at people, and even knocked over an enormous industrial fan as the guys were running from him. He was upset about now he would miss out on work because, as one witness put it “his arm looked like raw meat.” He had just spent 3 three months applying salve from burns he received in Japan and now the process will start all over again.

Tommy Dreamer also suffered a broken nose as well as burns on his back from during the match. Cactus Jack was distraught backstage, and felt very bad for what had happened.

A lot of fans were saying they were done with ECW. People said they felt that ECW had violated their safety and were pissed off. And, in the interest of fairness, there were a group of people who were chanting “ECW” and the show ended. It was a truly unnerving experience for me that crossed the line.

And people wonder why I hate ECW and don't think much of Paul Heyman...

October 21, 2012

This Day In Wrestling History


Mayor Bosse and the Sheriff of Evansville, IN confiscate the $2,756 in ticket sales from the previous night's match on the basis that they believe the Stecher-Lewis match was "not on the square" and was in fact "rigged." Mayor Bosse then proclaims that there would be no more wrestling in Evansville. Show promoter W. F. Barton is left with just $13 after the incident and claimed to owe $400 to the wrestlers.
October 21, 1915

All Japan Pro Wrestling holds it's first ever show at Machida City Gym in Tokyo, Japan. The show is headlined by a two out of three fall tag team match, with Bruno Sammartino & Terry Funk defeating Giant Baba & Thunder Sugiyama. Funk pinned Sugiyama to win the first fall, Sugiyama pinned Funk to win the second, and Baba & Sugiyama were counted out in the final fall.
October 21, 1972

Ernie Ladd defeats Carlos Colon in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the WWC North American Heavyweight Title.
October 21, 1974

Ken Patera defeats Tony Atlas to win his second NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title in Greensboro, North Carolina.
October 21, 1978

Bret Hart, ending months of rumors and speculation, signs a 20-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation, turning down a lucrative offer from WCW. As part of the agreement, which will see Hart become a part of the WWF office following his in-ring career, Bret is allowed to go into the ring during a live edition of Raw and discuss his decision. Hart does not blast WCW (as some within WWF were hoping), but does reveal that he is staying with the WWF. One year later, Vince McMahon would be asking Bret to drop the WWF Title to Shawn Michaels at the Survivor Series and releasing him from the contract, beginning the most famous story in wrestling history, the Montreal Screwjob.
October 21, 1996

Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeats Marc Mero the WWF Intercontinental Title, his first title in WWF/E.
October 21, 1996

Chris Jericho defeated The Rock for the WCW Heavyweight title.
October 21, 2001

Triple H simulated sex with a mannequin while dressed as Kane, in the infamous Katie Vick necrophilia skit.
October 21, 2002

May 8, 2010

Terry Funk: 'I Don't Want to Die in the Ring'

"I don't want to die in the ring," says the 65-year-old Funk, who has pulled up stakes in Amarillo, Texas. "I want to die on my back porch, drinking beer.

"It gets tougher and tougher in the morning. Hell, I used to jump out of bed, then I rolled out, now I crawl out. I know why I did it, but when I saw the end result, I'd get up the next morning and I couldn't walk, sometimes it was, 'What the hell am I doing?' I've got a tremendous amount of pride in what I do.

"I'll go up to Thunder Bay and when that bell rings, it does something to me. That thrill is back."...More?

source: slam wrestling

May 6, 2010

Q&A with Terry Funk

September 12, 2009

Interviewing Skills by Terry Funk & Ted Dibiase

February 25, 2009

Terry Funk's Extreme Claim to Fame

Terry Funk is the first ECW Champion in history to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame...More?

February 8, 2009

Rumor Mill - Terry Funk Latest WWE HOF Inductee

According to amarillo.com, Terry Funk will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in April. Funk says, "I don't deserve the honor." The WWE hasn't made a formal announcement about this.

November 2, 2008

Terry Funks Comments on the "WWE Graveyard" at TNA

"They are kind of looked at as the graveyard, you know. I mentioned that to some people and I don't want to keep on calling them the graveyard because I really don't want to tag that to them. But it is. It is kind of like the WWE's graveyard. And, I'm not talking about the guys. They’re old, they’re this or they’re that or can’t get the job done. They can but it has got a definite pattern to it. It’s where somebody goes ahead and leaves the WWE and they wind up down there. Boom, just that quick. I think that they need to develop their own talent along with that. Does that make sense to you?"...More?

source: prowrestling.about.com

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