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Terry Funk

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Terry Funk
File:Terryfunk01thumb.jpg
BornJune 30, 1944
Double Cross Ranch
Amarillo, Texas
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Terry Funk
Chainsaw Charlie
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Billed weight247 lb (111 kg)
DebutDecember 9, 1965
"Chainsaw Charlie" redirects here. "Chainsaw Charlie" is also a song on the W.A.S.P. album The Crimson Idol.

Terrence (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

Funk started out his career in 1965, working in his father Dory Funk, Sr.'s promotion in Amarillo, Texas. He and his brother Dory Funk, Jr. quickly rose the ranks and became big money wrestlers by the end of the decade. In his tenth year as a pro, Terry defeated Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, then the most important wrestling championship in the business, and began a grueling fourteen-month title reign which ended in Toronto when he was defeated by "Handsome" Harley Race who won the title for the second time. Terry Funk took some time off after his world title reign but he and his brother traveled around the country (mostly in Texas, Florida, and Detroit) looking for a fight. Terry and Dory, Jr. also made a name for themselves in Japan where they became one of the top drawing foreign acts in the history of Japan. (The Funks were the first gaijins to be considered faces in Japan.) He made a name for himself with his over the top mannerisms and sometimes colorful get-ups as well as his brawling ability.

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 in the mid 1980s, Funk teamed with Dory (Calling himself "Hoss" Funk) and Jimmy Jack Funk, a storyline "brother." They were managed by Jimmy Hart.

In 1989, he feuded 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.

Later in Funk's career, his style changed from wrestling traditional southern style wrestling matches to the more demanding and brutal style of hardcore wrestling. As a result, Funk started to gain a new fanbase of fans who loved his hardcore style and brawling.

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 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 Template:"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 War Games 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 recurring 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 attacking 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 will take on the duo of Mick Foley & Edge (with Lita) at the ECW Pay-Per-View. Starting June 13th, Terry Funk will be a part of the ECW brand. The "Funker" was at the June 7 WWE vs. ECW Head to Head event in Tommy Dreamer's corner. Funk punched out Foley and called him a piece of shit, busting him open and making him bleed from his left eye, which is a spot commonly used to make Mick Foley bleed, as he bleeds very easy on that area.

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 his profile is still up on ECW.com

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, 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 wrestling

Finishing and signature moves

Nicknames

  • "Be Nice" Terry Funk
  • "The Texan"
  • "Middle Aged and Crazy"
  • "The Hardcore Icon"
  • "The Funker"
  • "The Lord of the Hardcore"
  • "The Texas Bronco"
  • "That Hardcore Living Legend"
  • "The King Of Hardcore"
  • "The Living Legend"

Managers

Championships and accomplishments

  • Hall of Fame
World
National
Regional
  • 1-time NWA Americas Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-time NWA Georgia Tag Team Champion (with Dory Funk, Jr.)
  • 1-time NWA Missouri Heavyweight Champion
  • 5-time NWA Western States Heavyweight Champion
  • 2-time NWA Western States Tag Team Champion (with Ricky Romero)
  • Pro-Pain-Pro-Wrestling
  • 1-time 3PW Heavyweight Champion
  • PWI ranked him # 22 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
  • PWI ranked him # 9 of the best tag teams of the PWI Years, with Dory Funk, Jr..
  • PWI Feud of the Year, versus Ric Flair (1989)
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year Award (1976)
  • PWI Most Inspirational Award (1997)
  • Southwest Championship Wrestling
  • 2-time SCW Heavyweight Champion
  • 2-time SCW Tag Team Champion (1-time with Dory Funk, Jr., 1-time with Wahoo McDaniel)

Quotes

  • OH! My dammed Eye! (usually said when his eye gets hurt in a hardcore match.)
  • I don't need no damn music!
  • All You Simple Minded People!

Trivia

  • The Japanese manga series Kinnikuman has a Texan wrestler named Terryman, who is loosely based on Terry Funk. A main and popular character, a few of his signature moves are Calf Branding and the Spinning Toe Hold.
  • Funk is friends with the Insane Clown Posse. In Funk's book Terry Funk: More than just Hardcore, he recalls that originally the ICP took some wrestling footage of him and Abdullah the Butcher wrestling in Japan and dubbed the commentary into English, at the same time poking harmless jokes at Funk. They redistributed the dubbed footage under the name Stranglemania without his permission. Funk held a grudge for a while, but after a quick visit and leaving $4,000 as an apology, he made peace with the clowns. He later performed at the 2004 Gathering of the Juggalos at their wrestling promotion Juggalo Championshit Wrestling (JCW). The full story can be found HERE. Scroll down to the Thursday, April 14 2005 archive
  • Terry jokingly mentioned on the Legends of Wrestling II game about wondering why Dean Malenko named the submission hold he "invented" the Texas Cloverleaf if Dean was from Florida. He later claimed Dean saw him perform the move in Japan and adopted it as his finisher.
  • Punk band Antiseen, wrote a song as a tribute to Terry Funk called "Funk U". The song can be found on the Here To Ruin Your Groove album and more recently on the Dear Abby EP along with tributes to Abdullah the Butcher, Sabu, and Cactus Jack.
  • At the ECW Arena there is a banner that hangs permanently that displays Terry Funk as a tribute to him.

Acting career

  • He has also appeared in several television series:
    • Wildside (1985)
    • Swamp Thing (1991)
    • Quantum Leap (1991)
    • Tequila and Bonetti (1992)
    • The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. (1993)
    • Thunder in Paradise (1994)
    • Beyond Belief - Fact or Fiction (1998)

Books

Autobiography: Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore 2005

References

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