Line #7 Wrestling/TerryFunk


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/funk.jpg FOREVER!]]
2
3	->''"Crazy. Th...th...That ''can't'' be an act. That CAN'T be an act. It's either the greatest [[WorkedShoot work]] in the history of the business, or that man is a little nuts."''
4	-->--'''Wrestling/JoeyStyles''', ''Forever Hardcore: The Documentary''
5
6	Meet the prime minister of [[GarbageWrestler hardcore wrestling]].
7
8	Known as "The Hardcore Icon" and "The Funker", Terrence Funk (June 30, 1944 - August 23, 2023) was an American {{Professional Wrestl\|ing}}er who was a former [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world-h.html NWA World Heavyweight Champion]], a pioneer of the hardcore style in North America, and one of the Wrestling/{{ECW}} Originals. He also made appearances in Japan with [[Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling AJPW]] and (around 2011) [[Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling NJPW]] and [[Wrestling/{{FMW}} Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW)]], as well as in Puerto Rico with the World Wrestling Council (WWC), the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWWF/WWF/WWE]] and Wrestling/{{WCW}} (both during the later NWA/WCW days and near the end of WCW's run), as well as Wrestling/{{MLW}}, Wrestling/{{SMW}}, Wrestling/RingOfHonor, Wrestling/{{TNA}}, Wrestling/JuggaloChampionshipWrestling, Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla and ''MANY'' others.
9
10	He was known as a member of the Funk WrestlingFamily, which includes his late father Dory Funk ''Sr.'' (May 4, 1919 – June 3, 1973) and his older brother Wrestling/DoryFunkJr (born 1941). (As a bonus, Terry and Dory Jr. are the only brothers to date to ever hold the Wrestling/{{N\|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA World Heavyweight title.) In addition, there is his acting resume, starting with ''Paradise Alley'' in 1978.
11
12	He may not have looked like much, but he's taken bumps men ''a third'' his age would not consider, let alone attempt. While not quite the living embodiment of hardcore (that would be Wrestling/AbdullahTheButcher), he ranks pretty close; the Funkasaurus was a walking museum, proselytizing the heritage of the sport as it originated in mid-20th century fairs. Unsurprisingly, he had a love-hate relationship with modern pro wrestling, despite numerous attempts to break into it (even [[HypocrisyNod making light of his hypocrisy]] in ''Forever Hardcore''). He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
13
14	Oh, and too many {{Ten Minute Retirement}}s to count. He was last noted to have partnered with Wrestling/TheRockNRollExpress against Wrestling/JerryLawler, his son Brian Christopher and Doug Gilbert in 2017, so he's a LongRunner, too (if not the LONGEST-runner).
15
16	He passed away on August 23, 2023 at the age of 79.
17	----
18	!! Spinning Trope Hold!:
19	* TenMinuteRetirement: Terry Funk has had more retirements than most wrestlers have had victorious matches. His first "official" one was in 1984. He puts Barbara Streisand to shame.
20	** His latest retirement in September 2016 was announced almost a year after his last match in October 2015 (against Wrestling/JerryLawler) and he hadn't wrestled in the interim. The guy is ''72'' at the time. It'd be reasonable to think he's ''actually'' be done this time... '''Nope'''!. He got us again. In September 2017, now ''73'', he teamed with Wrestling/TheRockNRollExpress to take on Lawler, his son Brian Christopher and Doug Gilbert (winning by DQ). It was joked that the universe will probably undergo heat death before Terry Funk genuinely hangs up his boots for good, and he'll probably [[{{Determinator}} survive that too]].
21	* AffablyEvil: In Funk's pre-hardcore years, he was generally very soft-spoken and often came off as jovial and good natured. [[FauxAffablyEvil Don't be fooled]].
22	* AmericansAreCowboys: Seen throughout the 1970s and 1980s in typical cowboy garb: cowboy hat, poncho, and chaps. He also had his "double-cross" branding iron at times.
23	* [[{{Biography}} Autobiography]]: 2005's ''More Than Just Hardcore.''
24	* AxCrazy: He wouldn't be Terry Funk without this trope.
25	* BadassBystander: Served as a ringside enforcer during Wrestling/RoderickStrong's title shot at [[Wrestling/SethRollins Tyler Black]] during ''Glory By Honor IX''.
26	* BadassFamily: He's a Funk, it's a natural.
27	* BashBrothers - Had a massively successful tag team with his brother Dory Funk Jr.
28	* BerserkButton: In Memphis, he doesn't like sissies. (cough Wrestling/JimCornette ahem)
29	* BigWordShout: Yelled out "Son Of A Bitch" at Naohiko Yamazaki for targeting one of his knees at 1999 FMW ''Judgement Day'' loud enough to be heard without aid of a mic, while sitting down.
30	* BlessedWithSuck: Being NWA World Heavyweight Champ back in TheSeventies meant lots of travel from one territory to another, ''seven days a week''. Traveling so much led to his February 6, 1977 title loss to Wrestling/HarleyRace, as he was [[HeroicFatigue sick and tired of the travel schedule]].
31	* BloodKnight: In Memphis, aiming straight for Jerry "The King" Lawler.
32	* BrokenRecord: "JAPAN! NUMBER ONE! NUMBER ONE! FOREVER! AND EVER! FOREVER! FOREVER! FOREVER! FOREVER! FOREVER! FOREVER! FOREVER! FOREVER!"
33	* ByTheHair: Ignored Naohiko Yamazaki's complaints about such during the Funk Brother match at ''Judgement Day'' 99. It's not as if he was going to be disqualified for something so minor in FMW.
34	* CaptainErsatz: He wasn't left out of ''Videogame/FireProWrestling'', even though it wasn't him "officially".
35	* ChainsawGOOD: As Chainsaw Charlie in the WWF in 1997/1998.
36	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Had a tendency to stab his allies in the back in a second if he thought he wasnt getting what he deserved.
37	* ConspiracyTheorist: Felt that Memphis fans, wrestling announcer Lance Russell, and Memphis police were all on Jerry Lawler's side in 1981. This led to him challenging Lawler to an Empty Arena Match. (See EyeScream for the results.)
38	* CowboysAndIndians: The Cowboys to the "[[InsistentTerminology Native Americans]]" [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance Jack Brisco and Jerry Brisco]].
39	* DeadpanSnarker: Mick Foley recounted an interview Terry gave when he was NWA champion and had traveled to one region to wrestle that champion (which was the way it was done through the late 70s). When a reporter chastised Funk for the supposed 'paegentry' of professional wrestling, Funk laid this on her.
40	-->''What if I came to the ring and a band was playing? And some girls in short skirts were dancing. And then, by golly, some cannons would go off. Wouldn't that be great?'' '''reporter nods''' ''I just described what happens every time the Dallas Cowboys score a touchdown.''
41	* DefeatByModesty: Known to inflict this on others, most notably having ripped off Jim Cornette's pants in Memphis in 1983. [[note]] Outside of Kayfabe, he found pantsing to be an effective technique for getting angry fans who came at him to back down. [[/note]]
42	* {{Determinator}}
43	** During a tag team match in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1977, Wrestling/AbdullahTheButcher and [[Wrestling/EdFarhat The Sheik]] cut up his arms to the point that his brother Dory had to take over against both [[ForeignWrestlingHeel foreign madmen.]] Terry rolled out of the ring, got his arms taped up while in the crowd, and came back in the ring to continue the match, which the Funks won by DQ.
44	** Another time back in Memphis around 1981, and this was after the [[spoiler:piece-of-wood-based]] EyeScream, he would stop at ''nothing'' to get his hands on Lawler.
45	** During a hardcore match on ''WCW Thunder'' he got kicked by a horse in the arm while giving Wrestling/ChrisCandido a pile driver but still completed the move and the match.
46	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Remember when Terry and Cactus Jack winded-up from being tearing apart eachother to form an impromptu tag-team against "Public Enemy" at ''Hardcore Heaven '94''? Known as "Metal Rain" and more ingeniously "Chair-nobyl" it all started after Funk ask the audience for a chair... the crowd proceeded to flood the ring with at least 2 metric tons of folding chairs. Needless to say that Funk and Foley just scram out of that ring.
47	* {{Expy}}: Terryman in ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}''. Terry Boy (aka MEN'S Teioh) in Wrestling/MichinokuProWrestling.
48	* EyeScream: Twice, both in 1981. First, the "Empty Arena Match" against Jerry "The King" Lawler: Got himself stabbed in the eye with a piece of broken-off wood. The second one, in the "Florida Cracker" promo, in which motor oil gets into his eyes.
49	* FinishingMove: Spinning Toe Hold, Piledriver, Sleeper, and the Moonsault.
50	* ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat: People tend to forget he was a great technical wrestler
51	* FunWithAcronyms: His Wrestling/{{FMW}} {{Heel}} [[PowerStable faction]], '''F'''unk '''M'''asters of '''W'''restling.
52	* GarbageWrestler: Subverted. Even though he's the TropeCodifier, he was a great technical wrestler during his NWA World Champion days. Additionally, he's widely considered to be one of the greatest wrestling psychologists and promos ''of all time''.
53	* GoingNative: The "Florida Cracker" promo. In 1981, when he was feuding with Jerry Lawler, this time in Florida, he was saying that Lawler wanted to become a ''real'' Floridian (Lawler's from Memphis, Tennessee), "not a transplant". The Funker wanted to know what it'd be like to be a "true Florida cracker". He then really mocks the people of Florida (and what he said was Lawler's desire to become one of them) by dumping ''Quaker State Super Blend motor oil'' on his head, upper body, and ''face'', which ''burns his eyes''. (Damn, Terry could've blinded himself right then and there!) He then pours dirt and sand on himself to really drive it home and then wants to challenge Lawler to a loser-gets-covered-in-motor-oil-and-dirt match. (At this point, Terry shuts his eyes tight enough due to the oil burning his eyes. Ouch.)
54	* HairColorDissonance: Depending on the arena and studio lighting, as well as hair dampness and length, he could either be an EvilRedhead[=/=]FieryRedhead or a [[BrainyBrunette brown-brunette]].
55	* HeelFaceTurn: He, his brother and Mil Mascaras were the first gaijins of AJPW to undergo face turns that stuck.
56	* HeroicSecondWind: He's gotten so fired up he's grabbed and almost struck the head of his own tag team partner and brother Dory, but managed to calm back down before the mistake could be made.
57	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Terry Funk was an imperial 6'1, and known for teaming with Jean Antoine, who was 4'11, in mixed tag matches.
58	* IntergenerationalFriendship: A very close one onscreen and off with Wrestling/TommyDreamer
59	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Earned some financial success by pulling out of the business side of wrestling at least twice: he sold the Amarillo NWA territory before cable TV killed the territory system, and decades later sold his stock in WWE just before the value plunged due to the WWE Network's slower than anticipated growth.
60	* LampshadeHanging: At [=ECW=] ''Ultra Clash'' 1993, Terry Funk and Wrestling/StanHansen faced Wrestling/KevinSullivan and "The Madman from the Sudan" Abdullah the Butcher in a "Bunkhouse Match." The match went to a DQ when [[Wrestling/EddieGilbert "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert]], who had left the company the night before and announced his "retirement," interfered and attacked Funk. Wrestling/JoeyStyles explained that in Eastern Championship Wrestling, which it was called back then, you can use weapons but can not have outside interference. Eventually, ECW got rid of the "no outside interference" rule.
61	* LaughingMad: At the end of his "Florida Cracker" promo in 1981.
62	* {{Leitmotif}}: ''Desperado'' by the Music/{{Eagles}} fit him in the mid-90s when it was used in an ECW video promo. It fit him even more by the time of what proved to be his last match in 2017.
63	* MadeOfIron: Not so much in his last days, but his segment in ''Film/BeyondTheMat'' involved him going to a knee doctor and looking bewildered when the doctor said that he shouldn't even be walking comfortably now.
64	* MarkOfShame: The "branding iron" aspect of his mid-1980s WWF "evil cowboy" gimmick, wherein he'd take said object and stamp his hapless opponent in the back, with the jobber selling it as though he was legitimately being branded with a hot iron.
65	* OlderHeroVSYoungerVillain
66	** The older hero to the younger villain Wrestling/{{Raven}} in the original [=ECW=].
67	** Vs Wrestling/ChrisCandido on ''WCW Thunder'' over the hardcore title
68	* OlderThanHeLooks: He seemingly stopped aging some time in the mid to late '90s, as for the rest of his life he looked almost exactly as he did back then.
69	* PlayingWithFire: Used a flaming branding iron as a weapon in ECW and Wrestling/{{MLW}}. In fact, the Funkin' Army (Terry[=/=][[Wrestling/JimFullington the Sandman]][=/=]Wrestling/DrDeathSteveWilliams[=/=]Wrestling/{{Sabu}}[=/=]Bill Alfonso) defeated the Extreme Horsemen (Steve Corino[=/=]C.W. Anderson[=/=]Simon Diamond[=/=]PJ Walker [Justin Credible][=/=]Wrestling/BarryWindham) in the War Games match at ''MLW War Games'' when Funk burned Corino with the branding iron and forced him to submit to the Spinning Toe Hold.
70	* PowerStable:
71	** The Royal Family (in Florida led by "King" James Dillon [JJ Dillon])
72	** The J-Tex Corporation (led by "Playboy" Gary Hart in NWA[=/=]WCW in 1989-1990)
73	** F.I.T.E. (in SMW led by Jim Cornette)
74	** The Stud Stable (in WCW in 1994 led by Col. Robert Parker)
75	** (see FunWithAcronyms above)
76	** On the January 10, 2000 ''Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro'', Funk, then the WCW Commissioner, came together with Wrestling/ArnAnderson, Paul Orndorff and Larry Zbyszko as The Old Age Outlaws. It didn't even last a week, since Kevin Nash beat Funk for the "Commissionership" that Sunday at the ''Souled Out 2000'' pay-per-view.
77	* PreFinalBoss: During Dory Funk Jr.'s run as NWA champion, Terry served as his brother's "policeman". He would come into the territory ahead of Dory, and anyone who wanted a shot at the title had to go though ''him'' first. Of course the guy would win, either through skullduggery if they were a Heel; or valiant effort but coming out softened up for Dory if they were a Face.
78	* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: As recounted in ''Film/BeyondTheMat'', Funk once went to the doctor's office and was told by the flabbergasted doc that he shouldn't even be ''walking'', let alone wrestling, with the amount of punishment [[GameBreakingInjury his knees have taken.]] Twenty years later, he was not only still walking but still wrestling, [[{{Determinator}} of course.]]
79	* RedBaron: "Terrible" when he started with the WWF in 1985/1986, "The Funker" and "The Hardcore Legend" from the 1990s to today (even after his passing). In Japan, "Texas Bronco".
80	* RedOniBlueOni: The Red Oni to his Blue Oni brother Dory Funk Jr. You should only need one match, preferably after both of their NWA World title reigns, to see who was what half of this trope.
81	* RingOldies: One of ''the'' oldest; born ''during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII'', he was at this since December 9, 1965 and until his death was only listed as ''semi-''retired, having wrestled at least as recently as ''2017!''
82	* TheRival: Wrestling/RicFlair, the Briscos (especially when Terry teamed with Dory Jr.), Wrestling/DustyRhodes, and Jerry Lawler.
83	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Famously walked out of the ''Survivor Series 1993'' "knights" match [[note]] He was supposed to wrestle masked, get beaten, and then be unmasked in a match against the Hart Family. [[/note]] over concerns about how he was being used. He wrote a note to Wrestling/VinceMcMahon saying his horse was dying. For the rest of Terry's life, Vince asked about his horse whenever he saw Terry.
84	* SpectacularSpinning:
85	** Spinning around with a ladder on his shoulders, knocking people around till he gets dizzy.
86	** And his signature Spinning Toe Hold.
87	* TalkShowWithFists: Funk's Grill in [=WCW=], circa 1989/1990.
88	* TaremeEyes: More squinted than doe-eyed, but he does have pretty droopy (around the outer corners), sad-looking eyes.
89	* TenMinuteRetirement: To elaborate, his first retirement was in 1983 in All Japan Pro Wrestling. A more well-known retirement match was in 1997 against Wrestling/BretHart, documented in ''Film/BeyondTheMat'', which had been broken ''during the film's editing''. As of 2013, due to finally getting knee replacement surgery (which was recommended on camera in ''Beyond the Mat''), it looks like he might finally be unable to get back in the ring, though he might still do it for a ridiculous amount of money. [[OverlyLongGag Fast-forward to his return to the ring in 2017...]]
90	* TheatricsOfPain: His selling grew more exaggerated and over-the-top as he got older. He is noted for his unusual psychology when selling: Unlike most wrestlers who simply act hurt, Funk often asks for mercy or help from opponents by name. This is showcased in the Empty Arena match against Jerry Lawler - after sustaining his eye injury, Funk veers between calling Lawler a "Yellow Bastard" and begging him for assistance.
91	* ThisIsGoingToBeHuge: His promo about the new wrestling company "The FFF: Funk, Funk and Florida!" in Championship Wrestling from Florida in 1987. He and Dory Funk Jr. didn't have millions of dollars to throw around or 220 syndicated stations, but they were the best athletes. (He then proceeds to rip into [[Wrestling/TheBlackjacks Blackjack Mulligan]], [[Wrestling/MikeRotunda Mike Rotunda aka IRS]], Kevin Sullivan, and Dusty Rhodes. ''[[RefugeInAudacity Oh, and he also said that]] '''[[RefugeInAudacity Oliver North]]''' [[RefugeInAudacity -- and this was]] '''[[RefugeInAudacity after]]''' [[RefugeInAudacity the Iran-Contra Affair broke out -- wouldn't take a chance on either Terry or Dory!]]'')
92	* TooKinkyToTorture: According to the New Age Outlaws, when they tied him to the cage during their cage match with him and [[Wrestling/MickFoley Cactus Jack]], they started hitting him for real as revenge for working too stiff in the past, only for Funk to keep yelling "More!" at them.
93	* UnrelatedBrothers: Both straight with Jimmy Jack Funk (Jesse Barr, son to wrestler and promoter Sandy Barr, older brother to WCW and Wrestling/{{AAA}} wrestler Art Barr) in Rock 'N' Wrestling Era WWF and averted with RealLife brother Dory Funk Jr.
94	* VitriolicBestBuds: With Wrestling/MickFoley. If they worked at the same promotion at the same time, they'd have brutal matches against each other and team up in a short span of time.
95	* VocalDissonance: A crazy-as-hell Texan with a [[SoftSpokenSadist soft-spoken voice]]. Yeah, he'd scream, but he did start his promos off like a Southern gentleman.
96	* WrestlingDoesntPay: His forays into acting, which afforded him health insurance by way of the Screen Actors Guild (and its successor SAG-AFTRA).
97	* YouDontLookLikeYou: Fans might have trouble believing that the clean-shaven, curly-haired NWA World champion of the late 70s is in fact Terry Funk.

Context Wrestling / TerryFunk