Ep. 365: The Lapsed Funk: 'Into the Ring'

You know, good for nothing, eggs sucking, dumb leasing man. We
did it our way because we love it that way. We love it that
way, and I have this wonderful gun feeling, and I've had it all
my life. When it's time to go, I think it's now. There's
time to go, son of a gun. One sunny afternoon in May of
nineteen sixty two, three power, powerfully built men paid an unusual visit to
the offices of the Lubbock Avalanche Journal. They looked strangely out of place as
they strode through the editorial rooms, feverish with the clacking of typewriters and teletype
machines, but editor Charles A. Guy was expecting them. The trio wrestlers
Dory Funk and Ricky Romero, and promoter Nick Roberts, a former grappler,
heartily shook hands with Guy. Then Funk, spokesman for the group, fished
a check out of his wallet and handed it over here. He told Guy,
is the one thousand we promised to donate to charity from the five thousand
dollars winnings of our last match. Give it to whatever charity you think best,
or divided among several We prefer not to make the decisions because we're not
familiar with Lubbock's needs. Guy smilingly accepted the check and gave them a receipt,
but said he couldn't do as they had asked. The grapplers were surprised.
Why not, Funk said, we aren't worried about what you'll do with
the money. Well, it isn't that, Guy explained. But I think
the best way for me to handle this is to get a secret citizens committee
to select the most deserve and charity or charities. It'll have to be done
that way for two reasons. First, I don't want the responsibility. Second,
I don't want the phone ringing with please and suggestions. The committee will
quietly do the surveyant, and when the decision is made and the funds turned
over, the Avalanche Journal will make the details public. Good idea, Funk
agreed. When the news got out, Dorry was asked one the reason for
the generous gift. It was a simple one. Lubbock, he said,
has been good to Ricky and me. We've had fine crowds and a lot
of support, and we just wanted to do something in return. Fans who
had seen Dorry and Ricky shed blood for their money, frankly thought they deserved
to keep every penny of it. Dorry, in particular, was always sure
to put on a spectacular show for sheer guts. Nobody could equal him in
Texas's famed Panhandle or anywhere else for that matter. Still fresh in their memory
was Dorry's Titanic death match in quotes with Sir Nelson Royal in fair Park Colisseum.
In this bout, fought under the primitive quote rules that prevail in the
brawling lumber camps of the Canadian wilds, Funk marshaled all the rough house cunning
he had developed in ten years after the match, one hard bitten cattle raiser
said admiringly, well, that Dora sure makes me proud to be a Texan.
It was a great tribute in more ways than one, for Funk is
not really a Texan. He hails from the lush grazing country of Indiana.
Some twelve years ago he stormed into the Panhandle to carve out a big steak
for him, and that was before he opened the ranch. It's all going
so well. There a big stake for himself. After starring as an amateur
wrestler at Indiana University. He succeeded so well he was able to plunk down
forty thousand dollars for a sprawling branch about a dozen miles southwest of Amarilla,
the Flying Mayor Ranch, located near Umbarger. Is that also where Dusty Rhoads
is from? Oh sorry, that's Amberger. That's just cheeseburger. Actually it's
where he's from. Cheeseburger Texas. Oh my Umbalge, located near Umbalge extends
to be the best Umbo Texas extends in all directions as far as the eye
can see. Dori took to Texas like a jack rabbit. Everything he did
was on grand scale. He raises a fine herd of cattle, he handed,
He handled horses and guns like a native, and he had a no
nonsense, straight from the shoulder attitude that endeared him to everyone. But it
was in the ring that Funk showed the kind of spunk that stamped him as
a true Texan. A guest at Funk's ranch recalls the time he accompanied Dorry
to a match held in a small town about sixty miles from Umbarge. Funk
tore down the dusty roads. I've right Daddy as if he were competing in
the Indianapolis five hundred mile race. He was doing over one hundred miles an
hour, but was as casual as a guy relaxing in his living room.
Nervously, the guest watched the cacti whip by. Suddenly, Dory let out
yelp, reached into the back seat for a rifle and started shooting. Brother
Pow pow pow. Three jack rabbits that a series of flips and tumbled dead.
With one hand on the wheel. Funk fired again. Four more jack
rabbits hit the dust. Then he turned to his guest, don't just sit
there, pardon, help yourself to a rifle and join the party. The
guest was a mighty shaken man by the time they reached the steaming hot arena.
Ran there, he ran into an even more unsettling experience when Dorry bounced
into the ring d wrestle Gordo Chihuahua. The guest felt a shiver as he
appraised the Mexican fans. They sat grim and silent, fingering knives stuck behind
their belts. The atmosphere was saturated with menace, but Dorry, who lives
on menace, Lap laughed as blubbery Gordo came charging in. Slipping aside,
he quickly caught the Mexican by the arm and catapulted him to the mat.
Gordo is a tough ombre, though, and blasted right back. Soon the
blood began to flow. After a sizzling spate of action, Gore smeared Dorry,
swung Gordo against the ropes and rammed him in the belly. On the
rebound, you could hear the escape from Chihuahua as he hit the canvas.
Dorry let out his rebel victory yell and prepared to leave the ring. Just
then a group of venomous looking fans advanced toward him. Cocking his head,
Funk gave them a hard look and said, looking for some fun boys.
Come on, let's see how brave you are. First guy in the ring
gets a crashed skull. The fans didn't understand him, but there was no
mistaking the look on Dorry's face. They stopped and glowered, but no one
dared make the first move. Then Dorry sprang to the ring apron told them
to seat to scat, and marched off to his dressing room. Later,
his white faced guests said, my god, nor those fellas could have murdered
you. Funk Grinn. Wish they hadn't back down. I was itching for
a really good fight. Gordo was just an appetizer. The amazing thing about
Dorry is that he wasn't bluffing. He'll fight anybody, even Sonny. Listen.
Someone once asked him, even listen. Never saw the day I couldn't
lick any fighter. They say Sonny's a tough ombre. Well, Pardner,
I've eaten steaks that were a lot tougher. Direct hit yep. On the
way back to Umboche, Dorry slowed down to a crawl, only ninety miles
per hour or so. He was in a reflective mood. Funny thing.
I'm always in a big hurry to get to a fight, but afterward I
feel kind of sorry. It's all over, and I just poke along.
I don't know why, because I can't wait to get home to my family.
Dorry glowed right through his bronzed tan brother, taking that tan dude as
he got to talking about his wife, Dorothy and his kids, Dorry Junior
twenty one and Terry Brother nineteen. Remember what I said about Dorry Junior last
time I saw you, he said, and then answer and answered his own
question. I said, I was going to make a wrestler out of that
boy, and by golly, you ought to see him now. He's been
undefeated since he turned pro the first of this year. Junior's success is not
surprising. His dad started teaching him the ropes when he was only six.
Oh. He he knows more about wrestling than any other wrestler I've known,
says Junior proudly today. The six foot three, two hundred and twenty five
pounder who was graduated from West Texas State University this June, is one of
the most popular grapplers in the Southwest. For many years, he was called
Dunk, a common of Dory and Funk by his friends and family, but
since launching his matt career, he has been known as Dorry Funk Junior in
tribute to his famous dad. At college, Dunk majored in physical education and
minored in speech. The speech course was a smart move. Junior always liked
radio and TV. His dad has starred in his own weekly TV show for
years, and he figured this might be a good field to get into if
I should ever be disabled in the ring. There's not much chance of that
happening if his luck is as good as his dad's. Dorry Senior has taken
some savage poundings during his career, but has never been quote disabled. Wrestling,
as anyone in Mbalge will tell you, seems to run in the Funk
family. Terry, who was following his older brother's footsteps on the West Texas
State football team, may also take a whack at the matt game when he
graduates, and Dunk's own son, appropriately nicknamed Dink, is still another prospect,
though he is only two years old. If Terry and Dink are half
as good as Dunk Bill, they'll turn out to be mighty fine wrestlers.
And if Dunk is one quarter of the man his dad is, he'll be
one hell of a grappler at From the October nineteen sixty three issue of Wrestling
Review by Hubert Patrick, Son of a Gun, The Funk Boys have been
seasoned, The Funk Boys have been unleashed. Oh yes, on the wrestling
business. Welcome to the Lapsed Funk Episode two, Funkin into the Ring.
Thank you very much, We're very glad that you're back with us. And
what a picture they used to paint in those magazines in the sixties. Huh,
Absolutely amazing, Absolutely, I love that. It's funny how I don't
know if Yeah, I feel like we would if they went into this kind
of detail and wrote this kind of way about it today, we'd fucking be
all over that shit. Yes, total full of lies. We don't care,
you know, it's just kind of like I wish, I wish that
there was a way to make me care like this like this is That's a
phenomenal piece of writing there. That isn't that isn't phony sounding. I mean,
obviously there are the stories and stuff like that, like you know,
I don't know about you know, the guys with knives or whatever. I
don't know that's true or not. But but it gets the character of Dory
funk over, you know, by the end of that article, what he
tries to project right exactly, and what he's trying to project now increasingly as
the fifties become the early sixties, onto his two boys, Dory and Terry.
You notice story getting top billing in the earliest days of the coverage of
Funk coderly with Terry not an afterthought necessarily, but definitely one a one b
rather to a Doe Funk Junior's one for sure, for sure, and it
was it was a time where the Funks were, now, you know,
sort of trying to figure out is it going to be football? Is you
know, they're Texas boys, they grew up in Texas, and if you
can make it in pro football, that's the best way to make sure your
father doesn't feel disappointed in you. Oh of course. And so there's you
know, legitimate sports is always the best way. Absolutely. We learned that
in the limitable tragedy visa VI Fritz van Eric. And there's going to be
a bit of a teasing out process for Terry Funk here as he takes the
field at West Texas State and wins a fair degree of plot. It's on
the field he's hardly the standout player on the team, neither is his brother.
But still we're still here in tracking the full journey of Terry Funk's remarkable
pro wrestling career, in this early gestational stage where he's sort of weighing a
few options, deciding what it is he's going to do. But the point
is, no matter what he decides, there will be an attendant press ready
to record his decision. He is of enough significance in his part, yeah,
you know, Texas and the Panhandle. His father carries enough mystique in
Aura and good community relations that whatever comes of the Funks will be documented.
And that is very much to our benefit here at the Lapsed Fan as we
continue our look at the career of Terry Funk. It's the Lapsed Funk.
It is indeed, it is indeed. And someone made a great joke I
think was on Patreon about how like we're about ten hours into this thing and
the subject matter of the whole series just was born. It's exactly right.
We're going. We're going. Yeah, we're going from from A to Z,
all right, and there's nothing and everything in between. There's nothing anybody
can do about it. That's right, because I once heard a challenge that
nobody can encapsulate the career of Terry Funk, and I said, oh,
really yes, And we released a T shirt and record time. If you
go to a Pro Wrestling Teas dot Com slash Lapsed Fan, the Adam Funk
shirt is now your it is. We're there already. So of course,
Adam Funk, the grandfather of Terry Funk, the father of the aforementioned Dory
Senior, but nobody fucking knows about it. The best part, that's the
best fucking part. There's about twenty people in a pine box in Indiana cemeteries
that know exactly who the fuck out at you was. I don't say they're
definitely a slew of dead bodies that certainly that they definitely felt the funk.
But in terms of wrestling fans, I think we're I think they're getting an
education. Yeah, I think so. I think we're all learning, and
we're all getting a distinct sense of place as well as well as person.
Here m hm, as we dig into the funks setting down roots in Amarilla
and becoming a Texas family, we heard, Yeah, the sound of Dory
Funk Senior's voice last time there is no Texas twang. It is entirely appropriate
that you gave him one and reading that article from Wrestling Review, but he
still got that, you know, ministries still get that. A Midwest act
in Midwest, I know, it's so funny, and so they're still becoming
Texas. And the stuff that Dory Funk Senior is made out of, as
that article indicates, is going to be the stuff that the wrestling world has
soon to assume his boys are made out of And here's Terry Dunk in one
of his shoot interviews done with our video over the years, talking about how
his dad prepared them for the ring. I think my father handled pressure better
than most wrestlers with sons that brought him into the business. I think he
eased the pressure from us. And how he eased it from us at that
time, which I didn't realize he was doing this. We'd come back to
the dressing room and he would start at us as soon as that door open.
He wasn't in for fifteen twenty minutes of just chewing our asses out,
telling us what all we did and wrong, and the other boys was just
you know, I mean, and he was he was so hard on us,
which was really a wonderful thing in the long run, but we didn't
know at the time, but the other wrestlers thought, god, you know,
I mean, must help them tarry out, you know, And that's
kind of the way it went back. And you know, he was he
was very demanding, you know, I've seen him. I seen him take
guys like Walton McDaniels and whenever he was teaching one who to start with my
brother and just break you down into tears, you know. I mean he
was a tough, a tough, tough individual whenever it came to teaching somebody
the business, you know. But that's wonderful though, because we learned it
well, you know. And the other thing that was such a wonderful thing,
why I had it somewhat easier than the other boys in the business because
my father had been around for years wrestling around the country, and he had
the knowledge of who was promoting here and who was promoting there. They were
aware of him and who he was, and therefore they were aware of my
brother and myself. So we would go ahead and call up and you know,
I mean, if we wanted to go somewhere, well the promoter knew
who we were immediately, whereas if it was just, you know, somebody
without the name. The name was a wonderful help you that. And I'm
not saying that that Junior and I didn't have wonderful ability. I'll say my
brother had more ability than what I ever had. He was he was wonderful
in the ring. I mean, he really was. But my father was
responsible for that, and it just gave us a four year start on everybody
else. Like if you took somebody with a with a name that wasn't known
around the country, he didn't have to go into each territory and make a
name for himself. At least we would get a decent look at you know.
I mean, promoter would look at us very seriously. You know.
But we produced you know, but they produced Boss. That's the tree.
That's the key. Producing is key. And I think one of the things
I never thought about till he said it, there was the benefit you got
breaking your kids into the business as a wrestling star by being extra hard on
them in front of the other boys. What are you laid out? There
was a not in the same way he was hard on the boys at Kyle
Farley's, but but in terms of, like, you know, making the
other wrestlers feel bad for your kids because the old man was being so extra
hard on you and so demanding and so meticulous and what he expected of you
in the ring. That's almost like a sneaky indirect way of completely eliminating any
whiff of nepotism, right right, any whiff of a guy saying, oh,
they're only getting that opportunity because you know, the old man created the
glide path for them, and they didn't really have to develop their pay dues.
I mean, Funk says it right there. We started with a four
year head start over anybody else that would have had year one in the business.
But a very savvy move there from a dory Funk Senior to you know,
it's tempting just to say, you're you're a hard ass, a Texas
hard ass in your kids, and that's the beginning and end of it.
Of course, the echoes of Fritz van eric never leave our brain here at
TLF right, Oh for sure. I mean that's that. Yeah, it's
first and foremost, you know. But I'm developing somewhat of a sense that
Funk Senior was a little more cagy than Old Fritz in terms of when and
how to use the whip and in terms of how to get his boys respect
from the rest of the wrestlers from the beginning, not to say the von
Erics wherever. It certainly it was understood in world class that there were you
would always be the second tier babyface. If you were a baby face in
that territory, you simply could never be at the top of the card because
it had to be the one Eric boys, and that was not really it
was begrudgingly accepted, but no one really held it against you know, Carrie
and Kevin and David and Mike, but still it was it was clearly something
where even if you're Mike who clearly has no it doesn't take to the ring
at all, but they throw them out there and have them work Rick Flair
for an hour. That that's not a criticism that Dory Funk was going to
allow to be levied at Dory Junior and Terry, it seems because he was
going to take it to him. That's right. Back to Dory Funk Junior's
book. This is just a little vignette that I think illustrates it well.
Uh. The chapter is called The Boss Is Gone. That's right. Damn
you, Terry, loosen up. I could hear the damness cussing. You
could imagine coming from the backyard of our home with the flying mare ranch intombugger
Texas. Damn you, Terry. If you don't loosen up, I'm gonna
get up and kick the shit out of you. God damn you Terry turned
loose, or I'm gonna kick your ass. Brother who's talking dude, I
could hear the voice of my little brother, thirteen year old Terry Funk.
No, Dad, I can't turn loose. That's what he sounded at thirteen.
Dad decided like that when he was fucking five. I know what they'll
do to me if I turn loose. Fucking can God damn you, little
bastard turn loose? Now? Dad? Can you make me some pancakes this
morning for breakfast? We'll see. Let me hit you with a flapjack first
center of the ring. I couldn't imagine what was going on, Dory Junior
writes until I walked back behind the house. Dory Funk Senior, as an
amateur wrestler, was a leg wrestler at Hammond High School, Indiana. He
was a state champion the skill on Indiana University and into the professional interfessional wrestling.
His kids growing up, his word to us was that we had to
learn amateur wrestling first and get an education. Then it was our choice if
we wanted to go on to professional wrestling. But there he is caught in
a hold by Terry at thirteen years old. It's almost like the old man
should start. I don't know dialent back a bit. I want to cool
it with the hole. You want to shoot partner? That that's scene in
the in the piece you read. You know you want to have it.
You want to have a go. What do you want? What do you
think? Do you think you think you can handle it? It just seems
that it's starting to become just a little bit clearer that Dory Funk Senior might
think he's got more years as a cowboy in and than he actually does.
Are you are you a bitch? Huh? Son? Are you a bitch?
I don't I don't really know how to answer that question. Dad,
Well, because you can't answered it, I can tell you right now you
are a fucking bitch and I want to kick you in the ass. And
you're gonna like it, you know why, because you're a bitch. So
all right, So he's not that different than it didn't take that didn't take
long. Tell me what do you think? Uh? What do you think
the lessons are that Dorry drove home when they were on the mat. You
know what do you think he's telling Terry to watch out for when when you're
out there grappling Terry? What are you going to said to? What you
understand? Son? Is that when you're out there grappling, you're not trying
to do anything but kill a man. That's your focus. You bury a
man in that mat, you want to make sure he gets out of there
and he doesn't never want to get back in again. If he dies the
next day, great, If he dies in the mat, fine, But
I want you to understand that you have to deliver the pain. You have
to make him realize that his life is on the line. If you don't
do that, your life will be on the line. Back to Daddy.
At the Dory Junior, Terry Funk's blue sixty five Ford Mustang Hatchback was flying
down Fourth Avenue in Canyon, Texas when a car pulled out onto his left
side. There was the squealing of tires, a crash, and the sound
of crunching steel. Terry's new Ford Hatchback Mustang was destroyed. Fortunately, even
though he was shaken up, he felt no broken bones, cuts their injuries.
He looked over to the right seat, where his passenger, Dandy Jack
Donovan was sitting. Donovan seemed to be okay too. Thirty seconds passed his
char Jack Donovan, Oh, we when did he come up? On the
last episode, well, he said, I said, heard Dandy, and
I'm like, what the fuck is going on here? I think Jack Donovan
was the one that yeah, well nicknamed apparently dandy Jack Donovan, I see
that was the one that had those record crowds with Cal Farley. Ah,
yes, you know they called the ticket office. That's right. At thirty
seconds past, Terry contemplated how close they had come to serious injury. His
next thoughts concerned the wrestling business. Even though he wasn't wrestling against Donovan that
night, Territory rules were that Jack Donovan and Terry were not supposed to be
seen together. Terry said to Donovan, quick, Jack, you've got to
get out of here before someone sees us. Jack, get out of here.
You got to disappear before my daddy comes home. Now, at least
a minute had passed with Donovan showing no signs of injury, Terry said,
go go. You're a heel in the territory. Yeah, you're a hero
in the territory. You're a heel. You're a heel, Terry, but
I'm all fucked up, But no, you're a heel. I can't be
seen talking to a heel. Get out of here before someone sees you.
Jack Donovan looked at Terry, then reached up, grabbed his shoulder and said,
Oh, I've injured my shoulder. Get me a doctor. Donovan wasn't
going anywhere but to the hospital in the canyon, and the whole town would
know the two were riding together. Nineteen sixty five was Terry's first year in
the business, and he wasn't going to miss a shot for any reason,
not even an accident that destroyed his car. Terry called his mother in law,
any Weaver, and told her of the problem. Terry asked if he
could borrow her blue sixty five Ford Victoria so he could make the town.
A police report was completed, Donovan was taken to the hospital, and before
the wrecker could load up Terry's new sixty five Ford Mustang and haul it off
to the junkyard, Terry was on his way to Cisco, Texas, and
his mother in law's new sixty five Ford Victoria by himself. Boss Terry Funk
is on the road. That's right, Terry, there is something wrong with
you. You have been heard in that car wreck, and even though you
were able to go into the ring and have a great match tonight, there
is still something not right about you. I want you to go straight from
the arena home. I do not want you taking a long way through breck
and Ridge and buying beer. I want you to go direct to your house
and get some rest. I don't want you drinking beer on the way home,
but I want to. That's why I'm telling you not to Son,
because I know you wanna what Terry. Oh on ahead, and Terry said,
yes, Dad, I will do just as you say. Dorriyfunk Senior
asked Jack Briscoe to ride back that night with Terry, who helped them drive
and keep them company on the long trip after the matches. As they left
the arena, Dory Funk Senior was following them to make sure that they didn't
take the long way through Breckinridge to buy beer for the trip home. He
followed them, Yes he did, You damn fucking right he did. Terry
floor boarded the accelerator and pulled away. Then he made a quick turn to
the left, circled the block, and shut off his lights. They watched
as dorriy Funk Senior drove by looking for their car. After Dorry Senior's car
had passed Terry and Jack pulled out and headed in the opposite direction on the
way to Breckenridge to buy beer for the trip home. Once in Breckenridge,
they went to the liquor store and bought a case of cores and ten pack
bags of fried pigskins. Now they were ready for the three hundred mile trip
back home. Damn right they are. At four a m. They were
lost for Matador in Katakway on a dirt road. Traveling eighty miles an hour.
Terry hit the brakes and yelled, watch out travel got a little Steve
Austin in there. I'll admit it. Hey, they're both from Texas.
Makes sense, ye. Traveling at least sixty miles an hour, his mother
in law's blue sixty five Ford Victoria ran through a t intersection into the bar
ditch on the other side and went airborne through the barb wire fence and landed
in a wheat field on the other side, destroying the second car in one
day. Wow, Jesus Christ, So it's muntic. It started early for
the funker. I guess so a human car crash Racleusly, Terry and Jack
were not seriously hurt. The first words out of Terry's mouth came with tears.
So I've wrecked two cars in one day, and my father is going
to kill me. Terry and Jack walked to a farmhouse, where Terry called
his father to let him know what had happened. All Jacket here was loud
cursing on the receiver, and Terry answering, yes, Dad, I'm sorry,
Dad. You're right, Dad, it won't happen again. Dad.
I'm sorry, Dad. I should have listened to you, Dad, I'm
sorry. When Terry arrived home the next day, he received news that he
was being sued by Jackdawnovan for injuries received in the first accident in Kenyon,
Texas. Nineteen sixty five was Terry's first year in professional wrestling. He spent
that year paying for two cars. Oh my god. Last year at a
cauliflower alley con mentioned in Tampa, Florida, I saw Dandy Jack Donovan.
His first words when we met again after some thirty years were, Dorry,
do you remember the day in the old Amarilla Territory that Terry wrecked two cars
in one day? So it's not gonna be I don't think that somebody he'll
ever live down it's apparently not. It's not going to be without calls to
Canyon and Amilla police. The beginning of the mad cap wrestling career of Terry
Funk. That's so, that's unbelievable. We learned all the way back from
the Cal Farley days, right, Boss, When you pitch your tent in
Amriilla, you got to work the local press to introduce you to the fine
people, don't you, absolutely, And to make sure you have a strong
command of the sports pages. Get some features written up about you, just
you know, make sure that they think you're worthy of spelling ink to move
fucking tickets and calculate gates. What do you think this fucking is? Certainly
Dory Funk Senior had had been a presence long enough in Amarilla by this point,
by the point that his sons were getting into the ring, that the
folks at the Amarillo Globe Times certainly saw fit to cover each in every step
they were making, in particular Terry on the way to that first year in
the business, before the car crashes, before the hard lessons began to be
learned. Amarillo Globe Times, August eleventh, nineteen sixty five noted that Terry
Funk was still playing football, but during the course of his playing at West
Texas State, he was framed as wrestling in the off season, much like
Wahoo McDaniel had done, another West Texas guy who wanted to be a much
more famous football player than any of the Funks were. A pretty much any
pro wrestler ever was, with perhaps the exception of a Bronco Degirsky or an
Ernie Ladd. But no, that was the thing. Why who would you
know, play in the regular season and wrestle in the off season. And
it was a huge deal that he would wrestle, and he made more money
wrestling than he did playing pro football. So eventually the transition happened. So
crazy you imagine someone taking the field every Sunday and then when the seasons over,
being a pro wrestling headliner. It's like, okay, think of this,
think of between like for the last twenty some odd years during the off
season, Tom Brady was a wrestler, sure, or Travis Kelcey or Tom
Brady cutting promos against John Cena in that time period while active, Yeah,
exactly. So that was the early blueprint that Terry Funk saw as he teased
out whether he actually might be able to make it as a pro in football.
This running in that edition of the Amerlo Globe Times, it says Wahoo
just finished another American League season Sunday as the New York Jets upset the Buffalo
Bills. Terry, starting West Texas State tackle last season, came out with
the victory over Sputt Nick Monroe in his matt debut two weeks ago. So
that's coverage of Terry Funk's first pro match that woul at least got coverage against
put mc monroe and already. The point is that the commonality is being drawn
in the local press between Wahoo McDaniel's career path and Terry Funks. So they're
trying he's they're trying to get the people to think of him in the same
way as someone that could do equal parts pro football and pro wrestling. I
don't know, I don't know if I buy it. We move from August
to October of nineteen sixty five, and this hits the Mbillo Globe Times shortly
after what appears to be Funk's match with Wahoo McDaniel. He actually, uh,
that'll be coming up at the top of the year, So let me
circle back before that article runs, I did want to make note rather that
it wouldn't be long before Terry Funk not only was being compared to in similar
tones Wahoo McDaniel in the pages of the Amarilla area sports papers, but he'd
also step into the ring with Woaho McDaniel as early as January of nineteen sixty
six at the Sports Line in Amarillo. No shit, Harry Funk and Wahoo
Daniel going over Ricky Romero and Dorrifunk Junior. That's right, Terry on one
side of the ring, Dorry Junior on the other, all the way back
in nineteen sixty six, taking place of hitting each other with fucking cow bells
and shit two out of three falls for the NWA Southwest States Tag team titles,
according to Wrestling Data, very prestigious twenty six minutes of action there.
So Funk not only being talked about in similar terms as Wahoo in the pages
of the local papers, but also being put in the ring departner might as
well be like the fucking huh Poughkeepsie fucking tag team Championship. Well, I
guess I mean what Southwest States at the time, one of the biggest times
I'm sure. I'm sure was prestigious. It is always. It always makes
me laugh about, you know, these the crazy amount of titles that were
around, you know, for like various and that were very that were so
fucking location specific, so regional. Yeah. Yeah, with the exception of
the world in the junior heavyweight, NWA didn't really have national title. They
really didn't care what the different areas called their belts. To create local champions
and local draws, you had not a world champion, but an area champion.
Your heritage, Missouri heritage were of the belt would be and those would
be the stepping stones whoever your local champion was as the most likely contender for
the world champ when they came through local draws or a local puke. Well
more on that as we talk about beyond the mat that's a very good point
coming up soon. So think of the Wahoo McDaniel career path as something that
was in mind early for Terry Funk. This hit the paper Emerald, Globe
Times October fourteenth, nineteen sixty five, and then here on December nineteen sixty
five. It's being written up this way. I'm going to share this one
with you, Boss. You can give this one to the people. This
is at the very tail end of Terry Funk's West Texas State football career,
before he had really made the transition. And I think it's it's kind of
telling because they kind of talk about you can read between the lines here and
kind of figure that Terry Funk didn't necessarily deliver on his promise on the gride
West Texas. It took him a whole lifetime in college football to have a
signature game. He kind of looks a little like Bruno, doesn't he.
Now, Yeah, he definitely does. Senior Terry Funk, the two and
thirty pound tackle from Umbarje, has been selected by vote of his teammates and
the West Texas State coach of staffa is the most valuable player in the team's
final game of the year last Saturday against Texas Western. So there's West Texas
State and then Texas Western. You know, think what normal right? Confused
as absolutely? It's like, you know, you can have fucking you know,
it was Amherst College, and then you can have a West College in
Amerson Hampshire as well. University of Michigan, Michigan State. What's the problem.
Oh my god, it's because you weren't a college athlete. I can't
appreciate how important these distinctions are. I'm just saying these schools could have done
a better job at distinguishing themselves. That's all. Are you now, son?
Did you go to West Texas State or do you go to Texas Western?
What's the difference? Oh campus card? Did you just say that?
Did you just fucking utter that shit out your mouth? Are you asking to
die? The Terry Funk Story, The Bulls dropped a thirty eight to twenty
one thriller to the minors. The Funk, one of the key players on
the team for the past three years and probably the most influential leader among the
seniors, turned in one of his customary high quality blocking jobs. His name
will be the final one on the Buffalo Touchdown Club plaque, which honored at
least one player for the outstanding performance in each game on the nineteen sixty five
schedule. Others chosen included end not really not not a specific end, just
end end. Yes, it's enough, Butcher, Walter Sheed, linebacker,
Dave Gasser, quarterback Hank Washington, cornerback Tom Krapinsky, full back Tom Moody,
defensive tackle Mark Allen, center Bill Ouz ut Seleno, tackle George Allen,
and halfback Don Dennis and end Roy armand Trout. He's a real names.
I don't know what, tell you fucking I know what water sheed ut
Seleno, George Allen, Dennis, armand Trout, and Frank are On.
Funk are senor senor. So that's the big game for Terry Funk here as
he's wrapping up his career in the West Texas Football Field. Voted MVP towards
the end of the season. That's in the talent of sixty five now right
around this time, just a couple of days prior to the publication of that
article. As a matter of fact, the MRLLO Globe is running with some
speculation that, yeah, that old Terry Funk from the West Texas Gridiron may
be considering a wrestling career. Here's how it brings. Will Terry Funk start
his pro wrestling career right away? The son of Dory Funk Senior and brother
of Dorry Junior, was an outstanding offensive tackle, but he will be one
of the top wrestlers right away. He's double tough and aggressive. I asked
Dorry Senior what wrestler he would rather have on his side in a street fight.
I'd rather have Terry than anyone I can think of right now, said
Dorry Senor. I asked who else sin Dorry Senior said that iired Mike DiBiase.
Rest in Peace would be a great one, but I might find myself
on the ground after we whipped our opponents. It also notes did you notice
where Terry Funk caught a pass for two extra points against Texas Western on a
tackle eligible play? Terry played football three years at West Texas State and didn't
make a point until his final game. Well, we can't say the same
about his wrestling career. He certainly made a point way before the servile match.
Yes, yes he did. Yeah, It was basically noted that,
you know, Senior was very protective of Terry and Dorry Junior as well in
terms of their earliest matches in pro wrestling. That's part of what Funk was
talking about when he said the four year advantage. They really never lost singles
matches despite being fresh as a daisy in the business and green as you could
be in terms of, you know, in ring experience, and they were
usually towards the top of the card and made events so not unlike the Van
Eric boys in terms of presentation. And I mean, were they they were
they worthy of that of that kind of atomic push would seem that way,
right, I mean, certainly. The problem is that there is no footage
I've ever seen of Dorry or Terry working in the sixties. The earliest stuff
I've seen in his early seventies, and I believe that's the earliest stuff that
exists on video. I don't think you really are able to see complete video
of Terry wrestling in his first five or six years in the business. But
certainly it's something that the fans in the territory, the loyal wrestling fans and
the territory took to and we're being told in the pages of the newspaper to
take very seriously and care about and that's half the battle, you know.
Yeah, And it's very very similar to the Von Eric playbook. And in
fact, according to Meltzer, Funk didn't lose his singles match Terry, that
is until he ran into the one and only Fritz von Eric wow Etbut in
sixty five did Terry Funk mid sixty five, he didn't lose until June sixty
six to Fritz Van Eric of course, at the time the biggest star in
the state of Texas in the wrestling business. It's hard to say exactly when
Terry Funk's very first match was in the ring. He has a colorful story
around the match we've referenced already, and we'll get into more detail of Poud
against Sputt. Nick Monroe, of course, was a well traveled star of
the sixties and particularly a huge deal in Memphis. But Terry has talked about
how there was a match before that, but he can't quite place who was
in it. He does remember, though, having worked at least once before
the Sputnik Monroe match that has sort of served as his origin story. I
still I find it so and again, you know, I don't have the
frame of reference to to really be able to put it, to be able
to understand. I can't believe how little or how confusing it is for them
to remember where, you know, their first matches and stuff like that.
To me, I mean, yeah, I can understand some of them along
the way, you know, you kind of forget, but your first match,
how is that not etched in stone in your brain? Right? Yeah?
That completely befuddles me. It always has. I also never understand my
wrestlers can never tell you when they realized how to work. All these old
timers have stories about how they're thrust into the ring with no idea how to
actually get through a match. No one explained it, how to work a
match. Give me a break. And in some way I can kind of
believe that, because they had to spend their years fucking lying about it.
Anyway, I can kind of understand that, But I really can't. I
can't fathom that they wouldn't even because even in even in k fabe terms like
remembering your first match would be a big deal, I would think so,
and exactly who it was. Most records have the first match December ninth,
nineteen sixty five, Amarillo, right, as, of course, the college
football season would have been ending, as intimated by those articles we just read,
and Meltzer noted he actually had done one or two matches in the days
before his quote unquote debut in smaller cities in the territory, with his first
match in Brownfield, Texas against Jim red Osbourne. That is, in fact,
the first match listed for Terry Funk and Wrestling Data dot Com December sixth,
nineteen sixty five, Civic Center, Brownfield, Texas read Osbourne versus Terry
Funk went or unknown. But in shoot interviews he's talked about another match that
he distinctly remembers as his first one. He told our video, I had
a warm up match that nobody knew about. It was in Clovis, New
mex and it was myself and I'm trying to think of the name, but
it was Kane Noble and Jack Kane against myself and a little bitly short girl
that wrestled all the time. I can't remember what her name was out of
Kansas City, and he fails to call up the name, but he remembers
that being his first match, and he says it was just me getting used
to the crowd and everything, just because it was a small town. But
then I had two nights later a match in Amarillo. My first match there.
It was against put Nick Monroe, and that was my first advertised match,
that taking place December ninth of nineteen sixty five at the Sports Arena in
Amarilla and certainly got some attention to the local press. This from December third,
nineteen sixty five, who said Jake Smith was tough, asked diyed Mike
Dibiassi with a big laugh, how does he look now? Mike and his
manager Jack Kine that just worked over the Forrner Pound Kentucky and Thursday night at
the Sports Arena, Kane was supposed to be handcuffed to Luke Brown, Jake's
partner, Kane, slipped the cuffs on Brown and slipped through the ropes.
Kane and DiBiase slugged Smith until referee Jene Guleay forfeited the match. Jack Donovan
and Ivan Verpo to be the future of Pampero. Verpo failed in their bid
to the North American Tank Tam Championships from Dorrifunk Junior and Ricky Romero. How
does anyone expect me to win with a partner like Ferpo Aske Donovan I even
as a good fellow, but he's just stupid. Jack won the first fall
with the press on Dorry Junior in five eight forty rather a Funk took the
second with a spinning to hold on Furpo in four to fifty one, and
Romero Pindonovan with a press at nine fifteen. Brown came out with the victory
in the semi final over Tokyo Tom with a bear hug in ten seventeen.
Doug gilbertio Tom, Tokyo Tom Okay. I'm sure that was a perfectly fine
gimmick. Yeah, that would be appropriate today and not the least bit offensive.
Nope, not at all. I can definitely see that getting over pretty
well. Doug Gilbert, who is not that Doug Gilbert, of course,
this being the sixties, that is to say, the brother of Eddie Gilbert
was. It was a wrestled by the name of the professional, the pro,
Doug Gilbert. He also worked under a mask as the professional and has
no relation to that family. Stop the law man that to be Don Slattin,
who we talked about back in the World Class Days with the Press and
the opener. At thirteen twenty five, and we're getting close here, an
injury caused Tosey Lothario Reads to forfeit his match against Jane Gula and last paragraph
here the first reference Terry Funk was introduced. It says the son of Dorry
Senior and brother of Dorry Junior, may start his professional wrestling career next Thursday
night. Wow. So there was an event apparently where Terry was just unveiled
to the crowd December second, nineteen sixty five. I take it according to
this article where he didn't actually wrestle, but he was sort of unveiled,
and we got a flavor from the local press coverage of his final days at
West Texas State that certainly wouldn't have come to a surprise to close followers.
Evolve things Funk at the time. Then we hit December eighth, nineteen sixty
five in Themeral Globe Times, Matt Duo claims, new surprise, We have
another big surprise and store for Luke Brown and Jack Smith, says Iron mac
DeBiase. So they go more into that feud involving Iron mcdibiassi, of course
before his untimely death that we talked about in our last episode of The Lapsed
Funk. Yeah, and further down the article, it reads, Terry Funk
goes against Sputt mc monroe in his wrestling debut. In the other main event,
the semifinal will have Dorriy Funk Junior, Ricky Romero and Jose Lathario facing
Jack Donovan, Ivan Furpo and Tokyo Tom. So there you have it.
It's promoted in the paper as his debut match makes a ton of sense why
he would be remembered as such, and this is an interesting match for Terry
to say the very least. Spotnik was a guy who was a well traveled
veteran and a well established star, and certainly was a really big gesture from
Dorriyfunk Senior to put his young son in his first match before the people,
for all intents and purposes, in there against a veteran like that. Trying
to think what the equivalent might be today would kind of be like debuting someone
debuting like Vince McMahon's son or Shane McMahon's son against HM the Miz in his
first match, or yeah, yeah, maybe a higher chier than that,
maybe, like a is there a higher chier now? I don't even know.
I don't know this business, gunter. Maybe Ah, there we goout
the undefeated streak. So we turned now to Tory Funk's interview with k FAB
Commentaries, where he reflects upon this formative experience against Sputnik. It was against
Sputnik Monroe, and that was my advertised first match was against Sputnik, and
I was in the ring and it was completely insane. Oh in his own
lovely way. Yeah, and he go ahead and he is telling me in
the ring here you know, it's uh, you're doing good, kid.
Just lay there, kid, stay down, kid, just a little bit
longer, kid. I was in a ten minute match, you know,
and now the minutes are running by, you know, So now it's about
six or seven minutes going by, and I've looked like a I don't know,
I looked pretty bad. You know. I wasn't doing a damn thing,
but just laying there like you stay there, a kid, you're doing
Did you ever get back up? Did you ever get back up? Oh?
Yeah, I sure did you know when I got back up? When
you beat him? No? No, Well, my old man came down
there any games, came down in the ring, and he hollered at me,
God, damn it, get up off your ass. Now you're making
family look bad. Yeah. Blow my I fired I fired up and went
like a maniac for the last two minutes. But that was a true story
there about him and there so wow. Interesting. I can't tell if this
is a spot where the old man runs out and gets his young son fired
up to make the comeback, and that's a spot or if Terry is not
not doing what it takes to earn the respect of spotnefun Road to looks strong
in the ring, you know, right, you have to give it back
if they're going to give it to you stiff, right, you gotta come
back right right. And it seems like it's more frustration from Dorry Funk Senior
here that his son is looking weak and he doesn't really have the instinct yet
to fight back. The way Terry Funk describes it in his book might provide
a little bit more illumination. He wrote, Spuck was a great heel,
but he didn't feel like giving too much to a kid having his first match.
And see again with Terry can never tell is he working here? You
know what I mean? Is he like, is he trying? Was Sputnik
really giving it giving a hard time? Or was it just the world may
never know. Yeah, he led the match, and every time I started
to look strong, he would say, okay, kid, that's good.
Now let's get back down on the mat and I'll get this hold back on
you. Also, I was gassed, just exhausted early in the match from
nerves. In fact, my nose started bleeding. I was doing everything he
said, and he was guzzling me until my dad ran down a ringside.
My father yelled, goddamn you, you son of a bitch. You're letting
him meet your ass up, Get up off your goddamn ass and do something,
or I'll beat your ass. I heard that. I jumped up.
Stop button, Stop letting him meet your ass? The fuck do you think
this is? I want ahead and told him I love it. I love
rim jobs. Dad, I don't see the problem. You know that's a
you got a kfe that shit, son. We're not shooting bor At here,
my shooting boor At. But I'm fucking bored and watching you. Right,
we're not shooting bor At, but I'm bored at shooting or what a
what appears to be shooting before my eyes? You piece as shit. And
I heard that I want ahead, drummed up, hit some moves quickly and
pinned Sputnik. But Dad had some more choice words for me when I got
back to the locker room. I was this match covered December tenth, nineteen
sixty five, Membrello Globe Times. Of course, they were talking like it
was a big deal that he was going to make the debut in the first
place. Of course they covered it Terry Funk wednesdaybut as grappler, don't give
that kid too much credit. He was just lucky. He hopped me before
I was ready. Those were the words of sput Nick Monroe after he lost
to Terry Funk Thursday night at the Sports Arena. It was the professional wrestling
debut for Terry, who just finished his football career at West Texas State.
The veteran Monroe kept kicking the ropes and wouldn't let Terry in the ring.
Rufferey Leonard Miller pushed Sputnik away. Terry jumped in the ring and pinned his
foe with a double leg lock in ten seconds. Now you tell me why
the newspaper would have recorded the Terry Funk's debut match was over in ten seconds,
and Funk would never have mentioned that in his retelling of this story of
this match. Terry, we love you, but I think the further we
go in the lapsed Funk, the one thing that's going to echo is Dusty
Rhodes in that shoot interview one time saying Terry is a worker. He's a
worker, he will work you. The article continues, Monroe begged for five
more minutes with Terry. It also says that the ten second finish was a
new record for the Sports Arena. Monroe begged for five more minutes with Terry,
who agreed to ten more minutes. Neither one had a fall, so
Terry came out with a victory. The crowd, including the Buffalo squad,
gave Terry a standing ovation when he entered the ring and left Bill Cross nineteen
fifty West Texas State. A little All America fullback also was introduced. It
isn't known when Terry will be at the Sports Arena again. He is booked
in Kansas City and several other places over the country, even from day one.
That's right, that's the way it goes, funk on the road,
being booked outside of even the Ambillo territory proper, getting that early introduction to
a multi territorial circuit. And we'll get into that this all was to set
up. This is why I'm a little skeptical about whether the whole scene that
Terry describes of his father throwing a fit at his lack of offense in the
match was a work because they come back in the paper and talk about how
Daddy's going to get revenge for young Terry. I mean, maybe maybe it
didn't happen in the ring, maybe it'd happen, and maybe maybe it happened
backstage. Maybe what happened backstage, you stupid piece of ship. You're a
fucking loser. Your shit sucks. You didn't show any fire out there,
Terry, How the people want to believe in the name. You want to
know what I saw out there, you stupid fuck. All I saw was
my son on the mat with another man and his face deep in his ass
eating ass. You just Terry, he was eating your ass. Dad?
Did you see the same match I did? I really don't know if John
needed to see and I saw him eating your ass, piece of shit,
just meant something different back then. December sixteen sixty five in Melo Globe Time,
Senior gets shut at Monroe. Dori Funk Senior is so anxious to meet
spute Nick Monroe that he is paying his expenses from Alexandria, Louisiana as they
clash in the second main event Thursday night at the Sports Arena. The offer
came after Monroe slugged Terry Funk a few times last week in Terry's debut.
I didn't expect any special favors for Terry. But I didn't think anyone would
do things like that to a young man just starting out at a Dori SR.
I don't even think ironed Mike Debiassi would have done anything like that.
Let's see what happens when Monroe pulls that stuff on me. Work alert.
Terry went ahead and not chewed out nonetheless in his uh in his first match.
So all right, maybe dor maybe Dorry is is a source of truth.
Maybe is that? Is that asking too much? Do you think?
Uh? It depends on the story. I'm willing to believe it or not.
Yeah, And that's a that's often a very wide open question. I'm
trying to remember if he even addresses it. Actually, I shouldn't have telegraphed
that if I don't know for sure. Let's see anything here about the fine
spot, Nick Monroe, Dory, Dorrance Dorrance, This collection of just completely
Dorance Junior, Dunk, Dunk or tink. Oh Hi, I'm Dunk.
You'll see the hair at the back of my how my name is Dunk.
So the hair is at the back of my head. And I'm gonna book
the territory in such a way that I think Terry's gonna gonna count well for
himself. One thing we can know, of course, for sure, whether
the spinning toe hold will win in forty five twelve or in sixty five minutes
in overtime. Can I ask you a serious question? Have you ever not
woken up from a nap? Have you ever? Can I ask you a
serious cause you're turned around and walked into a broom closet and thinking it was
the door. I've heard like three different wrestlers tell the story. Dusty says
he did it in front of him. A Dusty Wolf said he did it
in front of him. Just turn around and walk through a closet door instead
of the hallway door. And Todd Gordon in his new book describes Dory doing
the silent cowboy routine where he just shows up at a building that he's not
even necessarily wrestling on. It just says nothing the whole time. Can I
cask you s Can I ask you serious question? Have you ever eaten a
broom handle like a hot dog? I can't say I have. Oh well,
not just something you might want to try. Also might not be something
I want to try. There's that so fulks work in the circuit now December
eleventh, Herford against Jack Caine. December thirteenth, Abilene against Von Ferpo the
Future Pimpero Ferbo the Wild Bowl of the Pampas. Thank you very much,
Yes, December fifteen sixty five and Lubbock at the Fair Park, callus see
him for what I think is the very first time Dory Funk, Dory Funk
Junior and Terry Funk all team up for six man tagg against Diving Furbo,
Jack Donovan and Tokyo tom So. Early on, not only was Terry getting
spotlighted in prominent matches and getting a lot of hype about his being introduced in
coverage of his debut match, but the legend himself is standing shoulder to shoulder
with the boys in the ring tag matches. That must have been something to
see. I bet it was. I mean, Jesus, that's that's fucking
wild. So Van Eric Vibes even further contelled that I'm starting to think that
Fritz basically saw what Dory was doing with his kids and just copied it.
Honestly, my sons are much better looking. These guys looked like like fucking
wide ships. I got my boys, my boys are good looking Texas pure
bread. My boys are good looking in Texas. That's good. Remember when
he said Christmas best, it'll be your Christmas best. That you be wearing
your Christmas best. Yes you are. So we can all throw the football
after a turkey dinner, after we've we gotta go outside of the yard throw
around like we're like, we're a family. So what meanwhile, dorries like,
but the same exact menacing look. But he said, and you did,
you wouldn't. I want to what do the friends do? Get the
fucking ball. Get the goddamn ball. Get the fucking ball outside so you
can throw it around. I can throw to your fucking faces. Nice guy,
stands still right now, Terry, you stand there, Dunk, you
stand the fuck over there, Phil, thanks the fucking bee. Dorry,
you fucking grab this ball, or if you grab this ball, I'm gonna
beat the ship out of you. Now. I'm gonna hit you in the
face and you're gonna take it like a fucking man. Okay, Dad spot
Nick does this to you. However, you don't take it, you fight
back and dunk, you piece of ship. I'll see you over there.
I'll see what you're doing. You get touch the fucking beehive right now.
Put your hand on the goddamn bee hive, and Terry and here comes a
gander. Oh no, wait, that's sorry, that's the Chikh. I
meant a Michigan. There we go. So, like I said, it's
it's remarkable how quickly Dorry Senior dispatches his sons to work in other territories.
It's instantaneous. We sort of remember this playbook from the Fritz van Eric days.
The Van Eric boys as big as they were in Dallas, and they
were big, and they had to make the town every week. Fritz made
damn sure to get those boys out the Saint Louis. Remember, Yeah,
some of those earliest breakthrough matches are the van Erics accounting extremely well for themselves
against the likes of Harley Race and other standouts and institutions in the Saint Louis
rings. And that is certainly the playbook here for Dorri Senior. As soon
as December sixteenth and sixty five, so just weeks after his debut, Terry
Funk is already in Kansas City at Memorial Hall wrestling against Chris Belchis. According
to Wrestling Data Wow. He then shoots up to Minneapolis for the first time
December eighteenth, sixty five to wrestle Guy Taylor at the Convention Hall in Minneapolis
for the AWA. So Terry is already getting his miles in early and often,
damn right. But it's not accurate to say that professional football was completely
in Terry Funk's rear view mirror or completely out of his zone of consideration.
He's still very much a kid wrestling after the football season is over. Wow,
he's getting seasoned, but yeah, still entertaining football offers. As he
writes in this book, I had a few matches under my belt when I
had some talks with Bud Grant about playing pro ball in Winnipeg for the Canadian
League. They offered me a contract paying twelve thousand dollars a year. I
also went to work with vern Gania and the AWA up there. I got
an AWA television and in my first match there had Dennis Stamp as a partner
against Larry Henning and Hartley Race. Well, they knew my father and liked
us. We went out there and those guys made me look like a million
dollars. He was booked for once. Absolutely, he was booked. He
learned all about Dennis Stamp and the remarkable Beyond the Cinemat episode of Under the
Beyond the Sign, Under the Cinemata Beyond the Match, Thank you very much.
I knew that was destined to happen. And this is where Terry Funk
meets Dennis Stamp, because it's always weird. It's like, Dennis Stamp is
associated as a Texas guy, but he's clearly from the Midwest, right,
Oh yeah, it's from Minnesota, we know, as we as we know,
And it's like, how does he get how does he get to Amarillo?
Terry go to him and that that's exactly what happened. And his first
month in the business, Terry goes up to the AWA to work some shots
and meets meets Dennis Stamp and gets to work with the likes of Larry Heading
and Harley Race. So he's already wrestled Sputneckunroe, Harley Race, and Larry
Hendig in his first like two weeks in the business. Wait is yeah,
just not you know, your typical low rent affair. Indeed, wow problem
this from Dennis Stamp's book, which you turned me on to boss. Thank
you for that. Yeah, the Stamp collection. That's what he called this
book. I don't know what to say about it, but that's what he
called this book. I was trained as a pro by Verne Gania and Billy
Robinson. Dennis writes Billy was considered the toughest man in the world. He
was. He literally beat me up every day. After a few weeks,
I realized with fear of a beating was worse than the beating itself, so
he beat most of the fear out of me. I soon found out that
everyone is afraid. By not being afraid, I got a reputation for being
a tough guy. And since I didn't believe the songs the bosses would sing
to me, I got tagged with a bad attitude. Everything I said was
magnified and misquoted. I love how fucking saucy this guy is. Oh yeah,
I mean he's so fucking pissy. Yeah he and he jumps up and
down at a trampoline and beyond the mat in underwear, right like a normal
person. Yes, you're sixty years old, speedos. But he's waiting for
a call with many weights in his hand. Yeah, he's waiting for the
call. I mean, this is the guy. This is He's kind of
like the last vestige of what would become the Amarillo territory as far as I
still living in the city, still associated with that era of the city,
didn't move on or pass away. And here he is becoming acquainted with Terry
Funk. So there he is getting trained by obviously stalwarts. And I've always
had a lot to say. At that time, I'd had between twelve hundred
and fifteen hundred matches. I was really at home in the ring. He
wrote. My ring character was an arrogant heel, a vicious, violent villain.
I was a slow walking, slect talking, cocky bad guy. I
was trying to make a name for myself in West Texas. It was the
backyard of the Funk Brothers, both world champions. When I was asked to
do the match, I didn't hesitate, absolutely, I said. Then Verne
sent me to Denver to wrestle Butch Levy Okay. I came to Ambarillo over
thirty years ago as a professional wrestler when I was no longer booked. He
definitely owns that phrase. Oh he loves that, Yeah, leans into it.
I started my own business. I owned and ran a pest control company
which he still does to this day. I think or a tree company something
like that, out of Darth anymore he's dead. But oh well, yeah
he did until in peace, Dennis, that's true. One day, while
spraying a house, I noticed a young boy about eight years old, lying
on the couch. I knew he was a school day for conversation, I
asked his mother, is he sick? Yes? His mother told me Breck
has malignant brain tumors and the doctors have given him thirty days. Wow,
I thought to myself, I've always got to open my big mouth. As
I walked through the boys bedroom, I saw a wrestling poster on the wall.
Okay, I thought, I can talk about wrestling. After I finished
spraying, I went back to the mother. I see your son as a
wrestling fan, wanting to change the subject, Yes, she answered, he
loves wrestling. Terry Funk is his favorite. In fact, meeting Terry is
on the top of his make a wish list. Do you know Terry?
She asked? Sure, I came back. I wrestled Terry five times when
he was world champion. I never missed a chance to brag about that.
Well, she tells me. As I'm leaving I have a friend who has
Terry's phone number. Okay, I replied, if you can get a hold
of him, give me. If you can't get a hold of him,
give me a call. I hadn't talked to Terry for a few months,
but we've always had each other's phone number. I wouldn't give it out,
but I would call him sure enough. Beck's Rerex's mother called the next day.
The doctors had downgraded her son from thirty days to day to day and
she couldn't get Terry's phone number. I called Terry and he answered the phone.
I explained the situation and how much this boy Breck wanted to meet him.
Yes, I will, Terry said, can you go tomorrow? I
asked yes. He said, if you go with me? Since I don't
know those people, I don't want to get rolled up, Dennis, Aha,
brother, what what? No Terry wants to get rolled up? I
called the mother to let her know Breck is so weak he'd hardly hold his
head up off the pillow, was all she said. Brecked, yeah,
he's so weak, like figuratively in a literary sense postmodern sense, is weak
in a postmodern sense, he's weak to weak we'll be there tomorrow, I
assured her. Terry and I met and went to Breck's house. I went
up to the door first, I knocked, and the mother came to the
door. It's Terry, she said loudly. Now I could see Breck.
Terry funk. He screamed, and he jumped off the couch. Our visit
lasted about an hour. We talked and laughed. At one point we moved
the coffee table and got down on the floor to demonstrate a few holds.
There's one thing you need to know about the Funks is they will move the
furniture and they will demonstrate holds on the carpet. Why not. I would
do the same thing every single time, without exception, and it would cost
them. As we'll get to Brec balled up a fist to show us how
he would do it. Terry showed more character. He hasked Breck if he
would be his tag team partner. What does that mean? Breck asked,
It means I'll have your back, Terry told him. Breck paused and got
a strange smile on his face. Does that mean I'll have your back too?
He asked? Sure does? Terry replied, Now, Terry didn't go
there empty handed. He had a poster of himself and a T shirt.
He signed them to Breck. As we were leaving the house, Terry said
to Brek. Remember now we're tag team partners. I know, said Breck,
and I've got your back. As we drove away from the house,
we were both quiet. I can't believe how tough that boy is. Terry
finally said, yeah, was all I could say. We didn't talk about
the visit anymore. About a year later, I ran into Breck's mother.
We almost did a double knockout. We recognized each other immediately and hugged Dennis.
She said, I want to thank you so much for all you did
for my son. It was Terry, I said, yes. She said,
but you brought him to us. Well, how do things turn out?
I asked. Breck lived for two weeks after your visit. He wore
the T shirt every day. He only took it off to wash it,
and then he would lay in the dryer until it was dry. He had
to go to hospice for his last two days. Uh me the only way
Breck would agree to go, as if he could take it the poster with
him of Terry Funk. We buried him with Terry's poster, she said,
starting to tear up. God bless you and Terry, she said, and
she walked away. Some years later, I was diagnosed with cancer. I
had gone to the hospital with heart failure. My heart actually stopped twice.
In the emergency room, the doctors discovered cancer. I had fourth stage,
fast growing lymphoma. There was no fifth stage. I even heard the word
hospice used in one of their discussions. It was like being blocked in a
corner. My heart didn't get me, then the cancer would. The next
day was hectic, nurses, doctors, aides, specialists in and out of
my room, and a long list of family and friends, many coming by
to say goodbye. I didn't have time to think, let alone worry.
By eleven o'clock that night, they were all gone. Now I was alone.
There was a soft knock on my door. Who could that be,
I wondered. He stepped inside the door. It was Terry. It was
Terry Funk. I was blown away with him. He brought forty years of
friendship as professional wrestlers. That's at least two lifetimes. That visit was the
best medicine I could have gotten. We were after all right, say that
part againrofessional wrestlers. That's at least two lifetimes before that. The whole thing
there with him, he brought forty years of friendship as professional wrestlers. That's
at least two lifetimes. That visit sounds like Fritz von Eric speaking. I
mean, did you, Dennis, did you live two thousand years in those
forty It's Texas time, right, Ah, that's what it means to live
on Texas time. Everyone fucking lives, and they lived for fucking dog years
there. Basically what there's essentially Yeah, all right, I had thought of
it that way, but that's basically what it is. That visit was the
best medicine I could have gotten. We laughed for three solid hours. Terry
hadn't come to say goodbye. He'd come to let me know he had my
back and reminded me who I was a wrestler. As Terry was leaving,
I saw him. I saw Brec. He was sitting on Terry's shoulder.
He was smiling, he seemed so happy. Then it hit me. I
got chills, goosebumps all over my body. It was Breck. I had
taken Terry to Breck when he needed him the most. So Breck brought Terry
to me when I needed him so badly. I finished the story where I
started Terry and Brack tag team partners forever. I know. I'm living proof.
So Terry Funk crosses paths in the first month of his career with Dennis
Stamp, and as a result, we get stories like that, and we
get him bouncing in underwear on the trampoline and beyond the man. I need
you to be there, Dennis. I need you to be there, Dennis.
I want you to be there. I want you to referee the match.
I want you to referee. I need you to be there. I'm
not booked. I'm not booked, but Terry, I'm not booked, Terry,
I can't referee if I'm not booked in a polo. Such a bitch,
Such a fucking He drove down there, like in between like jobs to
argue with Terry outside of the sports arena. Like the fucking fact that the
reason that he can't like Dennis, he's trying to book you. Now,
do you see? Yes, it doesn't count. You weren't booked five minutes
ago, but now he wants to book you. So can't you. He's
trying to pretend that he since made other commitments, right, which is total
bullshit. He basically wants Terry to bang him to do the show, and
Terry, being the guy he is, does yeah. Yeah, but some
tender moments shared between Dennis Stamp and Terry Funk, so that wasn't all just
a put on for the cameras on beyond the mat there is demonstrated. And
so even though the press covered his first match against Sputnick Monroe as you know,
sort of like a quick triumph and then some underhanded moves from Sputnet causing
Dory Senior to seek revenge, according to Terry in his book, he did
not bounce back seamlessly from that first outing before the Moilla Faithful. He writes,
I got so depressed about the match that I went right up to the
hotel and went to bed after having a couple of beers with another wrestler,
Salento what Rodriguez. When I left Dan Maillo, my father told me,
now, Terry, I don't want you going and getting goofy ass drunk up
there. I want you to mind your p's and q's. You're working for
vern and I want you to act like a businessman. Well, this was
the night he decided to check up on me and he called my room.
Unfortunately, Cilento and I got our rooms mixed up. I ended up sleeping
in his room and he ended up sleeping in my room even more Unfortunately,
Selina Rodriguez couldn't talk. He was deaf. He could feel the phone vibrate
though. He reached for the phone and finally got it, and he said,
hey, hey, my father said, Terry, run mom bah Terry.
Cilento hung up brother and old on the nose to call this mock guys.
Solento, by the way, and my old man was hot at me
the next time he saw me. The first thing he said, but it's
god, damn it. I told you not to get drunk. You act
like a nut, and then you hang up on me. I explained it,
and he finally believed it wasn't me who hung up on him. The
football deal didn't work out, though, I don't believe. I don't believe.
I want to tell you that I believe, but I don't believe you.
You're a piece of shit. I regret hal and use a son wow
time. I you know, I regret at having you as a son,
when you were bored the day you were born. I said, this is
a mistake, and I meant it, and I mean it now. I'm
gonna get you. Terry Funk. He calls him Terry Funk, and he
says, by the way, just to be specific, I'm going to get
you like he's four years old. So yeah, that's the reason he's up
there, not only just to get that experience this season, but because this
guy in Winnipeg wanted to give Terry Funk a look for the CFL team Winnipeg,
of course part of the a WA territory. Two birds with one stone,
that's right. Funk gets up there, make some connections, works of
experienced opponents, get to meet Dennis Stamp, tries to go out for the
team, and as he says here, the football deal didn't work out,
and I assume came back home. So by the end of nineteen sixty five,
Terry Funk's football ambitions are now extinguished. He just wasn't going to be
able to make a run for it in Winnipeg and it's now full time to
the wrastling business comes back. In the December twenty first of nineteen sixty five.
He's in Odessa and it's him and Bob Geigel against pardon me, it's
Terry Funk and Ricky Romero against Doug Gilbert, the aforementioned professional Doug Gilbert and
Bob Geigel. There's a show in Lubbock where Dory and Terry team up for
I think the very first time to defeat Renegoule and Doug Gilbert. There's a
December twenty third show at the Sports Arena and Amilla where Wahoo and Terry Funk
team up to beat Mike Dibiasei and Jack Caine. And a show the day
after Christmas of nineteen sixty five and Albuquerque where Funk defeats a wrestler by the
name of the Shadow. So I do invite you to just consider Christmas time
in the territory, right, I mean, indeed, I don't know about
you, but that's not a small thing, not a small thing at all.
To go to the matches for tickets you got for Christmas under your heap's
this Christmas tree, and to see Terry and Dorry team up for the first
time these new young Actually, Daddy, we only go see Terry Funk.
Daddy, We're gonna go see Terry Funk. Yay, this is the best
Christmas I ever had? Uh? Brother, what do you mean this is
the best? What? Why would he be involved? Why would he be
involved? But it's a good is it? What do you did, Brent
get those tickets? Due if Dennis Brent get those tickets? But did you
get God? Listen, I don't mean to I'm gonna try to try.
I'm not trying to, you know, take away from you know, your
holiday magic, dude, But I want to where'd you get those tickets?
Brother? Yeah? You did you call cal far least? Dude? You
brother? He doesn't like Caliley at cal Farley makes them nervous. So so
Terry's now, you know, something akin to a local celebrity, you know,
the the college football stand out and a crazy football crazed part of the
country like West Texas. It's definitely gonna work out for him. Got those
handsome football pictures you probably have seen him. I think they showed a couple
of them, and WW did the tribute video to Terry Funk. They put
a few of those in there and apropos of his you know, local stardom.
Is this article that I just sent to you if you could convey it
to the solar system Boss. This ran December twenty seventh, nineteen sixty five.
So after Funk had certainly had his go in the rings of the Amberilla
Territory, he's already getting endorsements with this bit of advertorial. Here. Yeah,
our fine, our fine friends at Natural Food Center interviewed Terry Funk in
the pages of the Ambie Little Clock Times. That face it was like a
cartoon character, babyface. He's not he's He's as all American looking as it
gets. In a recent interview, young athlete Terry Funk told of the marvelous
benefits he received while taking Hoffman's Enerjall or Energy Enerjall, straight out of the
Dina powder category. Seriously, I'll take ener jall to improve my wind and
especially when I break it in my stamina, said Darry, who made quite
a record for himself. I had left tackle for the West Texas State University
football team. I simply could not have done it done as well in either
football or wrestling if I had not taken ergall. There's always there's always some
fucking guy with like two hundred thousand containers of product inventory at his garage.
Looking to sign like a wrestler to push the sucking powder. I gotta get
it out of my fucking garage. The winner's coming, and I think this
is probably as appropriate place as any on the lapsed funk to remind you that
definitely not in that category. Our fucking friends at Titan Nutrition, thank you
right. You're very proud to bringing the lapsed funk and everything we do here
at TLF. Very excited to announce that Tight Nutrition offers a full line of
expertly formulated nutritional products to help you achieve your health and fitness goals. Around
this time of year, many people plan to get moving and work off some
of the inches that they may be accumulating. You don't want to go into
the holiday season too, and gorged one product that can not only help you
burn off those success calories, but give you the metal boost you need to
move your body as Titans powdered White Loss Formula end Light. Okay, we're
talking a great tasting drink. Increases your atabolic rate so you burn more calories
and the gym in at rest and it contains healthy fiber great for gut health,
helps keep cravings away between meals. Plenty of caffeine to substitute your coffee
and light is also designed to help you focus, lifting your mood and productivity.
Comes in six amazing flavors that can be easily mixed and taken on the
go. So get right heading into the holidays. Find it at tight nutrition
dot net and you got to use the promo code lapsed, not just to
let them know we sent you and that it pays to smile upon TLF,
but also to get yourself ten percent off your purchase and free shipping as well.
So that's Titan Nutrition. Yes, in fact, a company called Titan
Nutrition fell into our lapse. That's just the way things go around here.
But I believe that the way to be Titan is to do Titan, and
so do Tighten at tightnutrition dot net. Tons of different products to choose from,
pre workouts and the like. Make sure again to use the promo code
lapsed check out to receive ten percent off your purchase and free shipping. Again
tight nutrition dot Net promo code let them know we sent you. But again
get back to energol, which is definitely not in this category, not at
all. What is energol? It is a what is it? In sixty
five idiot. It is a germ oil concentrate taken from wheat germ oil,
soy oil, and rice germ oil. Each table spoonful contains four thousand units
of vitamin A, four hundred units of vitamin D, three hundred units of
affordable housing, and sixty milligrams of vitamin E. If you are lacking in
physical vigor, it is evident. If you are lacking in physical vigor,
it is evident that something that is wrong. What there's something could be a
nutritional factor. Hoffman's Enerjawl is rich and the nutrients essential to increase in strength
and endurance. Terry Funk suggests, why don't you try ergall whether you whether
you be a high school student, a plumber, or a grandmother, I
believe you lock it. Keeping fit does not apply to just just to athletes.
It applies to everybody. Ergall no listall Energawl comes in either liquid or
capsule form. Come by Natural Food Center one nineteen with tenth today and see
missus w a riddle what gene lay or Mickey russells this is w a riddle
for the ass. So if I buy a nutritional product from Wa riddle,
I think it's it's kind of my fault if it's a if it's a bullshit
product. Yeah, yeah, I think it's your fault if you wake up
dead the next morning. So Terry Funk at big enough deal to get local
health changed to want to put words in his mouth. That's saying something.
You know what also happened in nineteen sixty five that will prove to be very
important to our journey here in the Lapsed Funk. What out in Bloomington,
Indiana, only two hundred miles south of Hammond, where Terry Funk was born
and where his family was rooted before going to Texas June seventh, to be
particular, in nineteen sixty five, as Terry Funk was wrapping up his college
football career and eyeing in the Ring, a gentleman was born by the name
of Michael Francis Foley. Mmmm, I mean to Indiana. Of course,
he would be reared in Long Island. But let's just say, folks here,
Lapsed Funk filed that one away as a bit of poetry that as Terry
Funk enters the Ring for the first time, that very same year mcfoley comes
into the world. That's interesting, I would suggest that these two narratives will
unfold in parallel and then once they intersect, they will never unintersect. Between
Funk and Foley. Also born are his daughters around this point in time.
In nineteen sixty seven, Vicky Funk, Terry's wife, gives birth to Stacy
Funk, recalling in his book, I took one look at this little thing
and knew my life was never going to be the same again. Four years
later, my life changed again when my daughter Brandy was born. And further
illustrative of the Funk's standing in the community, the birthday party of Stacy Funk
in nineteen seventy What actually warranted news coverage in the local paper? Did it?
Really? Stacy Funk, daughter of mister and Missus Terry Funk, was
honored recently on her third birthday. A party with a ballerina theme was held
in the Funk home September tenth. Those attending were Shannon and sk gilland Tude
and David Manley, Patrick Tinsley, Denise Hood, Gina Uzzolino. Hey,
that must be the Zellino's from the West Texas team. I guess, yeah,
it must be Laura and Alena cosib Dink Penny and Dirk Funk and their
parents. Also attending were mister and missus Harry Lee of Amarilla and mister missus
brother d R. Weaver of Canyon. Wait. Wait, they didn't say
They said Dink Funk, but they didn't say Dory Funk Junior. They said
Dink. They called him his and his parents. Yes, Wow, Dink.
That's of Stacey Funk's third birthday party Warren's news coverage, and so does
her fourth. Wow. It's Stacy Funk, the daughter of mister and Missus
Terry Funk, celebrated her fourth birthday Saturday with a birthday party at her home
near Canyon. Guests included Missus Vernon cossib Lena and Laura, Tony and Jeff
James, Missus Virgil Dotson and Willie Weaver, all of Herford attending from Mamilla,
where Missus Bill Uzzollino and Gina, Missus Larry Patterson and Page Missus Dorry
Funk. There it is Dink, Penny and Dirk. So I guess Dink
is somebody else? I can't No, Dink is the sun? Think is
the sun? Mister and Missus v A. I mean, like that's what
I'm like, I don't understand why they don't mention. I mean, I
know they mentioned Dorry Funk this time, but why didn't they mention do they
said in his parents? I don't know dink Funk and his parents like Dory
Funk's notable, and thenk Kenyon guests as well. I mean, I just
I could now, I cannot conceive living in a world where a child's third
and fourth birthday party is notable enough to be carried in the press. I've
never seen that before. No, I've seen, you know, small weddings,
you know, like times and occasions people will have, like you know,
fancy parties be covered in the society pages of old ass newspapers, and
you know, things like that being made to be news, or that somebody
went on vacation for two weeks can be in the newspaper if you go back
far enough. But I've never seen a kid's third and fourth birthday party warn't
ink before. That's a new one to me. We were driving around and
realized that the Smiths weren't home for two weeks. Apparently they went on vacation.
That's right, the Smiths are not home at their address. Now you
run the article after they come back. Oh to be clear, but yes,
you can make a good point. Stacy Funk goes on to remain well
covered in the pages of Amberilla era newspapers. Area newspapers, I should say,
is the eighties dawn here In nineteen eighty one, she goes ahead and
wins the State Fourah All State Horse Show in Waco. Stacy Funk, the
daughter of Terry and Vicki Funk, won All State pole bender excuse me at
the four Age All State Horse Show and Waco last weekend. I think this
is the one. This is I think this is the one, not the
one who gets married and beyond the map, but the other one. I
think, oh, Stacey. Of course Terry attends his daughter's wedding is part
of that movie. She competed in a field of eighty contestants. Winning the
first place position qualified her to compete at the next four h race show and
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Stacy's sister Brandy, also attended the show in Waco.
Funk says in his book, one thing that didn't happen too often except
then Maillo, but was always a thrill for me, was when all three
wrestling funks. Senior, Junior, and me would wrestle together. Dad still
wrestled periodically, and when he did it was automatic box office. It was
tough working with my father because you always knew who was in charge. Still,
it was a real pleasure, not just because he was my father,
but because I got to be in there with someone who had such a great
sense of the people in the audience. He had great ring psychology. I
can't remember him ever having the same match twice, and my brother and I
both learned from him. As many times as Junior and Jack Briscow wrestled for
the world title, I don't think they ever had the same match twice,
and I have never had the same match twice. I think that's because of
Dad Boss. We're going to fire up kind of our first bit of match
footage. Now, okay, that's part of the lapsed funk. Now,
this is kind of curious case because this is footage included in a documentary we
referenced last time we were with you on Houston Wrestling, featuring extensive interviews with
Paul Bosch, and we sampled that to give a taste of how Paul bosh
rather well phrase what it meant to be Texas wrestling, what the Texas style
was about? Oh God, why does this do this? And so I'd
ask you to turn your attention to nine thirty three of the file and you
can find it too out there on YouTube. It's called Friday Night in the
Coliseum. It came out in nineteen seventy two. Now, what I don't
know is precisely when the matches that are shown in the documentary happened. I
like to think. I like to tell myself that this is one the one
example we're going to find of Terry working both with his dad on video and
also in black and white. I'd like to think this is a glimpse at
how Terry worked in the sixties. I'm not sure of this, but I
think it's a fair assessment. I see a guy who looks like Coach from
Cheers. That would be Paul Bosch, sitting in his office, the Houston
Wrestling office, talking to the documentarian. But we're about to quickly shift over
to match footage here in a moment. So if we hit a play on
one, here we go, yep, and you two at home. Nine
minutes thirty three seconds is the queue three two one there's Story Senior. Look
at him phone, look at him. God, oh, she is not
happy getting scream down. Look at her. So that's that's Fred Curry.
That's wild bull Curry rather slugging. And there's Terry. Look at him.
Look at him. He's dressed like a goof like he does, takes a
right hand, falls to his knees of convulsist. Dory. Funk Senior has
Dory on the back of his jacket. That's Paul Bosh pulling him. This
is the Houston Coliseum. And look at Terry. Look at Terry, raise
hat, look at his look at him his look at him. He's fucking
He gets hit with one shot and he's like doing he's sounding like Sean Michael's
his whole COVID and get him go in the chaps in the leather vest.
Getting right here. Paul Bosh kicks his leg from behind. The body language
is already there for the Funker. Look at him get choked across the ropes.
This is tremendous. He's getting hung over the end of the ropes by
Bosh and then Dorry Senior clubs Bosh from behind lateral press. That's enough.
In the sixties, you kidding me. Yeah, Well, Terry Funk lays
dead on the ring apron like he just got shot. And when Dory function
you went to Houston, that son of a bitch, okay, looks happy.
How long have been coming to the wrestling matches? Three years? I've
been coming. I just got finished shooting Oz, shooting JFK. Well,
I'm at Wahoo. I don't know someone gonna like to eat a salad?
Someone love to go see restid instead. What do you like about it?
Oh? All right? Pause? What do you like about it? Gives
you something to holler about? So, boss, you've seen it? What
did you see there? With with Funk? I saw something I'd never really
seen before. I saw it just you know, my experience with with Terry
Funk is so later in his career, you know, even even the eighties,
But there I saw someone who just like so young and so fresh,
and he just you know, he made you he just he made you believe
he just the the the amount of passion he had in it. He just
looked like a phenomenon there. Yeah, he's already got that kind of like
the knock kneed thing he goes into when it gets punched in the head yep,
and he sells with like his whole body, with like his torso kind
of like gyrating, while his legs kind of like shake underneath him and he's
it's like you know, but he's also doing it in a way. But
here it's interesting because there is a distinction from later on when he would do
it and he was older and he was you know, playing the crazy guy,
whereas here it's like watching him as a youth do it is really something
special. Yeah, you realize how far back he had the command of the
psychology. It wasn't something that he didn't develop until twenty years into the game.
So he's under the learning tree, and there you've got a sense of
how menacing Dory Funk Senior could appear when he was not in front of his
hometown Faithful but just over in Houston Uber heel against of course Paul Bosh,
who's the local hero and promoter for Houston Wrestling, and they did big business
going out there as brothers, as father's son. It wasn't just a you
know, the sons and father teaming and Amarillo to please the locals. It
was to go to other territories in Texas and raise hell Yeah, that's something
the vine Arch Boys never had. The Monoic Boys never had the experience of
leaving Dallas as heels going into other parts of Texas. They were beloved everywhere
they went, Houston included. It's really fascinating. I was really blown away
by how Terry Funk he already is if you catch my drift and just that
brief glimpse we caught in black and white in Houston. So the first tag
team title one but the Funk Brothers, was over Don Jardine in Dutch Savage
April twenty eighth, nineteen sixty six in Amarillo, So Dory and Terry winning
championship gold with Funk really only in the ring for about eight months, and
then they lost it to Rocky Romero and Dan Miller May eighteenth, nineteen sixty
six in Lubbock, Texas. So we see the working style and we start
to see what Funk looks like carrying himself around the ring. Where did the
promo style come from? Mmmm? You know, because that would become just
as much of a calling card of Terry Funk's game later when he gets extended
time on the microphone to the seventies, eighties and nineties as the in ring
signatures that he and he draws inspiration from an interesting place. Do you know
what Dean Malinko's dad was, no or a professor Boris Malinko? Uh yeah
yeah I do, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do know.
So here is Terry talking about where the promo games started to develop that
would lead to such memorable lines as egg sucking dog and looking into the camera
and basically, you know, salivating with angst and bad will towards his opposition.
I think, you know that is interviews are the most important thing.
I think Pauly does the best job on him. I don't think it's necessary
to have the interaction with the crowd. Maybe some people do. I think
that you're having the interaction with the people at home. I think that there
should be more attention paid to interviews. I think the interviews should be done.
Whether I'm in the very serious ones, it doesn't necessarily matter if the
people. If you want people to laugh or you want them to boo uh,
they will bow at home in their own minds. Yeah. And I
think that you need to shoot those interviews and shoot'em and shoot'em.
And he's he been do'em more and more and more then yeah, and
you need to get what is what is proper is is One of the first
guys that I've learned from was Boris Malinkoka. You know. Uh, he
was down in Florida and I I was and interviews weren't so much thought of
was that important at that time? And uh, he would sit there and
I would see him in a corner and he'd have these notes and everything else
and studying'em. And then I'd go ahead and once I mean he'd study.
It's one of the first guys that I knew that would just take a
five minute interview would just blossom it into business. And he would do that
and he would spend the time and the effort at it, you know.
Yeah. Uh, he's one guy that taught me that interviews are everything.
And so you've got a you've got a minute to put you know, assholes
and the bleachers, and when every eighteen inches you've got a seat, well,
you want to fill those seats. And that's what interviews can do for
you. That's what you're for. That's that's one of the sole purposes.
Now I should say that was one of the sole purposes. Now, the
sole purposes of rating, So you don't even have time for the interviews.
You don't have time to sit there and talk to somebody, and people and
attention spans change, fans. Attention spans now are so short compared to what
they used to be, because of the society that we lived in, because
of the computer, because of the Nintendos, because of the one hundred and
thirty TV station, Pat Pat bat bat. It's all change, definitely because
then of the Nintendo's right, yeah plural, Well give fun credit. He's
making those remarks before smartphones even existed. Yeah, and he sees it coming.
He knows that it's going to be basically a game divided attention. But
the point there is that used to have people's undivided attention. For that minute
you looked into the camera and you knew you could faithfully relay, which you
know, if you were Boris Malinko, you would rehearsed or at least thought
through ahead of time, and you could just have that one to one connection
and you weren't worried about getting pops or booze at the right moment. You
weren't worried about right pausing for reaction. You knew the person at home was
reacting in the way that you were desiring, and that was enough, and
you were looking into that camera and you were giving them a glimpse into your
soul. When you cut a promo, you were allowed to do that.
In the business that Terry Funk came up in. Boris Malinko was famous for
doing, in particular an angle down in Florida in sixty six where he was
wrestling Sammy's steamboat and begin biting his ear to draw blood, at which point
Eddie Graham, the promoter in Florida, comes out to stop the attack,
punches Malinko in the mouth and that causes the Great Malnko's false teeth to fall
out of his face. Point Eddie Graham stomps and smashes the false teeth into
pieces. This is an absolutely legendary angle for true vintage fans of Florida Championship
Wrestling. Not really something that I've ever seen documented. I'm not even sure
there's still images of it, let alone video that survived. But that's the
kind of angle that Boris Malinka would pull off, and the promo style was
cerebral. He was one of those guys and you can start to see when
there's not a lot of stuff surviving of Boris Malinko doing the kind of promos
that Terry Funk would have been talking about there in that clip. But you
can see here as he voices over on Florida Champions Wrestling Television or I think
it was Houston, actually a Houston television, a Matt that he'd had with
Paul Bosch, who's now for some reason becoming a recurring character here on the
lapsed Funk interest Yer and plenty of laps Funk and plenty of lessons of Funk
too. In that little clip there that he was talking about promos, I
mean, the Nintendo's remark is one thing, but overall, I think he's
he's making a hell of a point. He's talking about a component of the
business that promos. I'm not sure they filled that role anymore. I Mean,
sometimes I see a promo that I feel like seals a ticket or a
pay per view, but there's not like that dedicated part of the show where
you sit there expressly to be sold to, and I feel like that's I
feel like there's no more promos that mean anything. Backstage. What Terry's talking
about are exclusively backstage, exclusively you and the camera yep, yep, or
you know, ringside in an empty building with Vince holding the stick. That
is the art that's that's gone where It's like you got a minu and a
half. Maybe people give a shit about you, and if you prove you
can do it, you'll keep making money in this territory. We'll keep booking
you because we know as simple as hell, we just point the camera out,
you tell you who your opponent is, the date and the building,
and you'll figure out the fucking storyline yourself. Or you'll ride what the seeds
we've planted off to a new place and let your creativity flow. Just do
it. And it's not like this, it's not this skill that like everyone
tries to develop. You can either do it or you can't. You come
with it or you don't. We're not gonna fucking you know, make it.
It's such a crazy thing to think about that that that there was,
that there are people who who have to like that, they have to learn
how to fucking do it, you know, Like that's just crazy to me.
Excuse I don't know, I don't think I'm sure you can learn to
cut a promo, but if you have to learn to cut a promo.
You'll never be a good or great promo, agreed. You know you have
to come in being like, Okay, I know how someone got me excited
about a wrestling match. I know where to go and myself to find something.
Not that's a copy, but I can draw inspiration in a similar way
that I think that wrestler would have to come up with those words and that
order and that facial expression and that pregnant pause, and this is the kind
of match we're going to have, and this is the match we're coming off
of, and this is the angle we did. And it's similar to the
energy that was created by this angle that I once saw. And I remember
this wrestler said this when that happened to him in that scenario. Let me
channel at least the spirit of that, if not the exact wording of it.
Yep, And let me cut a fucking promo. And Funk comes up
at a time where he had the luxury of picking up styles and tricks before
people across the industry had realized the true value of the promo. He said
it there in the clip. It was something that you know, the real
pros knew could be used to fill seats and keep your name relevant and keep
you paid in the business. But it's not like it was held against other
guys if they couldn't do that. It wasn't like the table stakes skills.
Still you can still fucking you know, work a match, right, that
could be enough for most promoters. The fact that you could fill seats with
your voice was still novel enough in the sixties that it was it was exclusive
company that you could find yourself in if you learned how to do that,
or if you could do that. It certainly wasn't everyone has to cut promos
before they can get on tving. That was like, no, we don't.
Why does everyone have to cut a promo? If if you're good at
them, you'll cut them anyway, right, they don't have to command on
the front end that you do. So so here's the sample. So this
is Boris Malenko, just very calmly and cerebrally, but in a way that
really gets a heel across in a very sneaky way. And I can hear
echoes of the early promo style of Terry Funk, not so much the screaming
crazy promo style that he would do in the nineties, but sort of like
that seventies NBA World Champion kind of. You know, it's like a formal
setting with like a Gordon Soli or somebody holding the microphone. But he's kind
of pushing the limits in what he's saying. He's kind of being a little
nutty, and some of the things he's saying even though he's had a suit,
you know what I mean. That's that early on set, Terry Funk.
And here is Malenko commenting on how he basically got screwed in a match
with Paul Bosch, making a ton of great qualifications and excuses for why he
was the one that was actually wronged and not Paul Bosch. And just think
about a Terry Funk watching this and absorbing the cadence, absorbing just the overall
style. A couple of weeks ago, you've seen the same match on television
and it was narrated by mister TV announcer. I watched announcer. By the
way, this is Professor Boris Malenko talking to a wonderful state of public people
that love him so well, and the people that he loves so much.
I'm going off the track once again, but I watched this match and I
watched TV and mister TV announcer narraed it, and I never heard such a
partial, prejudiced individual in all my life. Well, I ask for equal
time, and I ask for the privilege of announcing the same match and telling
you people the true facts of the match and the way it should be announced.
You heard a man that had shown nothing but prejudice announced this match,
and you heard the man that shows partiality tought everybody except Professor Malenko and Lord
Charles Montague. Now you have a right to listen to a man who's going
to state fact in fact only because he bleas in the truth, and that
is me. Professor boris my I say, the truth is the main thing,
and it always prevails over any type life that mister TV announcer has put
forth time and time again again, What did I say A cherry hit me
with? She can't put the professor out. There is no way man has
intestinal fortity like no other man in the world. And I'm talking about myself
because the praise can never be high enough for me, because I am yours
Texas and Texas is mine and every person, each and every one of us
know that when I get in the ring, I get in there for the
sole propic of winning. And who am I doing it for? For the
great state of texts, for all my friends, for all my fans.
Look at I got them under run now, I got them under run.
Now, I got them, I got them now. There is no way
out for you, mister TV announcwer, I got them now without many kind
of instruments in the hand. How far can he go now? With the
referee helping him once again? Once again he's helping once no gun he gets
in his way. There's no way without holding his hand. So he left,
not as a winner, just that he's able to hold up for the
ten minute period. And the only way he was able to do that only
wait by using all types of instruments, all types of you said, ten
minutes of foreign object. He could never never dream. You know what I'm
doing here? I am asking for five more minutes, five more minutes.
Remember the words that mister TV announcers said when I asked for this. Listens,
ladies and gentlemen, I haven't got I haven't even got another minute.
Boris Molenko has just retired me from wrestling. He will never step into the
ring again. At the heart breathing. This man is going through right now.
His bless is coming in short. Fans, I'm saying you could back
and go with me. I'm praining with him, and they're holding his hand
up, but not as a victor, just that he's able to stood in
there ten minutes with me. I am the man that retired Paul TV announcer
Bash. Hear the intensity kind of oh the he starts out trying to pretend
he's got everything under control, and he's gonna calmly and coolly explain to you
why he was taking advantage of and giving a raw deal in this match.
He said, he said, the crescendo build, He's justifying everything he did.
He's calling himself the hero of Texas, even though he's the uberheel.
I mean, I'm not saying that that's a great promo, but I'm saying
you can see the raw material of like that really cerebral yet kind of wild
promo style that Terry Funk would come to develop. I'm saying it's a great
promo. What did you think of that? I'm sure you haven't heard it.
I fucking I've never heard him before. I loved it. That was
so fascinating, right, I liked I liked him commenting on a match.
I liked that he was I don't know, like again, yeah, listening
to him get riled up over the course of it and then excited that he
ended a man's career. Yes, it's tremendous, and he didn't end his
career because it was funny. Is Paul bosh Is in the ring saying,
I don't know if I got five minutes left in me. I'm exhausted.
And it's Boris who layers on top of that that I amended the man's career.
He didn't say that, right, He's probably sitting to wrestle. He
keeps calling him mister TV announcer even though his name is Paul Bosch. Just
tremendous stuff. And so I don't know when when, of all the people
to cite his inspiration, Terry Funk in that shoot interview, mentioned Boris Malenko.
I was like, no, that's a deep cut. That's somebody that
nobody talks about. I mean, he's talked about, but you know,
so little of his promo survives on tape that it's hard to appreciate how much
of an influence his promo style had and how early he was and that to
barp it and I mean, I had no fucking idea that he was that
he was, that that he was so good at it, which is amazing
because his son was notoriously the absolute worst promo you could ever imagine. You
know, Dean couldn't say anything on the microphone that would carry it. You
know, that would be the equivalent of carrying a tune in a wrestling context.
Yeah, not at all. So so that's that, that's the inspiration
starting a bubble in Now he takes a little bit of that cerebral speaking style
and that sort of like erudite way of talking and taking exception and just being
a completely kind of maniacal heel who's got like this veneer of sophistication to him,
this veneer of like careful word choice. There's the thing about Funk's promos
too, It's like, even though he's a Texas boy, he's always looking
down on his opponents as being more of a hick than him. Don't think
of him as like a down on his luck cowboy or like some like old
what Old West's gunslinger. His his character kind of over the years was more
like a rich cowboy, almost like a cowboy came into your town and looked
down on you. That's wild too, yep, because you know Funk's royalty,
you know, and he did not hesitate to play it up that way.
His family ties when he would do promos in a new area or a
new promotion, and so there's like this kind of like veneer of like arrogance
to the Funks that I think people don't realize when they just think of them
as you know, wild bucking broncos, not at all. I mean,
I always think of them as a bronco type like you just said, and
Dorry very much embodying that, even more so than Terry. But so we
see the promo style now, the working style, and the en ring antics
and the physicality that we just saw on display there in Houston from Terry Funk
that can be choked up in equal amounts to Dick Murdoch, who someone has
come up already a bit because of course, sure one of Dorry's signature opponents
was Frankie Hill Murdock, and Dick was his step son and got into the
business. And we talked about, you know, Dorry's memories of seeing Terry
and Dick running around the the m Mailla Sports Arena's little boys causing havoc even
though their mother, the Funk's mother did not let Terry apparently run as wild
as Dick's family did. But just in the earliest days of Terry Funk's wrestling
career, he's starting to get acquainted with this Dick Murdock, who he's of
course known since boyhood. And I think there's some formative experiences starting to happen
as they work together and interact on the road. One of them, he
tells in his book as follows, there were some real characters in a Mailla
when I wrestled there in the early part of my career. I could tell
Dick Murdoch stories all day. What was great about Murdock was he was just
completely goofy. When I broke into the business, Dick was still in high
school, since he was about two years younger than me. He'd referee the
matches. We went to Abilene one night, and the wrestlers didn't even want
the fans to know the referees traveled with them. That's how serious they were
about keeping appearances to protect the business. That night in Abilene, we did
a deal where Dick, as the referee, got involved in the match and
he and I went at it in the ring. So later we were getting
ready to leave and I said, Dick, we can't go out together.
People will see us. You get in the trunk and I'll let you go.
Oh my god, what happened to this business? Boss? Where'd it
go? Stories like this anymore? They put fucking cameras in the car and
Nike a reacita the show about it exactly. Oh well, I don't know
what's going on. We're gonna hide somebody in the car. Fine, but
you gotta talk about it and do do do you know interviews about it.
I shut the trunk and let him stay inside for the entire one hundred and
sixty five miles to Odessa, And was he ever pissing and moaning, God,
damn you funk let me out of here. Finally he just came up
and ranked this. I fucking love it. It's just, you know,
just tremendous. Another story he has about uh, yes, so he has
that one rere stuck in the trunk. He also started to work him for
the first time two years into his career. According to the Wrestling Data Database,
on Funk's career. The first time he shares a ring with Dick Murdock
is September twenty sixth, nineteen sixty seven, so about two years into his
career, where he and Funk that is in the Lithario team up against Kowatiki
and Dick Murdoch in Odessa. There's also a match in Herford where Dick Murdock
wrestles Terry Funk. I think to the time limit September thirtieth of nineteen sixty
seven, so apparently that being the first instance of Terry Funk and Dick Murdock
facing off one on one. And as we mentioned, he gets to team
with Wahoo McDaniel early on, and the comparisons to Wahoo were clear. I
want to share with you as we turned back around to this early stage part
of Funk's career, the clip that speaks to and working with Wahoo, if
he can just bear with me for a moment, do you think this is
funny? Because Wahoo put his dad on blast in the book and remember that
I don't remember that. Yeah, he was talking about how his dad was
like a shitty payoff guy and how he basically said, like you're gonna take
less money or leave any left. That makes sense, I guess I'll have
to fire you. So if you could take a gander at the clipping that
I just shared with you, This one's from the Amberillo Globe Times from October
of nineteen sixty five. So we're turning back the clock a bit to where
Terry Funk was still playing football at West Texas State. But as we talk
about Wahoo, this is an article that sort of frames up what we were
talking about earlier and makes it pretty clear that they wanted the public in Amarilla
to think about Terry as sort of a new incarnation of Wahoo McDaniel. That's
wild we Go Funk of football. Terry Funk wants Wawhoo type career. Nobody
ever gets anywhere in this world without ambition. West Texas State's outstanding senior offensive
tackle, Tera Funk can't be faulted on that score. Terry would like to
be another Wahoo McDaniel after he finishes at WT. By that, he means
he'd like to play professional football. It's the goal of every football player.
It's the goal of every football player, the good nurtured youngster explained, and
be a professional wrestler in the offseason. McDaniel former Oklahoma football players doing just
that. He plays for the New York Jets as a linebacker, then hits
the mat when the season ends for Terry to wrestle, and is natural enough
since his father and brother have both made good on the Matt's sport. Both
played football too. Dorriy Junior was a West Texas line star a few seasons
back. This season, Terry has been the outstanding wtker. Wait is that
WT? Is it that? I'm not sure? That's a hard one to
read. Some of these articles aren't reproduced beautifully. Yeah, the scans are
almost like bad faxes. Ummm. In just about every game, he's averaged
carrying out close to ninety percent of his assignments, but admits to some concern
about this week's chore. Terry will be called upon from time to time and
take out Colorado State star linebacker Jim Foster. Foster at two and two hundred
and ninety three, Yeah, let's go with that. Who gives a fight?
Two hundred and ninety three pound Pottstown, Pennsylvania native is being boomed for
All American designation from the respect for Funk and the other the other bulls buffs.
They're buffaloes, right, there's buffaloes. I said bulls that last time.
I think it's buffs, he accord him. Foster just might raise such
a lofty designation to carry. Presently, a two hundred and thirty pounder will
have some weight on Foster. I guess these two hundred and three pounds not
two hundred ninety three pounds, but may have trouble making contact with the cat
quick csuas after the seven to thirty pm kickoff Saturday in Buffalo Bowl, when
his college day's and young Funk hopes to play offensive guard for some pro team.
He was a guard on the Buffs until this season. I'm almost sixty
two, and I think I could carry about two hundred and forty five pounds
without any trouble. There you go. When it comes to putting on weight,
Terry is an expert. I only weighed about one hundred and five pounds
when I was in high school. But I've been working hard, lifting weights
and making sure of the proper diet, and I've gone up steadily since then.
Funk and bench press three hundred and fifteen pounds now. He played at
one hundred and ninety hundred and ninety fives last season, though he reported at
two fourteen nineteen sixty fourteen a day, practice paired off, so some of
that carefully nurtured poundage. I was up to about two twenty by the time
we started training last spring, and I got up as high as two forty
this summer. Funk said he believes proper diet and getting the proper amount of
sleep at least eight hours a day, are the most important considerations for a
person who wants to put on pounds. Terry takes little stock in miracle pills.
In this connection, Terry denies bribing the Greater for his excellent gridiron Marxist
fall. I guess I've just been lucky, is his explanation. With a
few more players like Terry, coach Kerbal wouldn't worry about Colorado State or any
other opponent, and luck wouldn't enter into the situation anyway in any manner.
That's it there, It is. The rest is kind of yeah, so
he wants a Wahoo like career, and that, of course didn't happen.
But that's just a glimpse at how another glimpse rather at how long. Well,
not necessarily true, because at the end of the day, it did
become a Wah who like career, because why who quit playing football? Yeah,
if you play it out, Yeah, not at the time that this
was written. But yeah, that's a good point, I guess in the
final analysis, you could say that Wahoo, though, became a national celebrity
as a football player, just as much as they love to write about that
guy right as a football player as much as a wrestler. But he talks
about well, the book that's done about him by his family, the posthumous
book that came out on Wahoo, talks about sort of where he was at
when he came down to team with Terry. It reads a number of Who's
teammates weren't happy about the Jets letting the Dolphins take their teammate, but both
Waho and the Jets for an office, were pleased by the move. This
is some team of investors led by comedian actor Danny Thomas in a turn,
granted the expansion franchise and then Dolphins made him one of their top picks.
Not sure this is about his transition to the Dolphins and Jets, but anyway,
the Jets no longer had to worry about the contentious situation between Wahoo and
Nameth Joe Namath, and Wahoo was grateful for the start. In later years,
he did admit to being a little gretfully he wasn't around with the Jets
won Super Bowl three. So this is when Wyho leaves the Jets for the
Dolphins. Apparently, as the Dolphins organization began preparations for the nineteen sixty six
season, Wyhoo was busy staying in shape the best way he knew how.
He went back to West Texas and started wrestling again. Just four days before
the draft. He had won Themilla version of the North American Tag Team Championship
with Terry Funk Wow, defeating Dory Funk Junior and Ricky Romero and Amrello.
When he wasn't tagging with Funk, Waho was working in singles matches with foes
like Tokyo, Tom Iron, Mike Dibiasi, Don Jardine, and Dutch Savage.
That Savage later spoke about facing young Wahoo in the ring, Wyho hit
me with a chair and potatoes, living crap out of me. I didn't
need to use my blade. I had blood running all over me. And
there's a sheriff stay me while I was behind me with the chair arguing with
another sheriff. He was a pretty hot tempered kid. Funk and Wahoo lost
the titles March tenth and Amarillo to Don Jardine and Dutch Savage. These are
matches we've already referenced. He continued to work the West Texas loop, including
TV tapings as well as spot shows and places like Odessa, Lubbock, Abilene,
and Amarilla, as well as North Mexican New Mexico Town's Clovis and Albuquerque.
So when he comes down there to team with Terry, as we talked
about earlier, that's that's him making preparations for a new team and a new
season in the NFL. With all the spotlight on him. He comes and
wins the tag belts with young Terry Funk, who just started in wrestling.
So hm, he's getting quite the introduction and what appears to be Terry's first
jaunt to Saint Louis, which of course is the heart of the National Wrestling
Alliance, the base of operations for NWA President Sam Muchnick and his his his
core group of guys. Pat O'Connor as the booker and some others, Geigel
sort of Kansas City proximate to them. That's where you went when you wanted
to establish yourself in American wrestling as somebody that, no matter what you had
to do to get over in the more violent and sort of like promo and
colorful character based promotions, that when it came down to getting in the ring
in trunks and boots and not having any shortcuts at your disposal and being able
to go hold for hold, which is what the Saint Louis wrestling crowds expected
that you could be that and that you, in fact could one day be
the NWA World's Heavyweight Champion, because you had to be that kind of worker
to ever have a shot at the belt, of course, particularly in the
seventies, and that, of course, at the time in which Terry funk
Is is maturing as a pro wrestler, his first jaunt to Saint Louis is
February of nineteen sixty six, so he's only in the business four or five
months now, pardon me, two months? Fucked that two months unless this
is unless the date is inverse that it's referring to April second. Suffice to
say, as he turns the calendar for the first time in his life as
a professional wrestler. He's on his way to the Keel Auditorium, Oh boy,
one of the famed wrestling venues of course, in Saint Louis, where
he and Dorry take on Dick the Bruiser and Lee Hennig which I think is
Larry Hennick and a two out of three falls thirty minute draw. I believe
it was. I know it. It was a win. Dori and Terry
defeat Dick the Bruiser and Lee Hennig in Saint Louis in nineteen sixty six,
and we talk about the Saint Louis style of course. Unfortunately, this is
another territory where not a ton of tape survives, or at least tape that
I've seen or been able to easily call up. But here is Terry Boss.
If we can turn to some more video here, I'll send you the
link, and this is on YouTube as well for you folks out there.
Here's Terry getting in the ring in Saint Louis in a one on one situation,
so you can kind of just see him and as his unalloyed self have
also seen footage from his early as seventy three of him in multiple person tag
matches. Wow, some of the studio tapings, but this is seventy five,
So this is one who it was like six years after he first comes
to Saint Louis. So this is a much more developed Terry Funk. This
is a Funk on the cusp of winning the world title and being that guy.
But you just get a sense by watching this four minute, forty minute
clip here of the contrast between this and the wild brawling scene we just saw
with him and his dad in Houston, yep, yep, And how versatile
of a performer already Terry Funk is because he's still able to project that cowboy
aura, but he goes into the ring and doesn't do any of the things
that you know, typify the Texas Deathmatch or the wild and wooly crazy sneak
attack style that we know Dory Funk specialized in his father, and that was
on display in that clip from Houston. So if we can hit the play
and there's no audio on this, it's just it's a silent clip, So
I don't worry about that. Sure, got to hit play in three this,
by the way, for folks who want to find it is on YouTube.
Just look for Terry Funk and Saint Louis seventy five Wrestling three two one,
and there he is, Yeah, jaw jacking with a cowboy head on
vest. Look at that woman. Wow, they thought it was a little
bit a shan for a second. Does she want him dead with that bouffond
on her head? Yep? She You know, she's got so many secrets
in her boufond that that you know, you could probably she could probably kill
him. I think that's Joe Groggiola, the Saint Louis Wrestling announcer. Parents.
It kind of looks like the guy who did who was in the wrestler
Oh yeah, sure, Sam Nicer. Yeah, I think Sam Nicer just
did in Indiana, But I could be wrong. Col her elbow, look
at look at Terry in the blue trunk. Look at him working the work
in the hold against the ropes, looking for a clean break. He had
weights, So I said he did weights. Huh didn't show what do you
mean by waights? Well, in that article it says he and that I
read it about his football career, and so I was talking about how he
did weights, lifted weights and put on pounds and doesn't look like he used
weights to put on pounds in this match. Yeah, this is probably pre
Royd usage. He did talk a little bit about using them in college because
it was like, you know, nobody knew really what it was doing.
It was just something that worked, so you took it just like anything else.
But I don't think he really made it a point to do things for
cosmetic purposes early in his career. The business wasn't really like that when he
broke in. But look at look at the look at the essence of funk.
That should have been the name of the fun, the essence of Funk.
I mean, he's just controlling the leg on the mat, driving his
knee into it. Very technical, not not something I would be fully expecting
from Terry Funk. Yeah, this is what they wanted in Saint Louis.
They wanted a collery element work in the arms. He's picking him up,
you know, and then he drops the guy down in his fucking back hooking
the leg. When we started the lapsed funk and we know, you know
Terry Funk of the nineties, like, this is not what you picture.
No, that's what one thing I was excited about is really getting acquainted with
this part of Funk's career. Yep. Yeah, totally solid finals on the
scoop and slam. He's got a great intensity too, Like it's not just
it's not just doing the you know, technical moves and having that catch base.
It's like he's actually really really intense with it and it looks like it
hurts. Yeah, and you can tell these people are extra animated in this
small studio setting. This isn't the wrestling at the Chase or anything. This
is just the studio wrestling show. Yeah, but he's doing these holes,
these exchanges with so much body language. Yep. He's getting a lot more
out of a standard iriship to the corner. See way flew out of that
corner. Also, also he's got incredible speed too. Yeah, this is
before those knees gave out on him. You don't get a lot of what
you do. But the matches of Terry Funks where his knees are in working
shape and he's able to get a lot of spring are not the ones that
are most frequently watched. I drop kick and I snap mare. I drop
kick from Terry Funk. I mean that's perfect. Who knew so that that's
the vaunted spinning toe hold. Yep, affected by his dad. That's a
stupid move. Supposed to twist that ankle right at the top there, and
you go over and over, round, then round, twist it over and
over and and you trap. It keeps going even after the bell is called
for, and he drops that knee on the leg after the wind. It's
all grappling baby. Yep. That's great. We see him getting heat,
which would come to be a problem, as we'll talk about, because I
mean, they like you to be, you know, they don't mind you
being a heel in Saint Louis. It's not like everyone has to be a
pure babyface versus pure baby face match. But you cannot go as far in
Saint Louis as you could in all the other areas of the country that Terry
Funk made money in to get the people to hate you and get them riled
up. That's not what Sam Muchnick was looking for. But of course he's
been Saint Louis two or three falls, of course, as a funk with
a low ankle. Pick there and goes right back to driving the knee like
a fucking savage in the damaged wheel of his opponent. Damn, look at
him. Go let him go with that knee over and over again. He's
just getting over such a killer instinct, even though he's not doing anything cheating.
Yep, all he has to do is slap on one twist of the
spinning toe hold to take the second fall his hand raised. This fucking goof
is done. Even sure who this is he's beating up on it. J
A broni X Yep, that's that. Wow, of course, that's wild,
just just such a glimpse of a different funk. So the thing about
Saint Louis, of course, is that it's not like other territories, and
that it doesn't have a core group of wrestlers that define the Saint Louis territory.
There's always transience. Saint Louis is sort of a lead and that the
best come through, spend some time, and then go back to their home
base. But there's really no wrestler you could call a Saint Louis wrestler.
Mm hmm. It kind of called hardly that because he was from Kansas City
and that was his base of operations, but he was touring the country's world
champion. It wasn't like there was a crop of guys related to, you
know, a wrestler like a Fritz or a Dory or a Bosh or a
Joe Blanchard or a Don Owen or it wasn't wrestler, but who took over
the territory and ran it with his crew of guys. So when you went
to Saint Louis, you were sort of like showcasing yourself in a way that
you weren't in other territories where you were going just to sort of make money
and to draw house. And that's happening here for Terry Funk very very early
on, and he was pushed as a star early. Meltzer wrote that much
Negle liked the brother tag team where they had matches in sixty six against Fritz
van Erk and the Crusher, which they won via dequ There are some really
big wins on the records of Dory and Terry Funk in the earliest days of
them coming to Saint Louis that really indicate that Sam much Neck liked what he
saw and Dorry Funk Senior was a power player in the NWA. We talked
about this, Yeah, yeah, that territory, even though it would wane
tremendously and in fluence after Dory Funk Senior's departure was a huge center of power
in the National Wrestling Alliance in the sixties and seventies. The Dory Denton story
we talked about dark Soar Paulus, the promoter that Dorry Senior bought out to
take over Amilla, was a big power player in the NWA, very former
NWA president and close to the sun as it regards the national influence of the
wrestling industry. So this is big and certainly that's gonna that's going to weigh
on Sam Mutchnick in terms of, you know, influence and sort of bringing
them into Saint Louis and casting them in a favorable light. It's happening very
early, but there became a problem. You see, Terry's learning how to
really get heat yeap, Like the kind of heat where people want a knife
a motherfucker yep. Like they come to the arena literally hoping that you really
want the kind of heat that ar wrestler should want. I mean, I
think so, but he takes it too far in the eyes of Sam Muchnik
And this is just a wonderful illustration. I think this story is a wonderful
illustration of how sneakily complex the wrestling business was in the sixties and seventies as
it regards how the different territories regarded the rules and how important they thought it
was to their business that the rules be respected or totally disregarded. It was
one of the two. You know, ECW would have never been ECW if
the referees were disqualifying people. Yeah, you couldn't have the promotion that way.
Conversely, you could not have Saint Louis Wrestling for forty to fifty sixty
years running as strongly as it did without referees that were deputized to step in
take control of matches as any real referee would sam Muchnick, of course,
was a sportswriter before he became the most influential promoter in professional wrestling, and
he took sort of a cue from the fact that sports writers would constantly be
making fun about the fact that in professional wrestling there were six, seven,
eight, nine world champions, and what kind of a sport doesn't have one
solid champion, thus THEW and so he's also very attentive to the fact that
in real sports, referees decisions have sway they cannot be ignored. You cannot
have a referee make a call and then just not take the ten yard penalty
to say fuck you dare me. You know, you certainly can't waffle him
in the middle of the field and ever expect to play football again. And
the way Sam much Nick thought about what his fans wanted from professional wrestling,
and he was right in that part of the country. You had to be
protective of that. But with a fucking Texas cyclone like Terry Funk coming through
and the lessons he's learning about how to get attention on himself and how to
get heat and how to get people coming back, it was just oil and
water, which is fascinating because he does eventually win over the NWA and become
world champion and represent the organization well far and wide. But there was a
period where that was not so obvious that these two would find a way to
that these two styles we should say, would find a way to coexist.
Yeah, and it comes in the form of Johnny Valentine, who of course
is an all time legend in the business. Came up a ton in the
Lamental tragedy, huge star in Texas across all Dallas Houston, Amarillo, everywhere
really he ever worked and the father of course of Greg the Hammer Valentine.
And we turned to Greg Valentine in a shoot interview that he did with Title
Match and It's Okimetube where he talks about Terry Funk and the role he played
in his family's history in the business. Did your fathers know each other?
Oh? Well, of the first matches. Oh yeah, so Dorry Funx
Senior. I when I wrestled in the early seventies in Amarillo, Dorry Funx
he was fantastic and he always get the young guys and talked to us,
got us gone, and there was Dory Junior. He used to watch before
I got in the in the wrestling. Uh. I sit on the front
room in Fort Worth, Texas, watched a couple of matches with Johnny Valentine
against Dorry Funk Junior when he was a world champion, and uh, great
matches. I said, Wow, you know, my dad would hang his
tongue out and going like this over by me, I said, ringside watching
this, you know, great matches. So they they had to be real.
They were so so awesome. So reflections on his father tangling with the
Funks now when they bring the few to say they were so awesome. Greg
Mama, for Kelly's such an ugly man and his name is Don Fargo.
In the very beginning, he wasn't even a Valentine. Wow. Like that
magazine we were reading from that chronicled, you know, Dorry's story and him
bringing his boys into the business from sixty three. There's an article in there
that shows Greg Valentine and a picture of him and it says Don Fargo underneath
his face. So they bring the Johnny Valentine Terry Funk dynamic to Saint Louis,
and here's the problem. We turned first to Terry Funk's book. Johnny
Valentine was one of the later challengers who battled me on his way to junior.
We had a short feud February nineteen seventy three in Saint Louis over the
Missouri title. We wrestled thirty minutes for TV. It was so damn good
because of Johnny, not because of me. At the end of the match,
we had a deal where I clipped his leg with a chair. Johnny
sold it so well that the people were coming unglued. I mean, the
whole arena was ready to jump in the ring and believe me, I've had
them do it. So I was watching it was chaotic. Later on Sam
Muchnick, the Saint Louis promoter, came and told us he wasn't running it
on the TV show because it was too hot. Wow, Terry, he
was the first wrestler who was too hot for TV. That's one thing people
fail to realize when they talk about a fluke finish where there is no finality.
It's what you do going into those finishes that's so important. A screwy
finish can be just me hitting you and you being laid out if the match
is popping and the people are being set for it. That Saint Louis crowd
was hot because of the way we set it up in that long match,
and because of the way Johnny Valentine sold the pain of his leg. I'm
not trying to put myself on a level with Johnny Valentine, but I truly
think he and I took the same approach when he was selling that cheer.
He was really hurting. To be able to totally do that is rare,
but he had that power not just to portray it, but to deliver the
truth of what he was doing to the people in those stands and have them
feel that Sam was a smart man. Though to this day, I think
part of the heat for my issue with Valentine was Sam showing part of the
angle but not all of it. But at the same time, cutting that
angle short was caused by Sam not wanting to put so much power in our
hands. If he'd shown that whole thing, Johnny and I would have been
locked in for a long run there, and Sam had other plans. I
love it throwing shade on Sam Muchnick. That's great. Those plans included not
letting anyone get so hot that Saint Louis was to reliant on one piece of
talent. Remember I said there were no Saint Louis guys. Perhaps that boss
was by design. Sam always kept control of his own and wisely so,
Funk concludes. Larry Mattisick, of course, was Sam much Nick's right hand
man and took the territory over after Sam Muchnick gave up. Later went to
work for Has McMahon and allowed WWF to push strongly into Saint Louis right as
the national expansion began in eighty three late eighty three, And here's his recollection
of this infamous angle from his book Wrestling of the Chase, The Inside Story
of Sam Muchnick and the Legends of Professional Wrestling. Terry Funk was one grappler
who found out how serious Sam was about his keep it in the ring guidelines.
That is to say, right, Sam didn't want matches spilling out into
the floor. He certainly didn't want them spilling out into the stands like the
Texas Death matches did, or out to the the fucking you know, popcorn
booth and all that. The Every Tenth nineteen seven twenty three broadcast, Funk
defeated Johnny Valentine. Sam was at a charity luncheon and had to miss part
of the taping, but he'd already decided that Terry would take the Missouri state
championship. With only the details remaining to be worked out. He left Pad
O'Connor, his booker, in charge of the show. Lo and behold,
Funk used a chair to batter Valentine's leg right in front of referee Joe Schoenberger.
That's something Terry doesn't mention, MM think. Then Funk clamped on a
spinning toe hold for the victory. When Sam got back to the Channel eleven
studio with the programs being taped. Fans were enraged. Sam viewed the footage,
and I can vouch for his reaction. It was one of the few
times I ever saw him truly angry. O'Connor nearly lost his job. The
booker Wow Funk caught a serious dose of hell. The entire booking sequence was
re arranged so a rematch could take place on March sixteenth at Kiel. Without
question, the belt was going back to Valentine. Fate got in the way,
though, as Valentine was hospitalized with heart trouble in Houston the night before
the rematch was to take place. Sam got the call at one thirty.
I was handling the publicity by then, so Sam instructed me to notify everyone
about what had happened. That still left him with the problem, how would
he feel the main event slot an almost impossible notice. Fritz van Eric had
a show in Dallas, so he was out. My wife Pat hurt us
talking read the situation, and, in her debut as a booker, whispered,
what about Kinisky Wow? Dutifully I repeated her words to Sam. He
loved the idea, and while I notified everyone from the keel manager in the
box office folks, to the Globe Democrat in the Post dispatch, and every
radio station I could find. Sam called Big Thunder Kinisky, drove from his
home outside Vancouver to Seattle, caught a flight at three fifteen am, arrived
in a big thunder. That's funny was that his nickname like his gimmick name
thunder Yep, big Thunder, Big Thunder, Big Thunder Gene Kiniski. Samrant
I had no clue and arrived in Saint Louis round seven thirty am. The
Warri Hotel manager let Geen in our office where he was doing dozing in my
chair when Sam and I came in around ten am. Where have you guys
been for crowning out loud? Kiniski roared By the way Kiniski won funk relinquished
the Missouri crown. I learned so much from that sequence of events. First,
Sam made it clear what could and could not be done in Saint Louis
and that no matter what, he was the boss. Second, we only
had to refund sixty dollars worth of tickets that night, testimony to the fact
that Sam's honesty and dealing with the substitution was recognized. Third, Sam had
earned a loyalty with a talent that few others in the business could claim.
So you do not make the referee look like he doesn't know what he's doing
in Saint Louis, and by smashing Johnny Valentine's leg of a chair and plain
view of the referee despite the fact that the referee's hands were tied, not
being able to call for disqualification. Knowing Funk was to go over without Sam
much Nick in the building, but everyone in an impossible position, and Sam
took action, and so Funks all pissed because he thinks he did what it
took to make the splash and draw business as he'd learned to in other parts
of the country. But it just wasn't going to be a fit that.
That's just what a business in seventy three. Yeah, for all those myriad
considered into it the absolute glory. Years now, Terry Funk meets another very
notable and high profile challenger for the first time on June second of nineteen sixty
six, in the form of Fritz van Eric. Fritz von Eric comes to
the Sports Arena and Amarilla to wrestle a two out of three falls match against
Terry, who's only a few months into the business, and the history between
the Funks and Von Eric is kind of undertold. I think in some ways
we didn't barely even touched on Dori Funk when we did Lamental Tragedy. But
there's a lot to be said, and I think we're going to turn to
Ron Mullenac's book Fritz Van Eric, Master of the Iron Claw. Okay,
and I ask you to share this with the Solar System boss. They just
popped it in the window there already. This will give a I think,
a really nice sketch for how the Von Eric and Funk stories intersect. Okay,
is this told in who Who's Who? Says? Who's Who's? His
voice? Is Fritz talking? It is? I've known Old Dorry for a
few years because my old Dory. When we first met, he was a
superintendent and uh superintendent of cal Farley's Boys Range outside Amarilla, you know when
he uh where he started at, where he'd started a wrestling program for the
kids. Shortly afterwards, Dorry would become the wrestling promoter in Amarilla, Texas,
where he and I got to know each other very well. I once
heard that when attendance was down at the local wrestling matches there in Amarilla,
Dory Senior would jump in his truck and drive old to all the bars around
town, talk taking on all covers and telling everyone they had better get their
butts to the arena. Our tenants would climb for a few weeks and then
start dropping and get back again, so after the bars he would go.
Dori Senior was not a physically large man, but he was a mean one.
He and I had some bloody matches back in the late sixties and early
seventies before he passed away, drawing record crowds and the local arenas. Ye,
we once had a hell of a match there at Amarilla. It was
our first time wrestling together and my first match in Amarilla. When I arrived
at the arena that evening, the promoter told me the match that and I
would be a special match, a one fall, a no time limit,
no disqualification match, and falls would count outside the ring. This was something
new to me. I had never heard of anything remotely like this at the
time and was very skeptical. I looked at the promoter in disbelief. No
time limit, no disqualification. I exclaimed, Do you mean we could be
rear wrestling all night until one of you pins the other? He replied calmly.
Now I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into and who who
had thought this kind of match. I did not like the sound of this
because at all, because of the chance Door and I would be taking.
This kind of match could leave of one of us or both of us injured
and unable to wrestle for months. Now I knew deep down inside that it
was going to be one hell of a match. That night, before the
match started, I walked out of my dressing room to see how large a
crowd was. When I opened the door, I could not be leave my
eyes. The arena was packed and fans were standing against the walls, creating
waiting for the main event to start. As I scanned the arena, there
was not one place in that building that another fan could squeeze into. As
I walked to the ring that night, the Amarella fans booed and threw ice
and wads of paper at me, something I was not used to and returning
home to Texas, Dory made his appearance next, and the fans screamed and
cheered so loudly I thought my ear drums would explode. When the match did
start, Dory and I were fighting in the ring. Outside the ring and
men in the crowd where some of the fans got carried away and tried to
kick me. Security had surrounded us, trying to keep the fans out of
the action the best they could. We were hitting each other with the metal
ring, side chairs, or anything else we could get our hands on,
trying to pit each other on the floor and on top of tables or anything
else. Together, they get the match over with now. Later in the
match, when we even broke through the side door, the side eggs of
door that let outside behind the arena where the VIP parking lot was now,
Dory and I were just outside the eggs of door, standing toe to toe
going at it when Dorry picked me up and bought a sami on the hood
of Mayor's car, shattering in the windshield and putting a large det in the
hood. That man did not know the meaning of the word quit. All
the fans were pushing and shoving each other, trying to get a peek out
the door to see who was winning. Security had their hands full of trying
to hold the crowd back and screaming at the referee to just to get us
back in the building. After about five minutes of fighting outside, under and
on top almost every car in that parking lot, the referee finally managed to
get us back inside the building. The lash continued for another forty minutes before
I was able to get my hands on one of the metal ring side chairs
and hit Dory Senior in the back of the head, knocking them down long
enough to get to get the iron claw on him and get a three count
from the referee. You know that no time limit. That no time limit
match lasted about two hours and not one fan left the arena before the end
of the match. When that match did end that night, Dory Senior and
I were both covered blood. The skin in our on our backs and knees
had been torn off from wrestling on the ground outside the arena. The security
guards, who were off duty Amarilla police officers, had to escort me back
to my dressing room because, uh, because of the drunken Amarilla fans who
could not stand to see their hometown hero losing a wrestling match. Later that
night, in my dressing room, when I was trying while I was trying
to get dressed as fast as possible and get to my private plane so I
could get out of manner. You got to get out of my Amilla.
A police officer showed up in my dressing room. A police officer told me
I would have to pay for the damage that I had done the Mayor's car
before I left Amarilla, or he would have to take me to jail.
Now everyone everyone in the arena were sorry something. Uh. Everyone in the
read of that night was a Dory func Senior fan. And for a while
there was there, I was thinking this joker was really good to take me
to jail. I tried to explain to him that he should be talking to
Dorry and not me. I mean, after all, Dorri slammed me down
on the hood of the car. It was not as if I had had
a choice in the matter. There are a few minute A few minutes later,
in walked old In walked Old Dorry Senior, who as a police officer.
What was going on. The police officer explained to Dorry that the mayor
was very upset about over his windshield being broken out and had asked him to
find out who was going to pay for the damage to his car. Dorry
looked over at me and smiled and told me the officer but the promotions until
the officer of the promotions people would take care of any damages to the Mayor's
car, and he needed to get his ass out of the wrussel's dressing room
and go take care of the traffic. Dorry then turned to me and said
he was going to drive me to the Amarilla Airport because of the drunken fans
who were still hanging around outside the arena. After that first match in Amarilla,
Dory Senior and I became the best of friends. As it turned out,
Dora was a person responsible for putting together that sold out match that night.
He and I would lay come up with all kinds of matches with lots
of crazy rules and names that sold out arenas all over the world. The
Texas Death Match was one of the most popular these special events. This wrestling
match would take place in a steel cage that is lowered down over the ring
entire ring itself. The cage only has one door, which was locked at
the beginning of the match with a padlock. This match, too, was
a no time limit notice qualification match. Texas death match would not end until
one man could no longer continue. The fans love them all. The promoters
overseas were begging us to bring them to their arenas. The tap of match
became so popular that we later came up with another version called the Texas Barbed
Wire Match. Barb Wire was strung around all around the ring in ropes,
and the wrestlers would trying to throw each other into the ropes while avoiding the
same faith for themselves. The truth was that Bob Weire left many cuts that
bled like crazy, but the scratches were not serious at all. As long
as the wrestlers could keep their face away from the barbed wire, it looked
a lot worse than it really was. However, for days afterwards, the
men would look as though a wild cat had gotten a hold of them.
The money they would get for such an event had them all lined up at
my door trying to get in on these wild, crazy matches. The crowd
loved them, loved all the new events we had started to bringing into the
arenas. Wrestling was starting to change as never before, and all eyes were
on Texas and the WCCW. You know, we sold out arenas all over
the world, and not one fan ever left the building until that night's main
event was over. Those matches marked the beginning of a new era in professional
wrestling that is still going strong today. Dorry Senior's oldest son, Dorry Junior,
was a great athlete and wrestling like his old man, he was what
some people call a scientific or pure wrestler. He and I had a few
good matches ourselves, with Dory Junior taking home a couple of world titles before
he retired. I always thought the youngest son, Terry, was the most
like his dad, mian as hell and toughest nails. Hadn't I have the
opportunity to see son Terry's matches on satellite television in the early nineties when he
was wrestling for an ec W. I'm too it watching Terry perform. I
also turned it tuned in to see him in the East W World Championship title,
which was some match watching Terry that night, probably back to the old
days when Dorry and I would be were packing him in the arenas. Wrestling
sure has changed over the years. I was very impressed with the e CWN.
These guys hit each other with everything in the house and stored stuff under
the ring they can pull out and use on one another. Terry won that
night, but be sure, but he sure took some bad bumps like it.
Just like I said before, he was so much like his father,
his old man, min as Hell and Toughest Nails. Fritz fan Eric on
working Dory Sr. And creating, according to his account, so many of
the things we would consider lynch pins of Terry Funk's legacy in the business.
Our wire cages, brawling, fighting in all different corners of the arena.
We're starting to see a picture come into relief of the many influences that Terry
Funk would pull into his style and where it all came from. Yeah,
promos from Malinko, brawling style from his dad, with Texas Death Matches with
the likes of Iron Mike Debiassi. What I like about the way Fritz describes
the Texas Death Matches, so it gives us a lot more detail about how
all over the place these matches were and how they added different accoutrema like barbed
wire. I mean, right, we talk about something totally associated with Terry
Funk in his nineties matches with Saboo and in the King of the Death Match
tournament in Japan, Barbed Wire all Day, the CW logo for Starters,
and it's all from these little pockets of influence of what his dad was doing
and what others were doing around him as he came up in the industry in
the time period we're talking about this week on the Lapsed Funk and it's starting
to really come together, like where what mosaic he created. Another Fritz book
that came out is Don Smith's Fritz on Eric Tribe and Tragedy, and this
talks about how Fritz beat Dorey Funk Senior and Terry Wants in a handicap match
Wow in nineteen sixty six, number sixteenth, and that has of course echoes
of when Fritz and David wrestled Hartley Race and Saint Louis in the handicap match.
And remember that David beats Harley and it's Larry Mattison on the call and
they get all animated because holy shit, like it was supposed to be the
unfair advantage for Race, but he was so confident that he could beat the
old man and the young kid, and the young kid just does it all
without any of his dad's help and an instant world title challenger has made.
Of course it would never happen for David von Eira, but the pieces were
in place. This is sort of like a first version of that in sixty
six in Saint Louis. That's wild. Now Fritz doesn't lose to Funk Senior
and Terry, but Terry is, you know, less than a year into
the business and has already cast in a similar against Fritz. Don Smith wrote,
this is a rather important outcome since Fritz beat the Funk family patriarch in
the future NWA World champion in a handygap match. Of course, this was
promoter Sam Muchnick's call, but Sam was pushing Fritz as a bigger crowd draw
than the Funks, as he always had. In early March nineteen seventy two,
Fritz followed up at Northside Coliseum in Fort Worth and announced that Dorriy Funk
Junior was the only Funk he was willing to meet in the ring. Apparently
they were offers for Fritz to Facedoory's younger brother Terry, but of course no
championship would be at stake there. Fritz waned the NWA World title so April
eleventh, seventy two in Dallas, Fritz lost to Dory Funk Junior, viewed
his qualification, and then in early May nineteen seventy two, mister Fuji issued
a challenge to Fritz, who had report reputedly defeated the Japanese star for the
All Asia Championship. Actually that time it was a Dallas Fort Worth creation that
was not around too long. Yeah, which Sid's a tight bulletin from May
seventy two reporting that Dorrifunk Senior, the father of for NWA world champion Dory
Junior, had offered a five thousand dollar reward to anyone who could beat Fritz
and knock him down in the ratings rankings so his son would not have to
face him in the title defense. On May twenty nine, Fritz and Terry
Funk engaged in a heated interview in Fort Worth. The stage was set for
an all out war between Fritz and the Funks. Fast forward to June of
seventy two and irving Texas, Fritz drew against Stry Funk Junior at Texas Stadium.
How about that Texas Stadium? Failing to win the end to be a
world title. Several weeks before the match, Fritz announced if he failed to
defeat Funk, he would never seriously consider challenging for the NAA World Championship again.
Fritz received a standing ovation as he made his way to the ring and
the first fall. Fritz came out as the aggressor, dominating Funk for the
first five minutes. Funked then rebounded with some offense, but soon found himself
in the grip of the iron claw, first to the head and then to
the stomach. The champion saved himself by finally draping his lid. Never seriously.
What does that mean? Never seriously can be a contender or whatever?
I guess what he means is he's not going to campaign to face like top
contenders and try to, you know, get the shot. It doesn't mean
someone won't give him a shot, but this game, she's not going to
seek the toughest competition. That's how I read it. I don't fucking know
what it means. It means my sons are going to win the belt,
not me. Yeah, I don't know about that. After Fritz deck Funk
with the dropkick and fail to connect with the second, Funk applied as famous
spinning to hold to win the first fall. And in the second fall,
Funk escaped several of Fritz's attempts to win with the iron claw. Finally,
however, Fritz dragged Funk into the ropes and cotton, rebounding with the iron
claw to win the second fall, and in the third fall, Fritz had
Funk with the grip of the iron claw. When the one hour time limit
expired, Dory's brother Terry was officially barred from ringside, but briefly showed up
to harass Fritz during the intermission before the third fall. Twenty six thousand,
three hundred and thirty nine fans attended. This was the first card that Fritz
presented at Texas Stadium. Wow. Uh, that was a big one.
And so the von Eriks and the Funks very much important to each other.
Big box office draws, both fathers against each other, Fritz against the sons,
and interestingly, Fritz kind of the first example of the wrestler who looked
past Terry to get to Dory, creating this sort of character that would also
be central to Funk's early identity in wrestling. It's kind of like the scrappy
younger brother who was sent in there to do some dirty work against somebody that
was nipping at Dorry's heels and trying to get a world title shot, and
somebody that was sort of a had a chip on his shoulder because he was
the younger brother that wasn't the world champion and had kind of a more wide
open style. Yeah, people didn't take quite as seriously. And I love
that little wrinkle there of Dory Funk's senior sending Terry because he's nervous that this
guy's coming for his son's title, thus making the funks. You know,
world champion baby faces in Amarillo, but everywhere else they went, they were
playing all these little fucking political games to keep the belt in the fence wild.
Like I said, they're elite cowboys. There's a ring. I mean,
I dig that. I do dig that. So we're talking about all
these giants coming through from Wahoo McDaniel. We talked about Tito Santana came through
the territory, talked about, of course, Fritz von Eric having formative experiences
in and around the funks. We talked about, but Nick Monroe coming through.
We talked about Dennis Stamp wasn't a big star, but all these people
are becoming, uh what he booked is Johnny Valentine. How about Gary Hart?
I mean you want to cut deep? We're talking Texas July twenty seven,
sixty six, Chicago, absolutely in Lubbock, Texas, Gary Hart versus
Terry Funk. Wow. Now this is not the Gary Heart that we knew
when celebrated in World Class. This is not even the Gary Hert that's got
to start in Chicago in the Deumont network days. This boss is someone I'd
like to introduce to you at this point. This is gay Gary Hart.
Excuse me well? From Halsted Street, we have Dory Funk Senior's interpretation of
the character Gary Hart should play in the wrestling ring. Wow. From Gary
her Heart's book. Killer Carl Cox was a major wrestling star and was wrestling
for Dorriy Funk Senior in Amarillo. He came up to Detroit, where Gary
Hart was wrestling to start his career for a brief tour. Really took a
liking to me and asked me if I would be interested in moving to Amarillo.
We talked for a bid, and then he put me on the phone
with Dorrifunk Senior, who asked if I would be interested in wrestling for him.
I explained that I really enjoyed managing and developing talent, and that I
wasn't sure I wanted to make my living solely as a full time wrestler.
Dorry Senior was very blunt and told me that he didn't use managers and wasn't
interested in me as a manager, but that he would hire me as a
wrestler. Even though I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of going into a territory
where I was only getting an opportunity to wrestle, it was time to move
on. My experience with Jim Myers that is, the George and the Animal
Steel up in Detroit really built my confidence in molding and developing wrestlers, though,
and I loved every second of it. I knew that I would eventually
concentrate on managing and developing talent, but for now my site were set and
continuing my wrestling career in Nemillo, Texas. I arrived in Amillo in early
nineteen sixty six just as Funk was debuting Terry that Is, and moved into
the Downeaster Downtowner Hotel rather because that's where Karl Kox suggested I stay. What
a culture shockgame Marilla was. I spent my life in cities like Chicago and
Detroit where everything was open twenty four hours and where I could go to the
movies after I came home from the matches. That is something picture Gary Hart
movie in Chicago after Mett wrestling. I can, I can. What do
you see? Well, let's see he comes out, well, probably porn
like Jack Nils, yeah right, or some kind of like you know,
grindhouse double feature. What does the screen look like on his face? What?
What does the projector screen look like reflecting on his face in the darkened
Oh? Oh, it's just like just you can, oh, you can
see like very muddy colors, you know, like scratches reflected off like just
the you know, the screen, you know, like basically blinking off of
his face. Very dirty. So I hope you get the point by now.
This is kind of definitely you know, and definitely too definitely the only
the only theater showing showing movies this late has got sticky floors. Okay,
so very sticky. You gotta that. That is the thing when you like
when you when you when you you step, you take a step, and
then all of a sudden, you lift your foot up and that every time.
What's the term in TV or in movies where they come out with a
movie that happened concurrent to the old story, but you know, it's like
now it's being told like this is supposed to have happened at the same time
that the last movie happened. Sequel, if there's a term for it.
I don't even know if it's a term for it, but usually it's kind
of like a spin off of swords or an alternate view on the same time
period. Yeah, and yeah, I hope we're realizing by now that the
lapsed funk is that for the lamentable tragedy for sure, because all of these
characters that we saw come to life on the history of the Dallas Territory.
So many of them not only came through Amarillo, but like Gary Hart,
started really in Amarillo for all tax purposes and were shaped and molded and given
their first exposure to wrestling in Texas in Amarillo before Dallas. And Fritz Van
Eric himself is defining what it means to be Fritz fan Eric and the Rings
of Amarillo as much as he is Rings in his own territory, and it's
a remarkable thing to think about where Dory Funk Senior would have stood visa VI
these other giants of Texas wrestling had he lasted a little longer. Heart continues.
In Amarillo, the movie houses were only open on the weekends, and
everything closed down at eight pm, even the restaurants. That says a lot
about you know that That informs a lot about Terry Funk, doesn't it.
Oh? Yes, he grew up in a city that closes at eight o'clock
at night. I learned quickly that unless I bought food here before I went
to the matches, I wasn't going to eat that evening. And before I
had time to fully deal with the culture, I was given another shocker.
Dorry Funk Senior wanted to name me gay Gary Hart. Fucking why. I
want you to be a gorgeous George type of guy, he told me,
as my jaw dropped. I want them to think you're a queer. I'm
playboy Gary Hart from Chicago, I explained, and I really don't want to
present myself as a gay guy. Dory's Senior wouldn't budge, though, he
wanted a gay wrestler and his roster and told me, well, your name
is already gay Gary Hart, and I'm not changing it, so you better
come up with something. There we go. I really infuriated the people.
It also got my character away from the gay gimmick and just made me more
of a creep. However, no matter how hard I tried to steer my
character in another direction, all the guys in the dressing room knew that the
persona of Gay Gary Hart was supposed to be that of a queer, wanted
nothing to do with me and tried to avoid working with me. Dory Senior's
two boys didn't have any choice, though, because they did whatever their father
said. Therefore, I was immediately put in a program with Dory Funk Junior,
and the first time I ever met his brother, Terry, was one
of those day during this Toms your time, get your ash eating out back
to that. Now, Gary, I understand that you've got some concerns with
the duck, but take it from me, I've run wrestling in this town
for many, many, many years, and i know what draws money.
You need to have a garage George type queer character on roster. Now here's
what I would suggest if you have reservations about the gimmick. There's a few
things we can do. One, you can go in the ring and eat
another wrestler's ass, just to kind of understand where you're coming from a character.
Two, another wrestler can go in the ring and eat your ass.
What'll it be? Or number three, I can shove a gun up your
ash and pull the trigger till it goes click. Welcome to West Texas Sports.
Western State sports. Isn't that what it's called? That's right? So
he goes into funk Junior. The first time I ever met his brother,
Terry, was in wrestling junior at the Immoral Fairgrounds. I knew that at
some point of the match, Terry would jump in and attack me, but
I had never met him. Because the Heels and babyfaces had dressing rooms on
either side of the building, I was pounding on Junior, so we grew
up in the boys ranch. Then I guess, so he's used to this,
I guess, And suddenly there was a roar from the crowd. I
looked up and there was Terry and the process of jumping over the top what
he missed caught his foot and collapsed in the middle of the ring. A
junior just looked at me in deadpanned meet my brother Terry. Oh my god,
that's a great moment. That was the opening of the movie. Oh
Terry does the run in wet behind the ears and falls on his face trying
to get in the ring. I tried Dad. Eventually I started the feud
with Terry and we got into a really hot program. During one of our
matches to the Odessa Fairgrounds Coliseum, I busted Terry open pretty bad and we
took the match out of the ring and to the front of the building where
the concession stands were again the early Jurorf the brawling style that Terry Funk had
known for. Yeah, that's fucking crazy. Terry went out the front door.
I started back to the dressing room. However, the fans had me
trapped in the concession stand and weren't about to let me go. Thankfully,
Professor Tanaka and Art Nelson came out to save me. Tanaka got about forty
stitches in his head from people hitting him with chairs, and Art got stabbed
in his leg and back during the melee. They got me to the back,
but once we were there, Art was Yeah. What he didn't say
is he was the one that stabbed him by the way. Yeah, they
got me to the back, but once we were there, Art was really
upset with me, screaming, you stupid idiot, you could have gotten us
killed. What were you doing fighting in the concession stand. Even though Terry
and I were in a program and weren't supposed to travel together, sometimes we
had no choice. One time, Terry and I wrestled each other in the
opening match in Herford at seven thirty pm, and then we had to get
ourselves to plane View so we could wrestle in the main event. It was
dark when we left the arena in Herford and if all the fans were inside
the auditorium in plain View, So we threw caution to the wind and traveled
together. Most Knightstick and I would secretly meet up with Terry after the matches
and we would ride the oil wells. We would bring some beer, crawl
up the head of an oil well, settle ourselves on the pump, and
ride the oil well while we drank our beer, talked about life and shocked
Jack Rabbits. I don't know what it means to ride an oil well,
but it sounds very very texas you sit on it and it just pumps and
you go up and do it. It sounds normal. I guess that's amazing.
Also sounds like bullshit, but I'm sure it happened. One night,
Terry and I drove out to the desert to shoot some jack rabbits. We
fell asleep in the car, and when we woke up the next day,
we realized there had been a hillacious rainstorm. Because we were in the desert,
we were basically stuck on an island, and it took until four pm
until the water ran off and we could drive out of there. Everyone was
worried about us because no one knew where we were. I had a lot
of great times with Harry. Of course I promised him I would, knowing
it can only help me on interviews to brag about how I beat up the
Funk Brothers in Ambillo. I was very appreciative of Okay, so he's saying.
He eventually agreed to do the gay character. I was very appreciative of
the opportunity dory function your gave me. Even though he wouldn't let me manage
and develop guys the way I wanted to, he showed me I was valuable
and paid me very well. He was at a dynamic guy, and every
wrestler who ever worked for him would have cut their head off for him,
and I was no different. We all loved him, yet we were afraid
of him too because he was so tough. I may have been a freak
kid who hung out with gangsters, but he was the real deal. I
know because I wrestled him. I was unbelievably fortunate because for the third time
in my career, in just the third territory i'd been in, I'd found
yet another great mentor. Billy Golds, Bert Ruby and Dorrifunk Senior really deserve
a lot of credit for getting me ready to be able to handle myself in
the business and for my future success. And as grateful as I was to
be working for Dorrifunk Senior, I knew it was time for me to move
on. Wow, So put another one in the bank for the funks,
Gary Hart on his way. Unbelievable. You know. While in Saint Louis
things are changing. Sam Muchnick has stepped down as president of the NWA.
Apparently he was insulted at the idea of promoters trying to cut out his two
and a half percent of gait On all the championship title, defenses the NBA
World Champion. And so who became president? Do you remember this? Do
you remember who steps in and becomes president of the NWA after Sam much Nicks,
after Sam Muchnik. We're about to ross currents again, is it?
Uh? Is it Carbo Fritz? Fritz? I forgot he was fucking president
of the NWA. It brings his sons to Vegas for the convention and get
some hookers. Remember that when they were God yep, and they reflessly pound
Vegas hookers. I'm sure I wonder if zac Efron get some of that in
the movie, you know, you know, did you watch the trailer?
Yeah, of course you did. I What do you think of the trailer?
I liked it too. I thought it was pretty good. I'm very
there were there were two things like that that well, one thing made me
concerned. One thing got me concerned, and that was and about about the
details of the whole thing. Because at one point, the guy playing Fritz
lifts off his favorite you know, the the in order his favorite sons or
like, you know, and it goes Carrie, Kevin, and David in
that order. When was David ever third in that list? That's like it
was to me. It made me nervous. To me, it made me
think that they think Carrie because w w, it's funny exactly exactly the probably
do for purposes in marketing the movie. I mean, let's face it,
that's why we were interested in the von Erics because we remembered Kerry one Eric.
Yeah, it does doesn't excuse them fucking with the timeline. But I
I also, well, it's not even just fucking with the timeline. It's
fucking with the truth. I mean, and there's that, and then I'm
just like, you know, I was like, if I get I get
nervous because I know this is an approved movie. So well, I saw
Kevin Son say on Twitter that the family was not involved. Oh okay,
well but did they but they had to sell their rights or whatever. Well
either way, okay, great, I mean that's that's great, that is
the case, because I really hope to god, you know, to me,
the only way it's going to be a good movie, and like a
true movie obviously, is if is if we get uh, you know,
Fritz holding the gun to Kevin. Yeah, all right, and then if
we want a Best Picture winner, we're going to have a cotton ball moment
with Mike von Eric right where he's start writing traffic at the press conference while
the sun is half dead, right right, all right, and then we
can talk about it like we always said, it's about Fritz. It's about
exactly. You don't have the right view of Fritz, and it's culpability.
It's it's not gonna it's not gonna stand up. The project isn't gonna stand
up. It's going to fall apart because it has it has to be anchored
to the idea that this guy is pushing everybody in the in the wrong direction
all the time. Yes, yes, for the wrong reasons, Like like
it should it should almost, it should end. It should begin and end
kind of like Citizen Kane. Yes, you know, like it should open
with with with you know, Fritz on his deathbed saying to whomever I should
have bought the bait and tackle show hoptally Man, you know. And apparently
people have deduced from the trailer. I mean, I didn't watch it closely
enough to know where they got this from. But that Chris isn't even going
to be part of it. Oh god, you gotta what are you doing?
Guys? I mean you got to have moll. I mean, these
these are that's the tragedy of it. The tragedy, the tragedy is I
mean, first of all, yes, the David death is is is tragic
in its own way, but the real tragedy is the three suicides. That
Dad pushed them, that that hard, and and and that much. And
if you don't do that, what are you? What do you? What
do you? What story are you trying to tell? Right? And that's
you know, if you can't be wrestlers, you know, like he'll let
them. He would rather let them try and fail till they died to be
wrestlers than to just do something else. Or apparently they felt that that's all
he would settle for, because look what they put themselves through. Yep.
I mean, who am I to say that Chris van Eric was wrong about
what his father wanted from him, so can't wait. But that's so what
I'm trying to say. Here's Fritz taking control of the n w A after
Sam Muchnick, who is no fan of Terry Funk in terms of that angle,
and needed to be sort of sold on Funk more than the typical promoter.
Now that's not a concern and what are you knowing about a year?
Is Terry rolling up Jack Briscow to become NWA World's Champion? I think so,
but that's all still to come here in the lapsed Funk just note that
that happens, and that's a bit of important shifting sands in the NWA as
it regards the Funks, and Jim Barnett takes over the duties of booking the
champion. What that's really good? Actually? So yeah much Nick President from
sixty three to seventy five. Wow. So after Funks get started wrestling,
of course in Amarillo, having that Johnt of the a w A, going
over to Saint Louis and Kansas City for Muchnick and really getting acquainted with the
key power brokers in the business. What we consider Funk's first real territory abroad,
that is to say, a place he went for more than just a
couple of weeks without an exact you know date, certain that he would return
to Amarillo was indeed Florida Championship Wrestling. Wow. And second only to Texas,
Florida is the place that the Funks truly made their legacy in the business.
That's where Dory established his base of operations opened up the Funking Conservatory Wrestling
School in Ocala, Florida, that I think still exists to this day.
And Dorriy Funk Junior, I mean, in his highest peak of his career
and into retirement, was just as much a Floridian as he was a Texan
in terms of living there and being based out of there. And it's where
Terry Funk goes to develop his heel persona times one hundred, to draw heat
like nobody else, and to begin feuding with the American dream. Dusty Rhodes
was of course an absolute sensation in Florida for Ready Graham for about a full
decade there, So that's all going to begin developing. April nineteen sixty seven,
the first run of the territory that he would end up being most famous
in championship wrestling from Florida Rights. He was there for three and a half
months before his father told him to come back home. But it is definitely
where he's going to start start really making his bones. So let's see,
Terry. Do you have Terry talking about this point in time on an RF
video shoot interview? I believe we do. Fans stand by what was at
the time and you broke into the restling business, what was maybe if you
can explain to a lot of people watching, what was the business like then
as compared to now, which I'm sure was completely different, It really was,
you know. I mean, first of all is you'd go to a
town and a small town and we'd go through small towns. Well, one
of the big differences was pay. Yeah, we would drive to Ablene,
Texas, which is two hundred and fifty miles one way and two hundred and
fifty miles back and make our sales twenty five dollars guarantee five hundred mile trip.
We'd all file into one car and make it. You know, I'll
never forget my father. I was down in Florida in nineteen sixty seven and
uh, I was in Florida wrestling for eighty gram at the time, and
my father called me up and he said, doctor Pulice. It was then
the promoter in Ambrella had passed away, and he said, Terry, he
said, we're gonna take over the promotional business. And uh, not like
take it over by overpowering somebody or anything else, but he was buying the
business from Lusar Police at the time. Might because she wasn't able to run
it being a lady in the business at the time as a man's business.
And uh, he said, come on back up here. I said,
I don't know if I can. Dad. He said, well why and
I said, well, I'm I'm I'm averaging two hundred and fifty dollars a
week. Yeah, you know, and that was big money for me at
the time, you know. And he said, well, he says,
I think it would do better than that if you come on up here.
So I went back to Amberill and we ran a business. Apparent we were
doing big business in Florida. Bit right, wrestling is There's so many guys
that I've known through the years that I wish that they were into this era
that are good friends of mine and good guys that back then you would you
were into wrestling for a different reason. I mean, these guys were in
it for a lifetime. They didn't have a second job like you see guys
have today and wrestling in the spots shows. They were wrestlers and a lot
of them really didn't make enough to retire or set any money back at all
at that time, you know. And after they completed wrestling, they had
to get a job in security. Some of them have done well, but
most of them, you know, just kind of you know, old wrestlers,
they never they used to say, they never died. They just payed
away, you know, and they just kind of disappear and find a way
of making a buck some other way back then, you know. And I
wish that they could have gotten in the business now, where a guy can
wrestle five six years if he gets in with one of the big organizations,
set himself for life. A little bit of lessons of Funk there as well.
So it's a headfam this first junt of Florida, because Harry goes there
and Dorry and Terry win the Florida version of the World tag titles from Kurt
and Carl Browner. Actually that's upon the return. So they go down there
and they're setting themselves up and establishing a foothold in Florida, when suddenly things
change back in Amarillo and Doxarpoulis, who was the longtime promoter there, had
died, and you better believe that Dorry Funk Senior is moving in to take
ownership of the territory in full reigns. I think he'd already bought in,
and he's already business partners. We've talked about previously on the lapsed Funk,
But this is like when Fritz van Eric closed in and ed maclamore in Dallas
and became the sole guy in this oratorium, the sole guy running the wrestling
business in that city. And that happens to take place in Amrello because when
Funk first gets in, Darksar Paulis is still in the picture for a couple
of years there. When Terry Funk first gets in the ring and he goes
to Florida to begin building his career, and suddenly the phone call comes from
Dad who says, you know, we just bought the whole place, needs
you to come down here. And now, of course he runs the whole
thing, so he's got better control of the purse strings apparently such that he
can promise his son Terry that he'll make better money back home in a Marilla
than he was making it the time in Florida. I think he said two
hundred and fifty dollars a week, which was really good money in nineteen seventy
three, I'd imagine, or nineteen sixty eighty seven as it were, or
sixty eight, So Dorry and Terry come home, and as mentioned, they
beat Kurt and Carl von Browner for the world tag titles in that part of
the country on June eighteenth, nineteen sixty eight in sant Angelo, Texas and
would go on to wag straps all over the world. Of course, so
pretty much operating is a brother tag team at this point in time are Dorry
and Terry Funk. But Dorry, of course, having gotten a several year
head start on Terry end of the pros, having wrestled a lot of high
profile people across the country. At that point in time, the seeds were
already being planted for young Dorince Junior to be the Funk to win the NWA
World Heavyweight Championship and achieve that level of glory that Fritz van Eric himself and
his sons, with the exception of that, of course, brief Kerry win
in eighty four, never really were able to capture. This was Dorry Funk
Junior being put in position to do it. It was telegraphed as far back
as nineteen sixty five in this article on the Emerald Globe War Wow No Shit
where jing Kiniski, of course, was the big star in wrestling at the
time of the world champion or on his way to becoming. So this article
reads in sixty five both big grid names Jing Kiniski and Bob geigeltangle in the
first main event Jan played at Arizona and later in the Canadian League under Darryl
Royal. Geigel was a defensive end at Iowa. Promoter Dark Sarpolis says,
quote people all over the country think the Kaniski will be the man to win
the world championship from Luthez, and he would become the world champion and he
would be the one to drop that strap to Dorry Funk Junior. All rings
very familiar a boss like Fritz all the way down to influence at the NWA
level, the power brokerage, the taking over territories that you were once a
headliner in the dynasty family with the Texas ranch positioning the eldest son to become
world's heavyweight champion. But the key difference is the Funks would not truly blossom
under their dad's stern demand and watchful like the van Erics did their father yep.
Because the Funk's father, their patriarch, certainly would not outlive them right.
Dory Funk Senior died June third, nineteen seventy three, and in this
piece from Terry Funk's interview with Jim Cornett for k Fabe Commentaries, reflects upon
the day the Funk family patriarch, Dory Senior the Boys Ranch leaves this earth
and what it was is last Thornton was there too, and he said that
nobody can hold me down in the front face lock, you know. So
my father got down on you know, so my father front face locked him
and on a you know, they were in the kitchen, you know,
when he got down on top of him and slapped the front face lock on
em, and they went all over the kitchen and wels Thornton couldn't get away,
you know, and father kind of choked him out, you know.
And uh, and he went in and came back over there where I was
and sat down by me and my brother. He said it wasn't bad for
an old man, was it? I said, no, it wasn't.
And then he walked out on a from port and my wife is out there,
and my wife is smoking a cigarette on a front porch at ranch,
you know, and he says, go back in there and tell Terry that
I think I'm having a heart attack. So my wife came in here and
told me that, and I went out there and we got him the canyon
right quick. And it was a small town and a very small community at
the time. And I had one doctor in town and he was a good
doctor, but he wasn't, you know, a small town doctor. And
he said, you need to row with a Dori and we're gonna get you
at Ambrilla. So they called an ambulance. It took about thirty minutes get
there, which is more time and more time. Yeah. And then so
we got in the ambulance with him. Brother was in the front seat,
was in the back with my dad, and he said, I'm much further
We got to go. Terry, so he is about a mile and a
half from the hospital in Amrell and I said about a mile and a half.
Yeah. He says I can't make it. He says, I'm going
just like that, and he has gone wow. I mean, Dori Funk,
we've talked about it would have Eddie Graham tackle him from behind out of
nowhere and an attempt to test his shooting ability. Dorry Funk Senior would never
hesitate to, at least in a wrestling term, throw down if you wanted
to challenge his grappling ability. And it was just another day back at the
house, as Dory Senior would do throughout Terry Funk's formative youth, invite the
boys over for a barbecue, tell stories until two three in the morning,
and just sort of make manifest that camaraderie that Terry Funk so vividly recalls and
so warmly recalls being around growing up is essentially a gypsy family in the wrestling
business, as his father found his way, and it was one such get
together that led to Dorifunk Senior's fatal heart attack in nineteen seventy three. Les
Thornton apparently a wrestler we talked about back in the Black Saturday series. He
was on TBS a lot back then. Yeah, highly skilled technical junior heavyweight
wrestler from England who had a long career in the United States. Basically got
to talk in at dorrif Funk Senior at the house and pretty soon the furniture
was being cleared out of the way and they were testing each other in a
shoot context. Terry sort of forlornly recalled there. It was all downhill for
his father as he realized that he was having a heart attack. This is
something that deeply impacted Terry, as you'd imagine what anybody, but the whole
dynamic of could I should I right around getting my dad to a hospital faster,
perhaps discouraging him at his age from engaging in a pointless amateur wrestling skirmish
in the living room. But that's wu Dorifunk Senior was going to be until
his dying day, and that's who he was. And his book, Terry
recalls the following. The ambulance took another twenty minutes. The whole thing took
us about an hour and a half from the time he told us he was
having a heart attack to the time we pulled into the bigger hospital in Amarilla.
But by the time he pulled in, he was already gone. The
thing that haunts me is wondering if we'd just gone to Amarilla first, would
we have been all right? Would my dad have lived through it? My
dad was only fifty four when he passed. On. Hell, I'm past
sixty and I've done a lot of living between fifty four and sixty. After
my dad died, I had anxiety attacks, thinking I was having heart problems.
Six months after his death, I was coming back from a show in
New Mexico when I started feeling flush. I went to the next hospital I
got to in my blood pressure was sky high. I had just scared myself
into it because of what happened to my father. A little later, we
were in El Paso and Junior and I had just finished a tag match.
We got to the law room and I sat down as a Junior, I'm
having a heart attack. I don't want to move real fast, but get
me to a hospital. Junior said, my God, okay, and he
got me in the car. We buzzed down to the hospital and I sat
down in the emergency room. There must have been twenty people in there,
and I sat down while Junior went to talk to a nurse about me.
He came back over and said they would be over in a minute, but
someone in the waiting room screamed Terry. Junior kept trying to tell me what
was going on, but Terry funk. I looked over and coming my way
was a guy who must have been waiting to see a doctor. Obviously he
was a wrestling fan. I can't believe it, Terry Funk, how the
hell you doing? And I want to shake your hand. How's it going,
Terry, Honey, come over here, it's Terry Funk. You got
some paper, honey, just to clean X. She said, Terry,
would you sign this for me? I tried to stay calm as I signed
the autograph. Well, how are you here? You go? Hope you
enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by. All the while I was thinking,
please pal, have a little courtesy, Please God. I don't want to
die like this. I should have blown my nose on the damn thing.
The doctors told me I'd been causing myself anxiety and had been humping up my
own heartbeat. It's pretty amazing. Wow, mind it can do. Dave
Meltzer, who was in constant contact with Terry Funk and had a very good
relationship with him and talked to him really until he began a cognitive decline,
wrote the following upon Terry's death, I don't want to say Terry changed.
In nineteen ninety eight, when he turned fifty four. That would be the
same age his father died of a heart attack. That would be too strong,
but he referenced many times after that point that he had passed the age
that his father died, and it was something often on his mind. Terry
relived that so many times. What if his father and Thornton didn't get into
that altercation, what if he sped to Amarillo Hospital first before going to Canyon.
He would relive that moment, often getting anxiety attacks and was fearful of
getting a heart attack. Once coming back from a show, he worked himself
into such a fit he checked himself from the hospital and his blood pressure was
through the roof. At another point, he thought he was having a heart
attack and told his brother he was having one, and they rushed him to
the hospital. So Terry Funk's on his way thanks to the rather brilliant introduction
of his father into the business. But he'd also have a cross to bear
as it regards a ticking clock, which is something remarkable for someone who came
to be known chiefly for his one of a kind longevity in the business.
That Terry Funk, right in the back of his mind was always counting the
days, and it might tell us a lot about why he made seemingly a
lot more wiser choices around putting family first at critical junctions in his career where
he could have just let that collapse under the weight of becoming a big professional
wrestling superstar. Now, it's worth noting that this story, this apocryphal story
of how Dorry Funk Senior died, does have multiple perspectives. You know,
Terry was sure to tuck in that his father somehow choked out Less Thornton.
That's I don't know if that makes him feel better or whatever, but it's
not necessari obviously true. Greg greg Oliver Slam Wrestling talked to several people involved,
including Jerry Kozak, who made mentioned of functioniors eat habits. In this
case, Yes, you guessed it, Boss Steak. Oh, come on,
like that's a surprise, he tilled Greg Oliver. Dorry Senior was sitting
at the head of the table once and I was cutting the fat away from
the meat. He said, what are you going to do? All they
do, all they do is raise the stacks. Ok. Yeah, literally
out the cattle. He said, what do you do with that? I
said, well, I'm not going to eat it. He said, well
give it here. I said, dad, gum Dory, you eat it.
All that fat is going to kill you, and it surely did.
Mmm. There are matches. On June third, seventy three, Funk didn't
wrestle, but he wrestled not too long before this. He'd actually, I
think, similar to Iron Mike DBIASI had sort of like a late call in
as a substitute in a match. So while he had slowed down his in
ring career substantially by nineteen seventy three, Funk Junior Senior was still seeing some
action, and according to the Greg Oliver piece, on that day, Senior
invites a bunch of wrestlers over at the Flying Mere Ranch. After a few
drinks, the challenges started and he talked to Les Thornton did Greg Oliver,
who said the following quote. The old man said, tried to get out
of this fella. He put a full nelson on me. So I picked
him up and ran him into the fridge and all the stuff came flying out.
We all got caught. He put a bandage on his head. He
was a tough old bugger. He just laughed about it. That does it's
only getting choked out to me that that sounds like Dory Funk getting thrown around
the living room and smashed into the refrigerator. But that's fine. Like a
bitch. Yeah. Gordon Nelson, a Canadian amateur champion, was also there
and also tussled with Dorry Funk. But for some reason when the was it
a colossal tussle. That's that's yet to be determined. But for some reason,
when the Funks tell the story, they never mentioned Gord Nelson. They
just mentioned Les Thornton as the person that wrestled their dad upon his heart attack.
Nelson said he had a short battle with Funk Senior. He said,
I'm getting too old, he remembers Funk Senior saying, and Nelson thought that
was significant because quote, that's something that he would never say otherwise, and
that at about ten thirty pm, Funk suffers the heart attack. The eyes
at SENI it that he's hospital in Amarillo. Jerry Kozak, who promoted some
towns for the Funks, was also there that night. They recalled, quote,
all of a sudden, it was like, where the hell is Dory?
Where's Junior and Terry? They're gone and we couldn't figure it out.
That's when they took Doory to the hospital. Of course, we found out
the next few days that he passed away. A wrestler named Moose Morowski was
there. He recalls quote, I was in another room. They started wrestling,
and I don't know what it was. Next thing I know, I
hear that they called the doctor ambulance or something. He died at the hospital.
It was terrible, Senior. Every year he threw a thing for the
guys that wrestled there. He'd throw a barbecue at his ranch. They'd castraight
some bulls. Have a big barbecue, lots of food, lots of drink,
big cast straight bulls. So normal activity. That's what I do actually
every weekend and have a ranch. You don't know what it's like to be
a rancher. But the cock the cocks off bulls, cockin bowl af cockon
bowl story. Oh my god, that's it. That's it. And so
unlike Carrie and the David and the Mic, they don't have the shadow over
their shoulders. As the funks make their way in professional wrestling, I'd argue
that plays no small part in their ability to have a whole hell of a
lot more to show for it. Dorriy Funk Junior, in fact, wrestled
Les Thornton, or was scheduled to wrestle Les Thornton three days after he died
after his dad died wrestling les Thornton in the living room, according to an
ad that I see here for a show at Lubbock Fair Park scheduled for June
and sixth. Not sure that one took place, but some irony there for
sure, and returned to Dorry Funk's book forget another account of the passing and
Funk Senior. My Lincoln Continental Mark three left Umbarger, Texas, traveling northeast
on Highway sixty, headed toward Canyon, Texas. It was just after midnight
and the speedometer was stuck in one hundred miles per hour. It was just
minutes earlier that Terry's wife, Vicky, had told me that my father wasn't
feeling good, and Terry had left the Flying Mayor Ranch minutes before that to
take him to meet his doctor at Kenyon's Neblett Hospital. I was concerned because
of the tension in her voice and her comment that Terry thought he might have
had a heart attack. As I sped along the highway, I thought about
the last time I had seen him, couldn't have been more than thirty minutes
ago. Gordon Elson, les Thornton, and my father were wrestling on the
kitchen floor. It was a party. All the wrestlers who had worked so
hard to make the Amberilla territorious success were invited to a barbecue at my father's
Flying Mare ranch. It was the spring of nineteen seventy three. Some of
the wrestlers at the ranch were King Curtis i Akea, Carl von Steiger,
Don Fargo, Danny Miller, Jumbo Shiuda, Jim Dalton, Referee, Ken
Farber, Thornton Nelson, Marie la Verne, am Mailla promoter, Jerry Coosak
Lubbock promoter Nick Roberts, and Scott Casey. Only Ricky Rimero of the regular
wrestlers, was missing, but that was expected, as Ricky felt it was
best for the business not to associ after work hours with the other wrestlers.
He was invited and welcome, but his feelings were respected. The subject of
the wrestling that took place on the kitchen floor was a hold called the keel
lock, a wrestling hole that was extremely painful but generally wouldn't cause serious injury.
It is a type of wrist lock that, when applied properly, is
difficult to escape. My father had applied it to Les Thornton and he had
tapped out. I remember Gordy's comment that he would never give up in that
hold because pain didn't bother him in the hold really wouldn't cause serious injury.
I remember being proud of my father. He was mixing it up with two
of the toughest wrestlers in the business, and even at the age of fifty
four, he was able to come out on top with these guys. However,
just as Gordon Nelson said, he could not make him submit to a
keel lock. I hit the brakes as I was now approaching the y in
the road where Highway sixty turns from northeast to due east. Now I was
just three and a half miles from Canyon, Texas. At one hundred miles
an hour, it wouldn't be long. It was nothing unusual to see my
father have a go at it with wrestlers when I was a child. My
uncle Herman would wrestle my father in the living room, and my grandmother,
Amma Funk, would come in swing in a broom to break them up.
Later, at Texas Boys Ranch, my father and Bob Geigel got after it
in the gym in front of the whole wrestling team. And then there was
the time veran Gania, Joe Scarpello and my father had to go in our
garage. I hit the brakes just in time to make the turn at the
underpassing canyon. I would go straight to Fifth Avenue and turn left to Neblood
Hospital. My father's blood pressure was always perfect. He had the best blood
pressure of all the boys in the dressing room, one twenty over eighty.
Maybe it wasn't a heart attack, but if it weren't serious, Terry would
never have called doctor Moore at midnight and asked him to meet him here at
Neblod Hospital. Now I remembered earlier Terry had told me Dad was upset that
Don Fargo was riding his motorcycle over his pasture land, but Dad felt too
tired to say anything about it to him. And I saw Dad one time
earlier in the day, almost exhausted after just riding a lawnmower for a few
minutes. I should have known something was wrong. I burst through the door
and into the emergency room. All was quiet. Doctor Moore and Terry were
there, and my father was sitting up on a hospital bed. They had
called the technician who would administer an electrio cardiogram. Comment for my dad was
that he just felt a little bit bad and if he could just get home
and get some rest, he thought he would feel better in the morning.
The technician arrived and began administering that electro cardiogram. He tore off the paper
containing the graphical information and gave it to doctor Moore. Doctor Moore left the
room for no more than fifteen seconds. When he returned, he said,
Dorry, you have had a massive heart attack. An ambulance is on the
way. We were taking you to the emergency room at Northwest Texas Hospital in
Amarilla. I want you to relax and go along with everything we are going
to do. My father looked at me and Terry. He said, I
don't think they are right. You guys had better keep this one quiet.
Terry answered, yeah, Dad, I know what you're talking about. A
lot of people would like to have a piece of our territory. All other
conversation was directed toward getting him in the ambulance. In on the way to
Northwest Texas Hospital and Amarilla. We were in the ambulance and headed toward Amarillo.
Northwest Texas Hospital was twenty miles away. Doctor Moore was in the front
seat and I was in the back on the right side of my father.
Terry was on the left. I was holding my father's hand. I'm sure
Terry was touching him somewhere. The ambulance driver was going sixty five to seventy
miles an hour. I heard Terry cuss him out and in no uncertain terms
tell him to pick up the speed and get us to the hospital. Now,
traveling at eighty and ninety miles an hour, we were passing under Bell
Avenue, just five miles and minutes from Northwest Texas Hospital. I heard the
last words from my father as he said, I'm going. There was a
last desperate attempt by doctor More to save his life, but nothing was of
benefit for all practical purposes. His life ended there on the Canyon Freeway under
Bell Avenue. There were attempts to save him when we arrived at Northwest Texas
Hospital, but it was all too late. The Amarillo, Japan and the
wrestling business had lost a legend. We can't change the past, but there
are some things we can learn from it. With heart disease the number one
killer in the United States today, it makes good sense to make yourself aware
of the fastest route to the hospital with the best cardiac care union in the
area. It makes good sense to learn the early warning signs of heart attack.
Makes good sense to take the best care possible of our bodies and start
at an early age. That night, under the overpass at Bell Avenue,
Terry and I lost our father, our best friend, and our business partner.
My match at fifty years of Funk is dedicated to you, Dad.
I will do my best. Thanks for sharing your life and guiding us from
the little house in Hammond, Indiana to the party at the Flying Mer Ranch.
We're together. We took our last ride, Boss. If you could
pull the second of the two magazine articles I presented to you, Yes,
this was the aforementioned wrestling review, pretty much the leading pre after mag Era
wrestling publication of the country, and a full ten years after the clip we
started this episode of the Lapsed Funk reading as Dory Funk Senior establishes his bona
fides, his mystique, and then introduces his boys into the pages of the
leading wrestling magazine. That same magazine cover story the loss of Doroy Funk Senior,
and I wish you could share with the soul or system. How it
was conveyed in those same pages. Dorry Funk Senior a boy's boy who grew
up to be a man's man. Dory Funk Junior is a young man of
great intestinal wait intestional that's how it's spelled. There's a type of in intestional
fortitude. Brother, what and never has he needed such a quality as he
does now. In recent months, the good looking Taxes tax As athlete lost
his World's Wrestling championship to Harley Race, and prior to that dethronement, Funk
was seriously injured in an automobile accident in his native state. Yet the most
shattering experience of all was the unexpected death of his father, Dory Funk Senior,
a victim of a heart attack. All the fucking typos I can tell,
I can tell, because there have been three already. The world of
wrestling was both saddened and shocked earlier this year when it learned of the passing
of the elder Funk at the comparative young age of fifty three. But how
many years did he actually live is the question? In Texas years, Yes,
seven, there you go. Although a great amount of the wrestling audiences
of North America never had the opportunity of seeing Dory Senior wrestle. He was
one of the top wrestlers in the nation. Feared and I don't understand how
could he be a top wrestler of the nation and not be seen by a
great amount of wrestling audiences of North America. Good question. Maybe because he
never landed in a territory with great television. I see feared and dreaded by
his opponents. He was the type of wrestler who loved the the roughhouse style
of a match. A grappler, a fighter, a bruiser. He enjoyed
the violent action and gory battles. I first saw Dorry Senior wrestle on Amarilla
in nineteen sixty two. He was pitted against another lover of the gory battles,
Fritz von Erik, who was busy putting wrestlers out of the profession with
his dreaded claw hold. It was a sellout crowd that never did sit in
their seats. Within minutes, both wrestlers were covered with blood and the feared
claw dug into Dory senor oh dug Dory Senior time after time and again,
and again, Dorry fought back and brought the fans to the very tips of
their toes. It was exciting, thrilling, the kind of match that causes
intense sensations. It was his type of match. Dorry Funk Senior was born
in Hammond, Indiana. To say he was a boy's boy would be an
understatement. From the time he could walk, he was a scrapper and loved
all sports, but was partial to contact sports. The heart of the contact,
the better. It was just a matter of time until football and wrestling
would hold his entire attention. During his high school days, he won the
Indiana State wrestling championship on three different occasions while still finding time to be president
of the student body. A football and wrestling scholarship brought him to the University
of Indiana, where he won the AAU Wrestling Championship and was voted into the
Indiana Wrestling Hall of Fame. Just about this time, another fight was starting
with Dorry, and Dorry wanted some of that action, so it was off
to serve for Uncle Sam in the Navy. Dory Senior first appeared in the
Lone Star State in Between eight in a team forty nine in nineteen forty nine
is what it is, and from that the time he hit a Marilla,
he knew this was his kind of town, defeating all opponents that promoters could
bring into the Panhandle. He was invited out to Boys Ranch by the late
Cal Farley. Cal had founded Boys Ranch in nineteen thirty nine, but when
the boys threatened to throw the superintendent in the Canadian River, it was time
to bring in some muscle. From the first moment he was on trial,
Dorry took the boys down to the gym and on the mat. The situation
was soon cleared up, and although he promised cal three months, he stayed
three years, coaching football and wrestling. Many a man today can look back
and realize the character that he was building came from the hearts of men like
Calan Dorry Senior. His greatest pride was yet to come. With two sons
following in his footsteps, it was a question of who would be Dad's team
partner. Long hours, strict training, the job of teaching the experiences of
wrestling, the holes, counter holds, what wrestler did, what wrestler's tricks,
the knicks, the knacks, even to the taping of a sprain or
bad bruise many hours day months, and at last a father's dream come true
to be in his son's corner when he would face the world's heavyweight champion.
Big Gene Kiniski, ex pro footballer, X amateur wrestling champion, was champ
and beating all comers, and although Senior had chances for the coveted belt,
it always seemed to elude him. The pulse was getting quicker, the heart
pumping faster, and a lump came to his throat when he heard the announcer
say, Dory Funk. Junior Kinisky came on bit fast, big and strong.
The Canadian giant was a powerhouse. The fans came out of their seats.
Remarks were shouted, quote it. It will be over any second now.
Gene is too big for Funk. Gene has gout him, et cetera.
As Kinisky pinched, kicked, slammed, and drove his head into the
mat. If there is such a thing as inheriting guts and determination, perseverance,
bulldog tenacity, the will to win, the ambition, desire and courage,
all attributes of a champion, it was to be seen in that arena
that night. My thoughts raced back to the first time I saw Senior with
Von Eric, and now he had come back, the blood pouring from his
from two open holes at his temples. If Young Funk was anything like his
old man, if he could produce a portion of Senior's courage, If if,
if only, And as the words trailed from my mouth, young Funk
was coming back, coming up as slowly as first, as he struggled to
find himself. God, where was that much needed second wind? And Young
Funk was searching and finding Dorry Senior's eyes, And as he came up,
the crowd came with him. Pandemonium, the smell of victory, the young
matador finding the ingredients to make the kill. And there was Dorry Junior applying
the world famous spinning toe hold, the hold Dorry Senior introduced into the wrestling
profession, the hold that had taken years to perfect and longer to teach.
The noise was deafening the new world heavyweight champion, Dorry Funk Junior. You
could have said Senior, for Junior was the product the older Funk molded.
Dorry took turns teaming with Junior and Terry, who had developed, who had
developed into a star in his own right. I ran into Dory Senior again
two years ago at the Madison Square Garden in New York. Oh, sorry,
at the Madison Square Gardens in New York. He was teamed with son
Terry that night, and I had a long talk with him, as Dorry
Senior never lived a dull day and was always good for an interesting story.
I asked why he did most of his wrestling around Texas and never gave the
fans in other parts of the country much of a chance to see him in
action. Well, I love Texas and it's kind of hard to stay away
from a beloved one for long. He kind of chuckled, and it was
hard to think of this man being capable of the many things he had done
to wrestlers or thought they or thought they had who thought they had his number.
Dorrifunk Senior rough, tough, feared, hated, loved, yes.
A man who could weep over a dying neighbor's child, a man who loved
dogs and would and would doctor sick animals. A boy's boy who grew up
to be a man's man. Dorry Senior never had to be pointed out for
his colorful appearance and casual Swagger for his trademark. This story is ending as
your life did, Dory, But for those of us who knew you,
we were all touched with a little greatness. W. L. Putt Powell,
who was a key sportswriter in the Amorlo Globe News and in the area
and one of the originators of the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame,
took to the pages of his newspaper upon the passing of Dorriyfunk Senior. The
Amoralo Globe Times, June fourth, nineteen seventy three. The life of Dorriy
Funk Senior ended at age fifty four Sunday. I doubt if anyone ever lived
a more exciting or enjoyable life. He never knew a dull day. He
was always the center of attention. He grew up in Hammond, Indiana,
and was an all around athlete. He learned to professional He learned professional wrestling.
Following World War Two. Funk received his greatest satisfaction while serving at Boys
Ranch. The late Cal Farley founded Boys Ranch in nineteen thirty nine. Farley
also had come to Emmarillo as a wrestler. Story was told in a book
entitled to shirttail to hang to. Farley gave Dorry credit for saving Boys ranch.
In nineteen fifty, a bunch of the older boys were in a state
of revolt and had threatened to throw the superintendent into the Canadian River. Farley
begged Dorry to take over for a few months. Bunk was on trial.
The first day, he insisted some of the tough boys to work out with
him on the mat. The boys were not in a hurry so that Dorry
could handle the situation. Dorry also coached the football team and all other sports.
He planned to stay there months but stayed three years. Another great tribute
to Dory Funk Senior as his two sons, Dorry Junior and Terry. I'm
sure Dorry Senior was a stern father, but no one ever raised two finer
young men. It was the dream of Dorry Senior for one of his boys
to win the World wrestling championship. Dory Junior. He won the World championship
but finished gen Kiniski with a spinning toe hold, which was introduced by Dory
Senior. Terry also has been a successful wrestler. Both boys were standout football
players at West Texas State. Some of my most pleasant memories are of the
times Dorry Funk Senior would drop by this newspaper office for visits late at night.
He was sharp on many subjects. I'll never forget the TV shows Dorry
Senor used to have on Sundays. He ribbed himself about receiving an award from
Interstate Theaters. Doriy Senior said he received the award because his TV show put
more people back in the theaters. Wow. Dorry Senor used to belittle my
football guesses on his TV show. Doriy Senior used to make his picks after
the games had been played and say that is just the way he selected.
I didn't have a chance. Dorry Senior held many people and many organizations that
few people knew anything about. There's there's no telling. This is another bad
scan to your point, Yeah, there's no telling. How much he contributed
to Boys Ranch. He bought toys and things like that for children in hospitals
and homes. Dorriy Funk Senior was a familiar figure walking down the streets in
his colorful clothes. He had a swagger in his walk. Most everyone was
saying, there's Dory Funk Senior. Many people are saying today Dory Funk Senior
was a great guy. And when it's all said and done, on a
later tribute, what better tribute can you receive from your fellow man. That's
how Doriy Funk Senior was remembered in Amillo. His obituary noted two sons,
Dorry Junior and Terry, have followed their father inner wrestling. Dorry Junior held
the National Wrestling Alliance World Championship until he lost it to Harley Race recently.
He the belt. Survivors include his wife Betty, two older sons, two
other sons. He had two other sons which you didn't talk about. Almost
nothing is known about these guys, Bobby Funk and Donnie Funk. Bobby and
Donnie. The Funks now a daughter, Dorry, So apparently he had a
daughter too, So the Terry and Dorry have a sister, Dorry. Wow
b O R E E. Does it really there's another Dory a brother Herman
of Amarello a sister. Doctor Dorothy Webb of Hammond, Indiana and his parents
outlived him. Mister and Missus Adam Funk and acknowledgment of the passing of Dorriy
Funk Senior. Ordessa Wrestling promoter Pado Dowdy announced the program schedule for Tuesday at
Ector County Coliseum has been canceled because of the death of Doriy Funk Senior.
Funeral services for Dorri Funk Senior were held on June fifth, nineteen seventy three,
at the First Methodist Church of Canyon, Texas, and he was buried
in the City of Canyon Cemetery and the family asked that all remembrances beside and
naturally to cal Farley's Boys Ranch Amarillo. Of course, the patriarch is gone,
but as the king dead, m we will find out because fortunately for
the Funks, the legacy of their father won't be one of overbearing but one
of kind of a wistful, distant memory of inspiration. It's really the flip
side of the coin in so many ways, and it's something that Terry Funk
never let go of, never stop referencing, never stopped thinking about. Despite
his mention in that article you read, Dorry Funk scene, you're never really
having much of an exposure from a national television point of view, not being
somebody who's greatness in the ring and innovations in the ring were really felt much
beyond the bounds of West Texas as Terry Funk embarked on a career that would
take him to the brightest of spotlights in the rings of Japan and in the
rings of the most prominent wrestling territories in the United States, to Puerto Rico,
to Germany, to many other far flung places. He would remember Dorry
Senior and do what he could to keep him alive. And thanks to this
digest today we know the many little pieces that went into the mosaic that would
become Terry Funk. As He's about to embark on Japan and bark on the
feud with Dusty Rhoads, embark on the program with Jerry the King Lawler and
the Mpty Arena match, and bark on the death matches in Japan. Embark
on a remarkable run through all Japan Pro wrestling with his brother and some of
the most legendary tag team matches in the history of the business. Embark on
many false retirements, and bark of being a central figure at the heart of
the attitude that was Extreme Championship Wrestling. To runs against Hulk Cogan and Mick
Foley in the WWF, to a run in WCW that he would probably prefer
to forget to the wonderful program with the Rick Flair and nineteen eighty nine the
reminded the world that all these years Terry Funk was developing into one of the
most complete and excellent professional wrestlers there ever was. And among the many promos
he cut and that Rick Flair program in nineteen eighty nine, which of course
we'll get to here on the lapsed Funk, he called back on his dad
one more time. I am from a professional wrestling family, and many years
ago my father was a wrestler too, and my father died in my arms
after a professional wrestling match. They had his funeral and thousands of people came
to his funeral, and they brought every kind and color of flower imaginable.
That's like I said, was many years ago. Then the years went by
and I went back to the gravesite and all it was there was me and
a West Texas win. And I looked down down at that headtone of heav
and had that thone hel you in CA and iWar to the heavens of Bob
that I would make that name snonymous with Ruth Wayne forever, forever you know
good for nothing eggs second, dumb as a music man. We did it
our way because we love it that way. We love it that way.
I have this wonderful gut feeling and I've had it all my life. When
it's time to go, I think it's now there's time to go. Holler, h