Cena Region, Third Round, Last Man Standing: (4) Lou Thesz vs. (5) Terry Funk

[Bernkastel]

Never said he would just stand there. You are trying to say Funk would so easily get caught by Stretchington Von Chesthair & his magical technical wrestling superpowers that Funk would never be able to get out of such wizardry.

Nope. Never said that. I just pointed out that it would be far more plausible for Thesz to out wrestle Terry and wear him down with repeated submissions then it would be for Funk to leave the ring and just start throwing out every weapon imaginable. I never said anything about Terry not being able to counter Thesz.

That is absurd, when you yourself know Funk is a capable mat wrestler as well. Do you think Funk would just stand there and let Thesz make him a bitch? Does he also have mind control powers rendering his opponents useless against his will?

Not at all. But based on the logic that you and others have presented it seems as though Terry would leave the ring as soon as the match starts, wrap himself in barbed wire and return with a chair in one hand and a kendo stick in the other. That's dumb. Terry's reputation as this hardcore maniac means nothing in this match.

Your crazy logic comes after the ridiculous statement that Funk respects Thesz enough to not use weapons.

Never said that either. Now you are just making shit up. I wrote that I very much expect the use of weapons in this match. Like chairs. What I don't expect is for it to devolve into this hardcore death match whatever the fuck because that's not realistic.

The stipulation puts Thesz at a disadvantage by being held in a match Funk made his playground for years after his runs being great at more traditional/technical wrestling.

This is a Last Man Standing match. It is not some hardcore death match. All Thesz has to do is keep Terry down for a 10 count. Pretty easy. All he has to do is stretch Terry until he KO's him. He's done that to other opponents before. We have seen the limits of Terry's pain tolerance when Flair made him quit after repeated applications of the Figure 4. This is going to mirror that match except Terry's going to be taking a nap instead of quitting.

Thesz would surely not just stand there and get hit, but even trying to block or disarm Funk, he would still take some major shots in the process. Then it boils down to how effective Thesz can be applying a submission hold after getting hit with things he is not used to. Lou has never fought a match like this to my knowledge. Funk thrived in them.

I'm sure chair shots are not going to be enough to keep Thesz down. Neither would getting hit with the ring bell or a TV monitor. If you think Terry is going to suddenly start busting out tables, ladders, barb wire, explosives, tacks, glass, that's not realistic. That's dumb.

Thesz has shown to be a straight laced traditionalist who would frown upon using weapons.

Doesn't mean he wouldn't use one. Now you're the one that's being silly.

Funk passing out to an STF is not a very logical scenario, especially when Thesz would avoid doing what is necessary to level the playing field.

Really, because I have yet to hear a single logical argument to counter this. All I've been hearing is that Funk is this hardcore motherfucker with a pain tolerance that defies human logic, and instead of this being a simple Last Man's Standing match it's going to turn into the type of match that New Jack would work.

That's dumb logic and not realistic to either of these men.

Vote with the legacy argument Ech, at least that carries weight. Saying weapons would not be an issue in this or downplaying the toughness of Funk is just showing you are wearing blinders again in favor of your old school tribe. Especially the argument you made saying Funk would respect him enough to keep it a traditional match. That has got to be one of the silliest things ever said.

Not nearly as silly as you just blatantly ignoring my arguments. But do you know why Thesz's opponents would wrestle with him instead of trying to do other shit? Because if they didn't he would force them to wrestle him. This is why The Sheik ran away and hid under a bus. Because Thesz was beating his ass.

 

[stingray11214]

As far as Terry Funk respecting someone because they were a wrestler: Someone needs to see the Florida Title match between Mike Graham and Dory Funk, Jr. Terry Funk interfered in that match so many times that it was not funny. BTW, Mike Graham was the son of Eddie Graham, CWF's owner and promoter.

As for the incident with The Sheik: Thesz long had a rep for having little to no respect for "gimmick" wrestlers. Hence, he enjoyed humiliating wrestlers like Sheik and Gorgeous George.

Those things said, Funk was a brawler. He was NOT the wrestler Dory Jr. was. Lou Thesz was a WRESTLER. If anyone could make Funk submit, it would be Thesz. Even in his twilight years, Thesz was a great mat tactician, and could put away a lot of people. In the end, Funk will try to brawl his way in this match. Thesz will take the shelling, and dish it back out in spades. Funk the Brawler, in the end, would fall to Thesz the Wrestler, as there would just come a time when Funk would run out of gas against a master like THesz.

Lou Thesz for the win..

 

[nightmare]

Make up your mind Ech, does Terry respect Thesz's wish to keep it a wrestling match, or do they both use weapons?

 

[stingray11214]

Make up your mind Ech, does Terry respect Thesz's wish to keep it a wrestling match, or do they both use weapons?

If Funk used a weapon, Thesz would get it out of his hands, throw it out of the ring, and then proceed to punch Funk all over the building.

 

[justtxyank]

Real post time:

The Last Man Standing Match is basically a variation of a match that both of these men are very familiar with. A staple of 60's and 70's wrestling, especially in Texas which was Funk's home, and a place Thesz visited frequently.

The Texas Death Match.

The only real difference between this match, and the one they're both used to? In a Texas Death match, you first have to pin your opponent or make them submit before the 10 count starts. Here you just have to knock your opponent down to start it. So honestly, the match that both Thesz and Funk fought a bunch of times over the years was probably tougher than this one.

Funk was good in them. Won some. Lost some.

Thesz... I couldn't find a record of him ever losing one. Closest I found was a curfew draw with Fritz Von Erich, which likely was just done by Thesz as a political favor.

The building manager isn't shutting the lights off for this one though, so there's no favors happening this time.

I next looked up Thesz's history with the Funks, because he did travel to Amarillo a fair bit. I was hoping to find out that these guys had actually had this match before, but unfortunately not.

Thesz did fight the Funk's a fair bit though. Also teamed with Terry's dad a few times, and his brother a couple of times too.

Thesz beat Terry's dad every time they got in the ring together.
Thesz beat Terry's brother almost every time they fought, only ever losing to him later in his career, when Dory was at his peak and Thesz was in his 50's.
Thesz fought Terry the least, but they did have 2 matches. Neither is very comparable here.

In 1969 in St. Louis, when Funk was coming up in the business and Thesz was on his way down after competing for decades (he was in his early 50's, Funk was 25). Thesz defeated Funk. A little telling here, because Thesz was past his NWA champion time by then, and Funk getting a match like that in St. Louis was a big deal for him. Him still not going over Thesz despite it being an optimal time to have someone like Thesz really make Funk by lying down for him... is probably the biggest indicator of how this should go between them.

The second time they fought was in 1975. Thesz was almost 60. Funk would win the NWA title only a few months after this match. Funk won that one.

Considering their history with each other. Their history in this type of a match. And for the hardcore fans who worship Terry Funk today, if they could consider the fact that in all of his crazy, insane, hardcore matches... Funk more times than not would put his opponent over at the end of it...

considering all that, there really is only one way to go here.

The man who the US Army asked to teach them how to fight in World War II is the man who should and would win this match.

Vote for Lou Thesz

I came in here thinking this was a close contest and I have a personal affinity for the Funker. Never saw Thesz but obviously know how great he was historically.

Your post took me from leaning Funk to no brainer voting for Thesz. Good post brother.

 

[NSL]

There you go.

The only real way to decide the outcome of this... or quite frankly any match.

If the guys never done a moonsault off of a ladder, then how in the hell can anyone expect him to win?

Way to miss the point. I was talking about Funk's ability to absorb pain and keep on fighting. Which is kind of the point in this match, isn't it? To be the...last man standing? I can't imagine a scenario where Funk doesn't answer a 10 count.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Way to miss the point. I was talking about Funk's ability to absorb pain and keep on fighting. Which is kind of the point in this match, isn't it? To be the...last man standing? I can't imagine a scenario where Funk doesn't answer a 10 count.

No, it was just a bad point.

And you can't imagine a scenario where Funk doesn't answer a 10 count?

All you have to do is go look up all the times that he didn't.

Like I said previously. Funk has lost a bunch of Texas Death Matches over the years. The Texas Death Match is the EXACT SAME MATCH as this.

There's a lot of times Funk never answered that 10 count.

Thesz on the other hand, also fought a bunch of these matches. He never once lost one that I could find.

So in reality... not this make believe world where Terry Funk is the bionic grandpa... Thesz is the one who you shouldn't be able to imagine a scenario where he wouldn't answer the 10 count.

Because he did EVERY SINGLE TIME he had to. Funk didn't.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

Lou Thesz is arguably the greatest pure wrestler of all time. He is the epitome of old timey and class.

Goddamn shame he's up against a guy who is going to run out to the ring with a running fucking chainsaw and technically is allowed to use it. (He obviously won't, but yeah). He might use the branding iron, the blunt objects covered in barbed wire (which might also be on fire), the garbage cans...hell, he might wrap himself in barbed wire just so Thesz is afraid to touch him. Funk was crazy, but was a sadiatic savant.

Id go for Thesz in almost any other situation, but I just can't here.

 

[stblink]

I voted for Terry Funk because I felt that he had more experience in a last man standing/texas death match.
Thesz didn't seem like the type of person who would be comfortable in a match against an opponent with the hardcore mindset of Funk
Thesz was a true technical wrestling specialist, but I don't think this type of match favors him because of the sadistic and brutal lengths a person must go through in order to win this match.