Terry Funk is one of the best ever, a true legend. He was at the top of the business at its peak in both the 1970s & 1980s having wrestled hundreds of matches all over the world.
Yeah, but did he ever really draw, Numbers? I mean, sure... he had a long run with the NWA Championship, but what exactly did he do with the belt, Numbers?
The fact of the matter is, the only reason Funk is so highly regarded today is because of the I Quit match with Flair, and for his run in ECW and Japan. If he didn't have those things going for him, he would be as remembered as Tommy Rich and Ronnie Garvin are.
Not content with that, he would revitalise his career, becoming a hardcore legend in both Japan and the US.
He had no other choice. The only way he could separate himself was to become this brutal maniac who put himself and his opponents in complete danger every time they stepped in the ring.
By doing things in his fifties, that no wrestler should consider doing,
Exactly.
he put over ECW and in earnest,
He helped ECW, sure, and he was a valuable asset to that company, but people do overstate how valuable he was. But, I'll get more into that in a minute.
played a hugely significant part in the Monday Nights Wars.
How so? By playing Chainsaw Charlie?
His influence can be directly traced to modern day wrestling through his work with his opponents, Harley Race, Ric Flair to Mick Foley, through to HHH and Randy Orton. He remains relevance through his in-ring style. He was very underrated technically as he was able to match many of his opponents hold for hold.
This is extremely false, man.
The ONLY "technical" hold the Funker is known for is the Spinning Toe Hold. That is literally it. Besides that one move, when have you ever seen him use technical holds that weren't basic stuff anybody could pull of? Please provide examples.
Then there was his promo style, with his harsh, grainy Texas accent, he could be very softly spoken and have a crowd in the palm of his hand or he could incite riots such was his way with words.
Which, as I said in my opening post, isn't necessarily a good thing, is it?
Funk was undoubtedly a great promo cutter during his time, but he still couldn't use it to the point where it was such a great asset for a company to have.
He would go on to have classic matches, when gimmicks were truly meant to be feud-ending and career-defining. His I Quit match in 89 with Flair showed how good he could be at a main event level. Alongside a talent on his level, they tore the house down and while it pales to some of the bloodier matches later in his career, it truly set a standard to inflicting violence.
Literally the only truly great match Funk has ever had. Orton, while you could argue none of his matches are THAT great, still has had PLENTY of GREAT matches throughout his career regardless.
This is the match that shows that Terry Funk should be just remembered for his extreme run.
It's just one match though, Numbers. What other matches in Funk's career can you considered great besides that one and maybe the tag match between the Funks and Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen?
The fact is, if you put together a DVD of Orton's best matches, and you put together a DVD of Funk's greatest matches... while Flair vs. Funk is probably the best match, Orton still ends up with way more better matches overall on his DVD.
He would feature matches that would define the early Attitude era WWF when he featured at Wrestlemania in a Dumpster match with Foley against the Outlaws and then against Foley in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
That Dumpster match is a fun spot fest, but you can hardly give Funk any credit for it. The match involved four people, plus an insane amount of weapons... hardly anything worth bragging about.
And this was after his run in Japan and ECW where he would more regularly feature in the bloody matches that he would become known for.
As a big ECW fan, I can say with confidence that the majority of Funk's matches there were shit, especially the one-on-one matches. Case and point, check out this match against Chris Candido while Funk was ECW Champion. It's boring as shit, and the only thing that saved it from being a complete disaster was a brutal chair spot.
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Paul Heyman credited Funk for his influence in putting ECW on the map.
That's Paul being really modest. Everyone knows that if it wasn't for Paul Heyman's booking, then ECW would have gone under by the end of 1993. ECW needed Heyman way more than they needed Funk.
His performances were incredible. At a time where no one was expecting anything on him, he would perform at a level that men fifteen years younger than him would struggle with. By putting over the names that would form ECW after his time, he proved to be an asset that money could not buy. And while ECW ultimately failed, his impact there could not be refuted.
They really weren't though, man.
Funk in ECW is remembered for three matches:
The highly boring, OVERRATED triple threat match between himself, Douglas, and Sabu.
Winning the ECW Championship at Barely Legal.
And the Barbed Wire Match against Sabu.
Outside of that, what exactly was memorable about Funk's stay in ECW?
Its a dangerous business and its something that have happened to anybody at any time. Everyone has been injured at some point. Its part of the business, part of the risk involved.
Very true, but the risk of injury HIGHLY goes up when your involved in the matches Funk was involved in.
Not suggesting that Funk was not at fault it could have happened to anyone. Flair survived Funk. As did Foley (maybe not a good comparison) but there are many guys who emerged healthily from their matches with Funk.
Again, very true, but it's still not a great asset to have when the only thing the guy can do is have matches with hardcore spots. That's all he could do throughout the majority of his career.
I cant be certain without the stats but Im sure Funk drew plenty during his run as NWA champ.
He drew alright, not terribly, but then again... nothing impressive, either.
But the point about the riots, it happens with every great heel.
Yeah, but how many heels have you heard about getting stabbed because they took it too far?
The Dudleys did it regularly.
That's a big misconception. But, I won't go there since this isn't about The Dudleys. I'll just stick to this point... did either Dudley ever get stabbed because of something they got a crowd so riled up over?
Of course, being stabbed is a bit far but if he got that much heat, isnt that all part of being a great character. And Funk was certainly great at that.
Yeah, I agree, but sometimes you must know your limits, and Funk could never grasp that.
A good asset, he has proven to be loyal when all around him have left the business to do other things.
Well, if that's the case... why did he abandon ECW to go to the WWF during the late nineties?
I would question the instant classics though. Sure he is capable of having *** star matches but every WWE main eventer should be.
Which is why WWE main eventers are great assets to that company, but I would argue Orton is more so since his body of work destroys that of his competition.
When opposite a super talented worker like Benoit, Undertaker, Michaels, he can be part of a great match.
Takes two to have a great match, man, especially when it happens on more than one occasion.
But his series with HHH and Cena were overbooked and repetitive.
Is that Orton's fault? No, I'm sure if Funk and Flair were constantly booked against one another they would have had some stinkers to go along with the I Quit match.
Funk has had two ***** matches that I know of.
One was a tag match, and a pretty overrated one at that. It wasn't really a wrestling match... just a huge, bloody brawl, and the only reason it got five stars was because it took place in Japan.
And how many people have seen this match, anyway? Have you? Shit, I would have never saw it or heard about it if it weren't for the internet, and I was a fan of wrestling for pretty much 15 years before I ever got a computer of my own.
Absolutely. Its poor booking. He was ideal to bring credibility back to the midcard. But like with all good things with potential, they rushed the Evolution split, his WHC run and face turn. It was handled appallingly.
And yet, even with all that against him, Orton has still been able to make it work and become one of, if not THE, most over wrestlers in the entire company. Do you not see why that makes him such a valuable asset?
He has not been given a true, consistent run as a face. I would love to see WWE pull the trigger but Im not sure that the higher-ups trust him. Whether thats because of his antics a few years back or because someone in Vinces ear recognise his potential as a threat to their spot, I dont know. But due to injuries and what not, he has never really been given the shot.
Again, like I said earlier... there's no telling what the future will bring Orton, but we all know he's going to be a huge star.
And if you ask yourself this question, "Who would you rather start your company around, the Randy Orton of today or a prime Terry Funk?" I guarantee you and most wrestling fans would choose Randy Orton.
Even as a heel, he was never the number one guy.
That's not true. He was easily the number one guy when feuding with Hardy. And right now I would argue he's the number one guy. Last week he was in the main event, RKO's the champion and pretty much every contender for the title, and this week he defeated John Cena. Raw is building itself around Randy Orton right now. There's no arguing that.
His reactions are currently epic, especially as he is getting little promo time and is getting the pop from posing and the RKO. If WWE actually committed to a title run with the guy then Christ knows what could happen.
I agree.
They had pulled the trigger with Cena by this point. The question I am asking is why do they not trust him over someone like Sheamus?
Because they know Orton doesn't need the belt, Sheamus does. It gives Sheamus heat to have that belt, whereas Orton can get heat without it.
Thank you for bringing that up, because it another great point on just how much of a valued asset Orton is to the company.
But he really wasn't that important to ECW, man. ECW needed Paul Heyman way more than they ever did Funk, as I said earlier, and when Heyman came along, he built ECW around talent like Public Enemy, Shane Douglas, and Sabu. Funk was just a big name for him to use to put younger talent over... but there's no doubt that he could have made it work without Funk there.
You could argue that the NWA valued him for his work too.
Nah, his championship run meant dog shit to the NWA. Harely Race could have had the belt all throughout that time and it wouldn't have made a single bit of difference.
And he was highly regarded in Japan too.
Again though... Japan would have done just fine had Terry Funk never existed.
I would argue that Orton has not fully shown how good he can be.
But if that's true, then there's absolutely no telling just how great of a wrestler he'll become, considering how great of a run he's already had for himself in WWE.