Terry Funk

Oct 17, 2009 - by Steve Gerweck

terryfunk

Real name: Terry Funk
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 247 lbs.
Date of birth: June 30, 1944
Date of death: August 23, 2023
From: Amarillo, TX
Pro debut: December 9, 1965
Trained by: Dory Funk Jr.
Finishing move: Piledriver

Biography

– Funk defeated Sputnik Monroe in his hometown of Amarillo in his professional debut.
– In 1968, Terry and his brother Dory Jr. teamed to capture two Amarillo Tag Team titles.
– With partner Ricky Romero, Funk captured the NWA Western States Tag Team title twice, once in 1969 and in August 1970.
– From 1970-74, Funk won seven Western States titles.
– Funk defeated Romero for the NWA Western States title on May 7, 1970. Between 1970 and 1973, Funk captured the title a record six times.
– The Funk brothers defeated the Brisco brothers for the Florida Tag Team title on March 30, 1971.
– On April 14, 1971, Funk defeated the Grappler (Johnny Walker) for the NWA Southern title in Miami, FL.
– The Funk brothers defeated Giant Baba and Michiaki Yoshimura for the NWA International Tag Team title on December 7, 1971 in Sapporo. The brothers won the title twice in 1973.
– On July 13, 1972, Funk captured the Brass Knucks title in Amarillo, TX.
– On February 10, 1973, Funk pinned Johnny Valentine for the NWA Missouri title in St. Louis.
– Funk captured the International title on June 21, 1975.
– Funk won a sixteen-man tournament to capture the NWA United States title on November 9, 1975 in Greensboro, NC.
– On December 10, 1975, Funk won the NWA title by beating Jack Brisco in a 60 minute best of three falls match in Miami, FL. He held the title for fourteen months.
– On June 11, 1976, Funk successfully defended the NWA title against Jumbo Tsuruta in Tokyo, Japan in a best of three falls match.
– In December 1977, the Funk brothers won All Japan’s Open Tag League.
– The Funk brothers won a tournament on November 23, 1978 to capture the Georgia Tag Team title.
– Funk defeated Dick Slater for the NWA Southern title on December 30, 1978, in St. Petersburg, FL.
– In September 1979, Funk defeated Steve Keirn in a tournament final to capture the vacant Florida Heavyweight title.
– In late 1979, the Funk brothers won the Real World Tag League.
– Funk captured the SCW Television and Tag Team titles (with Wahoo McDaniel) in 1981.
– In late 1982, the Funk brothers won the Real World Tag League.
– Funk beat David Von Erich on July 15, 1983 for the NWA Missouri title.
– On February 22, 1984, Funk was the referee for the Nick Bockwinkel-Tsuruta AWA title match in Tokyo, Japan.
– The Funk brothers defeated Riki Choshu and Yoshiaki Yatsu on August 31, 1985.
– Funk defeated the Junkyard Dog on a November 1985 edition of NBC’s Saturday Night’s Main Event.
– At Wrestlemania II, the Funk brothers defeated Junkyard Dog and Tito Santana.
– On August 28, 1987, Funk beat Chavo Guerrero in Houston as part of the Paul Boesch Retirement Show.
– Funk defeated Jerry “The King” Lawler for the USWA Unified World title on November 5, 1990, in Memphis, TN.
– The Funk brothers beat Abdullah the Butcher and Giant Kimala II on December 7, 1990.
– Funk and Tarzan Goto beat the Sheik and Sabu in a “stretcher” match on August 22, 1993 in Osaka, Japan.
– On October 1, 1993, Funk defeated Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka for the ECW Television title.
– Funk defeated Sabu for the ECW title on December 26, 1993 in Philadelphia, PA.
– Terry was introduced to WCW’s Hall of Fame in 1994 and in the WWF Hall of Fame in 1997 along with his brother Dory.
– On May 3, 1995, Funk and Shiro Koshinaka beat Hiromichi Fuyuki and Masa Chono.
– Funk and Mr. Pogo beat Masato Tanaka and Hayabusa in a “no rope explosive barbed wire time bomb land mine double hell death” match on May 5, 1996 in Kawasaki, Japan.
– On April 13, 1997, Funk beat Raven for the ECW title on the Barely Legal PPV.
– Funk pinned Hiromichi Fuyuki in a “loser leaves FMW” match on September 28, 1997.
– Funk returned to the WWF in 1997 as Chainsaw Charlie.
– At Wrestlemania XIV in Boston, MA, Funk and Cactus Jack relieved the New Age Outlaws of the WWF World Tag Team title in a “dumpster” match.
– On November 23, 1999, the Funk brothers beat Yoshinori Sasaki and Naohiko Yamazaki in Yokohama, Japan as part of a FMW pay-per-view.
– In January 2000, Funk arrived in WCW and was named Commissioner.
– At Spring Stampede 2000, Funk defeated Norman Smiley to capture the vacant WCW Hardcore title in Chicago, IL.
– On September 22, 2000 Funk defeated Lance Storm for the United States title in Amarillo, TX.
– Funk returned to “Nitro” on December 12, 2000 dressed as Santa Claus and did an angle to set up a Hardcore title match against Crowbar at Starrcade.
– At Starrcade 2000 in Washington, D.C., Funk defeated Crowbar for the WCW Hardcore title.
– At All Japan’s Giant Baba Memorial Spectacular on January 28, 2001, Funk and Atsushi Onita defeated Giant Kimala 2 and Abdullah the Butcher in Tokyo.
– On April 6, 2001 in Manati, Puerto Rico, Funk defeated Super Crazy in a match fought under hardcore rules.
– Funk defeated Dusty Rhodes and Abdullah the Butcher in a “last man standing” match on March 29, 2003 in Philadelphia.
– On June 21, 2003, Funk defeated Gary Wolfe and Sandman to capture the 3PW Heavyweight title in Philadelphia.
– On November 13, 2004 in Coventry, England, Funk, Paul Burchall and Paul Travell beat Drew McDonald, Raj Ghosh and Thunder.
– Funk, Ian Rotten and Danny Daniels defeated B.J. Whitmer, Chris Candido and Steve Corino on December 12, 2004 in Highland, IN.
– On August 4, 2005, Funk and Mil Mascaras defeated Katsuhiko Nakajimi and Tomoaki Honma in Tokyo, Japan.
– On April 4, 2009 in Houston, TX, Dusty Rhodes inducted the Funk Brothers into the WWE Hall of Fame.
– Funk was voted into the GERWECK.NET Hall of Fame on June 30, 2010.
– Funk passed away on August 23, 2023

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