Terry Funk Shoot Interview (2002)

[Guest TSMAdmin]

Short intro this week, as I'm a bit distracted. Since the WWE sucks at the moment, I'll be skipping RAW to watch Deep Space Nine on DVD, which means I'll be seeing better drama in one 45 minute episode than in two hours of RAW.

 

Next week's shoot appears to be Hacksaw Jim Duggan, but it could change at the last minute.

 

 

As always, you can feel free to Drop me an e-mail, read the archives, buy me stuff, or <!-- Begin Affiliate Code --> buy yourself stuff at Highspots.com.

 

 

Terry Funk Shoot Interview (3-23-2002)

 

We start with some footage from ECW showing Funk battering Tommy Dreamer.

 

 

How is his health? “It really sucks.” He claims he’s exaggerating before saying that it’s hard for him to get up in the morning some days because of the condition the business has left him in. He still feels very lucky that he’s able to keep going after all he’s put his body through. He says the most important thing is that his mind is still working well.

 

His run in the WWF as Chainsaw Charlie- “Chainsaw’s dead, or at least I hope he is. That was the most absurd thing I ever came up with in my life.” He says that was right up there with being Dr. Knowsitall for Southwest Championship Wrestling.

 

What lead to him leaving the WWF after his tag match with Bradshaw? He’d talked with Vince McMahon beforehand. His original deal was for a certain number of shows but he went far past that number because both Vince and Mick Foley asked him to help out the ratings.

 

Does he still talk to Foley? “Talked to him last week… he’s writing another book” which is supposed to be about the origins of wrestling. Foley wanted to go back to the days of wrestling as a carnival attraction but Funk told him that it goes back further than that because, if you believe in creationism, it goes back to God wrestling some of the angels who turned against him in a First Death Match or, if you believe in evolution, it goes back to the apes who would wrestle each other once one caught the other. (As of this review, he has not released that book although he has released a novel, Tietam Brown, which has some wrestling in the background of at least one character.)

 

Why did he leave the WWF? The ratings were going up and he decided he only wanted to be there a short time, as he doesn’t particularly want to be anyplace for a long time so that he can enjoy time with his family. He did leave on good terms with Jim Ross and Vince McMahon though.

 

Does he want a big last run somewhere? No, he doesn’t want a big run like that. However, he was disappointed with WCW when he was down there due to the atmosphere in the company, despite the fact that he was making good money. He feels it’s a shame that WCW self-destructed like it did because it was the best thing for the wrestlers unless they ever decide to form a union down the road.

 

Who brought him back into ECW? He thinks that Paul Heyman brought him back in to work with Tommy Dreamer, but he didn’t stay long due to a bout with hepatitis. (He makes sure to point out that this was hepatitis from contaminated food and not some of the other strains, which are transmitted through more intimate means.)

 

How different was ECW from his previous run there? It was still a good organization but most of the talent had been picked over by both WCW and the WWF. He feels that the other two organizations taking their pick of talent from ECW is what really killed the company.

 

What were the plans for the feud with Dreamer that never went anywhere? He would have turned heel there, but it didn’t end up working out.

 

Were there plans for him to work with Dusty Rhodes there? Dusty had some plans but he hadn’t had any in mind. He wouldn’t have minded working with Dusty but doesn’t know what happened.

 

Why didn’t he return to finish the angle? The company had moved on and, besides that, he didn’t want to stay some place too long.

 

How did he come into WCW? JJ Dillon called him at home one day and asked him to come into the company.

 

What were his impressions of Vince Russo in WCW? He didn’t have many because they never really talked. He feels that he had a lot to offer to the company due to his experience but nobody, Russo included, ever asked him about anything. He quit caring about that slight when he finally saw the direction that the company was going in and that there was no way to stop it. He just wanted his paycheck at that point.

 

Did Russo have a good mind for the business? He feels that Russo was creative but that what he created wasn’t what wrestling fans wanted. He feels that Russo would work well on a committee, as would Kevin Sullivan, but that you’d have to pick out the good ideas from the bad ones.

 

How was he accepted by the locker room? He’s never had any complaints about any locker room in the business, although there are some individuals that he felt were disrespectful to their fellow wrestlers but he won’t name names. He pretty much says that those people didn’t seem to realize that all of the other wrestlers were getting him over and that “you’re certainly not that goddamn tough.” (Sounds like Goldberg, Buff Bagwell, or maybe Kevin Nash)

 

The WWF locker room when he left- It was a great locker room as everyone got along. Vince’s big mistake, though, was the Brawl For All. It created a lot of tension in the locker room, as the locker room would pick sides in the match. It would have been much better if they’d worked the matches because it wouldn’t have caused tension and it certainly wouldn’t have been detected by most of the fans watching at home. Vince was lucky to get out of the Brawl For All with as few problems as he did, as it could have left the company open to a huge lawsuit if someone got seriously hurt during a match.

 

How bad were the politics in the WCW locker room? “Terrible.” He stayed out of them but he did notice a lot of groups such as the Radicalz, Nash’s group, etc.

 

Did Kevin Nash and Scott Hall have a lot of power? He feels they did but he doesn’t know for sure if they did.

 

Working with Hulk Hogan again- He wouldn’t mind working with him again as a lot of the bad blood between them has healed, but he’s 58 at this point and thinks that it won’t happen. He feels that his last run in WCW is going to go down as his last big run in a major company because he doesn’t want to spend that much time away from his family.

 

Does he find it ironic that he wrestled in Bret Hart’s last match considering that Bret wrestled him in his retirement match in 1997? Kind of, but he feels that Bret will do another match some day even if it’s just for charity. He does consider the possibility that Owen Hart’s death may have had an effect on him so that, when he says he’d done wrestling, he really is done wrestling.

 

How did Bret’s concussion affect that last match? He reinjured his neck during that match but Bret never said anything to him about it. He felt that Bret didn’t want to make it seem like it was his fault. He then talks about how much respect he has for the entire Hart family, “even the crazy ones.”

 

When did he realize things were out of hand in WCW? Probably as soon as he got that phone call from JJ Dillon because people seem to hire him whenever things are looking bad for their company. Things certainly weren’t good when he got there.

 

Bill Goldberg- He likes Goldberg and he’s always been very nice. He was never close to him, though, because of the chaotic nature of the business. He feels that it wasn’t an accident that Goldberg’s drawing power was completely destroyed.

 

How different would the level of Goldberg’s character be if he was in the WWF in 1998? If he was controllable, he’d still be strong.

 

How did Nash and Hall treat him? They treated him well in the ring but he knows they’re both underhanded in some things they do. He says he’d be a much richer man if he was always looking out for himself instead of the company, but that money isn’t everything.

 

Did he have problems with them joking about his age in promos? No, he even insisted that they do it at times. He made a point to have them talk about “my wrinkled old ass” because he wants the fans to know that his age doesn’t bother him.

 

Thoughts on being paired with Paul Orndorff and Larry Zbyzko- It was fine with him. He also thought it worked out when WCW brought in guys like Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka for one night. He feels that it’s more important what you do with the talent than the age of the talent and that it’s shown by how the WWF used Mae Young and Fabulous Moolah and that it paid off in the ratings.

 

Vince being the only game in town- While this is what Vince has always wanted, it’s a bad thing because competition keeps you on your toes and makes you improve on what you do.

 

Working with Ric Flair again- Flair’s very talented in the ring and on the mic. He enjoyed working with him again, although WCW mishandled it because it was just thrown out there.

 

His comments in the last shoot interview about how he didn’t like Flair because Flair tried to retire him at the age of 44- Those wounds have healed over time.

 

Did he lose motivation while in WCW? No, because he just did the best he could with the material he’d been given.

 

How did things change from the original plans WCW had for him? He doesn’t think there were any plans because they were always concerned with getting through the next Pay Per View.

 

Does he regret anything he did in WCW? Not really, although he wished he’d taken less chances.

 

Who did he like working with in that run? He didn’t have a program but he enjoyed working with everyone because they all busted their asses. The only guy who he didn’t want to work with was Ralphus, because he was an idiot.

 

Norman Smiley- Good guy.

 

Jim Ross’s comments about him being under contract to the WWF- It was bullshit but he thinks they said it in order for the WWF to look better. He feels he probably would have done the same thing if the situation were reversed.

 

Why did he briefly leave WCW before his feud with Crowbar? He wasn’t happy with the company’s direction and he thinks that he had a temper tantrum during a hardcore match one night, which caused WCW to stop booking them for a while.

 

Crowbar- He liked him. He wonders if the reason he was brought back after his temper tantrum was if the company didn’t care if he hurt Crowbar.

 

The difference between Russo’s booking and Eric Bischoff’s booking- Both were very full of themselves at that time, although he’s hesitant to say that about Bischoff because he didn’t deal with him much on a personal level. He does give Bischoff for succeeding when he did something that no one thought was a good idea, which was putting Nitro head to head with RAW. Both had great ideas but their bad ones ruined everything.

 

Comparing the two to Paul Heyman- It’s impossible to do since Paul E came up through the business. He has a lot of respect for Paul E’s abilities and feels that Vince McMahon must as well since he works for the WWF now.

 

What does he think about the end of ECW- It was inevitable considering the style of their approach to the business, by which he means going on national cable and having to pay for their timeslot on TNN.

 

Paul Heyman’s final months in the company- While it was bad that he stiffed some people, it was the only way he could keep things going. Some of the things he did were not acceptable in his opinion, such as screwing over Sabu. Sabu was going to get a good contract in WCW but Paul E screwed him and wouldn’t let him go.

 

Is there anything wrong with Paul E. getting a job with the WWF so soon despite most of his wrestlers still being unemployed? No, because you have to be able to provide for your family. He also thinks Paul E felt obligated to go work for Vince considering how the WWF saved ECW a few times.

 

Why does he think ECW failed? It takes too much money to make a wrestling company work, as even Ted Turner and AOL Time Warner struggled with it, but Paul E still made a Hell of a run at it.

 

The WWF’s business- They reached a great peak a few years back with Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, but they’re not going to reach it again as the WWF. Someone else may reach it, though.

 

If he started his own company, where would he go? He would try to get his show on a channel such as Cinemax because he feels that if Cinemax can make their money back by spending millions on a movie, they could make their money back on a wrestling show that would cost a fraction of that. A channel like that would also allow you to be more hardcore with blood and cursing than you could on a regular channel.

 

Scott Steiner- Great guy. He feels that Scott might be the epitome of a heel but, in 1989, was the epitome of what a babyface should be but never utilized it. He feels that Scott should have been pushed as a champion back then. He doesn’t know if Scott wanted to do it, though, as Scott and Rick Steiner were a successful tag team at the time. He starts listing off qualities Scott had and harps on how he was bashful, which he feels is a tremendous quality for a babyface because everything he says will come from his heart when the interviewer finally drags it out of him. He says that, when you get a guy with that quality over, he stays over forever, as Jack Brisco and Bruno Sammartino are still legends today and that you had to really pull words out of Bruno’s mouth. While he can’t predict with a lot of accuracy who’ll be the next big star, he can spot the qualities out there that can make someone a success and he feels that indy worker Paul London and that the WWF should have their heads examined if they don’t sign him. (The WWE signed him to a contract in the past several months and he just made his Smackdown debut, where Brock Lesnar smashed both him and Spanky.)

 

Was there ever a time he wished he hadn’t gone back to WCW? Yes, the night he had his tantrum in the back.

 

Thoughts on returning to All Japan for the Giant Baba tribute show? It was a lot of fun and he had a great time wrestling Abdullah the Butcher after such a long time since their last match. The problem was that the match got hyped to proportions that they couldn’t really live up to it, which he attributes to the legendary status given to their earlier matches. He says that people remember boxing matches with Joe Louis or the famous Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston match as being such wonderful things but, if you go back and watch them, they don’t live up to what you’ve made them into in your mind.

 

Whose idea was it to allow them to blade for their match? There’s only one person who could approve it and that was Mrs. Baba.

 

Did WCW have any problem with it because of their connection to New Japan? No, they never said anything.

 

What does he think about the All Japan wrestlers leaving to form NOAH? More power to them, as it helps keep the business fresh. He compares it to Great Muta, who he says couldn’t get the crowd to say anything while he was in WCW but now he’s the hottest thing in the business. He also puts over Tenryu for still giving it his all in the ring at 50 despite the fact that, when Funk retired in Japan in 1983, Tenryu and Stan Hansen were among the guys who had the attitude that Funk, then 38 years old, was too old and needed to make way for the new generation. He wonders what Tenryu would say if he told him that he was ten years overdue to retire.

 

Was he surprised at the XFL’s failure? No, because it was like having Vince Russo trying to run wrestling on his own. While Vince had a few good ideas, he didn’t have the football background to make it work. Neither did Jim Ross, who is a huge football fan.

 

Thoughts on the attempted revival of the NWA- They’ve tried to do that many times over the years but nothing has really come of it.

 

Did anyone refuse to put him over during his last run in WCW? He never heard about it if they did, but you never hear about it if they refuse these days. When he got into the business, refusals would be in the form of a challenge where you would have to go out and physically beat someone in order to win the match. These days, if you hear about it, it’s well after the fact. He also has no objection to people refusing if they think that it would be better for the reason for him not to win. The example he gives for that was that Bret Hart wanted to put him over in his 1997 retirement match but he refused because it would be better for business. The show went just fine, which was good because he was scared to death about losing his $40,000 investment in the show.

 

Did he intend to stay retired after that match? He never said he was going to retire or never wrestle again. The thing was that he was being followed by a camera crew for Beyond The Mat and they wanted it to be his retirement match and plugged it as such, which was just fine with him. He did fully intend to make it his last match in Amarillo, which he lived up to until WCW paid him enough to work a show in that city that he decided to do it

 

Would Beyond The Mat have been bigger if Vince McMahon promoted it? He feels that Vince didn’t promote it helped more because of its position as the movie “Vince McMahon doesn’t want you to see.” He feels that it is the most successful documentary or movie about wrestling that’s ever been made.

 

Terry Funk and Onita vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Kamala- Kamala submits to Funk’s spinning toehold as Funk is wearing a Crimson Mask that appears to be about 0.8 Muta or so. There is a post-match brawl as well.

 

 

Was he portrayed accurately in Beyond The Mat? Yes, about as accurately as anyone could portray him. He had no problems with Barry Blaustein, the director of the movie. He feels that the first few months of filming were overly acted but, after three months or so of it, it became like the camera was really there. As for Jake “The Snake” Roberts, he’s not sure if Jake put on a big act for the movie or not, as few people have ever seen the true Jake. Funk feels that a big example of how the movie was accurate was in its portrayal of Dennis Stamp, another Amarillo area wrestler who wouldn’t accept the refereeing duties for the Terry vs. Bret Hart match until Terry practically begged him.

 

How did he finish up in WCW? He worked the rest of his shows then was sent home.

 

Was he surprised Vince McMahon bought WCW? Yes, although not a big one since WCW was known to be for sale and Vince had shown an interest in it before. He feels it was a good move on Vince’s part to buy WCW, although he’s only abused it since then and it now has no value. The sale made Vince the true monopoly in wrestling because people used to have a choice but wrestling is now what Vince wants it to be, which he feels is unhealthy because competition promotes changes for the better.

 

What would he do if he’d taken over WCW at the time of the sale? He’d have torn everything down and rebuilt it in a way to draw an audience that could compete with Vince. He feels that Vince handled WCW like he did in order to destroy the fanbase that was there for that product and, in a way, discourage future competition.

 

Does he think that new competition will spring up? Yes, although it won’t happen if the companies have to buy their own timeslots on TV like ECW did. He feels that a company that charges between $12 and $15 per show on Pay Per View or on a pay channel like Cinemax would have a chance because it’s a price that the fans could afford. His plan, though, would be for one show per month and that the show would be aired enough times in the month to pay for itself and then some. He also feels that advertising is overrated for building the fanbase of a new promotion because wrestling fans who discover something new and innovative will tell their friends all over the country and then they all become interested in that show.

 

Japan today vs. the past- The numbers are different but that’s about it. They also have a lot more promotions than they used to. It’s a bit strange because they took crazy bumps and hardcore matches to the extreme but now they’re back to the point where simple wrestling hold get a good reaction from the fans.

 

The business in the US in five years- A new competitor will arise and give Vince a run for his money using the methods that he’s described. The ones that present themselves to the fans well will make it and be successful but not a direct competitor with Vince. (Good guess, Funk, but never underestimate the damage of nepotisim and stupidity limiting the growth of the #2 company in the US. Between Jeff Jarrett and Vince Russo, NWA TNA has been handicapped because Jeff has always got to be the star and the storylines have very little logic because of Russo’s influence on the booking)

 

Thoughts on Hogan, Nash, and Hall returning to the WWF- He thinks it’s a VERY short-term fix and the effectiveness is questionable, especially considering the effect it will probably have on the locker room.

 

Was he surprised Mick Foley walked away from the WWF? Not really, but the terms of the contract were never made public. No one is sure exactly how much money he walked out on.

 

Returning to New Japan- It was a good experience because he’d never been in the ring with Fujinami and hadn’t wrestled Bob Backlund since he was broken into the business in Texas.

 

Wrestling for Big Japan against Mil Mascaras- He likes Mil because Mil could draw big in some towns. He says that Mil was the first wrestler to have music in Japan besides the New Japan theme.

 

Working for Rob Black’s XPW- It went well and he had some matches with Sabu. Part of Rob’s problems was that he hadn’t learned how to use violence in moderation rather than going completely overboard in every match.

 

The XWF- Everyone’s working hard but it won’t be successful unless they can get a TV deal.

 

His upcoming match with Dusty Rhodes, Abdullah the Butcher, and Kevin Sullivan- “It’s the damndest thing I’ve ever heard of. It’s gonna be a strange match.”

 

Who does he feel will be the next big star? It’s probably the hardest question to answer, as it will probably be whoever Vince McMahon decides to push and, these days, getting a push from Vince isn’t exactly equated with being talented. He feels that the old territory system was better for talent because a wrestler could go from territory to territory until they found one where their style would work best.

 

Steve Austin pulling a strike due to the current stake of the business- It doesn’t surprise him at all because Austin’s on the up and up and will do things he believes are in the best interests of the company. This would be the best time to start a union. He clarifies how he doesn’t necessarily need to be included in a union but that young guys today will need it for down the road. The problem is that they need to do it now, while the time is right, or they won’t be able to pull it off.

 

What would he do if the WWF booked him in his Last And Final Match- He jokes that he’d take a collection from the locker room before the match and, if the collection isn’t enough, he’d threaten not to wrestle that match. Seriously, though, he’d want to face the worst wrestler in the world today, such as Ralphus, and have the worst match ever so that he wouldn’t be called out of retirement again.

 

The Rock- He’s wrestled him, his father Rocky Johnson, and his grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia, which makes Rock a one-of-a-kind opponent. Very good mind for the business. He and Stone Cold Steve Austin were the ones that brought WWF business through the roof.

 

Is he disappointed that the WWF isn’t doing more with Tommy Dreamer? He didn’t even know Dreamer was employed there, which shows how well the WWF was using him. He’s upset that Dreamer’s there doing dark matches and working in Heartland Wrestling Association. He feels that Dreamer should be working behind the scenes because “he’s got ideas coming out his ass.” He’s got a good mind and is a great worker, “I don’t care how fat he is.”

 

Should Vince have continued Over The Edge 1999 after Owen Hart’s death? At the time, he would have said no. These days, he’d consider saying yes but would still have stopped the show. It’s still a tough question to wrestle with.

 

How would he have booked the WCW Invasion angle differently? He’s never thought about it so he feels that, if he sat down, he could “throw together something better than his bullshit.” Honestly, though, he would have kept the promotions separate and keep the sale unknown for as long as possible. He feels that the promotions should have been completely separate except for facing each other once a year. It’s very difficult to do it, though, if only because it’s hard to keep that kind of thing a secret.

 

Has the Internet hurt the business by exposing a lot of things? No, the Internet has not heard a thing. He feels that it’s the people within the wrestling business that have screwed up. The fans haven’t hurt anything as the problem comes from people who think they’ve come up with such a good idea that they expose it to the world before they do it. “Some of this shit is just unnecessary on the Internet” as they aren’t releasing the right information. Going off on another subject, he says that the two things that have helped the business the most over the past 25 years are Vince McMahon declaring wrestlers to be entertainers and Eric Bischoff putting Nitro on head to head with RAW.

 

When the WWF brought in the ECW people, was he consulted? No, he wasn’t, although Paul E called him up a few weeks after he got his job in the WWF in order to thank Terry for everything he’d done for him over the years.

 

What does he think about guys like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan still wrestling? He thinks it’s great but that they need to be able to judge the quality of their work correctly. He, personally, has standards that he has to meet in order to keep going in the business.

 

Is there anyone out there today that he feels he has influenced? He feels that he’s influenced a lot of guys, as his brother has also done at his school in Florida, although his influence is more by example than by direct teaching.

 

Does he think he’ll go back to Japan? Probably, if someone calls him up. He likes the money, the food, the people, pretty much everything about the country. He doesn’t care what company brings him in, though.

 

What are his five most memorable matches and why? It’s hard to do because of the length of his career. They include his title win over Jack Brisco, one of his matches with Ric Flair in 1989, his match with Sputnik Monroe in 1965, any of his matches with Iron Mike Dibiase, wrestling Johnny Valentine in St. Louis, facing Abdullah and The Sheik in Japan as it made him there, any of his matches with Harley Race, watching Roddy Piper who he says is the best actor to ever come out of wrestling, and so forth. He also puts over the two Death Matches between Iron Mike Dibiase and Dory Funk Sr., as one went about four and a half hours.

 

If he started his own promotion, who would he want? He’d take some of Mikey Whipwreck’s guys (A lot of them were on the first Ring of Honor show. I think they included the Briscoe Brothers, Amazing Red, and the Maximo brothers (the SATs)). He’d want to do something fresh that emphasized young talent. He’d emphasize lightweight wrestlers and guys who could wrestle more and talk less.

 

Where does he see himself in five years? “I hope I’m still here.” He just wants to enjoy his time with his wife, children, and grandchildren.

 

 

They discuss the possibility down the road of having a shoot with Funk and Dusty Rhodes, at which point Funk talks about how Dusty’s writing a book and that, if it’s ever finished, “it’ll be the funniest motherfucker you’ve ever read” because he claims everything.

 

 

Terry Funk and Ivan Putski vs. Tully Blanchard and Gino Hernandez- This is joined in progress and Putski picks up the pin after blocking a Blanchard bodyslam. Ricky Morton made the count as the acting referee, but gets destroyed by Blanchard and Hernandez after the match for his trouble.

 

Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr. vs. Bob Backlund and Fujinami- The only reason I’m able to identify Fujinami was because his match was mentioned earlier in the shoot. Fujinami gets Dory on a backslide at about 10 minutes in for the win.

 

Terry Funk vs. Big Stevie Cool (Steven Richard) vs. Sandman in an elimination match- This is the match from Barely Legal 97 to determine who will face Raven for the ECW title immediately afterwards. Funk got this opportunity because his protégé Tommy Dreamer has given up his spot for him. Stevie gets eliminated after a LOT of double-teaming by Funk and Sandman, culminating in a double powerbomb. Funk picks up the win by doing a moonsault onto Sandman, who’d been clobbered by Stevie and had a trash can on his head.

 

Terry Funk vs. Raven- This immediately follows the previous match. Raven destroys Funk until Funk rolls up Raven with a small package, which was preceded by a Tommy Dreamer DDT on Raven.

 

Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta in a 2 out of 3 falls match- This is from the mid-70s, as Terry is still the NWA champion. Jumbo wins the fist fall by a sunset flip. Funk wins the second fall by a strange series of reversals from an abdominal stretch that end up with him rolling up Jumbo. Funk wins the third fall and the match when he catches Jumbo during a Thesz press attempt, throws him into the ropes which hit him in the throat, then grapevines him for the in. LONG match here.

 

Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher with Lou E Dangerously- This ends in a double DQ after Abby and Funk start brawling through the crowd and choking each other with barbed wire.

 

Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr. vs. the Road Warriors- This turns into a double countout as both teams brawl at ringside.

 

 

 

Thoughts- This is certainly an interesting interview, as The Funker covers a nice mix of the wrestling scene between 1998 and 2002 and has some interesting insight, such as predicting the success of Paul London a week before London made his Ring of Honor debut. (London was good but it took several ROH shows to establish him as a rising star rather than a random undercard guy) While he wouldn’t accept it at his age, Funk would make a wonderful booker or road agent in a major promotion. Highly recommended.