Terry Funk

Terry Funk
Birth nameTerrance Dee Funk
Born(1944-06-30)June 30, 1944
Hammond, Indiana, U.S.
DiedAugust 23, 2023(2023-08-23) (aged 79)
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Alma materWest Texas State University[1]
Spouse(s)
Vicki Weaver
(m. 1965; died 2019)
Children2
FamilyDory Funk Sr. (father)[1]
Dory Funk Jr. (brother)[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Black Baron[2]
Chainsaw Charlie[3]
Dr Knows-it-All[2]
Terry Funk[4]
The Texan[4]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[5]
Billed weight247 lb (112 kg)[5]
Billed fromAmarillo, Texas, U.S.[3]
Trained byDory Funk[3][1]
Debut1965[1][6]
Retired2017

Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – and the influential hardcore wrestling style he pioneered in the latter part of his career.

Over the course of his career, Funk wrestled for numerous major promotions, among them All Japan Pro Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, the International Wrestling Association of Japan, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, the United States Wrestling Association, World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories including Big Time Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling. He was the promoter of the Amarillo-based Western States Sports promotion.

Championships held by Funk included the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, NWA World Heavyweight Championship, USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, WWF World Tag Team Championship, and ECW World Television Championship. He headlined ECW's premier annual pay-per-view event, November to Remember, three times. Funk was inducted into multiple halls of fame, among them WWE, WCW, NWA, and Hardcore.

  1. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Solomon2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Engler, Craig. "Terry Funk". Canoe.ca. Quebecor Media. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ a b c "The Funks". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Terry Funk Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  5. ^ a b Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 303. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  6. ^ John Grasso (March 6, 2014). Historical Dictionary of Wrestling. Scarecrow Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-8108-7926-3.