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>>Eric Gargiulo: Terry, welcome back to the show.
>>Terry Funk: Well itís great
being back on again, the last show that we were on, I thought it was a dang good one, you
know? I am just wondering, who that guy was that was on the front of that promo right
there? Who was that guy hollering and screaming? That guy could talk. (Laughs)
>>Eric: Who was that crazy man?
>>Terry: I donít know, that boy was wild wasnít he?
>>Eric jokes that his producer who is a non-wrestling fan looked at him during the promo and asked,
ìIs this your guest?î
>>Terry: (Laughs)
>>Eric: What do you remember about doing that Funk Masters of Wrestling deal? It sounded
like a lot of fun.
>>Terry: It really was and the reason I went with Funk Masters of Wrestling if you think
about it see as I could play right off of the FMW see. Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
was what it was. So that was FMW so I played off of the same letters of it, FMW was Funk
Masters of Wrestling and it worked wonderful, it worked great, it was really a hot item
over there in Japan and did big business with it you know? We did 45,000 people over there
for a match without any television. 40,000 I donít know if it was 45, 38, 45, 42 whatever
they said it was. But it was a hell of a crowd you know? It was pretty much a full stadium.
>>Eric: An obvious question to start the interview off with is how you are feeling?
>>Terry: I am feeling absolutely, um I am not going to say great. Iíd be lying to you.
I ëm feeling much, much better than what I was, and doing better day by day, and it
just takes a little bit of time. Coming off of all of that different stuff that I came
off of and you also have to get your confidence back too. You know? You have to believe that
youíre feeling good before you can feel good.
>>Eric: Speaking of professional confidence, towards the end of your last run in WCW did
you ever begin to question your own confidence?
>>Terry: Not my confidence I just questioned my sanity. I also questioned their sanity
at the time, you know? I just thought that I had a great deal to offer to them and whenever
I got there it was evidently somebody up in the hierarchy that wanted me but the people
immediately, my superiors werenít sure whether they needed me or not. They certainly didnít
loosen the reigns and let me take off running. Well and I donít blame them itís their business.
But I try not to, I try never to hurt a territory. You know I love coming into a territory and
popping it. That was one of the great things. Going down to Florida you know or to any place,
you know? Going in and actually increasing their attendance and then whenever I leave
is to leave that attendance where it is if not better.
>>Eric: Do you think that you have more of an appreciation for that kind of mentality
from the way that you were brought up in the business, owning your own territory and seeing
your father operate his territory?
>>Terry: Oh absolutely because if you want to go back itís just the way that you were
brought into the business and the way that you were brought up, and I was brought up
in the business, and I was brought up around wrestlers, and I knew the guys that were not
making a real good living but they were making a living. And I knew the stars too you know,
and I knew how they tried to help each other and I watched them, you know? And I watched
my dad (Dory Funk, SR.) was concerned about guys that werenít the greatest in the ring
but were his friends and he wanted to see them make a decent living in the profession
and be able to continue it, and enjoy life the way that they want to. Thatís the same
thing with me is I wish I could help more than what I do now you know? I wish that I
was younger and in my prime, and could go to some different places and possibly pop
up with a new organization and give it a total 100% of all which I do give, but with all
of my time I donít because I canít give all of my time. I used to as weíd wrestle
seven nights a week and now, we canít do that. You know, I canít do it. Physically
speaking Iím fortunate to get in there once a week or once every other week I really prefer
and once a year you know as I keep on burying the business in my backyard but I keep on
digging it up.
>>Eric begins to tell a story about Terry in ECW, pointing out that before he started
ring announcing for ECW heíd weasel his way into the locker room.
>>Terry: Isnít it wonderful to have to weasel your way in there and not just be accepted
into there? It really is and when you make it, you really appreciate it donít you?
>>Eric agrees and says that he thinks people really donít realize the importance of having
you or someone of your stature in a growing company like an ECW and the kind of asset
someone like Terry would be to a new company.
>>Terry: Well you know as I often talk about this, what is a leader and everything else
you know and my favorite leader of all time in professional athletics was John Ayers of
the San Francisco 49ers, he was an Offensive Guard for them, he was a great player, he
and Randy Cross were the guards for them at the time, Joe Montana was their Quarterback,
and they had just won two Super Bowls back to back, and John Ayers was a leader of that
time, but it was really funny because John Ayers, and Joe Montana will tell you that
today if you ask him, that John Ayers was the leader, he (Ayers) later passed away with
cancer at 44, and Iím the godfather of his children. John Ayers was a great, great man
and the reason he was such a good man is because when he would come back to the sideline, when
he was on the sideline and he wouldnít sit next to Coach. By golly heíd sit down on
the end of that bench. And by golly heíd sit there and heíd go back in whenever it
came his turn and heíd do his job. John Ayers wasnít the guy that said, ìLetís go attack,î
or letís go this and that, he did it by his actions and not by his words and that is why
everybody loved him so much. He was a very quiet man. Iíll never be the man that he
is, or was, but I would really like to be that kind of person and if somebody asks me
a question, Iíll answer it in the dressing room. If they ask me to watch their match
Iíll watch it. If they ask me to critique something, Iíll critique the whole show for
them. Itís a way I think a person should do it and lead by his actions and try to give
people 100% when you go into that ring so that the others can see that, and try to do
it for the fellow wrestler and not for the pay off.
>>Eric points out an example of the last pair of MLW shows and not taking anything away
from anyone else, he could sense a difference in the presence of Terry on night two of the
shows.
>>Terry: Well I donít know if I have got that kind of a presence, maybe something else
happened in the locker room that we didnít know about or something. Because I donít
know if I have that kind of presence, but I sure do love those boys. I love all the
young guys in the business.
>>Eric: Does it bother you when you see peers from your eras that donít give back to the
business or thumb their noses in a locker room at the younger talents?
>>Terry: You know my wife and I were talking about that just like last night you know and
it just amazes me that those people that do that sometimes surpass all of the others.
They totally expect to be treated like that and they just donít understand. They just
donít understand that itís the guy that they are dancing with that makes him. Even
a guy that they are dancing with even if he couldnít hold up his tutu or tights, or whatever
you want to call them, if he couldnít hold up his tights, you canít do it by yourself
in the ring, you know, you can say you can dance with a broomstick but brother, it better
be a short dance.
>>Eric tells a story about a weekend at MLW where Jerry Lawler may have been having a
bad night and Terry took it upon himself to talk to Lawler and more or less tell him to
lighten up a little bit.
>>Terry: Well I donít know if I told him to lighten up (laughs) I donít know if I
ever told Jerry Lawler to lighten up, but I will tell you one thing about Jerry is I
just love him, you know and I have never seen Jerry go into a ring and not perform, he can
be in any attitude that he is but heís one of those guys to that are just great performers,
and then again whoís the great workers in the business? I got to thinking about that.
And you know that gawd-dumb Dusty Rhodes is pretty great because he was able to make a
lot of money, a lot of years and without a whole lot of effort. He was doing something
right you know? (Laughs) But Iíll be darned, itís the truth you know? Is the one that
makes the most money the greatest worker? Possibly he is. Possibly he is because heís
working with that promoter to and heís working with the people and everyone else. You know,
I donít like to think of things that way but possibly itís true. A lot of those squeaky
wheels, they certainly got the grease at WCW didnít they?
>>Eric: Speaking of Jerry Lawler, will you be making any more appearances for him down
in Memphis?
>>Terry: Well Cory Macklin called me back up and he wanted me to come back down there
and go one more round with Lawler and I promise you that Iím shooting you straight right
now. That ECW show (Hardcore Homecoming) thatís coming up with Shane Douglas and I know that
is going to take a lot out of me, and it really is. I truly and a lot of you fans think Iím
nuts and say, ìOh he says heís retiredî, I have. But I have gone out there, I buried
wrestling in the backyard, dug a hole for it, put it down in there, and I forever find
myself going back out there and digging it up for my love of the business, and I continue
to do that. Again, donít quote me as ìGod Iím going to quit the business.î Certainly
if somebody offered me five million dollars to do one more moonsault, I probably would
do it. Or maybe a double moonsault and disappear out of my butt or whatever. Itís a business
and I just love it, I want to continue on in it, and like I said I keep on going back
there, and I keep on going back to it, and again, as Cory Mack, as concerning him, gad-dungit
he wants me to come down there and commit to a date and right now, Iím not trying to
commit to any dates. Iím just tired, just thinking about doing one last real good one
up there at ECW (Hardcore Homecoming). And I really want to and I could have gone either
place, and I picked the one. So I better be good in the one.
>>Eric: Just to clarify, you are not going to be involved in the WWEís ECW Pay-Per-View?
>>Terry: No I am not, they sent me a contract and to be very honest with you it was a much
more lucrative contract, I could have done them both, but again I want to perform at
my best and I donít want to perform like a fool at my age, and I want to perform at
my best and I feel like I can only do one of those shows and perform greatly in a weekend,
so I picked the one closest to my heart. That is the Shane Douglas show because I feel that
is the ECW fans. I feel that the other fans at the other show are going to be wanna-be
ECW fans. Theyíre going to be make-believe ECW fans, theyíre not going to be real ECW
fans at Vinceís (McMahon) show. The real group, even though you might want to believe
that they are, they arenít. The real ECW fans are going to be in Philadelphia at Shane
Douglasí show. And the money is triple of what Shane Douglas is going to pay me and
by golly I still want to show the fellow that there is, itís a true thing that you need
competition in the wrestling business. And if you donít have competition itís a proven
fact that businessí die. It might be true about people to you know? So what I want to
do is I want to be competition to Vince.
>>Eric: What do you remember about the first Three Way Dance you had with Shane Douglas
and Sabu in ECW?
>>Terry: Well it was very creative, it was the whole thing was a new situation, a new look to wrestling,
it really was, it brought wrestling into the present state of the put your butt on the
line state, the 100% state. Thatís what you have to do, kind of establish that, it established
because we went so long and wrestled so hard, it established a level or a bar that needed
to be reached before things would be accepted. It was such a creative match to, it really was.
It was sixty minutes of a whole lot of creativity that was going on just mentally that was taking
place in the ring itself among three guys. Very hard to duplicate and thatís what really
scares me. Because we are coming up, Sabu, I and Shane. Here I am, a really old toot
right now and Shane is not as young as he used to be, and Sabu, heís been through a
lot of physical trials and I hope we can produce what they want and I think that we are going
to give it heck.
>>Eric remarks how that has become one of most legendary interviews and angles in wrestling
history.
>>Terry: [Laughs] I didnít know that was still alive, my gosh. (Laughs)
>>Eric remarks how he enjoys when he has the reaction to the legends he has had on the
show to their own classic promos when they are played. Eric remarks that Dusty Rhodes
said two weeks ago that he was humbled by his own interview that was played.
>>Terry: [Laughs] He said that. Yeah that gad-dumb Dusty is humbled, heís amazed, he thought that
he was some heavenly body that he heard speaking there [laughs]. He was humbled by himself.
(Imitating Dusty Rhodes) That sounds very much like the dream, he gets so humbled, and
heís the American Dream, he says the heartbeat of America, he says my little baby is on my
chest. He says, ìWhat do you hear?î And she says, ìI hear the heartbeat of America.
(Laughs)
>>Eric remarks how funny it is that Terry and Dusty both tell the same Dr. Jerry Graham
story in both of their autobiographies.
>>Terry: But theyíre different versions. But theyíre truthful! Ray Stevens always
used to tell me this and I put it in the book, ìIf itís good enough to tell, itís good
enough to color up a little bit.î But honestly I havenít read his version. I am sure heís
read my version though. Because I am not going to read that fat, egg-sucking dogís book!
That hermaphrodite! (Laughs)
>>Eric also remarks that Dustyís story about how Dusty got into the wrestling business
is different than the version Terry tells in his book.
>>Terry: His wrestling career? (Laughs) Well which one do you believe? But Iíll tell you
one thing about the Dream though is that he is the American Dream. And thatís one wonderful
thing to about our business you know? And thatís the one great thing that I discuss
in the book you know? One of the good things, not great, one of the good things that I discuss
is that for years we were extensions of our own personalities. That was our character
and Dusty Rhodes is the American Dream. But Vince wanted to go a different route and do
the dialogue, but I like wrestling the way it was, and I think thatís why thereís such
a great resurgence in the 70s and 80s as I go to the Carolinas and wrestle for Tony Hunter
and he draws like crazy, you know? And I go over there and the crowds that Harley (Race)
has are all so respective and wonderful over there and he does great business to. Itís
wrestling the way it was, itís not how it is, itís the way it was. Who knows where
we are heading? Itís really becoming very difficult to predict right now.
>>Eric mentions how ironic that is being that Terry predicted Wrestlemania years ahead of
its time.
>>Terry: Well by golly I just love it, if I make enough predictions they forget the
bad ones and keep the good ones. They forget about the mistakes like Chainsaw Charlie and
Doctor Nose It All. Itís honestly the truth. It sounds so stupid it sounds like a big lie,
but itís not. Find Joe Blanchard if heís not in the San Antonio phone book and ask
him if I wasnít Doctor Nose It All for one week on his television.
>>Eric: Do you think that has always been a misconception about the Chainsaw Charlie
Character in that it was your idea and not Vince McMahonís?
>>Terry: Yeah it wasnít Vince, it was me. Iím not a fond lover of the man either but
Iíll be honest. I donít want him to get credit for creating that fiasco.
>>Eric: You write a lot in your book about how you were pushed into retirement in 1989.
Ric Flair has said in interviews that he had nothing to do with that decision and puts
the blame on Jim Ross and Jim Herd. What are your thoughts?
>>Terry: Well see as he knew it was theirs. See and was that, and by golly I donít care,
thatís water under the bridge, but it happened. I never said it was because of this one person
I just figured as I knew that it had happened, I knew that it took place, and you assume
that itís the whole committee, you know?
Eric: When they talked to you about pushing you into retirement, was there any thought
to trying to make a jump to the WWF?
>>Terry: Not, not really. Youíll find me as at that time I was very happy with the
situation down there. The money was great, I wasnít happy with the behind-the-scenes
politics of it. I was somewhat happy with the scheduling. It was hard work, but it was,
itís awful tough on me to go to New York (WWF/E), itís a long way from here ( Amarillo,
TX.). It sounds rather silly but Iím going to do the same thing over and over again and
I donít care who itís for or what. I have always been my own boss, and I love being
my own boss, and Iím a bit of a Bolshevik and I like to go out earn a bunch of money
in as quick a time, as short a time as I can, and come back home, enjoy life and be thankful
for the people that came to the arenas, whether to boo me or to cheer me, they paid admission
to see me, and thank you to them by gummitt the Funker goes, so I can make as few dates
as possible and be home more with my family and be home on the place that I love, and
if youíre from New York, think about it a little bit, if thatís home itíd be a pretty
good place to stay, but thatís not home.
>>Eric: What was the reaction like from management like after the infamous angle in which you
placed a bag over Ric Flairís head?
>>Terry: Oh gosh, afterwards it was just chaos. They came to us and it was so absurd, it was
such a small thing, it really was, but just for some reason. Here you look at the violence
that we have on television today, and the violence thatís in the movie screens, and
what we depict on the news shows, and everything else. What I did? Hold a plastic head over
his head there, the people went insane all across the United States (laughs), and they
had to jerk the show. For what reason I donít know? I guess it was just, ìOh my God.î
Then again you have to remember the suspension of disbelief. See, back then you could suspend
disbelief, nowadays that is very difficult.
>>Eric: Gary Hart told me a story and said that TBS was irate, the two of you were called
into an office and asked whoís idea the angle was. Gary said that you immediately said,
ìIt was his idea.î
>>Terry: [Laughs] Thatís right it was his idea. Gary Hart is very proud of that though,
if I tried to claim that now heíd get mad at me.
>>Eric: What has the reaction been thus far to your book?
>>Terry: Itís going very well, they are going through two editions now, hopefully going
to start a third one. Itís a very good response, hopefully it picks up on its own as Iím not
Jane Fonda and I canít get up and go on Good Morning America and sing the blues and say,
ìIím sorry and went and dressed up like a Viet Cong over there,î went running around
with them, shed some tears, and then sell a million books. It doesnít work that way.
>>Terry: Well if I could, Iíd darn sure try and get on. (Laughs) What the deal is though
is that itís much more difficult than that for me because itís hard work. And a lot
harder work than I thought it was. Writing the book was a piece of cake and dealing with
Scott Williams was great, heís a great person and a great writer too. Itís a whole lot
different with that was the easy part. The hard part is getting it out there and letting
people know. Just like your show right here, I bet Iíve done and this is no exaggeration,
I bet I have done over 200 shows, you know radio, and here and there, book signings,
going here, this and that, and it seems like Iím going to continue on but it sure makes
you think. ìGad-dummit Funk are you doing the right thing here?î Hopefully I am, but
I think I am. I really wanted to tell the story because sometimes we have a need to
tell a story or a story needs to be told and I tried to tell a story, the story of wrestling
for the past forty years in that book and it how it has changed, and somehow of how
it evolved from my fatherís time until now and I felt that I needed to do that. Without
Scott Williams I couldnít have done it because heís such a wrestling historian and I can
go back and say, ìYeah I was in Atlanta and then I went from Atlanta to Vancouver, and
Vancouver to Houston,î and I can remember where I went but Iíd be Gad-gummitt if I
can remember the year, and the date, and he can look up, I can remember the time that
Wahoo (McDaniel) and I wrestled, and he knows it, and thatís what takes that tremendous
time off of the writing of the book. That book would have taken me years to write but
we whipped it out pretty fast and thatís because of his wonderful knowledge of wrestling.
>>Eric: I have Bruno Sammartino on quite often and he is coming on next week. He has been very surprised
at the negative things that have been written about him over the last few years by Ric Flair,
Dusty Rhodes, and Hulk Hogan. You say some very kind things about Bruno, what are your
thoughts on all of the negatives written about Bruno over the last couple of years?
>>Terry: I love Bruno. Let me tell you there is a very honorable man. There is a guy that
certainly protected his profession and I donít mean this bad whenever I say this. Iím not
knocking Dusty. Certainly protected his profession more than Dusty. Certainly protected his profession
more than Ric Flair. Certainly protected his profession more than Hulk Hogan. But also
he certainly protected his profession more than Terry Funk. I think thatís a wonderful
trait and I think that heís one hell of a man, and gosh I really mean that. I have always
admired him to no end. He dog-gone almost split up with Vince McMahon, SR. Because Shoei
Baba, and he met him, and they became friends. Whenever you become one of Brunoís friends,
well heíll never let you down, heíll never forget that. Vince, SR. went with Inoki. Bruno
says, ìIím not going to do that Babaís my friend,î he went with the threat of Vince
McMahon, SR. going ahead and destroying his career. If he took the belt from him he would
have destroyed his career but he went with that threat. He went right over there to All-Japan,
which was Shoei Babaís company and wrestled for him because Baba was his friend and he
would not in any way perform or do anything to hurt him and I know for a fact he went
over there for a pittance of what he could have gotten. Just expenses because he wanted
to help the guy out, because he was his friend. How can you knock a guy like that?
>>Terry: I am so good arenít I? (Laughs)
>>Eric jokingly asks if he has humbled himself.
>>Terry: [Imitating Dusty once again] I am so humbled right now, I am getting more and
more humbled with each moment that I hear from the past. What really poís me is, dang,
Iíd like to do promos like that again. (Laughs)
>>Eric plugs a local book signing for Terry Funk on June 11.
>>Terry: I want to tell you one thing though. I want to tell you very seriously right now.
You know the show that Vince (McMahon) is putting on? It can look like ECW, it can smell
like ECW, it can have ECW performers, but itís not E-C-W and donít forget it! Itís
Vince McMahon. Now you can come over here or you can go there and you can be a pretend
ECW fan or you can come to the ECW show and you can see a three way dance and Iíll tell
you one thing. I am
there because I want to be there, I had
a choice and I picked what
I wanted to do because that is what is in my heart and I donít want to see Vince McMahon
just like he did with the Rise and Fall of ECW. Oh his ratings went down a bit, so what
does he do? He puts out a video on the rise and fall of ECW. And he goes ahead and puts
that out, and Paul Heyman who is supposed to be the creator and everything else? Paul
Heyman evidently said that he owned whatever, he didnít own anything of those boys, but
I never saw one check from that Rise and Fall of ECW. I never saw one penny from it, I donít
think that Sabu has or anyone else. There was the highest selling DVD that he (WWE)
had ever put out I believe. And now he goes ahead and takes in all of that money, because
he couldnít produce it himself, it was the guys that produced that. And now he is going
to go ahead and produce this pay per view. A pretend-to-be pay per view, called ECW again?
Who does this man think he is? Who does he think he is? And Iíll tell you what. Iím
not the fondest guy of Shane Douglas, nor am I the fondest guy of the people running
that show, but by God we are a bunch of individuals over there. We are a bunch of guys that are
still around out there. Thereís still people around out there that you can call them what
you want. Nuts, crazies, or whatever but I like to call them pro wrestlers that God-gummitt
they are just looking for a doggone stage to perform on and they need a stage, and by
golly we got one there, and we are going to give you a heck of a better show than the
others do. We are going to try our best because by golly we know it has to be.
>>Eric: Could you share some memories and thoughts on Chris Candido?
>>Terry: A great guy. And the reason I love Chris Candido so much is because he was a
breath of fresh air every night. Chris Candido was. Heíd come into that dressing room and
no matter what happened all day long, the day before, or whatever, and heíd come in
there and boy, he was just a wonderful breath of fresh air. Itís a great way to describe
him whenever he would come in there. Gosh he was a fun guy, he loved the business probably
more than anybody else I know and he could do a better Terry Funk interview, are you
sure that wasnít Chris Candido doing those (promos played earlier)? Iíll bet you money,
you better check that out. I think thatís Chris Candido, that isnít Terry Funk.
>>Eric mentions that he would also wear Terryís tights.
>>Terry: [Laughs] Yeah heíd come in there in the ring and wrestle, heíd wear them whenever
I wasnít around but finally he went ahead and wore them in front of me one night. Gosh
darn I just wish he was still around. Thatís really a sad situation you know, whenever
you get your life straightened out, get everything going right, you think youíre doing right,
have that gad-dumb injury, and thatís what is tough about it, we (Pro Wrestlers) have
to pay our own bills and everything, he didnít want to stay in that hospital because he wanted
out of there. He flew back home and grew a blood clot, itís just a shame. Itís a real
tragic story and a great guy, that I just thought the world of him.
>>Eric mentions that it goes back to the possibilities of a union for wrestlers that Terry writes
about extensively in his book.
>>Terry: There should and itís not something that and I doubt that it ever will happen.
It should happen. Iím not talking about for myself, but they should get together and bind
together, and get something at least medical. I have seen too many guys die, seen too many
guys die in this business and not even be able to pay for their funeral, more or less
medical, and it would be easy to do. It should be done.
>>Eric thanks Terry for joining the show and wishes him the best of luck with his new book.
>>Terry: And
I want to be sure to tell everybody out there like I told you before is buy that gad-dumb
book and if you like it, go ahead and tell somebody else, maybe theyíll buy it, and
if
you donít like it, keep your gad-dumb mouth shut.