The Top Ten Moves of Terry Funk

Keeping up with the old school theme. Terry Funk is a man with the career that could span an entire book. Starting at the young(for the time) age of twenty one, Funk debuted in 1965, and two short years later, he and brother Dory Funk Jr. would capture the NWA Amarillo Tag Team Titles, trading them back and forth with the Infernos. They would soon moves on to NWA Western States, and quickly captured the tag team titles there as well. 1970 would bring singles success to Terry, as he won the NWA Western States Title, holding it for two short months. Terry then traveled to Florida as The Texan, and quickly won the NWA Florida Television Title. Dory soon followed, and the duo soon defeated the Brisco Brothers to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Titles. From there, Terry wrestled all over the world, including Japan, where he and Dory continued their tag team dominance, winning the NWA International Tag Team Titles from Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki. The duo would wrestle extensively in Japan from then on, winning the World's Strongest Tag League twice, in 1979. Terry would travel to the NWA, quickly winning the United States Title. In December of 1975, Terry's greatest success would take place, as he defeated Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Title. After holding the belt for a year, and defending it against the likes of Jumbo Tsuruta, he would be defeated by Harley Race. He and Dory Jr. would team up once again, and wreak havoc on the wrestling world across the globe, winning various tag team titles in several territories. In 1981, Terry faced his brother in Japan for the NWA International Title, though after forty five minutes of technical wrestling, Dory would defeat his brother. In 1983, the duo continued their feud with Bruiser Brody that started in 1981. 1983 would also be a significant year, as Terry would announce his retirement, with his final match being with his brother against Terry Gordy and Steve Williams. As you probably know, that didn't last long, as in 1985, he came out of retirement to face off against Riki Choshu in tag team warfare. Soon after, Terry and Dory were signed to the WWF, and competed there ever so briefly before returning to Japan once again. In 1988, Terry would find himself in a feud with the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Ric Flair. This feud culminated in a brutal I Quit Match, which is still heralded as a classic twenty years later. Funk would disappear for a while, and resurface in the fledgling ECW promotion, winning the Television Title from Jimmy Snuka. It would be here that Funk would encounter perhaps his greatest rival: Cactus Jack. The two would toss one another through table, burn one another with Funk's own branding iron, and bury one another underneath chairs. The two would up the scales, when they would meet in the finals of the 1995 King of the Deathmatch in a No Rope, Barbed Wire, C4 Explosion Boards(legit), Timebomb Deathmatch. The two would damn near kill each other before Cactus would win. Funk would then wage war on the FMW promotion, proclaiming himself to lead what he called the real FMW(Funk Masters of Wrestling). He would take out Hayabusa, Mr. Pogo, and Pogo, Jr. before Atsushi Onita defeated his team, and Funk soon went back to ECW. Here, he won the ECW World Heavyweight Title at Barely Legal, and eventually lost it to Sabu in a brutal No Rope Barbed Wire Match. From then on, Funk bounced around various Indy feds, as well as WWF and WCW. He would retire multiple times up until 2008, and as of this posting, it would appear he's coming out once again to compete at the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom IV event. Terry brought an interesting style to the ring, combining technical expertise with stiff brawling and hardcore insanity. As with the rest of the family, he used the Spinning Toe Hold extensively, though also favoring the Piledriver a bit more as a finishing move.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• The
• Top
• Ten
• Moves
• of
• Terry
• Funk
• Spinning
• Toe
• Hold
• Piledriver
• DDT
• Neckbreaker
• Fireball
• All
• Japan
• Pro
• Wrestling
• AJPW
• Frontier
• Martial
• Arts
• FMW
• Hardcore
• Legend
• Puroresu

[henrymarriottczw15]

Please tell me if i'm wrong, but isn't the texas piledriver in this video used on Jumbo Tsuruta!!!

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Indeed it is.

[Amr3561]

Great video. By the way, who was the victim of the fireball in the video?

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Atsushi Onita

[aikoarisaka420]

Is there a possibility of a Dudley Boyz or Mick Foley Top Ten?

[TheSuicidalDragon]

Dudleyz-not likely.

Cactus-slightly more likely. I'd have to dig through and see what kind of footage I've got to use.

[flammableghost]

Shortly after Cavemen discovered fire, Terry Funk discovered how to use it as a weapon

[insanesuperstar]

Terry Funk is a true legend in the business; I would definitely put him in my Top Ten Wrestlers of all time list. Good work (as always) SD.

[joelburgos69]

All hail the Funker!!!

[jskyl14]

@Philipe0849 But mick was always good on the mic...cut classic ecw promos as cactus and with wwf as mankind. Plus he was always a fan favorite and drew a lot of money...and had balls. Plus everyone whos worked with him has said hes an underrated great worker

[Philipe0849]

@SadisticScott

Thank you, he was a great wrestler and had good submissions.

[Philipe0849]

Terry Funk was actually a good scientific wrestler. I think he kinda sold out with doing more extreme stunts, then cactus jack came along (which has no talent and has this "look what I can do!!" attitude that screams for attention putting his family in tears instead of getting shape and doing "actual" wrestling..)

[HandRpuffin]

Anyone have the episode of Quantum Leap with Terry Funk guest starring? Great series made better by who they got to guest star.

[HandRpuffin]

Are there any vids of a wrestler using the Indian Deathlock?

[JoeyPencils]

Is that Dory getting the spinning toe hold?

[crr463]

Terry Funk = Legend

[TeslaDRay]

Thanks.

[biggcee215]

THIS IS WRESTLING AT IT'S FINEST