WEBVTT

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You know, good for nothing,
eggs sucking, dumb leasing man. We

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did it our way because we love
it that way. We love it that

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way, and I have this wonderful
gun feeling, and I've had it all

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my life. When it's time to
go, I think it's now. There's

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time to go, son of a
gun. One sunny afternoon in May of

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nineteen sixty two, three power,
powerfully built men paid an unusual visit to

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the offices of the Lubbock Avalanche Journal. They looked strangely out of place as

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they strode through the editorial rooms,
feverish with the clacking of typewriters and teletype

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machines, but editor Charles A.
Guy was expecting them. The trio wrestlers

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Dory Funk and Ricky Romero, and
promoter Nick Roberts, a former grappler,

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heartily shook hands with Guy. Then
Funk, spokesman for the group, fished

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a check out of his wallet and
handed it over here. He told Guy,

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is the one thousand we promised to
donate to charity from the five thousand

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dollars winnings of our last match.
Give it to whatever charity you think best,

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or divided among several We prefer not
to make the decisions because we're not

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familiar with Lubbock's needs. Guy smilingly
accepted the check and gave them a receipt,

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but said he couldn't do as they
had asked. The grapplers were surprised.

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Why not, Funk said, we
aren't worried about what you'll do with

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the money. Well, it isn't
that, Guy explained. But I think

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the best way for me to handle
this is to get a secret citizens committee

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to select the most deserve and charity
or charities. It'll have to be done

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that way for two reasons. First, I don't want the responsibility. Second,

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I don't want the phone ringing with
please and suggestions. The committee will

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quietly do the surveyant, and when
the decision is made and the funds turned

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over, the Avalanche Journal will make
the details public. Good idea, Funk

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agreed. When the news got out, Dorry was asked one the reason for

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the generous gift. It was a
simple one. Lubbock, he said,

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has been good to Ricky and me. We've had fine crowds and a lot

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of support, and we just wanted
to do something in return. Fans who

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had seen Dorry and Ricky shed blood
for their money, frankly thought they deserved

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to keep every penny of it.
Dorry, in particular, was always sure

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to put on a spectacular show for
sheer guts. Nobody could equal him in

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Texas's famed Panhandle or anywhere else for
that matter. Still fresh in their memory

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was Dorry's Titanic death match in quotes
with Sir Nelson Royal in fair Park Colisseum.

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In this bout, fought under the
primitive quote rules that prevail in the

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brawling lumber camps of the Canadian wilds, Funk marshaled all the rough house cunning

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he had developed in ten years after
the match, one hard bitten cattle raiser

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said admiringly, well, that Dora
sure makes me proud to be a Texan.

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It was a great tribute in more
ways than one, for Funk is

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not really a Texan. He hails
from the lush grazing country of Indiana.

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Some twelve years ago he stormed into
the Panhandle to carve out a big steak

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for him, and that was before
he opened the ranch. It's all going

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so well. There a big stake
for himself. After starring as an amateur

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wrestler at Indiana University. He succeeded
so well he was able to plunk down

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forty thousand dollars for a sprawling branch
about a dozen miles southwest of Amarilla,

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the Flying Mayor Ranch, located near
Umbarger. Is that also where Dusty Rhoads

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is from? Oh sorry, that's
Amberger. That's just cheeseburger. Actually it's

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where he's from. Cheeseburger Texas.
Oh my Umbalge, located near Umbalge extends

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to be the best Umbo Texas extends
in all directions as far as the eye

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can see. Dori took to Texas
like a jack rabbit. Everything he did

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was on grand scale. He raises
a fine herd of cattle, he handed,

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He handled horses and guns like a
native, and he had a no

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nonsense, straight from the shoulder attitude
that endeared him to everyone. But it

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was in the ring that Funk showed
the kind of spunk that stamped him as

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a true Texan. A guest at
Funk's ranch recalls the time he accompanied Dorry

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to a match held in a small
town about sixty miles from Umbarge. Funk

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tore down the dusty roads. I've
right Daddy as if he were competing in

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the Indianapolis five hundred mile race.
He was doing over one hundred miles an

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hour, but was as casual as
a guy relaxing in his living room.

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Nervously, the guest watched the cacti
whip by. Suddenly, Dory let out

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yelp, reached into the back seat
for a rifle and started shooting. Brother

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Pow pow pow. Three jack rabbits
that a series of flips and tumbled dead.

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With one hand on the wheel.
Funk fired again. Four more jack

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rabbits hit the dust. Then he
turned to his guest, don't just sit

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there, pardon, help yourself to
a rifle and join the party. The

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guest was a mighty shaken man by
the time they reached the steaming hot arena.

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Ran there, he ran into an
even more unsettling experience when Dorry bounced

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into the ring d wrestle Gordo Chihuahua. The guest felt a shiver as he

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appraised the Mexican fans. They sat
grim and silent, fingering knives stuck behind

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their belts. The atmosphere was saturated
with menace, but Dorry, who lives

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on menace, Lap laughed as blubbery
Gordo came charging in. Slipping aside,

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he quickly caught the Mexican by the
arm and catapulted him to the mat.

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Gordo is a tough ombre, though, and blasted right back. Soon the

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blood began to flow. After a
sizzling spate of action, Gore smeared Dorry,

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swung Gordo against the ropes and rammed
him in the belly. On the

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rebound, you could hear the escape
from Chihuahua as he hit the canvas.

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Dorry let out his rebel victory yell
and prepared to leave the ring. Just

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then a group of venomous looking fans
advanced toward him. Cocking his head,

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Funk gave them a hard look and
said, looking for some fun boys.

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Come on, let's see how brave
you are. First guy in the ring

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gets a crashed skull. The fans
didn't understand him, but there was no

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mistaking the look on Dorry's face.
They stopped and glowered, but no one

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dared make the first move. Then
Dorry sprang to the ring apron told them

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to seat to scat, and marched
off to his dressing room. Later,

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his white faced guests said, my
god, nor those fellas could have murdered

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you. Funk Grinn. Wish they
hadn't back down. I was itching for

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a really good fight. Gordo was
just an appetizer. The amazing thing about

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Dorry is that he wasn't bluffing.
He'll fight anybody, even Sonny. Listen.

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Someone once asked him, even listen. Never saw the day I couldn't

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lick any fighter. They say Sonny's
a tough ombre. Well, Pardner,

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I've eaten steaks that were a lot
tougher. Direct hit yep. On the

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way back to Umboche, Dorry slowed
down to a crawl, only ninety miles

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per hour or so. He was
in a reflective mood. Funny thing.

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I'm always in a big hurry to
get to a fight, but afterward I

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feel kind of sorry. It's all
over, and I just poke along.

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I don't know why, because I
can't wait to get home to my family.

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Dorry glowed right through his bronzed tan
brother, taking that tan dude as

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he got to talking about his wife, Dorothy and his kids, Dorry Junior

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twenty one and Terry Brother nineteen.
Remember what I said about Dorry Junior last

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time I saw you, he said, and then answer and answered his own

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question. I said, I was
going to make a wrestler out of that

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boy, and by golly, you
ought to see him now. He's been

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undefeated since he turned pro the first
of this year. Junior's success is not

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surprising. His dad started teaching him
the ropes when he was only six.

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Oh. He he knows more about
wrestling than any other wrestler I've known,

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says Junior proudly today. The six
foot three, two hundred and twenty five

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pounder who was graduated from West Texas
State University this June, is one of

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the most popular grapplers in the Southwest. For many years, he was called

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Dunk, a common of Dory and
Funk by his friends and family, but

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since launching his matt career, he
has been known as Dorry Funk Junior in

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tribute to his famous dad. At
college, Dunk majored in physical education and

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minored in speech. The speech course
was a smart move. Junior always liked

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radio and TV. His dad has
starred in his own weekly TV show for

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years, and he figured this might
be a good field to get into if

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I should ever be disabled in the
ring. There's not much chance of that

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happening if his luck is as good
as his dad's. Dorry Senior has taken

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some savage poundings during his career,
but has never been quote disabled. Wrestling,

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as anyone in Mbalge will tell you, seems to run in the Funk

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family. Terry, who was following
his older brother's footsteps on the West Texas

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State football team, may also take
a whack at the matt game when he

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graduates, and Dunk's own son,
appropriately nicknamed Dink, is still another prospect,

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though he is only two years old. If Terry and Dink are half

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as good as Dunk Bill, they'll
turn out to be mighty fine wrestlers.

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And if Dunk is one quarter of
the man his dad is, he'll be

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one hell of a grappler at From
the October nineteen sixty three issue of Wrestling

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Review by Hubert Patrick, Son of
a Gun, The Funk Boys have been

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seasoned, The Funk Boys have been
unleashed. Oh yes, on the wrestling

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business. Welcome to the Lapsed Funk
Episode two, Funkin into the Ring.

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Thank you very much, We're very
glad that you're back with us. And

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what a picture they used to paint
in those magazines in the sixties. Huh,

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Absolutely amazing, Absolutely, I love
that. It's funny how I don't

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know if Yeah, I feel like
we would if they went into this kind

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of detail and wrote this kind of
way about it today, we'd fucking be

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all over that shit. Yes,
total full of lies. We don't care,

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you know, it's just kind of
like I wish, I wish that

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there was a way to make me
care like this like this is That's a

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phenomenal piece of writing there. That
isn't that isn't phony sounding. I mean,

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obviously there are the stories and stuff
like that, like you know,

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I don't know about you know,
the guys with knives or whatever. I

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don't know that's true or not.
But but it gets the character of Dory

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funk over, you know, by
the end of that article, what he

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tries to project right exactly, and
what he's trying to project now increasingly as

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the fifties become the early sixties,
onto his two boys, Dory and Terry.

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You notice story getting top billing in
the earliest days of the coverage of

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Funk coderly with Terry not an afterthought
necessarily, but definitely one a one b

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rather to a Doe Funk Junior's one
for sure, for sure, and it

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was it was a time where the
Funks were, now, you know,

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sort of trying to figure out is
it going to be football? Is you

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know, they're Texas boys, they
grew up in Texas, and if you

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can make it in pro football,
that's the best way to make sure your

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father doesn't feel disappointed in you.
Oh of course. And so there's you

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know, legitimate sports is always the
best way. Absolutely. We learned that

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in the limitable tragedy visa VI Fritz
van Eric. And there's going to be

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a bit of a teasing out process
for Terry Funk here as he takes the

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field at West Texas State and wins
a fair degree of plot. It's on

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the field he's hardly the standout player
on the team, neither is his brother.

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But still we're still here in tracking
the full journey of Terry Funk's remarkable

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pro wrestling career, in this early
gestational stage where he's sort of weighing a

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few options, deciding what it is
he's going to do. But the point

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is, no matter what he decides, there will be an attendant press ready

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to record his decision. He is
of enough significance in his part, yeah,

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you know, Texas and the Panhandle. His father carries enough mystique in

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Aura and good community relations that whatever
comes of the Funks will be documented.

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And that is very much to our
benefit here at the Lapsed Fan as we

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continue our look at the career of
Terry Funk. It's the Lapsed Funk.

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It is indeed, it is indeed. And someone made a great joke I

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think was on Patreon about how like
we're about ten hours into this thing and

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the subject matter of the whole series
just was born. It's exactly right.

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We're going. We're going. Yeah, we're going from from A to Z,

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all right, and there's nothing and
everything in between. There's nothing anybody

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can do about it. That's right, because I once heard a challenge that

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nobody can encapsulate the career of Terry
Funk, and I said, oh,

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really yes, And we released a
T shirt and record time. If you

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go to a Pro Wrestling Teas dot
Com slash Lapsed Fan, the Adam Funk

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00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:06.600
shirt is now your it is.
We're there already. So of course,

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Adam Funk, the grandfather of Terry
Funk, the father of the aforementioned Dory

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Senior, but nobody fucking knows about
it. The best part, that's the

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best fucking part. There's about twenty
people in a pine box in Indiana cemeteries

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that know exactly who the fuck out
at you was. I don't say they're

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definitely a slew of dead bodies that
certainly that they definitely felt the funk.

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But in terms of wrestling fans,
I think we're I think they're getting an

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education. Yeah, I think so. I think we're all learning, and

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we're all getting a distinct sense of
place as well as well as person.

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Here m hm, as we dig
into the funks setting down roots in Amarilla

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and becoming a Texas family, we
heard, Yeah, the sound of Dory

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Funk Senior's voice last time there is
no Texas twang. It is entirely appropriate

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that you gave him one and reading
that article from Wrestling Review, but he

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still got that, you know,
ministries still get that. A Midwest act

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in Midwest, I know, it's
so funny, and so they're still becoming

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Texas. And the stuff that Dory
Funk Senior is made out of, as

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that article indicates, is going to
be the stuff that the wrestling world has

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soon to assume his boys are made
out of And here's Terry Dunk in one

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of his shoot interviews done with our
video over the years, talking about how

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his dad prepared them for the ring. I think my father handled pressure better

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than most wrestlers with sons that brought
him into the business. I think he

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eased the pressure from us. And
how he eased it from us at that

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time, which I didn't realize he
was doing this. We'd come back to

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the dressing room and he would start
at us as soon as that door open.

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He wasn't in for fifteen twenty minutes
of just chewing our asses out,

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00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:44.799
telling us what all we did and
wrong, and the other boys was just

201
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you know, I mean, and
he was he was so hard on us,

202
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which was really a wonderful thing in
the long run, but we didn't

203
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know at the time, but the
other wrestlers thought, god, you know,

204
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I mean, must help them tarry
out, you know, And that's

205
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kind of the way it went back. And you know, he was he

206
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was very demanding, you know,
I've seen him. I seen him take

207
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guys like Walton McDaniels and whenever he
was teaching one who to start with my

208
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brother and just break you down into
tears, you know. I mean he

209
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was a tough, a tough,
tough individual whenever it came to teaching somebody

210
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the business, you know. But
that's wonderful though, because we learned it

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well, you know. And the
other thing that was such a wonderful thing,

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why I had it somewhat easier than
the other boys in the business because

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my father had been around for years
wrestling around the country, and he had

214
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the knowledge of who was promoting here
and who was promoting there. They were

215
00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:45.400
aware of him and who he was, and therefore they were aware of my

216
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brother and myself. So we would
go ahead and call up and you know,

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I mean, if we wanted to
go somewhere, well the promoter knew

218
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who we were immediately, whereas if
it was just, you know, somebody

219
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without the name. The name was
a wonderful help you that. And I'm

220
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not saying that that Junior and I
didn't have wonderful ability. I'll say my

221
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brother had more ability than what I
ever had. He was he was wonderful

222
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in the ring. I mean,
he really was. But my father was

223
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responsible for that, and it just
gave us a four year start on everybody

224
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else. Like if you took somebody
with a with a name that wasn't known

225
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around the country, he didn't have
to go into each territory and make a

226
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name for himself. At least we
would get a decent look at you know.

227
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I mean, promoter would look at
us very seriously. You know.

228
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But we produced you know, but
they produced Boss. That's the tree.

229
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That's the key. Producing is key. And I think one of the things

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I never thought about till he said
it, there was the benefit you got

231
00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.880
breaking your kids into the business as
a wrestling star by being extra hard on

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them in front of the other boys. What are you laid out? There

233
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was a not in the same way
he was hard on the boys at Kyle

234
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Farley's, but but in terms of, like, you know, making the

235
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other wrestlers feel bad for your kids
because the old man was being so extra

236
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hard on you and so demanding and
so meticulous and what he expected of you

237
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in the ring. That's almost like
a sneaky indirect way of completely eliminating any

238
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whiff of nepotism, right right,
any whiff of a guy saying, oh,

239
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they're only getting that opportunity because you
know, the old man created the

240
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glide path for them, and they
didn't really have to develop their pay dues.

241
00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:33.880
I mean, Funk says it right
there. We started with a four

242
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year head start over anybody else that
would have had year one in the business.

243
00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:41.440
But a very savvy move there from
a dory Funk Senior to you know,

244
00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:45.119
it's tempting just to say, you're
you're a hard ass, a Texas

245
00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:47.160
hard ass in your kids, and
that's the beginning and end of it.

246
00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:49.400
Of course, the echoes of Fritz
van eric never leave our brain here at

247
00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:53.720
TLF right, Oh for sure.
I mean that's that. Yeah, it's

248
00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:59.599
first and foremost, you know.
But I'm developing somewhat of a sense that

249
00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:03.200
Funk Senior was a little more cagy
than Old Fritz in terms of when and

250
00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:08.680
how to use the whip and in
terms of how to get his boys respect

251
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from the rest of the wrestlers from
the beginning, not to say the von

252
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Erics wherever. It certainly it was
understood in world class that there were you

253
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would always be the second tier babyface. If you were a baby face in

254
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that territory, you simply could never
be at the top of the card because

255
00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:26.960
it had to be the one Eric
boys, and that was not really it

256
00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:30.359
was begrudgingly accepted, but no one
really held it against you know, Carrie

257
00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.160
and Kevin and David and Mike,
but still it was it was clearly something

258
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:38.160
where even if you're Mike who clearly
has no it doesn't take to the ring

259
00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:41.599
at all, but they throw them
out there and have them work Rick Flair

260
00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:47.039
for an hour. That that's not
a criticism that Dory Funk was going to

261
00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:52.200
allow to be levied at Dory Junior
and Terry, it seems because he was

262
00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:56.079
going to take it to him.
That's right. Back to Dory Funk Junior's

263
00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:59.759
book. This is just a little
vignette that I think illustrates it well.

264
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.759
Uh. The chapter is called The
Boss Is Gone. That's right. Damn

265
00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:07.559
you, Terry, loosen up.
I could hear the damness cussing. You

266
00:22:07.559 --> 00:22:11.000
could imagine coming from the backyard of
our home with the flying mare ranch intombugger

267
00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:15.200
Texas. Damn you, Terry.
If you don't loosen up, I'm gonna

268
00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:19.799
get up and kick the shit out
of you. God damn you Terry turned

269
00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:23.400
loose, or I'm gonna kick your
ass. Brother who's talking dude, I

270
00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:26.920
could hear the voice of my little
brother, thirteen year old Terry Funk.

271
00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:30.920
No, Dad, I can't turn
loose. That's what he sounded at thirteen.

272
00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:34.799
Dad decided like that when he was
fucking five. I know what they'll

273
00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:37.759
do to me if I turn loose. Fucking can God damn you, little

274
00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:41.680
bastard turn loose? Now? Dad? Can you make me some pancakes this

275
00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:45.799
morning for breakfast? We'll see.
Let me hit you with a flapjack first

276
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:51.359
center of the ring. I couldn't
imagine what was going on, Dory Junior

277
00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:55.359
writes until I walked back behind the
house. Dory Funk Senior, as an

278
00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:57.920
amateur wrestler, was a leg wrestler
at Hammond High School, Indiana. He

279
00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:03.640
was a state champion the skill on
Indiana University and into the professional interfessional wrestling.

280
00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:06.640
His kids growing up, his word
to us was that we had to

281
00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:10.880
learn amateur wrestling first and get an
education. Then it was our choice if

282
00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:15.079
we wanted to go on to professional
wrestling. But there he is caught in

283
00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:21.359
a hold by Terry at thirteen years
old. It's almost like the old man

284
00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:26.599
should start. I don't know dialent
back a bit. I want to cool

285
00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:30.039
it with the hole. You want
to shoot partner? That that's scene in

286
00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:33.119
the in the piece you read.
You know you want to have it.

287
00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:37.039
You want to have a go.
What do you want? What do you

288
00:23:37.079 --> 00:23:41.839
think? Do you think you think
you can handle it? It just seems

289
00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:47.599
that it's starting to become just a
little bit clearer that Dory Funk Senior might

290
00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:51.839
think he's got more years as a
cowboy in and than he actually does.

291
00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:59.279
Are you are you a bitch?
Huh? Son? Are you a bitch?

292
00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:03.880
I don't I don't really know how
to answer that question. Dad,

293
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:07.200
Well, because you can't answered it, I can tell you right now you

294
00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:15.799
are a fucking bitch and I want
to kick you in the ass. And

295
00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:23.359
you're gonna like it, you know
why, because you're a bitch. So

296
00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:27.880
all right, So he's not that
different than it didn't take that didn't take

297
00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:36.799
long. Tell me what do you
think? Uh? What do you think

298
00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:38.799
the lessons are that Dorry drove home
when they were on the mat. You

299
00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:44.279
know what do you think he's telling
Terry to watch out for when when you're

300
00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:47.440
out there grappling Terry? What are
you going to said to? What you

301
00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:52.160
understand? Son? Is that when
you're out there grappling, you're not trying

302
00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:57.200
to do anything but kill a man. That's your focus. You bury a

303
00:24:57.240 --> 00:25:02.039
man in that mat, you want
to make sure he gets out of there

304
00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:06.720
and he doesn't never want to get
back in again. If he dies the

305
00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:11.039
next day, great, If he
dies in the mat, fine, But

306
00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:15.960
I want you to understand that you
have to deliver the pain. You have

307
00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:23.039
to make him realize that his life
is on the line. If you don't

308
00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:30.839
do that, your life will be
on the line. Back to Daddy.

309
00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:37.240
At the Dory Junior, Terry Funk's
blue sixty five Ford Mustang Hatchback was flying

310
00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:41.400
down Fourth Avenue in Canyon, Texas
when a car pulled out onto his left

311
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:44.440
side. There was the squealing of
tires, a crash, and the sound

312
00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:48.519
of crunching steel. Terry's new Ford
Hatchback Mustang was destroyed. Fortunately, even

313
00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:52.440
though he was shaken up, he
felt no broken bones, cuts their injuries.

314
00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:55.359
He looked over to the right seat, where his passenger, Dandy Jack

315
00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:59.200
Donovan was sitting. Donovan seemed to
be okay too. Thirty seconds passed his

316
00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:04.119
char Jack Donovan, Oh, we
when did he come up? On the

317
00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:07.119
last episode, well, he said, I said, heard Dandy, and

318
00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:11.519
I'm like, what the fuck is
going on here? I think Jack Donovan

319
00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:15.680
was the one that yeah, well
nicknamed apparently dandy Jack Donovan, I see

320
00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:19.279
that was the one that had those
record crowds with Cal Farley. Ah,

321
00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:22.359
yes, you know they called the
ticket office. That's right. At thirty

322
00:26:22.359 --> 00:26:26.640
seconds past, Terry contemplated how close
they had come to serious injury. His

323
00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:29.920
next thoughts concerned the wrestling business.
Even though he wasn't wrestling against Donovan that

324
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:33.319
night, Territory rules were that Jack
Donovan and Terry were not supposed to be

325
00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:37.160
seen together. Terry said to Donovan, quick, Jack, you've got to

326
00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:38.519
get out of here before someone sees
us. Jack, get out of here.

327
00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:42.200
You got to disappear before my daddy
comes home. Now, at least

328
00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:45.240
a minute had passed with Donovan showing
no signs of injury, Terry said,

329
00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:51.480
go go. You're a heel in
the territory. Yeah, you're a hero

330
00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:55.720
in the territory. You're a heel. You're a heel, Terry, but

331
00:26:55.720 --> 00:26:59.400
I'm all fucked up, But no, you're a heel. I can't be

332
00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:03.119
seen talking to a heel. Get
out of here before someone sees you.

333
00:27:03.640 --> 00:27:06.319
Jack Donovan looked at Terry, then
reached up, grabbed his shoulder and said,

334
00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:07.920
Oh, I've injured my shoulder.
Get me a doctor. Donovan wasn't

335
00:27:07.960 --> 00:27:11.519
going anywhere but to the hospital in
the canyon, and the whole town would

336
00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:15.200
know the two were riding together.
Nineteen sixty five was Terry's first year in

337
00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:18.000
the business, and he wasn't going
to miss a shot for any reason,

338
00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:21.240
not even an accident that destroyed his
car. Terry called his mother in law,

339
00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:22.680
any Weaver, and told her of
the problem. Terry asked if he

340
00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:26.000
could borrow her blue sixty five Ford
Victoria so he could make the town.

341
00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:30.200
A police report was completed, Donovan
was taken to the hospital, and before

342
00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:33.640
the wrecker could load up Terry's new
sixty five Ford Mustang and haul it off

343
00:27:33.640 --> 00:27:36.160
to the junkyard, Terry was on
his way to Cisco, Texas, and

344
00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:41.359
his mother in law's new sixty five
Ford Victoria by himself. Boss Terry Funk

345
00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:44.359
is on the road. That's right, Terry, there is something wrong with

346
00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:45.319
you. You have been heard in
that car wreck, and even though you

347
00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:48.519
were able to go into the ring
and have a great match tonight, there

348
00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.480
is still something not right about you. I want you to go straight from

349
00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:53.279
the arena home. I do not
want you taking a long way through breck

350
00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:56.039
and Ridge and buying beer. I
want you to go direct to your house

351
00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:59.680
and get some rest. I don't
want you drinking beer on the way home,

352
00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:04.079
but I want to. That's why
I'm telling you not to Son,

353
00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:10.720
because I know you wanna what Terry. Oh on ahead, and Terry said,

354
00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:12.759
yes, Dad, I will do
just as you say. Dorriyfunk Senior

355
00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:15.759
asked Jack Briscoe to ride back that
night with Terry, who helped them drive

356
00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:18.759
and keep them company on the long
trip after the matches. As they left

357
00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:22.559
the arena, Dory Funk Senior was
following them to make sure that they didn't

358
00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:25.279
take the long way through Breckinridge to
buy beer for the trip home. He

359
00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:27.920
followed them, Yes he did,
You damn fucking right he did. Terry

360
00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:30.799
floor boarded the accelerator and pulled away. Then he made a quick turn to

361
00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:33.440
the left, circled the block,
and shut off his lights. They watched

362
00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:38.519
as dorriy Funk Senior drove by looking
for their car. After Dorry Senior's car

363
00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:41.759
had passed Terry and Jack pulled out
and headed in the opposite direction on the

364
00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:45.119
way to Breckenridge to buy beer for
the trip home. Once in Breckenridge,

365
00:28:45.160 --> 00:28:48.599
they went to the liquor store and
bought a case of cores and ten pack

366
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:52.319
bags of fried pigskins. Now they
were ready for the three hundred mile trip

367
00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:55.000
back home. Damn right they are. At four a m. They were

368
00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:59.920
lost for Matador in Katakway on a
dirt road. Traveling eighty miles an hour.

369
00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:06.480
Terry hit the brakes and yelled,
watch out travel got a little Steve

370
00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:08.720
Austin in there. I'll admit it. Hey, they're both from Texas.

371
00:29:08.759 --> 00:29:12.079
Makes sense, ye. Traveling at
least sixty miles an hour, his mother

372
00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:15.640
in law's blue sixty five Ford Victoria
ran through a t intersection into the bar

373
00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:18.599
ditch on the other side and went
airborne through the barb wire fence and landed

374
00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:22.680
in a wheat field on the other
side, destroying the second car in one

375
00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:26.599
day. Wow, Jesus Christ,
So it's muntic. It started early for

376
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:33.119
the funker. I guess so a
human car crash Racleusly, Terry and Jack

377
00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:36.319
were not seriously hurt. The first
words out of Terry's mouth came with tears.

378
00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:37.799
So I've wrecked two cars in one
day, and my father is going

379
00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:41.160
to kill me. Terry and Jack
walked to a farmhouse, where Terry called

380
00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:44.759
his father to let him know what
had happened. All Jacket here was loud

381
00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:47.799
cursing on the receiver, and Terry
answering, yes, Dad, I'm sorry,

382
00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:49.119
Dad. You're right, Dad,
it won't happen again. Dad.

383
00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:52.160
I'm sorry, Dad. I should
have listened to you, Dad, I'm

384
00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:55.200
sorry. When Terry arrived home the
next day, he received news that he

385
00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:57.920
was being sued by Jackdawnovan for injuries
received in the first accident in Kenyon,

386
00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:02.799
Texas. Nineteen sixty five was Terry's
first year in professional wrestling. He spent

387
00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:07.519
that year paying for two cars.
Oh my god. Last year at a

388
00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:10.799
cauliflower alley con mentioned in Tampa,
Florida, I saw Dandy Jack Donovan.

389
00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:12.920
His first words when we met again
after some thirty years were, Dorry,

390
00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:17.480
do you remember the day in the
old Amarilla Territory that Terry wrecked two cars

391
00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:23.799
in one day? So it's not
gonna be I don't think that somebody he'll

392
00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:29.240
ever live down it's apparently not.
It's not going to be without calls to

393
00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:33.960
Canyon and Amilla police. The beginning
of the mad cap wrestling career of Terry

394
00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:37.759
Funk. That's so, that's unbelievable. We learned all the way back from

395
00:30:37.799 --> 00:30:38.880
the Cal Farley days, right,
Boss, When you pitch your tent in

396
00:30:38.920 --> 00:30:42.119
Amriilla, you got to work the
local press to introduce you to the fine

397
00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:45.200
people, don't you, absolutely,
And to make sure you have a strong

398
00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:48.279
command of the sports pages. Get
some features written up about you, just

399
00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:52.839
you know, make sure that they
think you're worthy of spelling ink to move

400
00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:57.680
fucking tickets and calculate gates. What
do you think this fucking is? Certainly

401
00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:03.079
Dory Funk Senior had had been a
presence long enough in Amarilla by this point,

402
00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:07.079
by the point that his sons were
getting into the ring, that the

403
00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:11.920
folks at the Amarillo Globe Times certainly
saw fit to cover each in every step

404
00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:15.599
they were making, in particular Terry
on the way to that first year in

405
00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:19.599
the business, before the car crashes, before the hard lessons began to be

406
00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:25.480
learned. Amarillo Globe Times, August
eleventh, nineteen sixty five noted that Terry

407
00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:29.039
Funk was still playing football, but
during the course of his playing at West

408
00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:32.440
Texas State, he was framed as
wrestling in the off season, much like

409
00:31:32.680 --> 00:31:37.720
Wahoo McDaniel had done, another West
Texas guy who wanted to be a much

410
00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:40.519
more famous football player than any of
the Funks were. A pretty much any

411
00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:42.400
pro wrestler ever was, with perhaps
the exception of a Bronco Degirsky or an

412
00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:45.799
Ernie Ladd. But no, that
was the thing. Why who would you

413
00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:48.559
know, play in the regular season
and wrestle in the off season. And

414
00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:52.000
it was a huge deal that he
would wrestle, and he made more money

415
00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:56.519
wrestling than he did playing pro football. So eventually the transition happened. So

416
00:31:56.680 --> 00:32:01.279
crazy you imagine someone taking the field
every Sunday and then when the seasons over,

417
00:32:01.319 --> 00:32:07.680
being a pro wrestling headliner. It's
like, okay, think of this,

418
00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:16.839
think of between like for the last
twenty some odd years during the off

419
00:32:16.920 --> 00:32:28.759
season, Tom Brady was a wrestler, sure, or Travis Kelcey or Tom

420
00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:35.880
Brady cutting promos against John Cena in
that time period while active, Yeah,

421
00:32:35.960 --> 00:32:38.519
exactly. So that was the early
blueprint that Terry Funk saw as he teased

422
00:32:38.519 --> 00:32:42.160
out whether he actually might be able
to make it as a pro in football.

423
00:32:42.680 --> 00:32:45.000
This running in that edition of the
Amerlo Globe Times, it says Wahoo

424
00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:50.160
just finished another American League season Sunday
as the New York Jets upset the Buffalo

425
00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:53.440
Bills. Terry, starting West Texas
State tackle last season, came out with

426
00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:58.119
the victory over Sputt Nick Monroe in
his matt debut two weeks ago. So

427
00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:00.759
that's coverage of Terry Funk's first pro
match that woul at least got coverage against

428
00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:06.319
put mc monroe and already. The
point is that the commonality is being drawn

429
00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:10.519
in the local press between Wahoo McDaniel's
career path and Terry Funks. So they're

430
00:33:10.519 --> 00:33:15.039
trying he's they're trying to get the
people to think of him in the same

431
00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:19.640
way as someone that could do equal
parts pro football and pro wrestling. I

432
00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:21.960
don't know, I don't know if
I buy it. We move from August

433
00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:27.880
to October of nineteen sixty five,
and this hits the Mbillo Globe Times shortly

434
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:31.400
after what appears to be Funk's match
with Wahoo McDaniel. He actually, uh,

435
00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:36.519
that'll be coming up at the top
of the year, So let me

436
00:33:36.519 --> 00:33:39.319
circle back before that article runs,
I did want to make note rather that

437
00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:45.279
it wouldn't be long before Terry Funk
not only was being compared to in similar

438
00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:50.559
tones Wahoo McDaniel in the pages of
the Amarilla area sports papers, but he'd

439
00:33:50.559 --> 00:33:54.119
also step into the ring with Woaho
McDaniel as early as January of nineteen sixty

440
00:33:54.119 --> 00:33:59.960
six at the Sports Line in Amarillo. No shit, Harry Funk and Wahoo

441
00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:02.680
Daniel going over Ricky Romero and Dorrifunk
Junior. That's right, Terry on one

442
00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:06.240
side of the ring, Dorry Junior
on the other, all the way back

443
00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:10.440
in nineteen sixty six, taking place
of hitting each other with fucking cow bells

444
00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:15.320
and shit two out of three falls
for the NWA Southwest States Tag team titles,

445
00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:19.719
according to Wrestling Data, very prestigious
twenty six minutes of action there.

446
00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:22.719
So Funk not only being talked about
in similar terms as Wahoo in the pages

447
00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:27.719
of the local papers, but also
being put in the ring departner might as

448
00:34:27.719 --> 00:34:36.239
well be like the fucking huh Poughkeepsie
fucking tag team Championship. Well, I

449
00:34:36.280 --> 00:34:38.920
guess I mean what Southwest States at
the time, one of the biggest times

450
00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:43.679
I'm sure. I'm sure was prestigious. It is always. It always makes

451
00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:47.079
me laugh about, you know,
these the crazy amount of titles that were

452
00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:52.519
around, you know, for like
various and that were very that were so

453
00:34:52.760 --> 00:34:57.719
fucking location specific, so regional.
Yeah. Yeah, with the exception of

454
00:34:57.719 --> 00:35:00.079
the world in the junior heavyweight,
NWA didn't really have national title. They

455
00:35:00.119 --> 00:35:05.880
really didn't care what the different areas
called their belts. To create local champions

456
00:35:05.880 --> 00:35:08.639
and local draws, you had not
a world champion, but an area champion.

457
00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:14.159
Your heritage, Missouri heritage were of
the belt would be and those would

458
00:35:14.159 --> 00:35:16.480
be the stepping stones whoever your local
champion was as the most likely contender for

459
00:35:16.519 --> 00:35:22.280
the world champ when they came through
local draws or a local puke. Well

460
00:35:22.719 --> 00:35:24.960
more on that as we talk about
beyond the mat that's a very good point

461
00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:29.960
coming up soon. So think of
the Wahoo McDaniel career path as something that

462
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:32.159
was in mind early for Terry Funk. This hit the paper Emerald, Globe

463
00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:38.760
Times October fourteenth, nineteen sixty five, and then here on December nineteen sixty

464
00:35:38.760 --> 00:35:40.840
five. It's being written up this
way. I'm going to share this one

465
00:35:40.840 --> 00:35:44.079
with you, Boss. You can
give this one to the people. This

466
00:35:44.119 --> 00:35:47.000
is at the very tail end of
Terry Funk's West Texas State football career,

467
00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:52.119
before he had really made the transition. And I think it's it's kind of

468
00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:54.199
telling because they kind of talk about
you can read between the lines here and

469
00:35:54.239 --> 00:36:00.000
kind of figure that Terry Funk didn't
necessarily deliver on his promise on the gride

470
00:36:00.599 --> 00:36:04.719
West Texas. It took him a
whole lifetime in college football to have a

471
00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:08.119
signature game. He kind of looks
a little like Bruno, doesn't he.

472
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:15.599
Now, Yeah, he definitely does. Senior Terry Funk, the two and

473
00:36:15.599 --> 00:36:22.599
thirty pound tackle from Umbarje, has
been selected by vote of his teammates and

474
00:36:22.679 --> 00:36:27.159
the West Texas State coach of staffa
is the most valuable player in the team's

475
00:36:27.199 --> 00:36:34.199
final game of the year last Saturday
against Texas Western. So there's West Texas

476
00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:40.440
State and then Texas Western. You
know, think what normal right? Confused

477
00:36:40.440 --> 00:36:46.760
as absolutely? It's like, you
know, you can have fucking you know,

478
00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:50.480
it was Amherst College, and then
you can have a West College in

479
00:36:50.519 --> 00:36:53.000
Amerson Hampshire as well. University of
Michigan, Michigan State. What's the problem.

480
00:36:53.039 --> 00:36:59.239
Oh my god, it's because you
weren't a college athlete. I can't

481
00:36:59.239 --> 00:37:04.199
appreciate how important these distinctions are.
I'm just saying these schools could have done

482
00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:07.840
a better job at distinguishing themselves.
That's all. Are you now, son?

483
00:37:07.880 --> 00:37:09.320
Did you go to West Texas State
or do you go to Texas Western?

484
00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:15.679
What's the difference? Oh campus card? Did you just say that?

485
00:37:15.679 --> 00:37:21.719
Did you just fucking utter that shit
out your mouth? Are you asking to

486
00:37:21.800 --> 00:37:29.800
die? The Terry Funk Story,
The Bulls dropped a thirty eight to twenty

487
00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:32.840
one thriller to the minors. The
Funk, one of the key players on

488
00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:37.360
the team for the past three years
and probably the most influential leader among the

489
00:37:37.400 --> 00:37:43.599
seniors, turned in one of his
customary high quality blocking jobs. His name

490
00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:50.079
will be the final one on the
Buffalo Touchdown Club plaque, which honored at

491
00:37:50.199 --> 00:37:54.519
least one player for the outstanding performance
in each game on the nineteen sixty five

492
00:37:54.639 --> 00:38:06.360
schedule. Others chosen included end not
really not not a specific end, just

493
00:38:06.599 --> 00:38:13.079
end end. Yes, it's enough, Butcher, Walter Sheed, linebacker,

494
00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:20.199
Dave Gasser, quarterback Hank Washington,
cornerback Tom Krapinsky, full back Tom Moody,

495
00:38:20.559 --> 00:38:25.880
defensive tackle Mark Allen, center Bill
Ouz ut Seleno, tackle George Allen,

496
00:38:27.199 --> 00:38:36.239
and halfback Don Dennis and end Roy
armand Trout. He's a real names.

497
00:38:36.239 --> 00:38:42.960
I don't know what, tell you
fucking I know what water sheed ut

498
00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:46.960
Seleno, George Allen, Dennis,
armand Trout, and Frank are On.

499
00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:52.840
Funk are senor senor. So that's
the big game for Terry Funk here as

500
00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:57.719
he's wrapping up his career in the
West Texas Football Field. Voted MVP towards

501
00:38:57.719 --> 00:39:01.360
the end of the season. That's
in the talent of sixty five now right

502
00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:05.440
around this time, just a couple
of days prior to the publication of that

503
00:39:05.519 --> 00:39:07.400
article. As a matter of fact, the MRLLO Globe is running with some

504
00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:12.039
speculation that, yeah, that old
Terry Funk from the West Texas Gridiron may

505
00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:15.000
be considering a wrestling career. Here's
how it brings. Will Terry Funk start

506
00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:19.440
his pro wrestling career right away?
The son of Dory Funk Senior and brother

507
00:39:19.480 --> 00:39:22.480
of Dorry Junior, was an outstanding
offensive tackle, but he will be one

508
00:39:22.480 --> 00:39:24.840
of the top wrestlers right away.
He's double tough and aggressive. I asked

509
00:39:24.840 --> 00:39:28.800
Dorry Senior what wrestler he would rather
have on his side in a street fight.

510
00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:30.519
I'd rather have Terry than anyone I
can think of right now, said

511
00:39:30.519 --> 00:39:35.199
Dorry Senor. I asked who else
sin Dorry Senior said that iired Mike DiBiase.

512
00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:37.639
Rest in Peace would be a great
one, but I might find myself

513
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:42.760
on the ground after we whipped our
opponents. It also notes did you notice

514
00:39:42.800 --> 00:39:45.920
where Terry Funk caught a pass for
two extra points against Texas Western on a

515
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.639
tackle eligible play? Terry played football
three years at West Texas State and didn't

516
00:39:49.639 --> 00:39:53.159
make a point until his final game. Well, we can't say the same

517
00:39:53.159 --> 00:39:57.280
about his wrestling career. He certainly
made a point way before the servile match.

518
00:39:57.320 --> 00:40:00.519
Yes, yes he did. Yeah, It was basically noted that,

519
00:40:00.679 --> 00:40:06.880
you know, Senior was very protective
of Terry and Dorry Junior as well in

520
00:40:06.960 --> 00:40:09.159
terms of their earliest matches in pro
wrestling. That's part of what Funk was

521
00:40:09.159 --> 00:40:13.519
talking about when he said the four
year advantage. They really never lost singles

522
00:40:13.559 --> 00:40:15.760
matches despite being fresh as a daisy
in the business and green as you could

523
00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:20.320
be in terms of, you know, in ring experience, and they were

524
00:40:20.400 --> 00:40:22.039
usually towards the top of the card
and made events so not unlike the Van

525
00:40:22.119 --> 00:40:30.199
Eric boys in terms of presentation.
And I mean, were they they were

526
00:40:30.280 --> 00:40:35.880
they worthy of that of that kind
of atomic push would seem that way,

527
00:40:36.559 --> 00:40:39.159
right, I mean, certainly.
The problem is that there is no footage

528
00:40:39.199 --> 00:40:45.559
I've ever seen of Dorry or Terry
working in the sixties. The earliest stuff

529
00:40:45.559 --> 00:40:47.159
I've seen in his early seventies,
and I believe that's the earliest stuff that

530
00:40:47.159 --> 00:40:52.119
exists on video. I don't think
you really are able to see complete video

531
00:40:52.159 --> 00:40:54.679
of Terry wrestling in his first five
or six years in the business. But

532
00:40:55.920 --> 00:41:00.119
certainly it's something that the fans in
the territory, the loyal wrestling fans and

533
00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:04.920
the territory took to and we're being
told in the pages of the newspaper to

534
00:41:04.960 --> 00:41:07.360
take very seriously and care about and
that's half the battle, you know.

535
00:41:07.719 --> 00:41:12.360
Yeah, And it's very very similar
to the Von Eric playbook. And in

536
00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:15.719
fact, according to Meltzer, Funk
didn't lose his singles match Terry, that

537
00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:21.159
is until he ran into the one
and only Fritz von Eric wow Etbut in

538
00:41:21.199 --> 00:41:23.440
sixty five did Terry Funk mid sixty
five, he didn't lose until June sixty

539
00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:28.239
six to Fritz Van Eric of course, at the time the biggest star in

540
00:41:28.280 --> 00:41:32.639
the state of Texas in the wrestling
business. It's hard to say exactly when

541
00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:37.199
Terry Funk's very first match was in
the ring. He has a colorful story

542
00:41:37.239 --> 00:41:39.840
around the match we've referenced already,
and we'll get into more detail of Poud

543
00:41:39.880 --> 00:41:45.159
against Sputt. Nick Monroe, of
course, was a well traveled star of

544
00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:50.480
the sixties and particularly a huge deal
in Memphis. But Terry has talked about

545
00:41:50.480 --> 00:41:54.000
how there was a match before that, but he can't quite place who was

546
00:41:54.039 --> 00:41:58.719
in it. He does remember,
though, having worked at least once before

547
00:41:58.719 --> 00:42:02.320
the Sputnik Monroe match that has sort
of served as his origin story. I

548
00:42:02.440 --> 00:42:07.519
still I find it so and again, you know, I don't have the

549
00:42:07.519 --> 00:42:14.519
frame of reference to to really be
able to put it, to be able

550
00:42:14.559 --> 00:42:22.960
to understand. I can't believe how
little or how confusing it is for them

551
00:42:23.039 --> 00:42:28.440
to remember where, you know,
their first matches and stuff like that.

552
00:42:28.480 --> 00:42:30.920
To me, I mean, yeah, I can understand some of them along

553
00:42:30.960 --> 00:42:32.960
the way, you know, you
kind of forget, but your first match,

554
00:42:34.840 --> 00:42:37.360
how is that not etched in stone
in your brain? Right? Yeah?

555
00:42:37.480 --> 00:42:42.840
That completely befuddles me. It always
has. I also never understand my

556
00:42:42.880 --> 00:42:45.960
wrestlers can never tell you when they
realized how to work. All these old

557
00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:49.880
timers have stories about how they're thrust
into the ring with no idea how to

558
00:42:49.920 --> 00:42:52.280
actually get through a match. No
one explained it, how to work a

559
00:42:52.320 --> 00:42:54.239
match. Give me a break.
And in some way I can kind of

560
00:42:54.280 --> 00:42:59.079
believe that, because they had to
spend their years fucking lying about it.

561
00:42:59.119 --> 00:43:07.679
Anyway, I can kind of understand
that, But I really can't. I

562
00:43:07.719 --> 00:43:12.320
can't fathom that they wouldn't even because
even in even in k fabe terms like

563
00:43:12.440 --> 00:43:15.440
remembering your first match would be a
big deal, I would think so,

564
00:43:15.840 --> 00:43:21.280
and exactly who it was. Most
records have the first match December ninth,

565
00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:23.920
nineteen sixty five, Amarillo, right, as, of course, the college

566
00:43:23.960 --> 00:43:30.159
football season would have been ending,
as intimated by those articles we just read,

567
00:43:31.119 --> 00:43:34.519
and Meltzer noted he actually had done
one or two matches in the days

568
00:43:34.559 --> 00:43:37.679
before his quote unquote debut in smaller
cities in the territory, with his first

569
00:43:37.719 --> 00:43:42.119
match in Brownfield, Texas against Jim
red Osbourne. That is, in fact,

570
00:43:42.119 --> 00:43:45.280
the first match listed for Terry Funk
and Wrestling Data dot Com December sixth,

571
00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:49.280
nineteen sixty five, Civic Center,
Brownfield, Texas read Osbourne versus Terry

572
00:43:49.280 --> 00:43:52.280
Funk went or unknown. But in
shoot interviews he's talked about another match that

573
00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:57.320
he distinctly remembers as his first one. He told our video, I had

574
00:43:57.320 --> 00:43:59.760
a warm up match that nobody knew
about. It was in Clovis, New

575
00:43:59.760 --> 00:44:02.599
mex and it was myself and I'm
trying to think of the name, but

576
00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:07.039
it was Kane Noble and Jack Kane
against myself and a little bitly short girl

577
00:44:07.039 --> 00:44:08.599
that wrestled all the time. I
can't remember what her name was out of

578
00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:15.199
Kansas City, and he fails to
call up the name, but he remembers

579
00:44:15.239 --> 00:44:19.159
that being his first match, and
he says it was just me getting used

580
00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:21.519
to the crowd and everything, just
because it was a small town. But

581
00:44:21.559 --> 00:44:23.360
then I had two nights later a
match in Amarillo. My first match there.

582
00:44:23.400 --> 00:44:28.079
It was against put Nick Monroe,
and that was my first advertised match,

583
00:44:28.159 --> 00:44:30.599
that taking place December ninth of nineteen
sixty five at the Sports Arena in

584
00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:35.800
Amarilla and certainly got some attention to
the local press. This from December third,

585
00:44:35.880 --> 00:44:38.679
nineteen sixty five, who said Jake
Smith was tough, asked diyed Mike

586
00:44:38.719 --> 00:44:42.840
Dibiassi with a big laugh, how
does he look now? Mike and his

587
00:44:42.880 --> 00:44:45.320
manager Jack Kine that just worked over
the Forrner Pound Kentucky and Thursday night at

588
00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:49.079
the Sports Arena, Kane was supposed
to be handcuffed to Luke Brown, Jake's

589
00:44:49.079 --> 00:44:51.760
partner, Kane, slipped the cuffs
on Brown and slipped through the ropes.

590
00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:55.320
Kane and DiBiase slugged Smith until referee
Jene Guleay forfeited the match. Jack Donovan

591
00:44:55.320 --> 00:44:59.840
and Ivan Verpo to be the future
of Pampero. Verpo failed in their bid

592
00:44:59.880 --> 00:45:02.599
to the North American Tank Tam Championships
from Dorrifunk Junior and Ricky Romero. How

593
00:45:02.599 --> 00:45:06.599
does anyone expect me to win with
a partner like Ferpo Aske Donovan I even

594
00:45:06.639 --> 00:45:10.039
as a good fellow, but he's
just stupid. Jack won the first fall

595
00:45:10.039 --> 00:45:15.400
with the press on Dorry Junior in
five eight forty rather a Funk took the

596
00:45:15.400 --> 00:45:16.519
second with a spinning to hold on
Furpo in four to fifty one, and

597
00:45:16.599 --> 00:45:20.559
Romero Pindonovan with a press at nine
fifteen. Brown came out with the victory

598
00:45:20.599 --> 00:45:22.840
in the semi final over Tokyo Tom
with a bear hug in ten seventeen.

599
00:45:22.880 --> 00:45:28.559
Doug gilbertio Tom, Tokyo Tom Okay. I'm sure that was a perfectly fine

600
00:45:28.599 --> 00:45:32.199
gimmick. Yeah, that would be
appropriate today and not the least bit offensive.

601
00:45:32.519 --> 00:45:36.320
Nope, not at all. I
can definitely see that getting over pretty

602
00:45:36.320 --> 00:45:37.920
well. Doug Gilbert, who is
not that Doug Gilbert, of course,

603
00:45:37.920 --> 00:45:40.280
this being the sixties, that is
to say, the brother of Eddie Gilbert

604
00:45:40.559 --> 00:45:44.480
was. It was a wrestled by
the name of the professional, the pro,

605
00:45:44.559 --> 00:45:47.079
Doug Gilbert. He also worked under
a mask as the professional and has

606
00:45:47.119 --> 00:45:51.440
no relation to that family. Stop
the law man that to be Don Slattin,

607
00:45:51.559 --> 00:45:53.480
who we talked about back in the
World Class Days with the Press and

608
00:45:53.519 --> 00:45:57.800
the opener. At thirteen twenty five, and we're getting close here, an

609
00:45:57.800 --> 00:46:01.360
injury caused Tosey Lothario Reads to forfeit
his match against Jane Gula and last paragraph

610
00:46:01.400 --> 00:46:07.719
here the first reference Terry Funk was
introduced. It says the son of Dorry

611
00:46:07.760 --> 00:46:10.960
Senior and brother of Dorry Junior,
may start his professional wrestling career next Thursday

612
00:46:12.039 --> 00:46:15.719
night. Wow. So there was
an event apparently where Terry was just unveiled

613
00:46:15.719 --> 00:46:20.719
to the crowd December second, nineteen
sixty five. I take it according to

614
00:46:20.719 --> 00:46:23.480
this article where he didn't actually wrestle, but he was sort of unveiled,

615
00:46:23.880 --> 00:46:29.079
and we got a flavor from the
local press coverage of his final days at

616
00:46:29.119 --> 00:46:31.880
West Texas State that certainly wouldn't have
come to a surprise to close followers.

617
00:46:31.880 --> 00:46:37.440
Evolve things Funk at the time.
Then we hit December eighth, nineteen sixty

618
00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:39.280
five in Themeral Globe Times, Matt
Duo claims, new surprise, We have

619
00:46:39.320 --> 00:46:43.159
another big surprise and store for Luke
Brown and Jack Smith, says Iron mac

620
00:46:43.199 --> 00:46:46.920
DeBiase. So they go more into
that feud involving Iron mcdibiassi, of course

621
00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:51.400
before his untimely death that we talked
about in our last episode of The Lapsed

622
00:46:51.440 --> 00:46:53.719
Funk. Yeah, and further down
the article, it reads, Terry Funk

623
00:46:53.880 --> 00:46:59.800
goes against Sputt mc monroe in his
wrestling debut. In the other main event,

624
00:47:00.800 --> 00:47:04.320
the semifinal will have Dorriy Funk Junior, Ricky Romero and Jose Lathario facing

625
00:47:04.400 --> 00:47:07.199
Jack Donovan, Ivan Furpo and Tokyo
Tom. So there you have it.

626
00:47:07.199 --> 00:47:12.599
It's promoted in the paper as his
debut match makes a ton of sense why

627
00:47:12.840 --> 00:47:16.960
he would be remembered as such,
and this is an interesting match for Terry

628
00:47:17.039 --> 00:47:22.400
to say the very least. Spotnik
was a guy who was a well traveled

629
00:47:22.440 --> 00:47:25.039
veteran and a well established star,
and certainly was a really big gesture from

630
00:47:25.039 --> 00:47:29.559
Dorriyfunk Senior to put his young son
in his first match before the people,

631
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:35.119
for all intents and purposes, in
there against a veteran like that. Trying

632
00:47:35.119 --> 00:47:37.760
to think what the equivalent might be
today would kind of be like debuting someone

633
00:47:37.400 --> 00:47:45.440
debuting like Vince McMahon's son or Shane
McMahon's son against HM the Miz in his

634
00:47:45.440 --> 00:47:47.679
first match, or yeah, yeah, maybe a higher chier than that,

635
00:47:47.719 --> 00:47:52.440
maybe, like a is there a
higher chier now? I don't even know.

636
00:47:52.519 --> 00:47:57.719
I don't know this business, gunter. Maybe Ah, there we goout

637
00:47:57.760 --> 00:48:01.519
the undefeated streak. So we turned
now to Tory Funk's interview with k FAB

638
00:48:01.639 --> 00:48:07.840
Commentaries, where he reflects upon this
formative experience against Sputnik. It was against

639
00:48:07.840 --> 00:48:15.159
Sputnik Monroe, and that was my
advertised first match was against Sputnik, and

640
00:48:15.239 --> 00:48:17.840
I was in the ring and it
was completely insane. Oh in his own

641
00:48:17.880 --> 00:48:21.679
lovely way. Yeah, and he
go ahead and he is telling me in

642
00:48:21.719 --> 00:48:25.800
the ring here you know, it's
uh, you're doing good, kid.

643
00:48:27.679 --> 00:48:31.920
Just lay there, kid, stay
down, kid, just a little bit

644
00:48:32.000 --> 00:48:36.199
longer, kid. I was in
a ten minute match, you know,

645
00:48:36.280 --> 00:48:39.000
and now the minutes are running by, you know, So now it's about

646
00:48:39.079 --> 00:48:45.760
six or seven minutes going by,
and I've looked like a I don't know,

647
00:48:45.840 --> 00:48:47.920
I looked pretty bad. You know. I wasn't doing a damn thing,

648
00:48:49.559 --> 00:48:52.920
but just laying there like you stay
there, a kid, you're doing

649
00:48:53.880 --> 00:48:58.360
Did you ever get back up?
Did you ever get back up? Oh?

650
00:48:58.480 --> 00:49:00.559
Yeah, I sure did you know
when I got back up? When

651
00:49:00.639 --> 00:49:06.079
you beat him? No? No, Well, my old man came down

652
00:49:06.119 --> 00:49:08.840
there any games, came down in
the ring, and he hollered at me,

653
00:49:09.159 --> 00:49:15.519
God, damn it, get up
off your ass. Now you're making

654
00:49:15.679 --> 00:49:21.239
family look bad. Yeah. Blow
my I fired I fired up and went

655
00:49:21.360 --> 00:49:25.199
like a maniac for the last two
minutes. But that was a true story

656
00:49:25.280 --> 00:49:34.559
there about him and there so wow. Interesting. I can't tell if this

657
00:49:34.679 --> 00:49:37.239
is a spot where the old man
runs out and gets his young son fired

658
00:49:37.320 --> 00:49:45.519
up to make the comeback, and
that's a spot or if Terry is not

659
00:49:45.519 --> 00:49:49.119
not doing what it takes to earn
the respect of spotnefun Road to looks strong

660
00:49:49.199 --> 00:49:51.000
in the ring, you know,
right, you have to give it back

661
00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:52.159
if they're going to give it to
you stiff, right, you gotta come

662
00:49:52.159 --> 00:49:58.239
back right right. And it seems
like it's more frustration from Dorry Funk Senior

663
00:49:58.239 --> 00:50:01.239
here that his son is looking weak
and he doesn't really have the instinct yet

664
00:50:01.280 --> 00:50:05.599
to fight back. The way Terry
Funk describes it in his book might provide

665
00:50:05.639 --> 00:50:08.079
a little bit more illumination. He
wrote, Spuck was a great heel,

666
00:50:08.119 --> 00:50:12.079
but he didn't feel like giving too
much to a kid having his first match.

667
00:50:13.320 --> 00:50:15.880
And see again with Terry can never
tell is he working here? You

668
00:50:15.880 --> 00:50:19.639
know what I mean? Is he
like, is he trying? Was Sputnik

669
00:50:19.719 --> 00:50:24.039
really giving it giving a hard time? Or was it just the world may

670
00:50:24.079 --> 00:50:28.320
never know. Yeah, he led
the match, and every time I started

671
00:50:28.320 --> 00:50:30.119
to look strong, he would say, okay, kid, that's good.

672
00:50:30.199 --> 00:50:31.320
Now let's get back down on the
mat and I'll get this hold back on

673
00:50:31.360 --> 00:50:35.719
you. Also, I was gassed, just exhausted early in the match from

674
00:50:35.760 --> 00:50:37.400
nerves. In fact, my nose
started bleeding. I was doing everything he

675
00:50:37.440 --> 00:50:40.519
said, and he was guzzling me
until my dad ran down a ringside.

676
00:50:40.760 --> 00:50:44.519
My father yelled, goddamn you,
you son of a bitch. You're letting

677
00:50:44.599 --> 00:50:46.800
him meet your ass up, Get
up off your goddamn ass and do something,

678
00:50:46.920 --> 00:50:51.960
or I'll beat your ass. I
heard that. I jumped up.

679
00:50:52.880 --> 00:50:57.280
Stop button, Stop letting him meet
your ass? The fuck do you think

680
00:50:57.320 --> 00:51:05.400
this is? I want ahead and
told him I love it. I love

681
00:51:05.519 --> 00:51:07.880
rim jobs. Dad, I don't
see the problem. You know that's a

682
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.960
you got a kfe that shit,
son. We're not shooting bor At here,

683
00:51:17.480 --> 00:51:22.719
my shooting boor At. But I'm
fucking bored and watching you. Right,

684
00:51:22.719 --> 00:51:25.920
we're not shooting bor At, but
I'm bored at shooting or what a

685
00:51:27.719 --> 00:51:30.400
what appears to be shooting before my
eyes? You piece as shit. And

686
00:51:30.440 --> 00:51:32.880
I heard that I want ahead,
drummed up, hit some moves quickly and

687
00:51:32.920 --> 00:51:36.559
pinned Sputnik. But Dad had some
more choice words for me when I got

688
00:51:36.559 --> 00:51:39.360
back to the locker room. I
was this match covered December tenth, nineteen

689
00:51:39.400 --> 00:51:43.320
sixty five, Membrello Globe Times.
Of course, they were talking like it

690
00:51:43.360 --> 00:51:45.119
was a big deal that he was
going to make the debut in the first

691
00:51:45.119 --> 00:51:49.760
place. Of course they covered it
Terry Funk wednesdaybut as grappler, don't give

692
00:51:49.760 --> 00:51:52.400
that kid too much credit. He
was just lucky. He hopped me before

693
00:51:52.440 --> 00:51:55.400
I was ready. Those were the
words of sput Nick Monroe after he lost

694
00:51:55.599 --> 00:52:00.880
to Terry Funk Thursday night at the
Sports Arena. It was the professional wrestling

695
00:52:00.960 --> 00:52:04.119
debut for Terry, who just finished
his football career at West Texas State.

696
00:52:04.519 --> 00:52:07.559
The veteran Monroe kept kicking the ropes
and wouldn't let Terry in the ring.

697
00:52:07.280 --> 00:52:12.440
Rufferey Leonard Miller pushed Sputnik away.
Terry jumped in the ring and pinned his

698
00:52:12.480 --> 00:52:17.199
foe with a double leg lock in
ten seconds. Now you tell me why

699
00:52:17.239 --> 00:52:22.800
the newspaper would have recorded the Terry
Funk's debut match was over in ten seconds,

700
00:52:22.519 --> 00:52:27.119
and Funk would never have mentioned that
in his retelling of this story of

701
00:52:27.119 --> 00:52:32.320
this match. Terry, we love
you, but I think the further we

702
00:52:32.440 --> 00:52:36.239
go in the lapsed Funk, the
one thing that's going to echo is Dusty

703
00:52:36.320 --> 00:52:39.840
Rhodes in that shoot interview one time
saying Terry is a worker. He's a

704
00:52:40.079 --> 00:52:47.079
worker, he will work you.
The article continues, Monroe begged for five

705
00:52:47.440 --> 00:52:51.960
more minutes with Terry. It also
says that the ten second finish was a

706
00:52:51.960 --> 00:52:54.719
new record for the Sports Arena.
Monroe begged for five more minutes with Terry,

707
00:52:54.760 --> 00:52:59.079
who agreed to ten more minutes.
Neither one had a fall, so

708
00:52:59.159 --> 00:53:01.599
Terry came out with a victory.
The crowd, including the Buffalo squad,

709
00:53:01.639 --> 00:53:06.639
gave Terry a standing ovation when he
entered the ring and left Bill Cross nineteen

710
00:53:06.719 --> 00:53:10.159
fifty West Texas State. A little
All America fullback also was introduced. It

711
00:53:10.199 --> 00:53:14.800
isn't known when Terry will be at
the Sports Arena again. He is booked

712
00:53:14.800 --> 00:53:22.400
in Kansas City and several other places
over the country, even from day one.

713
00:53:22.599 --> 00:53:27.039
That's right, that's the way it
goes, funk on the road,

714
00:53:27.920 --> 00:53:34.159
being booked outside of even the Ambillo
territory proper, getting that early introduction to

715
00:53:34.280 --> 00:53:38.880
a multi territorial circuit. And we'll
get into that this all was to set

716
00:53:38.920 --> 00:53:44.119
up. This is why I'm a
little skeptical about whether the whole scene that

717
00:53:44.280 --> 00:53:46.760
Terry describes of his father throwing a
fit at his lack of offense in the

718
00:53:46.800 --> 00:53:51.719
match was a work because they come
back in the paper and talk about how

719
00:53:51.800 --> 00:53:58.079
Daddy's going to get revenge for young
Terry. I mean, maybe maybe it

720
00:53:58.079 --> 00:54:00.360
didn't happen in the ring, maybe
it'd happen, and maybe maybe it happened

721
00:54:00.400 --> 00:54:06.920
backstage. Maybe what happened backstage,
you stupid piece of ship. You're a

722
00:54:06.960 --> 00:54:10.280
fucking loser. Your shit sucks.
You didn't show any fire out there,

723
00:54:10.400 --> 00:54:14.480
Terry, How the people want to
believe in the name. You want to

724
00:54:14.519 --> 00:54:20.559
know what I saw out there,
you stupid fuck. All I saw was

725
00:54:20.679 --> 00:54:27.159
my son on the mat with another
man and his face deep in his ass

726
00:54:29.159 --> 00:54:38.280
eating ass. You just Terry,
he was eating your ass. Dad?

727
00:54:38.320 --> 00:54:44.840
Did you see the same match I
did? I really don't know if John

728
00:54:44.960 --> 00:54:51.559
needed to see and I saw him
eating your ass, piece of shit,

729
00:54:51.760 --> 00:54:55.480
just meant something different back then.
December sixteen sixty five in Melo Globe Time,

730
00:54:58.400 --> 00:55:00.880
Senior gets shut at Monroe. Dori
Funk Senior is so anxious to meet

731
00:55:00.880 --> 00:55:05.639
spute Nick Monroe that he is paying
his expenses from Alexandria, Louisiana as they

732
00:55:05.639 --> 00:55:08.079
clash in the second main event Thursday
night at the Sports Arena. The offer

733
00:55:08.119 --> 00:55:12.559
came after Monroe slugged Terry Funk a
few times last week in Terry's debut.

734
00:55:12.960 --> 00:55:15.079
I didn't expect any special favors for
Terry. But I didn't think anyone would

735
00:55:15.079 --> 00:55:19.320
do things like that to a young
man just starting out at a Dori SR.

736
00:55:19.519 --> 00:55:22.039
I don't even think ironed Mike Debiassi
would have done anything like that.

737
00:55:22.320 --> 00:55:25.760
Let's see what happens when Monroe pulls
that stuff on me. Work alert.

738
00:55:29.679 --> 00:55:34.960
Terry went ahead and not chewed out
nonetheless in his uh in his first match.

739
00:55:35.039 --> 00:55:37.760
So all right, maybe dor maybe
Dorry is is a source of truth.

740
00:55:38.599 --> 00:55:40.800
Maybe is that? Is that asking
too much? Do you think?

741
00:55:42.159 --> 00:55:46.000
Uh? It depends on the story. I'm willing to believe it or not.

742
00:55:46.480 --> 00:55:51.880
Yeah, And that's a that's often
a very wide open question. I'm

743
00:55:51.880 --> 00:55:54.599
trying to remember if he even addresses
it. Actually, I shouldn't have telegraphed

744
00:55:54.599 --> 00:56:00.639
that if I don't know for sure. Let's see anything here about the fine

745
00:56:00.639 --> 00:56:05.760
spot, Nick Monroe, Dory,
Dorrance Dorrance, This collection of just completely

746
00:56:06.800 --> 00:56:12.920
Dorance Junior, Dunk, Dunk or
tink. Oh Hi, I'm Dunk.

747
00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:15.960
You'll see the hair at the back
of my how my name is Dunk.

748
00:56:17.559 --> 00:56:21.400
So the hair is at the back
of my head. And I'm gonna book

749
00:56:21.440 --> 00:56:25.400
the territory in such a way that
I think Terry's gonna gonna count well for

750
00:56:25.519 --> 00:56:30.119
himself. One thing we can know, of course, for sure, whether

751
00:56:30.159 --> 00:56:34.400
the spinning toe hold will win in
forty five twelve or in sixty five minutes

752
00:56:34.440 --> 00:56:37.679
in overtime. Can I ask you
a serious question? Have you ever not

753
00:56:37.800 --> 00:56:43.320
woken up from a nap? Have
you ever? Can I ask you a

754
00:56:43.320 --> 00:56:45.280
serious cause you're turned around and walked
into a broom closet and thinking it was

755
00:56:45.280 --> 00:56:51.159
the door. I've heard like three
different wrestlers tell the story. Dusty says

756
00:56:51.159 --> 00:56:52.800
he did it in front of him. A Dusty Wolf said he did it

757
00:56:52.840 --> 00:56:57.559
in front of him. Just turn
around and walk through a closet door instead

758
00:56:57.559 --> 00:57:07.159
of the hallway door. And Todd
Gordon in his new book describes Dory doing

759
00:57:07.199 --> 00:57:10.079
the silent cowboy routine where he just
shows up at a building that he's not

760
00:57:10.159 --> 00:57:15.360
even necessarily wrestling on. It just
says nothing the whole time. Can I

761
00:57:15.360 --> 00:57:21.760
cask you s Can I ask you
serious question? Have you ever eaten a

762
00:57:21.920 --> 00:57:30.599
broom handle like a hot dog?
I can't say I have. Oh well,

763
00:57:34.079 --> 00:57:40.320
not just something you might want to
try. Also might not be something

764
00:57:40.360 --> 00:57:47.079
I want to try. There's that
so fulks work in the circuit now December

765
00:57:47.079 --> 00:57:52.440
eleventh, Herford against Jack Caine.
December thirteenth, Abilene against Von Ferpo the

766
00:57:52.480 --> 00:57:55.039
Future Pimpero Ferbo the Wild Bowl of
the Pampas. Thank you very much,

767
00:57:55.199 --> 00:58:00.239
Yes, December fifteen sixty five and
Lubbock at the Fair Park, callus see

768
00:58:00.280 --> 00:58:05.199
him for what I think is the
very first time Dory Funk, Dory Funk

769
00:58:05.280 --> 00:58:10.079
Junior and Terry Funk all team up
for six man tagg against Diving Furbo,

770
00:58:10.199 --> 00:58:15.079
Jack Donovan and Tokyo tom So.
Early on, not only was Terry getting

771
00:58:15.159 --> 00:58:20.280
spotlighted in prominent matches and getting a
lot of hype about his being introduced in

772
00:58:20.320 --> 00:58:24.039
coverage of his debut match, but
the legend himself is standing shoulder to shoulder

773
00:58:24.079 --> 00:58:28.639
with the boys in the ring tag
matches. That must have been something to

774
00:58:28.719 --> 00:58:34.800
see. I bet it was.
I mean, Jesus, that's that's fucking

775
00:58:34.920 --> 00:58:40.119
wild. So Van Eric Vibes even
further contelled that I'm starting to think that

776
00:58:40.159 --> 00:58:44.159
Fritz basically saw what Dory was doing
with his kids and just copied it.

777
00:58:44.199 --> 00:58:51.239
Honestly, my sons are much better
looking. These guys looked like like fucking

778
00:58:52.079 --> 00:59:00.199
wide ships. I got my boys, my boys are good looking Texas pure

779
00:59:00.280 --> 00:59:07.760
bread. My boys are good looking
in Texas. That's good. Remember when

780
00:59:07.760 --> 00:59:14.079
he said Christmas best, it'll be
your Christmas best. That you be wearing

781
00:59:14.079 --> 00:59:21.639
your Christmas best. Yes you are. So we can all throw the football

782
00:59:21.679 --> 00:59:25.400
after a turkey dinner, after we've
we gotta go outside of the yard throw

783
00:59:25.440 --> 00:59:36.280
around like we're like, we're a
family. So what meanwhile, dorries like,

784
00:59:37.440 --> 00:59:44.079
but the same exact menacing look.
But he said, and you did,

785
00:59:44.119 --> 00:59:47.440
you wouldn't. I want to what
do the friends do? Get the

786
00:59:47.440 --> 00:59:52.719
fucking ball. Get the goddamn ball. Get the fucking ball outside so you

787
00:59:52.719 --> 00:59:58.239
can throw it around. I can
throw to your fucking faces. Nice guy,

788
00:59:59.559 --> 01:00:02.039
stands still right now, Terry,
you stand there, Dunk, you

789
01:00:02.119 --> 01:00:08.639
stand the fuck over there, Phil, thanks the fucking bee. Dorry,

790
01:00:08.920 --> 01:00:14.360
you fucking grab this ball, or
if you grab this ball, I'm gonna

791
01:00:14.360 --> 01:00:16.800
beat the ship out of you.
Now. I'm gonna hit you in the

792
01:00:16.800 --> 01:00:22.800
face and you're gonna take it like
a fucking man. Okay, Dad spot

793
01:00:22.880 --> 01:00:25.480
Nick does this to you. However, you don't take it, you fight

794
01:00:25.519 --> 01:00:30.159
back and dunk, you piece of
ship. I'll see you over there.

795
01:00:30.760 --> 01:00:35.559
I'll see what you're doing. You
get touch the fucking beehive right now.

796
01:00:36.079 --> 01:00:45.119
Put your hand on the goddamn bee
hive, and Terry and here comes a

797
01:00:45.159 --> 01:00:49.800
gander. Oh no, wait,
that's sorry, that's the Chikh. I

798
01:00:49.840 --> 01:00:54.079
meant a Michigan. There we go. So, like I said, it's

799
01:00:54.079 --> 01:01:00.480
it's remarkable how quickly Dorry Senior dispatches
his sons to work in other territories.

800
01:01:00.760 --> 01:01:06.159
It's instantaneous. We sort of remember
this playbook from the Fritz van Eric days.

801
01:01:06.199 --> 01:01:07.519
The Van Eric boys as big as
they were in Dallas, and they

802
01:01:07.519 --> 01:01:10.119
were big, and they had to
make the town every week. Fritz made

803
01:01:10.159 --> 01:01:14.159
damn sure to get those boys out
the Saint Louis. Remember, Yeah,

804
01:01:14.199 --> 01:01:19.760
some of those earliest breakthrough matches are
the van Erics accounting extremely well for themselves

805
01:01:19.800 --> 01:01:23.360
against the likes of Harley Race and
other standouts and institutions in the Saint Louis

806
01:01:23.599 --> 01:01:30.559
rings. And that is certainly the
playbook here for Dorri Senior. As soon

807
01:01:30.599 --> 01:01:34.599
as December sixteenth and sixty five,
so just weeks after his debut, Terry

808
01:01:34.639 --> 01:01:38.320
Funk is already in Kansas City at
Memorial Hall wrestling against Chris Belchis. According

809
01:01:38.320 --> 01:01:43.480
to Wrestling Data Wow. He then
shoots up to Minneapolis for the first time

810
01:01:43.519 --> 01:01:46.360
December eighteenth, sixty five to wrestle
Guy Taylor at the Convention Hall in Minneapolis

811
01:01:46.400 --> 01:01:52.440
for the AWA. So Terry is
already getting his miles in early and often,

812
01:01:52.800 --> 01:01:59.039
damn right. But it's not accurate
to say that professional football was completely

813
01:01:59.079 --> 01:02:02.239
in Terry Funk's rear view mirror or
completely out of his zone of consideration.

814
01:02:02.320 --> 01:02:09.119
He's still very much a kid wrestling
after the football season is over. Wow,

815
01:02:09.400 --> 01:02:15.880
he's getting seasoned, but yeah,
still entertaining football offers. As he

816
01:02:15.920 --> 01:02:17.599
writes in this book, I had
a few matches under my belt when I

817
01:02:17.599 --> 01:02:22.360
had some talks with Bud Grant about
playing pro ball in Winnipeg for the Canadian

818
01:02:22.440 --> 01:02:24.960
League. They offered me a contract
paying twelve thousand dollars a year. I

819
01:02:24.960 --> 01:02:28.480
also went to work with vern Gania
and the AWA up there. I got

820
01:02:28.519 --> 01:02:35.039
an AWA television and in my first
match there had Dennis Stamp as a partner

821
01:02:35.079 --> 01:02:37.760
against Larry Henning and Hartley Race.
Well, they knew my father and liked

822
01:02:37.840 --> 01:02:38.880
us. We went out there and
those guys made me look like a million

823
01:02:38.920 --> 01:02:45.559
dollars. He was booked for once. Absolutely, he was booked. He

824
01:02:45.719 --> 01:02:49.760
learned all about Dennis Stamp and the
remarkable Beyond the Cinemat episode of Under the

825
01:02:50.159 --> 01:02:52.599
Beyond the Sign, Under the Cinemata
Beyond the Match, Thank you very much.

826
01:02:53.039 --> 01:02:57.360
I knew that was destined to happen. And this is where Terry Funk

827
01:02:57.480 --> 01:03:00.119
meets Dennis Stamp, because it's always
weird. It's like, Dennis Stamp is

828
01:03:00.119 --> 01:03:05.039
associated as a Texas guy, but
he's clearly from the Midwest, right,

829
01:03:05.320 --> 01:03:07.960
Oh yeah, it's from Minnesota,
we know, as we as we know,

830
01:03:07.519 --> 01:03:10.599
And it's like, how does he
get how does he get to Amarillo?

831
01:03:10.880 --> 01:03:14.400
Terry go to him and that that's
exactly what happened. And his first

832
01:03:14.440 --> 01:03:17.199
month in the business, Terry goes
up to the AWA to work some shots

833
01:03:17.239 --> 01:03:23.719
and meets meets Dennis Stamp and gets
to work with the likes of Larry Heading

834
01:03:23.719 --> 01:03:28.239
and Harley Race. So he's already
wrestled Sputneckunroe, Harley Race, and Larry

835
01:03:28.239 --> 01:03:30.719
Hendig in his first like two weeks
in the business. Wait is yeah,

836
01:03:30.880 --> 01:03:36.400
just not you know, your typical
low rent affair. Indeed, wow problem

837
01:03:37.119 --> 01:03:39.079
this from Dennis Stamp's book, which
you turned me on to boss. Thank

838
01:03:39.119 --> 01:03:43.559
you for that. Yeah, the
Stamp collection. That's what he called this

839
01:03:43.559 --> 01:03:45.280
book. I don't know what to
say about it, but that's what he

840
01:03:45.280 --> 01:03:50.719
called this book. I was trained
as a pro by Verne Gania and Billy

841
01:03:50.840 --> 01:03:54.679
Robinson. Dennis writes Billy was considered
the toughest man in the world. He

842
01:03:54.880 --> 01:03:58.719
was. He literally beat me up
every day. After a few weeks,

843
01:03:58.760 --> 01:04:00.760
I realized with fear of a beating
was worse than the beating itself, so

844
01:04:00.800 --> 01:04:02.800
he beat most of the fear out
of me. I soon found out that

845
01:04:02.840 --> 01:04:05.800
everyone is afraid. By not being
afraid, I got a reputation for being

846
01:04:05.840 --> 01:04:09.320
a tough guy. And since I
didn't believe the songs the bosses would sing

847
01:04:09.360 --> 01:04:12.719
to me, I got tagged with
a bad attitude. Everything I said was

848
01:04:12.760 --> 01:04:16.039
magnified and misquoted. I love how
fucking saucy this guy is. Oh yeah,

849
01:04:16.239 --> 01:04:21.519
I mean he's so fucking pissy.
Yeah he and he jumps up and

850
01:04:21.519 --> 01:04:26.639
down at a trampoline and beyond the
mat in underwear, right like a normal

851
01:04:26.639 --> 01:04:30.159
person. Yes, you're sixty years
old, speedos. But he's waiting for

852
01:04:30.199 --> 01:04:33.039
a call with many weights in his
hand. Yeah, he's waiting for the

853
01:04:33.079 --> 01:04:38.519
call. I mean, this is
the guy. This is He's kind of

854
01:04:38.559 --> 01:04:41.960
like the last vestige of what would
become the Amarillo territory as far as I

855
01:04:42.519 --> 01:04:44.920
still living in the city, still
associated with that era of the city,

856
01:04:45.000 --> 01:04:49.000
didn't move on or pass away.
And here he is becoming acquainted with Terry

857
01:04:49.039 --> 01:04:56.519
Funk. So there he is getting
trained by obviously stalwarts. And I've always

858
01:04:56.519 --> 01:04:58.599
had a lot to say. At
that time, I'd had between twelve hundred

859
01:04:58.639 --> 01:05:00.239
and fifteen hundred matches. I was
really at home in the ring. He

860
01:05:00.320 --> 01:05:02.960
wrote. My ring character was an
arrogant heel, a vicious, violent villain.

861
01:05:03.119 --> 01:05:05.599
I was a slow walking, slect
talking, cocky bad guy. I

862
01:05:05.719 --> 01:05:10.199
was trying to make a name for
myself in West Texas. It was the

863
01:05:10.280 --> 01:05:13.719
backyard of the Funk Brothers, both
world champions. When I was asked to

864
01:05:13.719 --> 01:05:15.480
do the match, I didn't hesitate, absolutely, I said. Then Verne

865
01:05:15.480 --> 01:05:20.039
sent me to Denver to wrestle Butch
Levy Okay. I came to Ambarillo over

866
01:05:20.079 --> 01:05:24.119
thirty years ago as a professional wrestler
when I was no longer booked. He

867
01:05:24.480 --> 01:05:29.039
definitely owns that phrase. Oh he
loves that, Yeah, leans into it.

868
01:05:30.400 --> 01:05:32.320
I started my own business. I
owned and ran a pest control company

869
01:05:32.320 --> 01:05:34.519
which he still does to this day. I think or a tree company something

870
01:05:34.559 --> 01:05:38.960
like that, out of Darth anymore
he's dead. But oh well, yeah

871
01:05:39.039 --> 01:05:42.960
he did until in peace, Dennis, that's true. One day, while

872
01:05:42.960 --> 01:05:45.239
spraying a house, I noticed a
young boy about eight years old, lying

873
01:05:45.239 --> 01:05:47.119
on the couch. I knew he
was a school day for conversation, I

874
01:05:47.119 --> 01:05:49.320
asked his mother, is he sick? Yes? His mother told me Breck

875
01:05:49.320 --> 01:05:53.800
has malignant brain tumors and the doctors
have given him thirty days. Wow,

876
01:05:53.960 --> 01:05:56.559
I thought to myself, I've always
got to open my big mouth. As

877
01:05:56.599 --> 01:05:59.079
I walked through the boys bedroom,
I saw a wrestling poster on the wall.

878
01:05:59.239 --> 01:06:01.280
Okay, I thought, I can
talk about wrestling. After I finished

879
01:06:01.320 --> 01:06:03.159
spraying, I went back to the
mother. I see your son as a

880
01:06:03.159 --> 01:06:06.239
wrestling fan, wanting to change the
subject, Yes, she answered, he

881
01:06:06.280 --> 01:06:11.199
loves wrestling. Terry Funk is his
favorite. In fact, meeting Terry is

882
01:06:11.199 --> 01:06:13.800
on the top of his make a
wish list. Do you know Terry?

883
01:06:13.840 --> 01:06:15.960
She asked? Sure, I came
back. I wrestled Terry five times when

884
01:06:15.960 --> 01:06:18.639
he was world champion. I never
missed a chance to brag about that.

885
01:06:18.960 --> 01:06:21.159
Well, she tells me. As
I'm leaving I have a friend who has

886
01:06:21.239 --> 01:06:25.079
Terry's phone number. Okay, I
replied, if you can get a hold

887
01:06:25.079 --> 01:06:26.559
of him, give me. If
you can't get a hold of him,

888
01:06:26.559 --> 01:06:29.079
give me a call. I hadn't
talked to Terry for a few months,

889
01:06:29.239 --> 01:06:30.719
but we've always had each other's phone
number. I wouldn't give it out,

890
01:06:30.800 --> 01:06:34.000
but I would call him sure enough. Beck's Rerex's mother called the next day.

891
01:06:34.280 --> 01:06:38.480
The doctors had downgraded her son from
thirty days to day to day and

892
01:06:38.519 --> 01:06:41.519
she couldn't get Terry's phone number.
I called Terry and he answered the phone.

893
01:06:41.679 --> 01:06:44.519
I explained the situation and how much
this boy Breck wanted to meet him.

894
01:06:44.880 --> 01:06:46.639
Yes, I will, Terry said, can you go tomorrow? I

895
01:06:46.679 --> 01:06:49.719
asked yes. He said, if
you go with me? Since I don't

896
01:06:49.760 --> 01:06:54.639
know those people, I don't want
to get rolled up, Dennis, Aha,

897
01:06:55.199 --> 01:07:00.360
brother, what what? No Terry
wants to get rolled up? I

898
01:07:00.400 --> 01:07:02.519
called the mother to let her know
Breck is so weak he'd hardly hold his

899
01:07:02.519 --> 01:07:11.199
head up off the pillow, was
all she said. Brecked, yeah,

900
01:07:11.199 --> 01:07:15.239
he's so weak, like figuratively in
a literary sense postmodern sense, is weak

901
01:07:17.000 --> 01:07:23.679
in a postmodern sense, he's weak
to weak we'll be there tomorrow, I

902
01:07:23.679 --> 01:07:26.239
assured her. Terry and I met
and went to Breck's house. I went

903
01:07:26.320 --> 01:07:28.119
up to the door first, I
knocked, and the mother came to the

904
01:07:28.119 --> 01:07:30.000
door. It's Terry, she said
loudly. Now I could see Breck.

905
01:07:30.360 --> 01:07:33.679
Terry funk. He screamed, and
he jumped off the couch. Our visit

906
01:07:33.760 --> 01:07:36.760
lasted about an hour. We talked
and laughed. At one point we moved

907
01:07:36.760 --> 01:07:41.119
the coffee table and got down on
the floor to demonstrate a few holds.

908
01:07:43.280 --> 01:07:45.320
There's one thing you need to know
about the Funks is they will move the

909
01:07:45.360 --> 01:07:48.480
furniture and they will demonstrate holds on
the carpet. Why not. I would

910
01:07:48.519 --> 01:07:53.639
do the same thing every single time, without exception, and it would cost

911
01:07:53.679 --> 01:07:57.679
them. As we'll get to Brec
balled up a fist to show us how

912
01:07:57.679 --> 01:08:00.440
he would do it. Terry showed
more character. He hasked Breck if he

913
01:08:00.440 --> 01:08:02.039
would be his tag team partner.
What does that mean? Breck asked,

914
01:08:02.199 --> 01:08:05.039
It means I'll have your back,
Terry told him. Breck paused and got

915
01:08:05.039 --> 01:08:08.679
a strange smile on his face.
Does that mean I'll have your back too?

916
01:08:08.800 --> 01:08:12.440
He asked? Sure does? Terry
replied, Now, Terry didn't go

917
01:08:12.480 --> 01:08:15.039
there empty handed. He had a
poster of himself and a T shirt.

918
01:08:15.239 --> 01:08:16.960
He signed them to Breck. As
we were leaving the house, Terry said

919
01:08:17.000 --> 01:08:20.600
to Brek. Remember now we're tag
team partners. I know, said Breck,

920
01:08:20.960 --> 01:08:24.560
and I've got your back. As
we drove away from the house,

921
01:08:24.560 --> 01:08:27.960
we were both quiet. I can't
believe how tough that boy is. Terry

922
01:08:28.000 --> 01:08:30.000
finally said, yeah, was all
I could say. We didn't talk about

923
01:08:30.000 --> 01:08:33.520
the visit anymore. About a year
later, I ran into Breck's mother.

924
01:08:33.800 --> 01:08:38.640
We almost did a double knockout.
We recognized each other immediately and hugged Dennis.

925
01:08:38.680 --> 01:08:40.960
She said, I want to thank
you so much for all you did

926
01:08:41.000 --> 01:08:43.920
for my son. It was Terry, I said, yes. She said,

927
01:08:43.960 --> 01:08:45.399
but you brought him to us.
Well, how do things turn out?

928
01:08:45.439 --> 01:08:49.119
I asked. Breck lived for two
weeks after your visit. He wore

929
01:08:49.159 --> 01:08:51.840
the T shirt every day. He
only took it off to wash it,

930
01:08:53.319 --> 01:08:56.760
and then he would lay in the
dryer until it was dry. He had

931
01:08:56.760 --> 01:09:00.520
to go to hospice for his last
two days. Uh me the only way

932
01:09:00.520 --> 01:09:02.000
Breck would agree to go, as
if he could take it the poster with

933
01:09:02.159 --> 01:09:05.600
him of Terry Funk. We buried
him with Terry's poster, she said,

934
01:09:05.720 --> 01:09:09.680
starting to tear up. God bless
you and Terry, she said, and

935
01:09:09.720 --> 01:09:13.319
she walked away. Some years later, I was diagnosed with cancer. I

936
01:09:13.359 --> 01:09:15.000
had gone to the hospital with heart
failure. My heart actually stopped twice.

937
01:09:15.000 --> 01:09:18.399
In the emergency room, the doctors
discovered cancer. I had fourth stage,

938
01:09:18.439 --> 01:09:21.760
fast growing lymphoma. There was no
fifth stage. I even heard the word

939
01:09:21.760 --> 01:09:25.600
hospice used in one of their discussions. It was like being blocked in a

940
01:09:25.640 --> 01:09:28.920
corner. My heart didn't get me, then the cancer would. The next

941
01:09:29.000 --> 01:09:30.920
day was hectic, nurses, doctors, aides, specialists in and out of

942
01:09:30.960 --> 01:09:33.840
my room, and a long list
of family and friends, many coming by

943
01:09:33.880 --> 01:09:36.439
to say goodbye. I didn't have
time to think, let alone worry.

944
01:09:36.720 --> 01:09:40.720
By eleven o'clock that night, they
were all gone. Now I was alone.

945
01:09:41.039 --> 01:09:44.039
There was a soft knock on my
door. Who could that be,

946
01:09:44.239 --> 01:09:46.920
I wondered. He stepped inside the
door. It was Terry. It was

947
01:09:47.000 --> 01:09:50.760
Terry Funk. I was blown away
with him. He brought forty years of

948
01:09:50.760 --> 01:09:55.399
friendship as professional wrestlers. That's at
least two lifetimes. That visit was the

949
01:09:55.399 --> 01:09:59.159
best medicine I could have gotten.
We were after all right, say that

950
01:09:59.159 --> 01:10:02.920
part againrofessional wrestlers. That's at least
two lifetimes before that. The whole thing

951
01:10:02.920 --> 01:10:08.439
there with him, he brought forty
years of friendship as professional wrestlers. That's

952
01:10:08.439 --> 01:10:13.159
at least two lifetimes. That visit
sounds like Fritz von Eric speaking. I

953
01:10:13.319 --> 01:10:20.640
mean, did you, Dennis,
did you live two thousand years in those

954
01:10:20.680 --> 01:10:27.600
forty It's Texas time, right,
Ah, that's what it means to live

955
01:10:27.600 --> 01:10:30.840
on Texas time. Everyone fucking lives, and they lived for fucking dog years

956
01:10:30.840 --> 01:10:33.760
there. Basically what there's essentially Yeah, all right, I had thought of

957
01:10:33.760 --> 01:10:38.039
it that way, but that's basically
what it is. That visit was the

958
01:10:38.079 --> 01:10:40.680
best medicine I could have gotten.
We laughed for three solid hours. Terry

959
01:10:40.720 --> 01:10:43.119
hadn't come to say goodbye. He'd
come to let me know he had my

960
01:10:43.159 --> 01:10:45.880
back and reminded me who I was
a wrestler. As Terry was leaving,

961
01:10:45.920 --> 01:10:48.560
I saw him. I saw Brec. He was sitting on Terry's shoulder.

962
01:10:48.560 --> 01:10:50.880
He was smiling, he seemed so
happy. Then it hit me. I

963
01:10:50.920 --> 01:10:54.479
got chills, goosebumps all over my
body. It was Breck. I had

964
01:10:54.479 --> 01:10:57.399
taken Terry to Breck when he needed
him the most. So Breck brought Terry

965
01:10:57.439 --> 01:11:00.279
to me when I needed him so
badly. I finished the story where I

966
01:11:00.359 --> 01:11:03.760
started Terry and Brack tag team partners
forever. I know. I'm living proof.

967
01:11:05.479 --> 01:11:10.640
So Terry Funk crosses paths in the
first month of his career with Dennis

968
01:11:10.640 --> 01:11:14.079
Stamp, and as a result,
we get stories like that, and we

969
01:11:14.159 --> 01:11:19.479
get him bouncing in underwear on the
trampoline and beyond the man. I need

970
01:11:19.520 --> 01:11:23.319
you to be there, Dennis.
I need you to be there, Dennis.

971
01:11:23.359 --> 01:11:25.960
I want you to be there.
I want you to referee the match.

972
01:11:27.319 --> 01:11:29.840
I want you to referee. I
need you to be there. I'm

973
01:11:29.840 --> 01:11:34.239
not booked. I'm not booked,
but Terry, I'm not booked, Terry,

974
01:11:34.640 --> 01:11:40.199
I can't referee if I'm not booked
in a polo. Such a bitch,

975
01:11:41.000 --> 01:11:45.920
Such a fucking He drove down there, like in between like jobs to

976
01:11:45.359 --> 01:11:50.439
argue with Terry outside of the sports
arena. Like the fucking fact that the

977
01:11:50.479 --> 01:11:56.079
reason that he can't like Dennis,
he's trying to book you. Now,

978
01:11:57.239 --> 01:12:01.199
do you see? Yes, it
doesn't count. You weren't booked five minutes

979
01:12:01.239 --> 01:12:05.039
ago, but now he wants to
book you. So can't you. He's

980
01:12:05.079 --> 01:12:09.479
trying to pretend that he since made
other commitments, right, which is total

981
01:12:09.520 --> 01:12:12.760
bullshit. He basically wants Terry to
bang him to do the show, and

982
01:12:12.840 --> 01:12:15.079
Terry, being the guy he is, does yeah. Yeah, but some

983
01:12:15.159 --> 01:12:18.239
tender moments shared between Dennis Stamp and
Terry Funk, so that wasn't all just

984
01:12:18.319 --> 01:12:23.880
a put on for the cameras on
beyond the mat there is demonstrated. And

985
01:12:23.960 --> 01:12:27.800
so even though the press covered his
first match against Sputnick Monroe as you know,

986
01:12:27.880 --> 01:12:31.000
sort of like a quick triumph and
then some underhanded moves from Sputnet causing

987
01:12:31.000 --> 01:12:34.520
Dory Senior to seek revenge, according
to Terry in his book, he did

988
01:12:34.560 --> 01:12:40.199
not bounce back seamlessly from that first
outing before the Moilla Faithful. He writes,

989
01:12:40.399 --> 01:12:42.640
I got so depressed about the match
that I went right up to the

990
01:12:42.640 --> 01:12:45.319
hotel and went to bed after having
a couple of beers with another wrestler,

991
01:12:45.399 --> 01:12:47.560
Salento what Rodriguez. When I left
Dan Maillo, my father told me,

992
01:12:47.600 --> 01:12:50.119
now, Terry, I don't want
you going and getting goofy ass drunk up

993
01:12:50.119 --> 01:12:53.680
there. I want you to mind
your p's and q's. You're working for

994
01:12:53.800 --> 01:12:57.039
vern and I want you to act
like a businessman. Well, this was

995
01:12:57.079 --> 01:12:59.640
the night he decided to check up
on me and he called my room.

996
01:13:00.439 --> 01:13:02.359
Unfortunately, Cilento and I got our
rooms mixed up. I ended up sleeping

997
01:13:02.359 --> 01:13:05.680
in his room and he ended up
sleeping in my room even more Unfortunately,

998
01:13:05.720 --> 01:13:10.680
Selina Rodriguez couldn't talk. He was
deaf. He could feel the phone vibrate

999
01:13:10.720 --> 01:13:12.840
though. He reached for the phone
and finally got it, and he said,

1000
01:13:12.840 --> 01:13:16.000
hey, hey, my father said, Terry, run mom bah Terry.

1001
01:13:16.600 --> 01:13:23.880
Cilento hung up brother and old on
the nose to call this mock guys.

1002
01:13:23.960 --> 01:13:29.760
Solento, by the way, and
my old man was hot at me

1003
01:13:29.880 --> 01:13:30.479
the next time he saw me.
The first thing he said, but it's

1004
01:13:30.479 --> 01:13:32.279
god, damn it. I told
you not to get drunk. You act

1005
01:13:32.279 --> 01:13:34.399
like a nut, and then you
hang up on me. I explained it,

1006
01:13:34.560 --> 01:13:38.079
and he finally believed it wasn't me
who hung up on him. The

1007
01:13:38.079 --> 01:13:41.720
football deal didn't work out, though, I don't believe. I don't believe.

1008
01:13:41.760 --> 01:13:44.880
I want to tell you that I
believe, but I don't believe you.

1009
01:13:44.880 --> 01:13:49.279
You're a piece of shit. I
regret hal and use a son wow

1010
01:13:51.680 --> 01:13:58.159
time. I you know, I
regret at having you as a son,

1011
01:13:58.199 --> 01:14:02.439
when you were bored the day you
were born. I said, this is

1012
01:14:02.439 --> 01:14:11.560
a mistake, and I meant it, and I mean it now. I'm

1013
01:14:11.560 --> 01:14:15.520
gonna get you. Terry Funk.
He calls him Terry Funk, and he

1014
01:14:15.520 --> 01:14:17.840
says, by the way, just
to be specific, I'm going to get

1015
01:14:17.880 --> 01:14:25.359
you like he's four years old.
So yeah, that's the reason he's up

1016
01:14:25.359 --> 01:14:29.520
there, not only just to get
that experience this season, but because this

1017
01:14:29.600 --> 01:14:33.119
guy in Winnipeg wanted to give Terry
Funk a look for the CFL team Winnipeg,

1018
01:14:33.119 --> 01:14:36.439
of course part of the a WA
territory. Two birds with one stone,

1019
01:14:36.680 --> 01:14:39.960
that's right. Funk gets up there, make some connections, works of

1020
01:14:40.079 --> 01:14:44.199
experienced opponents, get to meet Dennis
Stamp, tries to go out for the

1021
01:14:44.239 --> 01:14:46.000
team, and as he says here, the football deal didn't work out,

1022
01:14:46.000 --> 01:14:49.560
and I assume came back home.
So by the end of nineteen sixty five,

1023
01:14:49.640 --> 01:14:55.840
Terry Funk's football ambitions are now extinguished. He just wasn't going to be

1024
01:14:55.840 --> 01:15:00.159
able to make a run for it
in Winnipeg and it's now full time to

1025
01:15:00.319 --> 01:15:03.439
the wrastling business comes back. In
the December twenty first of nineteen sixty five.

1026
01:15:03.439 --> 01:15:09.920
He's in Odessa and it's him and
Bob Geigel against pardon me, it's

1027
01:15:09.960 --> 01:15:14.680
Terry Funk and Ricky Romero against Doug
Gilbert, the aforementioned professional Doug Gilbert and

1028
01:15:14.720 --> 01:15:17.399
Bob Geigel. There's a show in
Lubbock where Dory and Terry team up for

1029
01:15:17.479 --> 01:15:21.279
I think the very first time to
defeat Renegoule and Doug Gilbert. There's a

1030
01:15:21.319 --> 01:15:27.199
December twenty third show at the Sports
Arena and Amilla where Wahoo and Terry Funk

1031
01:15:27.239 --> 01:15:30.720
team up to beat Mike Dibiasei and
Jack Caine. And a show the day

1032
01:15:30.720 --> 01:15:33.920
after Christmas of nineteen sixty five and
Albuquerque where Funk defeats a wrestler by the

1033
01:15:34.039 --> 01:15:42.960
name of the Shadow. So I
do invite you to just consider Christmas time

1034
01:15:43.000 --> 01:15:47.079
in the territory, right, I
mean, indeed, I don't know about

1035
01:15:47.079 --> 01:15:49.520
you, but that's not a small
thing, not a small thing at all.

1036
01:15:49.560 --> 01:15:54.920
To go to the matches for tickets
you got for Christmas under your heap's

1037
01:15:54.960 --> 01:15:58.720
this Christmas tree, and to see
Terry and Dorry team up for the first

1038
01:15:58.720 --> 01:16:01.960
time these new young Actually, Daddy, we only go see Terry Funk.

1039
01:16:03.279 --> 01:16:10.760
Daddy, We're gonna go see Terry
Funk. Yay, this is the best

1040
01:16:10.840 --> 01:16:23.159
Christmas I ever had? Uh?
Brother, what do you mean this is

1041
01:16:23.199 --> 01:16:31.000
the best? What? Why would
he be involved? Why would he be

1042
01:16:31.079 --> 01:16:36.039
involved? But it's a good is
it? What do you did, Brent

1043
01:16:36.079 --> 01:16:41.239
get those tickets? Due if Dennis
Brent get those tickets? But did you

1044
01:16:41.279 --> 01:16:45.319
get God? Listen, I don't
mean to I'm gonna try to try.

1045
01:16:46.920 --> 01:16:49.840
I'm not trying to, you know, take away from you know, your

1046
01:16:49.880 --> 01:16:53.600
holiday magic, dude, But I
want to where'd you get those tickets?

1047
01:16:53.640 --> 01:16:58.600
Brother? Yeah? You did you
call cal far least? Dude? You

1048
01:16:59.159 --> 01:17:10.039
brother? He doesn't like Caliley at
cal Farley makes them nervous. So so

1049
01:17:10.159 --> 01:17:13.720
Terry's now, you know, something
akin to a local celebrity, you know,

1050
01:17:13.840 --> 01:17:18.399
the the college football stand out and
a crazy football crazed part of the

1051
01:17:18.399 --> 01:17:23.159
country like West Texas. It's definitely
gonna work out for him. Got those

1052
01:17:23.159 --> 01:17:26.359
handsome football pictures you probably have seen
him. I think they showed a couple

1053
01:17:26.439 --> 01:17:29.319
of them, and WW did the
tribute video to Terry Funk. They put

1054
01:17:29.359 --> 01:17:34.119
a few of those in there and
apropos of his you know, local stardom.

1055
01:17:34.159 --> 01:17:36.079
Is this article that I just sent
to you if you could convey it

1056
01:17:36.119 --> 01:17:40.840
to the solar system Boss. This
ran December twenty seventh, nineteen sixty five.

1057
01:17:40.880 --> 01:17:45.840
So after Funk had certainly had his
go in the rings of the Amberilla

1058
01:17:45.960 --> 01:17:50.840
Territory, he's already getting endorsements with
this bit of advertorial. Here. Yeah,

1059
01:17:50.920 --> 01:17:55.920
our fine, our fine friends at
Natural Food Center interviewed Terry Funk in

1060
01:17:55.960 --> 01:18:00.760
the pages of the Ambie Little Clock
Times. That face it was like a

1061
01:18:00.800 --> 01:18:03.479
cartoon character, babyface. He's not
he's He's as all American looking as it

1062
01:18:03.520 --> 01:18:10.600
gets. In a recent interview,
young athlete Terry Funk told of the marvelous

1063
01:18:10.600 --> 01:18:20.359
benefits he received while taking Hoffman's Enerjall
or Energy Enerjall, straight out of the

1064
01:18:20.399 --> 01:18:26.800
Dina powder category. Seriously, I'll
take ener jall to improve my wind and

1065
01:18:32.439 --> 01:18:40.079
especially when I break it in my
stamina, said Darry, who made quite

1066
01:18:40.079 --> 01:18:44.800
a record for himself. I had
left tackle for the West Texas State University

1067
01:18:44.840 --> 01:18:48.760
football team. I simply could not
have done it done as well in either

1068
01:18:48.800 --> 01:18:59.840
football or wrestling if I had not
taken ergall. There's always there's always some

1069
01:19:00.119 --> 01:19:05.000
fucking guy with like two hundred thousand
containers of product inventory at his garage.

1070
01:19:05.840 --> 01:19:11.920
Looking to sign like a wrestler to
push the sucking powder. I gotta get

1071
01:19:11.960 --> 01:19:17.840
it out of my fucking garage.
The winner's coming, and I think this

1072
01:19:17.960 --> 01:19:21.159
is probably as appropriate place as any
on the lapsed funk to remind you that

1073
01:19:21.520 --> 01:19:27.600
definitely not in that category. Our
fucking friends at Titan Nutrition, thank you

1074
01:19:27.880 --> 01:19:30.800
right. You're very proud to bringing
the lapsed funk and everything we do here

1075
01:19:30.800 --> 01:19:36.720
at TLF. Very excited to announce
that Tight Nutrition offers a full line of

1076
01:19:36.760 --> 01:19:42.520
expertly formulated nutritional products to help you
achieve your health and fitness goals. Around

1077
01:19:42.520 --> 01:19:45.079
this time of year, many people
plan to get moving and work off some

1078
01:19:45.119 --> 01:19:47.560
of the inches that they may be
accumulating. You don't want to go into

1079
01:19:47.600 --> 01:19:51.439
the holiday season too, and gorged
one product that can not only help you

1080
01:19:51.439 --> 01:19:55.079
burn off those success calories, but
give you the metal boost you need to

1081
01:19:55.119 --> 01:19:58.319
move your body as Titans powdered White
Loss Formula end Light. Okay, we're

1082
01:19:58.319 --> 01:20:01.000
talking a great tasting drink. Increases
your atabolic rate so you burn more calories

1083
01:20:01.000 --> 01:20:04.199
and the gym in at rest and
it contains healthy fiber great for gut health,

1084
01:20:04.319 --> 01:20:09.479
helps keep cravings away between meals.
Plenty of caffeine to substitute your coffee

1085
01:20:09.600 --> 01:20:12.520
and light is also designed to help
you focus, lifting your mood and productivity.

1086
01:20:12.720 --> 01:20:15.760
Comes in six amazing flavors that can
be easily mixed and taken on the

1087
01:20:15.760 --> 01:20:18.279
go. So get right heading into
the holidays. Find it at tight nutrition

1088
01:20:18.399 --> 01:20:21.479
dot net and you got to use
the promo code lapsed, not just to

1089
01:20:21.560 --> 01:20:26.359
let them know we sent you and
that it pays to smile upon TLF,

1090
01:20:26.640 --> 01:20:30.159
but also to get yourself ten percent
off your purchase and free shipping as well.

1091
01:20:30.199 --> 01:20:32.760
So that's Titan Nutrition. Yes,
in fact, a company called Titan

1092
01:20:32.800 --> 01:20:35.800
Nutrition fell into our lapse. That's
just the way things go around here.

1093
01:20:38.439 --> 01:20:45.520
But I believe that the way to
be Titan is to do Titan, and

1094
01:20:45.600 --> 01:20:49.399
so do Tighten at tightnutrition dot net. Tons of different products to choose from,

1095
01:20:49.399 --> 01:20:53.600
pre workouts and the like. Make
sure again to use the promo code

1096
01:20:53.640 --> 01:20:57.920
lapsed check out to receive ten percent
off your purchase and free shipping. Again

1097
01:20:58.000 --> 01:21:02.479
tight nutrition dot Net promo code let
them know we sent you. But again

1098
01:21:02.600 --> 01:21:06.119
get back to energol, which is
definitely not in this category, not at

1099
01:21:06.119 --> 01:21:15.199
all. What is energol? It
is a what is it? In sixty

1100
01:21:15.239 --> 01:21:25.439
five idiot. It is a germ
oil concentrate taken from wheat germ oil,

1101
01:21:25.640 --> 01:21:31.359
soy oil, and rice germ oil. Each table spoonful contains four thousand units

1102
01:21:31.800 --> 01:21:35.680
of vitamin A, four hundred units
of vitamin D, three hundred units of

1103
01:21:35.720 --> 01:21:47.840
affordable housing, and sixty milligrams of
vitamin E. If you are lacking in

1104
01:21:47.920 --> 01:21:56.520
physical vigor, it is evident.
If you are lacking in physical vigor,

1105
01:21:58.680 --> 01:22:04.079
it is evident that something that is
wrong. What there's something could be a

1106
01:22:04.159 --> 01:22:11.720
nutritional factor. Hoffman's Enerjawl is rich
and the nutrients essential to increase in strength

1107
01:22:11.720 --> 01:22:17.359
and endurance. Terry Funk suggests,
why don't you try ergall whether you whether

1108
01:22:17.399 --> 01:22:21.159
you be a high school student,
a plumber, or a grandmother, I

1109
01:22:21.239 --> 01:22:27.319
believe you lock it. Keeping fit
does not apply to just just to athletes.

1110
01:22:27.760 --> 01:22:34.039
It applies to everybody. Ergall no
listall Energawl comes in either liquid or

1111
01:22:34.079 --> 01:22:42.359
capsule form. Come by Natural Food
Center one nineteen with tenth today and see

1112
01:22:42.439 --> 01:22:56.720
missus w a riddle what gene lay
or Mickey russells this is w a riddle

1113
01:22:59.600 --> 01:23:05.880
for the ass. So if I
buy a nutritional product from Wa riddle,

1114
01:23:05.920 --> 01:23:10.319
I think it's it's kind of my
fault if it's a if it's a bullshit

1115
01:23:10.359 --> 01:23:12.800
product. Yeah, yeah, I
think it's your fault if you wake up

1116
01:23:12.840 --> 01:23:19.800
dead the next morning. So Terry
Funk at big enough deal to get local

1117
01:23:19.840 --> 01:23:24.399
health changed to want to put words
in his mouth. That's saying something.

1118
01:23:25.760 --> 01:23:28.439
You know what also happened in nineteen
sixty five that will prove to be very

1119
01:23:28.479 --> 01:23:31.840
important to our journey here in the
Lapsed Funk. What out in Bloomington,

1120
01:23:31.840 --> 01:23:36.319
Indiana, only two hundred miles south
of Hammond, where Terry Funk was born

1121
01:23:36.359 --> 01:23:42.319
and where his family was rooted before
going to Texas June seventh, to be

1122
01:23:42.399 --> 01:23:45.680
particular, in nineteen sixty five,
as Terry Funk was wrapping up his college

1123
01:23:45.720 --> 01:23:49.239
football career and eyeing in the Ring, a gentleman was born by the name

1124
01:23:49.279 --> 01:23:55.840
of Michael Francis Foley. Mmmm,
I mean to Indiana. Of course,

1125
01:23:55.840 --> 01:23:59.920
he would be reared in Long Island. But let's just say, folks here,

1126
01:24:00.119 --> 01:24:02.720
Lapsed Funk filed that one away as
a bit of poetry that as Terry

1127
01:24:02.760 --> 01:24:06.359
Funk enters the Ring for the first
time, that very same year mcfoley comes

1128
01:24:06.399 --> 01:24:13.520
into the world. That's interesting,
I would suggest that these two narratives will

1129
01:24:13.600 --> 01:24:17.560
unfold in parallel and then once they
intersect, they will never unintersect. Between

1130
01:24:17.560 --> 01:24:21.560
Funk and Foley. Also born are
his daughters around this point in time.

1131
01:24:21.560 --> 01:24:27.800
In nineteen sixty seven, Vicky Funk, Terry's wife, gives birth to Stacy

1132
01:24:29.000 --> 01:24:30.199
Funk, recalling in his book,
I took one look at this little thing

1133
01:24:30.239 --> 01:24:32.680
and knew my life was never going
to be the same again. Four years

1134
01:24:32.720 --> 01:24:39.279
later, my life changed again when
my daughter Brandy was born. And further

1135
01:24:39.359 --> 01:24:45.159
illustrative of the Funk's standing in the
community, the birthday party of Stacy Funk

1136
01:24:45.159 --> 01:24:49.399
in nineteen seventy What actually warranted news
coverage in the local paper? Did it?

1137
01:24:49.479 --> 01:24:53.119
Really? Stacy Funk, daughter of
mister and Missus Terry Funk, was

1138
01:24:53.159 --> 01:24:57.079
honored recently on her third birthday.
A party with a ballerina theme was held

1139
01:24:57.079 --> 01:25:00.199
in the Funk home September tenth.
Those attending were Shannon and sk gilland Tude

1140
01:25:00.199 --> 01:25:03.960
and David Manley, Patrick Tinsley,
Denise Hood, Gina Uzzolino. Hey,

1141
01:25:04.000 --> 01:25:06.800
that must be the Zellino's from the
West Texas team. I guess, yeah,

1142
01:25:06.840 --> 01:25:12.439
it must be Laura and Alena cosib
Dink Penny and Dirk Funk and their

1143
01:25:12.479 --> 01:25:16.159
parents. Also attending were mister and
missus Harry Lee of Amarilla and mister missus

1144
01:25:16.159 --> 01:25:19.640
brother d R. Weaver of Canyon. Wait. Wait, they didn't say

1145
01:25:19.720 --> 01:25:24.199
They said Dink Funk, but they
didn't say Dory Funk Junior. They said

1146
01:25:24.239 --> 01:25:31.840
Dink. They called him his and
his parents. Yes, Wow, Dink.

1147
01:25:33.079 --> 01:25:38.039
That's of Stacey Funk's third birthday party
Warren's news coverage, and so does

1148
01:25:38.159 --> 01:25:42.119
her fourth. Wow. It's Stacy
Funk, the daughter of mister and Missus

1149
01:25:42.159 --> 01:25:45.640
Terry Funk, celebrated her fourth birthday
Saturday with a birthday party at her home

1150
01:25:45.680 --> 01:25:48.960
near Canyon. Guests included Missus Vernon
cossib Lena and Laura, Tony and Jeff

1151
01:25:49.039 --> 01:25:54.359
James, Missus Virgil Dotson and Willie
Weaver, all of Herford attending from Mamilla,

1152
01:25:54.399 --> 01:25:59.039
where Missus Bill Uzzollino and Gina,
Missus Larry Patterson and Page Missus Dorry

1153
01:25:59.079 --> 01:26:02.560
Funk. There it is Dink,
Penny and Dirk. So I guess Dink

1154
01:26:02.640 --> 01:26:06.119
is somebody else? I can't No, Dink is the sun? Think is

1155
01:26:06.159 --> 01:26:10.720
the sun? Mister and Missus v
A. I mean, like that's what

1156
01:26:10.720 --> 01:26:12.680
I'm like, I don't understand why
they don't mention. I mean, I

1157
01:26:12.760 --> 01:26:15.199
know they mentioned Dorry Funk this time, but why didn't they mention do they

1158
01:26:15.199 --> 01:26:21.800
said in his parents? I don't
know dink Funk and his parents like Dory

1159
01:26:21.800 --> 01:26:29.840
Funk's notable, and thenk Kenyon guests
as well. I mean, I just

1160
01:26:29.880 --> 01:26:33.039
I could now, I cannot conceive
living in a world where a child's third

1161
01:26:33.079 --> 01:26:36.640
and fourth birthday party is notable enough
to be carried in the press. I've

1162
01:26:36.680 --> 01:26:41.159
never seen that before. No,
I've seen, you know, small weddings,

1163
01:26:41.520 --> 01:26:45.560
you know, like times and occasions
people will have, like you know,

1164
01:26:45.760 --> 01:26:49.399
fancy parties be covered in the society
pages of old ass newspapers, and

1165
01:26:49.439 --> 01:26:51.760
you know, things like that being
made to be news, or that somebody

1166
01:26:51.800 --> 01:26:56.159
went on vacation for two weeks can
be in the newspaper if you go back

1167
01:26:56.199 --> 01:26:59.359
far enough. But I've never seen
a kid's third and fourth birthday party warn't

1168
01:26:59.359 --> 01:27:01.520
ink before. That's a new one
to me. We were driving around and

1169
01:27:01.520 --> 01:27:06.640
realized that the Smiths weren't home for
two weeks. Apparently they went on vacation.

1170
01:27:08.319 --> 01:27:12.319
That's right, the Smiths are not
home at their address. Now you

1171
01:27:12.359 --> 01:27:15.960
run the article after they come back. Oh to be clear, but yes,

1172
01:27:15.039 --> 01:27:20.239
you can make a good point.
Stacy Funk goes on to remain well

1173
01:27:20.239 --> 01:27:25.119
covered in the pages of Amberilla era
newspapers. Area newspapers, I should say,

1174
01:27:25.239 --> 01:27:28.680
is the eighties dawn here In nineteen
eighty one, she goes ahead and

1175
01:27:28.720 --> 01:27:33.720
wins the State Fourah All State Horse
Show in Waco. Stacy Funk, the

1176
01:27:33.800 --> 01:27:43.800
daughter of Terry and Vicki Funk,
won All State pole bender excuse me at

1177
01:27:43.840 --> 01:27:45.880
the four Age All State Horse Show
and Waco last weekend. I think this

1178
01:27:45.960 --> 01:27:51.399
is the one. This is I
think this is the one, not the

1179
01:27:51.439 --> 01:27:54.640
one who gets married and beyond the
map, but the other one. I

1180
01:27:54.680 --> 01:27:59.439
think, oh, Stacey. Of
course Terry attends his daughter's wedding is part

1181
01:27:59.439 --> 01:28:03.800
of that movie. She competed in
a field of eighty contestants. Winning the

1182
01:28:03.800 --> 01:28:06.960
first place position qualified her to compete
at the next four h race show and

1183
01:28:08.000 --> 01:28:12.960
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Stacy's sister
Brandy, also attended the show in Waco.

1184
01:28:13.239 --> 01:28:15.000
Funk says in his book, one
thing that didn't happen too often except

1185
01:28:15.000 --> 01:28:17.520
then Maillo, but was always a
thrill for me, was when all three

1186
01:28:17.560 --> 01:28:21.880
wrestling funks. Senior, Junior,
and me would wrestle together. Dad still

1187
01:28:21.920 --> 01:28:26.279
wrestled periodically, and when he did
it was automatic box office. It was

1188
01:28:26.319 --> 01:28:29.840
tough working with my father because you
always knew who was in charge. Still,

1189
01:28:29.840 --> 01:28:30.840
it was a real pleasure, not
just because he was my father,

1190
01:28:31.039 --> 01:28:33.560
but because I got to be in
there with someone who had such a great

1191
01:28:33.600 --> 01:28:36.800
sense of the people in the audience. He had great ring psychology. I

1192
01:28:36.840 --> 01:28:40.920
can't remember him ever having the same
match twice, and my brother and I

1193
01:28:40.960 --> 01:28:44.239
both learned from him. As many
times as Junior and Jack Briscow wrestled for

1194
01:28:44.279 --> 01:28:46.159
the world title, I don't think
they ever had the same match twice,

1195
01:28:46.159 --> 01:28:49.680
and I have never had the same
match twice. I think that's because of

1196
01:28:49.800 --> 01:28:54.640
Dad Boss. We're going to fire
up kind of our first bit of match

1197
01:28:54.680 --> 01:28:58.399
footage. Now, okay, that's
part of the lapsed funk. Now,

1198
01:28:59.399 --> 01:29:04.199
this is kind of curious case because
this is footage included in a documentary we

1199
01:29:04.239 --> 01:29:11.760
referenced last time we were with you
on Houston Wrestling, featuring extensive interviews with

1200
01:29:11.800 --> 01:29:14.920
Paul Bosch, and we sampled that
to give a taste of how Paul bosh

1201
01:29:15.000 --> 01:29:19.000
rather well phrase what it meant to
be Texas wrestling, what the Texas style

1202
01:29:19.119 --> 01:29:24.279
was about? Oh God, why
does this do this? And so I'd

1203
01:29:24.319 --> 01:29:27.920
ask you to turn your attention to
nine thirty three of the file and you

1204
01:29:27.960 --> 01:29:30.840
can find it too out there on
YouTube. It's called Friday Night in the

1205
01:29:30.880 --> 01:29:34.720
Coliseum. It came out in nineteen
seventy two. Now, what I don't

1206
01:29:34.720 --> 01:29:41.520
know is precisely when the matches that
are shown in the documentary happened. I

1207
01:29:41.680 --> 01:29:45.640
like to think. I like to
tell myself that this is one the one

1208
01:29:45.680 --> 01:29:50.960
example we're going to find of Terry
working both with his dad on video and

1209
01:29:51.039 --> 01:29:55.439
also in black and white. I'd
like to think this is a glimpse at

1210
01:29:55.479 --> 01:29:57.880
how Terry worked in the sixties.
I'm not sure of this, but I

1211
01:29:57.880 --> 01:30:01.279
think it's a fair assessment. I
see a guy who looks like Coach from

1212
01:30:01.359 --> 01:30:04.880
Cheers. That would be Paul Bosch, sitting in his office, the Houston

1213
01:30:04.880 --> 01:30:10.199
Wrestling office, talking to the documentarian. But we're about to quickly shift over

1214
01:30:11.199 --> 01:30:14.920
to match footage here in a moment. So if we hit a play on

1215
01:30:14.920 --> 01:30:16.239
one, here we go, yep, and you two at home. Nine

1216
01:30:16.319 --> 01:30:23.600
minutes thirty three seconds is the queue
three two one there's Story Senior. Look

1217
01:30:23.600 --> 01:30:28.399
at him phone, look at him. God, oh, she is not

1218
01:30:28.560 --> 01:30:33.680
happy getting scream down. Look at
her. So that's that's Fred Curry.

1219
01:30:33.760 --> 01:30:38.119
That's wild bull Curry rather slugging.
And there's Terry. Look at him.

1220
01:30:38.840 --> 01:30:42.159
Look at him. He's dressed like
a goof like he does, takes a

1221
01:30:42.199 --> 01:30:44.680
right hand, falls to his knees
of convulsist. Dory. Funk Senior has

1222
01:30:44.680 --> 01:30:46.600
Dory on the back of his jacket. That's Paul Bosh pulling him. This

1223
01:30:46.640 --> 01:30:50.199
is the Houston Coliseum. And look
at Terry. Look at Terry, raise

1224
01:30:50.239 --> 01:30:55.399
hat, look at his look at
him his look at him. He's fucking

1225
01:30:56.239 --> 01:30:59.920
He gets hit with one shot and
he's like doing he's sounding like Sean Michael's

1226
01:31:00.079 --> 01:31:02.039
his whole COVID and get him go
in the chaps in the leather vest.

1227
01:31:02.039 --> 01:31:08.479
Getting right here. Paul Bosh kicks
his leg from behind. The body language

1228
01:31:08.520 --> 01:31:10.880
is already there for the Funker.
Look at him get choked across the ropes.

1229
01:31:15.840 --> 01:31:17.920
This is tremendous. He's getting hung
over the end of the ropes by

1230
01:31:17.960 --> 01:31:23.439
Bosh and then Dorry Senior clubs Bosh
from behind lateral press. That's enough.

1231
01:31:23.439 --> 01:31:26.800
In the sixties, you kidding me. Yeah, Well, Terry Funk lays

1232
01:31:26.880 --> 01:31:31.840
dead on the ring apron like he
just got shot. And when Dory function

1233
01:31:31.920 --> 01:31:34.600
you went to Houston, that son
of a bitch, okay, looks happy.

1234
01:31:36.000 --> 01:31:40.800
How long have been coming to the
wrestling matches? Three years? I've

1235
01:31:40.840 --> 01:31:45.880
been coming. I just got finished
shooting Oz, shooting JFK. Well,

1236
01:31:46.199 --> 01:31:51.239
I'm at Wahoo. I don't know
someone gonna like to eat a salad?

1237
01:31:53.079 --> 01:31:55.520
Someone love to go see restid instead. What do you like about it?

1238
01:31:58.840 --> 01:32:04.760
Oh? All right? Pause?
What do you like about it? Gives

1239
01:32:04.760 --> 01:32:11.079
you something to holler about? So, boss, you've seen it? What

1240
01:32:11.119 --> 01:32:15.560
did you see there? With with
Funk? I saw something I'd never really

1241
01:32:15.560 --> 01:32:21.560
seen before. I saw it just
you know, my experience with with Terry

1242
01:32:21.600 --> 01:32:27.720
Funk is so later in his career, you know, even even the eighties,

1243
01:32:28.479 --> 01:32:30.680
But there I saw someone who just
like so young and so fresh,

1244
01:32:30.720 --> 01:32:36.960
and he just you know, he
made you he just he made you believe

1245
01:32:38.039 --> 01:32:42.239
he just the the the amount of
passion he had in it. He just

1246
01:32:42.359 --> 01:32:45.920
looked like a phenomenon there. Yeah, he's already got that kind of like

1247
01:32:46.520 --> 01:32:50.680
the knock kneed thing he goes into
when it gets punched in the head yep,

1248
01:32:50.760 --> 01:32:54.680
and he sells with like his whole
body, with like his torso kind

1249
01:32:54.680 --> 01:32:59.239
of like gyrating, while his legs
kind of like shake underneath him and he's

1250
01:32:59.520 --> 01:33:02.000
it's like you know, but he's
also doing it in a way. But

1251
01:33:02.119 --> 01:33:08.359
here it's interesting because there is a
distinction from later on when he would do

1252
01:33:08.399 --> 01:33:16.439
it and he was older and he
was you know, playing the crazy guy,

1253
01:33:16.479 --> 01:33:20.960
whereas here it's like watching him as
a youth do it is really something

1254
01:33:21.000 --> 01:33:25.279
special. Yeah, you realize how
far back he had the command of the

1255
01:33:25.319 --> 01:33:29.239
psychology. It wasn't something that he
didn't develop until twenty years into the game.

1256
01:33:30.079 --> 01:33:31.880
So he's under the learning tree,
and there you've got a sense of

1257
01:33:31.920 --> 01:33:35.239
how menacing Dory Funk Senior could appear
when he was not in front of his

1258
01:33:35.319 --> 01:33:40.720
hometown Faithful but just over in Houston
Uber heel against of course Paul Bosh,

1259
01:33:40.720 --> 01:33:45.720
who's the local hero and promoter for
Houston Wrestling, and they did big business

1260
01:33:45.760 --> 01:33:49.560
going out there as brothers, as
father's son. It wasn't just a you

1261
01:33:49.600 --> 01:33:54.359
know, the sons and father teaming
and Amarillo to please the locals. It

1262
01:33:54.399 --> 01:33:58.920
was to go to other territories in
Texas and raise hell Yeah, that's something

1263
01:33:58.960 --> 01:34:00.520
the vine Arch Boys never had.
The Monoic Boys never had the experience of

1264
01:34:00.560 --> 01:34:06.600
leaving Dallas as heels going into other
parts of Texas. They were beloved everywhere

1265
01:34:06.640 --> 01:34:13.039
they went, Houston included. It's
really fascinating. I was really blown away

1266
01:34:13.079 --> 01:34:16.880
by how Terry Funk he already is
if you catch my drift and just that

1267
01:34:16.920 --> 01:34:24.000
brief glimpse we caught in black and
white in Houston. So the first tag

1268
01:34:24.039 --> 01:34:28.119
team title one but the Funk Brothers, was over Don Jardine in Dutch Savage

1269
01:34:28.119 --> 01:34:31.039
April twenty eighth, nineteen sixty six
in Amarillo, So Dory and Terry winning

1270
01:34:31.159 --> 01:34:36.720
championship gold with Funk really only in
the ring for about eight months, and

1271
01:34:36.720 --> 01:34:41.520
then they lost it to Rocky Romero
and Dan Miller May eighteenth, nineteen sixty

1272
01:34:41.560 --> 01:34:45.880
six in Lubbock, Texas. So
we see the working style and we start

1273
01:34:45.920 --> 01:34:47.800
to see what Funk looks like carrying
himself around the ring. Where did the

1274
01:34:47.840 --> 01:34:51.359
promo style come from? Mmmm?
You know, because that would become just

1275
01:34:51.399 --> 01:34:55.439
as much of a calling card of
Terry Funk's game later when he gets extended

1276
01:34:55.439 --> 01:34:59.159
time on the microphone to the seventies, eighties and nineties as the in ring

1277
01:34:59.279 --> 01:35:03.560
signatures that he and he draws inspiration
from an interesting place. Do you know

1278
01:35:03.640 --> 01:35:12.359
what Dean Malinko's dad was, no
or a professor Boris Malinko? Uh yeah

1279
01:35:12.439 --> 01:35:14.920
yeah I do, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do know.

1280
01:35:15.399 --> 01:35:19.079
So here is Terry talking about where
the promo games started to develop that

1281
01:35:19.119 --> 01:35:24.399
would lead to such memorable lines as
egg sucking dog and looking into the camera

1282
01:35:24.439 --> 01:35:29.199
and basically, you know, salivating
with angst and bad will towards his opposition.

1283
01:35:30.159 --> 01:35:32.760
I think, you know that is
interviews are the most important thing.

1284
01:35:32.800 --> 01:35:36.680
I think Pauly does the best job
on him. I don't think it's necessary

1285
01:35:36.760 --> 01:35:42.760
to have the interaction with the crowd. Maybe some people do. I think

1286
01:35:42.760 --> 01:35:45.680
that you're having the interaction with the
people at home. I think that there

1287
01:35:45.720 --> 01:35:50.560
should be more attention paid to interviews. I think the interviews should be done.

1288
01:35:50.760 --> 01:35:56.359
Whether I'm in the very serious ones, it doesn't necessarily matter if the

1289
01:35:56.399 --> 01:36:00.520
people. If you want people to
laugh or you want them to boo uh,

1290
01:36:01.640 --> 01:36:05.800
they will bow at home in their
own minds. Yeah. And I

1291
01:36:05.880 --> 01:36:10.760
think that you need to shoot those
interviews and shoot'em and shoot'em.

1292
01:36:10.760 --> 01:36:13.800
And he's he been do'em more
and more and more then yeah, and

1293
01:36:13.880 --> 01:36:17.279
you need to get what is what
is proper is is One of the first

1294
01:36:17.279 --> 01:36:21.880
guys that I've learned from was Boris
Malinkoka. You know. Uh, he

1295
01:36:23.000 --> 01:36:27.439
was down in Florida and I I
was and interviews weren't so much thought of

1296
01:36:27.600 --> 01:36:32.600
was that important at that time?
And uh, he would sit there and

1297
01:36:32.600 --> 01:36:35.680
I would see him in a corner
and he'd have these notes and everything else

1298
01:36:35.680 --> 01:36:39.800
and studying'em. And then I'd
go ahead and once I mean he'd study.

1299
01:36:39.800 --> 01:36:42.720
It's one of the first guys that
I knew that would just take a

1300
01:36:42.760 --> 01:36:47.319
five minute interview would just blossom it
into business. And he would do that

1301
01:36:47.560 --> 01:36:50.000
and he would spend the time and
the effort at it, you know.

1302
01:36:50.920 --> 01:36:55.600
Yeah. Uh, he's one guy
that taught me that interviews are everything.

1303
01:36:55.640 --> 01:37:00.960
And so you've got a you've got
a minute to put you know, assholes

1304
01:37:00.960 --> 01:37:06.119
and the bleachers, and when every
eighteen inches you've got a seat, well,

1305
01:37:06.439 --> 01:37:11.079
you want to fill those seats.
And that's what interviews can do for

1306
01:37:11.119 --> 01:37:15.039
you. That's what you're for.
That's that's one of the sole purposes.

1307
01:37:15.239 --> 01:37:18.840
Now I should say that was one
of the sole purposes. Now, the

1308
01:37:18.880 --> 01:37:21.920
sole purposes of rating, So you
don't even have time for the interviews.

1309
01:37:23.560 --> 01:37:27.720
You don't have time to sit there
and talk to somebody, and people and

1310
01:37:27.880 --> 01:37:31.640
attention spans change, fans. Attention
spans now are so short compared to what

1311
01:37:31.680 --> 01:37:35.840
they used to be, because of
the society that we lived in, because

1312
01:37:35.840 --> 01:37:41.239
of the computer, because of the
Nintendos, because of the one hundred and

1313
01:37:41.239 --> 01:37:47.119
thirty TV station, Pat Pat bat
bat. It's all change, definitely because

1314
01:37:47.159 --> 01:37:51.680
then of the Nintendo's right, yeah
plural, Well give fun credit. He's

1315
01:37:51.680 --> 01:37:57.119
making those remarks before smartphones even existed. Yeah, and he sees it coming.

1316
01:37:57.640 --> 01:38:00.279
He knows that it's going to be
basically a game divided attention. But

1317
01:38:00.359 --> 01:38:04.199
the point there is that used to
have people's undivided attention. For that minute

1318
01:38:04.279 --> 01:38:10.079
you looked into the camera and you
knew you could faithfully relay, which you

1319
01:38:10.119 --> 01:38:12.720
know, if you were Boris Malinko, you would rehearsed or at least thought

1320
01:38:12.760 --> 01:38:15.920
through ahead of time, and you
could just have that one to one connection

1321
01:38:15.079 --> 01:38:18.239
and you weren't worried about getting pops
or booze at the right moment. You

1322
01:38:18.279 --> 01:38:24.079
weren't worried about right pausing for reaction. You knew the person at home was

1323
01:38:24.159 --> 01:38:26.800
reacting in the way that you were
desiring, and that was enough, and

1324
01:38:26.800 --> 01:38:30.680
you were looking into that camera and
you were giving them a glimpse into your

1325
01:38:30.680 --> 01:38:31.960
soul. When you cut a promo, you were allowed to do that.

1326
01:38:32.439 --> 01:38:36.680
In the business that Terry Funk came
up in. Boris Malinko was famous for

1327
01:38:36.720 --> 01:38:41.039
doing, in particular an angle down
in Florida in sixty six where he was

1328
01:38:41.079 --> 01:38:45.119
wrestling Sammy's steamboat and begin biting his
ear to draw blood, at which point

1329
01:38:45.239 --> 01:38:47.119
Eddie Graham, the promoter in Florida, comes out to stop the attack,

1330
01:38:47.199 --> 01:38:51.520
punches Malinko in the mouth and that
causes the Great Malnko's false teeth to fall

1331
01:38:51.560 --> 01:38:57.279
out of his face. Point Eddie
Graham stomps and smashes the false teeth into

1332
01:38:57.279 --> 01:39:01.640
pieces. This is an absolutely legendary
angle for true vintage fans of Florida Championship

1333
01:39:01.640 --> 01:39:05.159
Wrestling. Not really something that I've
ever seen documented. I'm not even sure

1334
01:39:05.159 --> 01:39:10.159
there's still images of it, let
alone video that survived. But that's the

1335
01:39:10.239 --> 01:39:13.640
kind of angle that Boris Malinka would
pull off, and the promo style was

1336
01:39:13.720 --> 01:39:17.239
cerebral. He was one of those
guys and you can start to see when

1337
01:39:17.399 --> 01:39:21.680
there's not a lot of stuff surviving
of Boris Malinko doing the kind of promos

1338
01:39:21.680 --> 01:39:25.000
that Terry Funk would have been talking
about there in that clip. But you

1339
01:39:25.039 --> 01:39:29.800
can see here as he voices over
on Florida Champions Wrestling Television or I think

1340
01:39:29.840 --> 01:39:32.159
it was Houston, actually a Houston
television, a Matt that he'd had with

1341
01:39:32.199 --> 01:39:35.319
Paul Bosch, who's now for some
reason becoming a recurring character here on the

1342
01:39:35.359 --> 01:39:40.960
lapsed Funk interest Yer and plenty of
laps Funk and plenty of lessons of Funk

1343
01:39:41.000 --> 01:39:44.039
too. In that little clip there
that he was talking about promos, I

1344
01:39:44.039 --> 01:39:47.039
mean, the Nintendo's remark is one
thing, but overall, I think he's

1345
01:39:48.359 --> 01:39:51.880
he's making a hell of a point. He's talking about a component of the

1346
01:39:51.920 --> 01:39:56.520
business that promos. I'm not sure
they filled that role anymore. I Mean,

1347
01:39:56.640 --> 01:39:59.159
sometimes I see a promo that I
feel like seals a ticket or a

1348
01:39:59.159 --> 01:40:01.880
pay per view, but there's not
like that dedicated part of the show where

1349
01:40:01.880 --> 01:40:06.199
you sit there expressly to be sold
to, and I feel like that's I

1350
01:40:06.239 --> 01:40:11.199
feel like there's no more promos that
mean anything. Backstage. What Terry's talking

1351
01:40:11.199 --> 01:40:15.640
about are exclusively backstage, exclusively you
and the camera yep, yep, or

1352
01:40:15.680 --> 01:40:17.359
you know, ringside in an empty
building with Vince holding the stick. That

1353
01:40:17.600 --> 01:40:19.880
is the art that's that's gone where
It's like you got a minu and a

1354
01:40:19.880 --> 01:40:21.840
half. Maybe people give a shit
about you, and if you prove you

1355
01:40:21.880 --> 01:40:25.600
can do it, you'll keep making
money in this territory. We'll keep booking

1356
01:40:25.600 --> 01:40:28.840
you because we know as simple as
hell, we just point the camera out,

1357
01:40:28.880 --> 01:40:30.560
you tell you who your opponent is, the date and the building,

1358
01:40:30.840 --> 01:40:34.359
and you'll figure out the fucking storyline
yourself. Or you'll ride what the seeds

1359
01:40:34.359 --> 01:40:38.680
we've planted off to a new place
and let your creativity flow. Just do

1360
01:40:38.760 --> 01:40:42.560
it. And it's not like this, it's not this skill that like everyone

1361
01:40:42.760 --> 01:40:45.119
tries to develop. You can either
do it or you can't. You come

1362
01:40:45.159 --> 01:40:46.880
with it or you don't. We're
not gonna fucking you know, make it.

1363
01:40:46.920 --> 01:40:50.439
It's such a crazy thing to think
about that that that there was,

1364
01:40:50.560 --> 01:40:54.439
that there are people who who have
to like that, they have to learn

1365
01:40:54.479 --> 01:40:58.720
how to fucking do it, you
know, Like that's just crazy to me.

1366
01:40:59.079 --> 01:41:00.720
Excuse I don't know, I don't
think I'm sure you can learn to

1367
01:41:00.720 --> 01:41:03.159
cut a promo, but if you
have to learn to cut a promo.

1368
01:41:03.239 --> 01:41:06.800
You'll never be a good or great
promo, agreed. You know you have

1369
01:41:06.880 --> 01:41:11.399
to come in being like, Okay, I know how someone got me excited

1370
01:41:11.399 --> 01:41:15.600
about a wrestling match. I know
where to go and myself to find something.

1371
01:41:15.640 --> 01:41:18.239
Not that's a copy, but I
can draw inspiration in a similar way

1372
01:41:18.279 --> 01:41:21.119
that I think that wrestler would have
to come up with those words and that

1373
01:41:21.279 --> 01:41:26.600
order and that facial expression and that
pregnant pause, and this is the kind

1374
01:41:26.640 --> 01:41:28.520
of match we're going to have,
and this is the match we're coming off

1375
01:41:28.560 --> 01:41:30.920
of, and this is the angle
we did. And it's similar to the

1376
01:41:30.039 --> 01:41:33.239
energy that was created by this angle
that I once saw. And I remember

1377
01:41:33.279 --> 01:41:38.159
this wrestler said this when that happened
to him in that scenario. Let me

1378
01:41:38.239 --> 01:41:40.880
channel at least the spirit of that, if not the exact wording of it.

1379
01:41:40.960 --> 01:41:45.640
Yep, And let me cut a
fucking promo. And Funk comes up

1380
01:41:45.680 --> 01:41:49.960
at a time where he had the
luxury of picking up styles and tricks before

1381
01:41:50.239 --> 01:41:54.640
people across the industry had realized the
true value of the promo. He said

1382
01:41:54.680 --> 01:41:59.119
it there in the clip. It
was something that you know, the real

1383
01:41:59.199 --> 01:42:02.560
pros knew could be used to fill
seats and keep your name relevant and keep

1384
01:42:02.560 --> 01:42:05.800
you paid in the business. But
it's not like it was held against other

1385
01:42:05.800 --> 01:42:11.199
guys if they couldn't do that.
It wasn't like the table stakes skills.

1386
01:42:10.960 --> 01:42:15.000
Still you can still fucking you know, work a match, right, that

1387
01:42:15.800 --> 01:42:19.479
could be enough for most promoters.
The fact that you could fill seats with

1388
01:42:20.039 --> 01:42:27.840
your voice was still novel enough in
the sixties that it was it was exclusive

1389
01:42:27.840 --> 01:42:30.520
company that you could find yourself in
if you learned how to do that,

1390
01:42:30.399 --> 01:42:34.039
or if you could do that.
It certainly wasn't everyone has to cut promos

1391
01:42:34.079 --> 01:42:36.479
before they can get on tving.
That was like, no, we don't.

1392
01:42:36.720 --> 01:42:41.680
Why does everyone have to cut a
promo? If if you're good at

1393
01:42:41.680 --> 01:42:45.000
them, you'll cut them anyway,
right, they don't have to command on

1394
01:42:45.039 --> 01:42:46.920
the front end that you do.
So so here's the sample. So this

1395
01:42:46.960 --> 01:42:50.439
is Boris Malenko, just very calmly
and cerebrally, but in a way that

1396
01:42:50.560 --> 01:42:54.520
really gets a heel across in a
very sneaky way. And I can hear

1397
01:42:55.279 --> 01:42:59.960
echoes of the early promo style of
Terry Funk, not so much the screaming

1398
01:43:00.119 --> 01:43:04.720
crazy promo style that he would do
in the nineties, but sort of like

1399
01:43:04.760 --> 01:43:08.840
that seventies NBA World Champion kind of. You know, it's like a formal

1400
01:43:08.920 --> 01:43:12.199
setting with like a Gordon Soli or
somebody holding the microphone. But he's kind

1401
01:43:12.199 --> 01:43:15.560
of pushing the limits in what he's
saying. He's kind of being a little

1402
01:43:15.640 --> 01:43:16.880
nutty, and some of the things
he's saying even though he's had a suit,

1403
01:43:16.960 --> 01:43:20.000
you know what I mean. That's
that early on set, Terry Funk.

1404
01:43:20.119 --> 01:43:25.960
And here is Malenko commenting on how
he basically got screwed in a match

1405
01:43:25.960 --> 01:43:30.039
with Paul Bosch, making a ton
of great qualifications and excuses for why he

1406
01:43:30.119 --> 01:43:32.720
was the one that was actually wronged
and not Paul Bosch. And just think

1407
01:43:32.760 --> 01:43:39.359
about a Terry Funk watching this and
absorbing the cadence, absorbing just the overall

1408
01:43:39.399 --> 01:43:46.239
style. A couple of weeks ago, you've seen the same match on television

1409
01:43:47.000 --> 01:43:55.119
and it was narrated by mister TV
announcer. I watched announcer. By the

1410
01:43:55.119 --> 01:44:01.960
way, this is Professor Boris Malenko
talking to a wonderful state of public people

1411
01:44:02.000 --> 01:44:05.119
that love him so well, and
the people that he loves so much.

1412
01:44:05.960 --> 01:44:11.399
I'm going off the track once again, but I watched this match and I

1413
01:44:11.479 --> 01:44:16.560
watched TV and mister TV announcer narraed
it, and I never heard such a

1414
01:44:16.720 --> 01:44:25.319
partial, prejudiced individual in all my
life. Well, I ask for equal

1415
01:44:25.439 --> 01:44:30.279
time, and I ask for the
privilege of announcing the same match and telling

1416
01:44:30.319 --> 01:44:34.800
you people the true facts of the
match and the way it should be announced.

1417
01:44:35.279 --> 01:44:40.800
You heard a man that had shown
nothing but prejudice announced this match,

1418
01:44:41.439 --> 01:44:46.119
and you heard the man that shows
partiality tought everybody except Professor Malenko and Lord

1419
01:44:46.239 --> 01:44:53.760
Charles Montague. Now you have a
right to listen to a man who's going

1420
01:44:53.800 --> 01:44:57.880
to state fact in fact only because
he bleas in the truth, and that

1421
01:44:58.039 --> 01:45:01.960
is me. Professor boris my I
say, the truth is the main thing,

1422
01:45:02.199 --> 01:45:06.720
and it always prevails over any type
life that mister TV announcer has put

1423
01:45:06.760 --> 01:45:14.159
forth time and time again again,
What did I say A cherry hit me

1424
01:45:14.199 --> 01:45:17.960
with? She can't put the professor
out. There is no way man has

1425
01:45:17.960 --> 01:45:21.880
intestinal fortity like no other man in
the world. And I'm talking about myself

1426
01:45:21.880 --> 01:45:29.159
because the praise can never be high
enough for me, because I am yours

1427
01:45:29.239 --> 01:45:32.079
Texas and Texas is mine and every
person, each and every one of us

1428
01:45:32.760 --> 01:45:34.920
know that when I get in the
ring, I get in there for the

1429
01:45:35.000 --> 01:45:42.399
sole propic of winning. And who
am I doing it for? For the

1430
01:45:42.479 --> 01:45:45.520
great state of texts, for all
my friends, for all my fans.

1431
01:45:45.520 --> 01:45:47.680
Look at I got them under run
now, I got them under run.

1432
01:45:47.720 --> 01:45:56.600
Now, I got them, I
got them now. There is no way

1433
01:45:56.640 --> 01:46:04.680
out for you, mister TV announcwer, I got them now without many kind

1434
01:46:04.680 --> 01:46:08.560
of instruments in the hand. How
far can he go now? With the

1435
01:46:08.600 --> 01:46:12.199
referee helping him once again? Once
again he's helping once no gun he gets

1436
01:46:12.199 --> 01:46:18.159
in his way. There's no way
without holding his hand. So he left,

1437
01:46:18.520 --> 01:46:23.319
not as a winner, just that
he's able to hold up for the

1438
01:46:23.359 --> 01:46:26.880
ten minute period. And the only
way he was able to do that only

1439
01:46:26.920 --> 01:46:32.279
wait by using all types of instruments, all types of you said, ten

1440
01:46:32.319 --> 01:46:38.920
minutes of foreign object. He could
never never dream. You know what I'm

1441
01:46:38.960 --> 01:46:44.960
doing here? I am asking for
five more minutes, five more minutes.

1442
01:46:45.680 --> 01:46:48.960
Remember the words that mister TV announcers
said when I asked for this. Listens,

1443
01:46:49.239 --> 01:46:57.279
ladies and gentlemen, I haven't got
I haven't even got another minute.

1444
01:46:58.279 --> 01:47:03.920
Boris Molenko has just retired me from
wrestling. He will never step into the

1445
01:47:04.039 --> 01:47:08.720
ring again. At the heart breathing. This man is going through right now.

1446
01:47:09.079 --> 01:47:12.840
His bless is coming in short.
Fans, I'm saying you could back

1447
01:47:12.840 --> 01:47:15.520
and go with me. I'm praining
with him, and they're holding his hand

1448
01:47:15.560 --> 01:47:18.079
up, but not as a victor, just that he's able to stood in

1449
01:47:18.119 --> 01:47:25.319
there ten minutes with me. I
am the man that retired Paul TV announcer

1450
01:47:25.520 --> 01:47:32.720
Bash. Hear the intensity kind of
oh the he starts out trying to pretend

1451
01:47:32.760 --> 01:47:36.800
he's got everything under control, and
he's gonna calmly and coolly explain to you

1452
01:47:36.800 --> 01:47:40.199
why he was taking advantage of and
giving a raw deal in this match.

1453
01:47:41.279 --> 01:47:45.600
He said, he said, the
crescendo build, He's justifying everything he did.

1454
01:47:45.800 --> 01:47:47.600
He's calling himself the hero of Texas, even though he's the uberheel.

1455
01:47:48.680 --> 01:47:51.479
I mean, I'm not saying that
that's a great promo, but I'm saying

1456
01:47:53.079 --> 01:47:59.920
you can see the raw material of
like that really cerebral yet kind of wild

1457
01:48:00.039 --> 01:48:02.119
promo style that Terry Funk would come
to develop. I'm saying it's a great

1458
01:48:02.119 --> 01:48:03.960
promo. What did you think of
that? I'm sure you haven't heard it.

1459
01:48:04.000 --> 01:48:08.800
I fucking I've never heard him before. I loved it. That was

1460
01:48:08.880 --> 01:48:15.279
so fascinating, right, I liked
I liked him commenting on a match.

1461
01:48:15.279 --> 01:48:21.800
I liked that he was I don't
know, like again, yeah, listening

1462
01:48:21.800 --> 01:48:28.520
to him get riled up over the
course of it and then excited that he

1463
01:48:28.800 --> 01:48:31.840
ended a man's career. Yes,
it's tremendous, and he didn't end his

1464
01:48:31.880 --> 01:48:34.199
career because it was funny. Is
Paul bosh Is in the ring saying,

1465
01:48:34.279 --> 01:48:36.319
I don't know if I got five
minutes left in me. I'm exhausted.

1466
01:48:36.439 --> 01:48:40.720
And it's Boris who layers on top
of that that I amended the man's career.

1467
01:48:40.760 --> 01:48:43.720
He didn't say that, right,
He's probably sitting to wrestle. He

1468
01:48:43.800 --> 01:48:45.479
keeps calling him mister TV announcer even
though his name is Paul Bosch. Just

1469
01:48:45.520 --> 01:48:50.640
tremendous stuff. And so I don't
know when when, of all the people

1470
01:48:50.680 --> 01:48:55.920
to cite his inspiration, Terry Funk
in that shoot interview, mentioned Boris Malenko.

1471
01:48:56.000 --> 01:48:58.840
I was like, no, that's
a deep cut. That's somebody that

1472
01:48:58.880 --> 01:49:00.720
nobody talks about. I mean,
he's talked about, but you know,

1473
01:49:01.039 --> 01:49:05.199
so little of his promo survives on
tape that it's hard to appreciate how much

1474
01:49:05.319 --> 01:49:10.359
of an influence his promo style had
and how early he was and that to

1475
01:49:10.359 --> 01:49:14.359
barp it and I mean, I
had no fucking idea that he was that

1476
01:49:14.439 --> 01:49:15.920
he was, that that he was
so good at it, which is amazing

1477
01:49:15.960 --> 01:49:20.600
because his son was notoriously the absolute
worst promo you could ever imagine. You

1478
01:49:20.640 --> 01:49:25.640
know, Dean couldn't say anything on
the microphone that would carry it. You

1479
01:49:25.640 --> 01:49:28.479
know, that would be the equivalent
of carrying a tune in a wrestling context.

1480
01:49:28.600 --> 01:49:31.960
Yeah, not at all. So
so that's that, that's the inspiration

1481
01:49:31.960 --> 01:49:35.560
starting a bubble in Now he takes
a little bit of that cerebral speaking style

1482
01:49:35.880 --> 01:49:41.039
and that sort of like erudite way
of talking and taking exception and just being

1483
01:49:41.079 --> 01:49:45.960
a completely kind of maniacal heel who's
got like this veneer of sophistication to him,

1484
01:49:46.000 --> 01:49:49.039
this veneer of like careful word choice. There's the thing about Funk's promos

1485
01:49:49.079 --> 01:49:53.159
too, It's like, even though
he's a Texas boy, he's always looking

1486
01:49:53.199 --> 01:49:56.479
down on his opponents as being more
of a hick than him. Don't think

1487
01:49:56.520 --> 01:49:59.720
of him as like a down on
his luck cowboy or like some like old

1488
01:49:59.720 --> 01:50:02.960
what Old West's gunslinger. His his
character kind of over the years was more

1489
01:50:03.039 --> 01:50:08.960
like a rich cowboy, almost like
a cowboy came into your town and looked

1490
01:50:08.960 --> 01:50:14.000
down on you. That's wild too, yep, because you know Funk's royalty,

1491
01:50:14.199 --> 01:50:17.079
you know, and he did not
hesitate to play it up that way.

1492
01:50:17.159 --> 01:50:20.279
His family ties when he would do
promos in a new area or a

1493
01:50:20.319 --> 01:50:26.960
new promotion, and so there's like
this kind of like veneer of like arrogance

1494
01:50:27.000 --> 01:50:30.119
to the Funks that I think people
don't realize when they just think of them

1495
01:50:30.119 --> 01:50:32.199
as you know, wild bucking broncos, not at all. I mean,

1496
01:50:32.239 --> 01:50:35.840
I always think of them as a
bronco type like you just said, and

1497
01:50:36.119 --> 01:50:40.039
Dorry very much embodying that, even
more so than Terry. But so we

1498
01:50:40.079 --> 01:50:43.159
see the promo style now, the
working style, and the en ring antics

1499
01:50:43.159 --> 01:50:45.119
and the physicality that we just saw
on display there in Houston from Terry Funk

1500
01:50:45.319 --> 01:50:48.199
that can be choked up in equal
amounts to Dick Murdoch, who someone has

1501
01:50:48.199 --> 01:50:51.800
come up already a bit because of
course, sure one of Dorry's signature opponents

1502
01:50:51.800 --> 01:50:55.840
was Frankie Hill Murdock, and Dick
was his step son and got into the

1503
01:50:55.880 --> 01:50:58.800
business. And we talked about,
you know, Dorry's memories of seeing Terry

1504
01:50:58.840 --> 01:51:01.640
and Dick running around the the m
Mailla Sports Arena's little boys causing havoc even

1505
01:51:01.680 --> 01:51:06.439
though their mother, the Funk's mother
did not let Terry apparently run as wild

1506
01:51:06.520 --> 01:51:13.159
as Dick's family did. But just
in the earliest days of Terry Funk's wrestling

1507
01:51:13.159 --> 01:51:15.079
career, he's starting to get acquainted
with this Dick Murdock, who he's of

1508
01:51:15.119 --> 01:51:19.399
course known since boyhood. And I
think there's some formative experiences starting to happen

1509
01:51:19.399 --> 01:51:23.520
as they work together and interact on
the road. One of them, he

1510
01:51:23.560 --> 01:51:29.800
tells in his book as follows,
there were some real characters in a Mailla

1511
01:51:30.279 --> 01:51:32.359
when I wrestled there in the early
part of my career. I could tell

1512
01:51:32.359 --> 01:51:35.520
Dick Murdoch stories all day. What
was great about Murdock was he was just

1513
01:51:35.560 --> 01:51:40.000
completely goofy. When I broke into
the business, Dick was still in high

1514
01:51:40.000 --> 01:51:42.680
school, since he was about two
years younger than me. He'd referee the

1515
01:51:42.720 --> 01:51:45.760
matches. We went to Abilene one
night, and the wrestlers didn't even want

1516
01:51:45.800 --> 01:51:47.840
the fans to know the referees traveled
with them. That's how serious they were

1517
01:51:47.840 --> 01:51:51.680
about keeping appearances to protect the business. That night in Abilene, we did

1518
01:51:51.720 --> 01:51:54.920
a deal where Dick, as the
referee, got involved in the match and

1519
01:51:54.960 --> 01:51:57.800
he and I went at it in
the ring. So later we were getting

1520
01:51:57.840 --> 01:51:59.920
ready to leave and I said,
Dick, we can't go out together.

1521
01:52:00.159 --> 01:52:02.880
People will see us. You get
in the trunk and I'll let you go.

1522
01:52:03.800 --> 01:52:08.640
Oh my god, what happened to
this business? Boss? Where'd it

1523
01:52:08.680 --> 01:52:14.039
go? Stories like this anymore?
They put fucking cameras in the car and

1524
01:52:14.119 --> 01:52:16.800
Nike a reacita the show about it
exactly. Oh well, I don't know

1525
01:52:16.800 --> 01:52:20.399
what's going on. We're gonna hide
somebody in the car. Fine, but

1526
01:52:20.439 --> 01:52:26.319
you gotta talk about it and do
do do you know interviews about it.

1527
01:52:26.720 --> 01:52:30.520
I shut the trunk and let him
stay inside for the entire one hundred and

1528
01:52:30.520 --> 01:52:34.279
sixty five miles to Odessa, And
was he ever pissing and moaning, God,

1529
01:52:34.359 --> 01:52:38.560
damn you funk let me out of
here. Finally he just came up

1530
01:52:38.560 --> 01:52:44.159
and ranked this. I fucking love
it. It's just, you know,

1531
01:52:45.600 --> 01:52:50.840
just tremendous. Another story he has
about uh, yes, so he has

1532
01:52:50.880 --> 01:52:55.359
that one rere stuck in the trunk. He also started to work him for

1533
01:52:55.399 --> 01:52:59.840
the first time two years into his
career. According to the Wrestling Data Database,

1534
01:53:00.319 --> 01:53:03.039
on Funk's career. The first time
he shares a ring with Dick Murdock

1535
01:53:03.159 --> 01:53:08.439
is September twenty sixth, nineteen sixty
seven, so about two years into his

1536
01:53:08.479 --> 01:53:12.439
career, where he and Funk that
is in the Lithario team up against Kowatiki

1537
01:53:12.560 --> 01:53:18.920
and Dick Murdoch in Odessa. There's
also a match in Herford where Dick Murdock

1538
01:53:18.960 --> 01:53:25.399
wrestles Terry Funk. I think to
the time limit September thirtieth of nineteen sixty

1539
01:53:25.399 --> 01:53:29.840
seven, so apparently that being the
first instance of Terry Funk and Dick Murdock

1540
01:53:29.880 --> 01:53:33.239
facing off one on one. And
as we mentioned, he gets to team

1541
01:53:33.319 --> 01:53:41.840
with Wahoo McDaniel early on, and
the comparisons to Wahoo were clear. I

1542
01:53:41.880 --> 01:53:45.359
want to share with you as we
turned back around to this early stage part

1543
01:53:45.399 --> 01:53:51.399
of Funk's career, the clip that
speaks to and working with Wahoo, if

1544
01:53:51.399 --> 01:53:57.000
he can just bear with me for
a moment, do you think this is

1545
01:53:57.000 --> 01:53:59.720
funny? Because Wahoo put his dad
on blast in the book and remember that

1546
01:54:00.079 --> 01:54:03.159
I don't remember that. Yeah,
he was talking about how his dad was

1547
01:54:03.159 --> 01:54:09.720
like a shitty payoff guy and how
he basically said, like you're gonna take

1548
01:54:09.800 --> 01:54:14.760
less money or leave any left.
That makes sense, I guess I'll have

1549
01:54:14.800 --> 01:54:17.920
to fire you. So if you
could take a gander at the clipping that

1550
01:54:18.000 --> 01:54:23.359
I just shared with you, This
one's from the Amberillo Globe Times from October

1551
01:54:23.439 --> 01:54:26.159
of nineteen sixty five. So we're
turning back the clock a bit to where

1552
01:54:26.399 --> 01:54:30.039
Terry Funk was still playing football at
West Texas State. But as we talk

1553
01:54:30.079 --> 01:54:32.880
about Wahoo, this is an article
that sort of frames up what we were

1554
01:54:32.880 --> 01:54:36.760
talking about earlier and makes it pretty
clear that they wanted the public in Amarilla

1555
01:54:36.840 --> 01:54:42.720
to think about Terry as sort of
a new incarnation of Wahoo McDaniel. That's

1556
01:54:42.800 --> 01:55:04.079
wild we Go Funk of football.
Terry Funk wants Wawhoo type career. Nobody

1557
01:55:04.119 --> 01:55:10.279
ever gets anywhere in this world without
ambition. West Texas State's outstanding senior offensive

1558
01:55:10.319 --> 01:55:15.199
tackle, Tera Funk can't be faulted
on that score. Terry would like to

1559
01:55:15.239 --> 01:55:19.039
be another Wahoo McDaniel after he finishes
at WT. By that, he means

1560
01:55:19.079 --> 01:55:24.600
he'd like to play professional football.
It's the goal of every football player.

1561
01:55:25.479 --> 01:55:30.479
It's the goal of every football player, the good nurtured youngster explained, and

1562
01:55:30.560 --> 01:55:35.560
be a professional wrestler in the offseason. McDaniel former Oklahoma football players doing just

1563
01:55:35.680 --> 01:55:41.000
that. He plays for the New
York Jets as a linebacker, then hits

1564
01:55:41.039 --> 01:55:45.159
the mat when the season ends for
Terry to wrestle, and is natural enough

1565
01:55:45.199 --> 01:55:49.680
since his father and brother have both
made good on the Matt's sport. Both

1566
01:55:49.720 --> 01:55:55.920
played football too. Dorriy Junior was
a West Texas line star a few seasons

1567
01:55:56.000 --> 01:56:00.840
back. This season, Terry has
been the outstanding wtker. Wait is that

1568
01:56:01.039 --> 01:56:05.640
WT? Is it that? I'm
not sure? That's a hard one to

1569
01:56:05.680 --> 01:56:10.840
read. Some of these articles aren't
reproduced beautifully. Yeah, the scans are

1570
01:56:11.239 --> 01:56:17.159
almost like bad faxes. Ummm.
In just about every game, he's averaged

1571
01:56:17.520 --> 01:56:23.319
carrying out close to ninety percent of
his assignments, but admits to some concern

1572
01:56:23.399 --> 01:56:27.840
about this week's chore. Terry will
be called upon from time to time and

1573
01:56:27.960 --> 01:56:33.399
take out Colorado State star linebacker Jim
Foster. Foster at two and two hundred

1574
01:56:33.399 --> 01:56:38.079
and ninety three, Yeah, let's
go with that. Who gives a fight?

1575
01:56:38.119 --> 01:56:44.560
Two hundred and ninety three pound Pottstown, Pennsylvania native is being boomed for

1576
01:56:44.680 --> 01:56:50.039
All American designation from the respect for
Funk and the other the other bulls buffs.

1577
01:56:50.079 --> 01:56:54.079
They're buffaloes, right, there's buffaloes. I said bulls that last time.

1578
01:56:54.119 --> 01:56:57.960
I think it's buffs, he accord
him. Foster just might raise such

1579
01:56:57.960 --> 01:57:01.560
a lofty designation to carry. Presently, a two hundred and thirty pounder will

1580
01:57:01.640 --> 01:57:05.119
have some weight on Foster. I
guess these two hundred and three pounds not

1581
01:57:05.119 --> 01:57:11.359
two hundred ninety three pounds, but
may have trouble making contact with the cat

1582
01:57:11.479 --> 01:57:16.680
quick csuas after the seven to thirty
pm kickoff Saturday in Buffalo Bowl, when

1583
01:57:16.720 --> 01:57:23.119
his college day's and young Funk hopes
to play offensive guard for some pro team.

1584
01:57:23.199 --> 01:57:27.279
He was a guard on the Buffs
until this season. I'm almost sixty

1585
01:57:27.319 --> 01:57:30.560
two, and I think I could
carry about two hundred and forty five pounds

1586
01:57:30.600 --> 01:57:34.319
without any trouble. There you go. When it comes to putting on weight,

1587
01:57:34.439 --> 01:57:39.439
Terry is an expert. I only
weighed about one hundred and five pounds

1588
01:57:39.640 --> 01:57:43.600
when I was in high school.
But I've been working hard, lifting weights

1589
01:57:43.840 --> 01:57:47.079
and making sure of the proper diet, and I've gone up steadily since then.

1590
01:57:48.880 --> 01:57:53.520
Funk and bench press three hundred and
fifteen pounds now. He played at

1591
01:57:53.520 --> 01:57:57.159
one hundred and ninety hundred and ninety
fives last season, though he reported at

1592
01:57:57.199 --> 01:58:04.319
two fourteen nineteen sixty fourteen a day, practice paired off, so some of

1593
01:58:04.359 --> 01:58:12.359
that carefully nurtured poundage. I was
up to about two twenty by the time

1594
01:58:12.399 --> 01:58:15.359
we started training last spring, and
I got up as high as two forty

1595
01:58:15.399 --> 01:58:19.920
this summer. Funk said he believes
proper diet and getting the proper amount of

1596
01:58:19.920 --> 01:58:25.239
sleep at least eight hours a day, are the most important considerations for a

1597
01:58:25.279 --> 01:58:30.680
person who wants to put on pounds. Terry takes little stock in miracle pills.

1598
01:58:30.439 --> 01:58:35.680
In this connection, Terry denies bribing
the Greater for his excellent gridiron Marxist

1599
01:58:35.760 --> 01:58:41.840
fall. I guess I've just been
lucky, is his explanation. With a

1600
01:58:41.880 --> 01:58:45.159
few more players like Terry, coach
Kerbal wouldn't worry about Colorado State or any

1601
01:58:45.159 --> 01:58:50.159
other opponent, and luck wouldn't enter
into the situation anyway in any manner.

1602
01:58:55.840 --> 01:58:59.399
That's it there, It is.
The rest is kind of yeah, so

1603
01:58:59.439 --> 01:59:02.560
he wants a Wahoo like career,
and that, of course didn't happen.

1604
01:59:02.600 --> 01:59:08.279
But that's just a glimpse at how
another glimpse rather at how long. Well,

1605
01:59:08.359 --> 01:59:10.399
not necessarily true, because at the
end of the day, it did

1606
01:59:10.439 --> 01:59:14.720
become a Wah who like career,
because why who quit playing football? Yeah,

1607
01:59:14.760 --> 01:59:16.079
if you play it out, Yeah, not at the time that this

1608
01:59:16.199 --> 01:59:20.159
was written. But yeah, that's
a good point, I guess in the

1609
01:59:20.199 --> 01:59:25.479
final analysis, you could say that
Wahoo, though, became a national celebrity

1610
01:59:25.520 --> 01:59:30.640
as a football player, just as
much as they love to write about that

1611
01:59:30.680 --> 01:59:36.800
guy right as a football player as
much as a wrestler. But he talks

1612
01:59:36.840 --> 01:59:41.920
about well, the book that's done
about him by his family, the posthumous

1613
01:59:41.920 --> 01:59:45.439
book that came out on Wahoo,
talks about sort of where he was at

1614
01:59:45.439 --> 01:59:47.680
when he came down to team with
Terry. It reads a number of Who's

1615
01:59:47.680 --> 01:59:50.760
teammates weren't happy about the Jets letting
the Dolphins take their teammate, but both

1616
01:59:50.800 --> 01:59:54.119
Waho and the Jets for an office, were pleased by the move. This

1617
01:59:54.199 --> 01:59:59.960
is some team of investors led by
comedian actor Danny Thomas in a turn,

1618
02:00:00.960 --> 02:00:06.119
granted the expansion franchise and then Dolphins
made him one of their top picks.

1619
02:00:06.880 --> 02:00:10.840
Not sure this is about his transition
to the Dolphins and Jets, but anyway,

1620
02:00:12.119 --> 02:00:14.960
the Jets no longer had to worry
about the contentious situation between Wahoo and

1621
02:00:15.039 --> 02:00:17.720
Nameth Joe Namath, and Wahoo was
grateful for the start. In later years,

1622
02:00:17.760 --> 02:00:19.920
he did admit to being a little
gretfully he wasn't around with the Jets

1623
02:00:19.920 --> 02:00:23.840
won Super Bowl three. So this
is when Wyho leaves the Jets for the

1624
02:00:23.880 --> 02:00:28.399
Dolphins. Apparently, as the Dolphins
organization began preparations for the nineteen sixty six

1625
02:00:28.479 --> 02:00:30.359
season, Wyhoo was busy staying in
shape the best way he knew how.

1626
02:00:30.680 --> 02:00:34.560
He went back to West Texas and
started wrestling again. Just four days before

1627
02:00:34.600 --> 02:00:38.600
the draft. He had won Themilla
version of the North American Tag Team Championship

1628
02:00:38.640 --> 02:00:42.960
with Terry Funk Wow, defeating Dory
Funk Junior and Ricky Romero and Amrello.

1629
02:00:43.119 --> 02:00:45.159
When he wasn't tagging with Funk,
Waho was working in singles matches with foes

1630
02:00:45.199 --> 02:00:48.560
like Tokyo, Tom Iron, Mike
Dibiasi, Don Jardine, and Dutch Savage.

1631
02:00:48.840 --> 02:00:53.239
That Savage later spoke about facing young
Wahoo in the ring, Wyho hit

1632
02:00:53.319 --> 02:00:55.479
me with a chair and potatoes,
living crap out of me. I didn't

1633
02:00:55.479 --> 02:00:57.760
need to use my blade. I
had blood running all over me. And

1634
02:00:57.760 --> 02:01:00.119
there's a sheriff stay me while I
was behind me with the chair arguing with

1635
02:01:00.159 --> 02:01:03.520
another sheriff. He was a pretty
hot tempered kid. Funk and Wahoo lost

1636
02:01:03.560 --> 02:01:06.880
the titles March tenth and Amarillo to
Don Jardine and Dutch Savage. These are

1637
02:01:06.920 --> 02:01:11.399
matches we've already referenced. He continued
to work the West Texas loop, including

1638
02:01:11.720 --> 02:01:15.119
TV tapings as well as spot shows
and places like Odessa, Lubbock, Abilene,

1639
02:01:15.119 --> 02:01:18.239
and Amarilla, as well as North
Mexican New Mexico Town's Clovis and Albuquerque.

1640
02:01:18.439 --> 02:01:23.000
So when he comes down there to
team with Terry, as we talked

1641
02:01:23.039 --> 02:01:27.640
about earlier, that's that's him making
preparations for a new team and a new

1642
02:01:27.680 --> 02:01:30.439
season in the NFL. With all
the spotlight on him. He comes and

1643
02:01:30.439 --> 02:01:32.800
wins the tag belts with young Terry
Funk, who just started in wrestling.

1644
02:01:32.960 --> 02:01:39.760
So hm, he's getting quite the
introduction and what appears to be Terry's first

1645
02:01:39.920 --> 02:01:43.840
jaunt to Saint Louis, which of
course is the heart of the National Wrestling

1646
02:01:43.880 --> 02:01:50.920
Alliance, the base of operations for
NWA President Sam Muchnick and his his his

1647
02:01:51.039 --> 02:01:56.640
core group of guys. Pat O'Connor
as the booker and some others, Geigel

1648
02:01:56.760 --> 02:02:03.000
sort of Kansas City proximate to them. That's where you went when you wanted

1649
02:02:03.000 --> 02:02:06.600
to establish yourself in American wrestling as
somebody that, no matter what you had

1650
02:02:06.600 --> 02:02:10.840
to do to get over in the
more violent and sort of like promo and

1651
02:02:10.880 --> 02:02:14.520
colorful character based promotions, that when
it came down to getting in the ring

1652
02:02:14.520 --> 02:02:19.239
in trunks and boots and not having
any shortcuts at your disposal and being able

1653
02:02:19.239 --> 02:02:23.119
to go hold for hold, which
is what the Saint Louis wrestling crowds expected

1654
02:02:23.760 --> 02:02:26.279
that you could be that and that
you, in fact could one day be

1655
02:02:26.920 --> 02:02:30.279
the NWA World's Heavyweight Champion, because
you had to be that kind of worker

1656
02:02:30.319 --> 02:02:32.680
to ever have a shot at the
belt, of course, particularly in the

1657
02:02:32.720 --> 02:02:35.920
seventies, and that, of course, at the time in which Terry funk

1658
02:02:35.960 --> 02:02:41.039
Is is maturing as a pro wrestler, his first jaunt to Saint Louis is

1659
02:02:41.199 --> 02:02:44.359
February of nineteen sixty six, so
he's only in the business four or five

1660
02:02:44.359 --> 02:02:47.600
months now, pardon me, two
months? Fucked that two months unless this

1661
02:02:47.720 --> 02:02:51.439
is unless the date is inverse that
it's referring to April second. Suffice to

1662
02:02:51.479 --> 02:02:56.840
say, as he turns the calendar
for the first time in his life as

1663
02:02:56.840 --> 02:03:00.039
a professional wrestler. He's on his
way to the Keel Auditorium, Oh boy,

1664
02:03:00.319 --> 02:03:03.439
one of the famed wrestling venues of
course, in Saint Louis, where

1665
02:03:03.479 --> 02:03:06.319
he and Dorry take on Dick the
Bruiser and Lee Hennig which I think is

1666
02:03:06.359 --> 02:03:12.239
Larry Hennick and a two out of
three falls thirty minute draw. I believe

1667
02:03:12.279 --> 02:03:15.239
it was. I know it.
It was a win. Dori and Terry

1668
02:03:15.279 --> 02:03:18.239
defeat Dick the Bruiser and Lee Hennig
in Saint Louis in nineteen sixty six,

1669
02:03:18.960 --> 02:03:23.520
and we talk about the Saint Louis
style of course. Unfortunately, this is

1670
02:03:23.520 --> 02:03:26.399
another territory where not a ton of
tape survives, or at least tape that

1671
02:03:26.439 --> 02:03:30.520
I've seen or been able to easily
call up. But here is Terry Boss.

1672
02:03:30.560 --> 02:03:31.720
If we can turn to some more
video here, I'll send you the

1673
02:03:31.760 --> 02:03:34.039
link, and this is on YouTube
as well for you folks out there.

1674
02:03:35.680 --> 02:03:44.520
Here's Terry getting in the ring in
Saint Louis in a one on one situation,

1675
02:03:44.600 --> 02:03:46.479
so you can kind of just see
him and as his unalloyed self have

1676
02:03:46.520 --> 02:03:50.199
also seen footage from his early as
seventy three of him in multiple person tag

1677
02:03:50.239 --> 02:03:54.840
matches. Wow, some of the
studio tapings, but this is seventy five,

1678
02:03:54.920 --> 02:03:59.399
So this is one who it was
like six years after he first comes

1679
02:03:59.439 --> 02:04:01.560
to Saint Louis. So this is
a much more developed Terry Funk. This

1680
02:04:01.600 --> 02:04:05.079
is a Funk on the cusp of
winning the world title and being that guy.

1681
02:04:05.720 --> 02:04:11.079
But you just get a sense by
watching this four minute, forty minute

1682
02:04:11.079 --> 02:04:15.199
clip here of the contrast between this
and the wild brawling scene we just saw

1683
02:04:15.239 --> 02:04:17.399
with him and his dad in Houston, yep, yep, And how versatile

1684
02:04:17.439 --> 02:04:21.279
of a performer already Terry Funk is
because he's still able to project that cowboy

1685
02:04:21.359 --> 02:04:26.600
aura, but he goes into the
ring and doesn't do any of the things

1686
02:04:26.640 --> 02:04:30.760
that you know, typify the Texas
Deathmatch or the wild and wooly crazy sneak

1687
02:04:30.800 --> 02:04:35.760
attack style that we know Dory Funk
specialized in his father, and that was

1688
02:04:35.800 --> 02:04:39.079
on display in that clip from Houston. So if we can hit the play

1689
02:04:39.119 --> 02:04:43.000
and there's no audio on this,
it's just it's a silent clip, So

1690
02:04:43.039 --> 02:04:45.600
I don't worry about that. Sure, got to hit play in three this,

1691
02:04:45.680 --> 02:04:47.680
by the way, for folks who
want to find it is on YouTube.

1692
02:04:47.920 --> 02:04:54.479
Just look for Terry Funk and Saint
Louis seventy five Wrestling three two one,

1693
02:04:56.199 --> 02:04:59.439
and there he is, Yeah,
jaw jacking with a cowboy head on

1694
02:04:59.520 --> 02:05:02.640
vest. Look at that woman.
Wow, they thought it was a little

1695
02:05:02.640 --> 02:05:05.239
bit a shan for a second.
Does she want him dead with that bouffond

1696
02:05:05.279 --> 02:05:11.039
on her head? Yep? She
You know, she's got so many secrets

1697
02:05:11.119 --> 02:05:15.039
in her boufond that that you know, you could probably she could probably kill

1698
02:05:15.079 --> 02:05:18.880
him. I think that's Joe Groggiola, the Saint Louis Wrestling announcer. Parents.

1699
02:05:19.039 --> 02:05:23.239
It kind of looks like the guy
who did who was in the wrestler

1700
02:05:23.640 --> 02:05:27.479
Oh yeah, sure, Sam Nicer. Yeah, I think Sam Nicer just

1701
02:05:27.479 --> 02:05:29.520
did in Indiana, But I could
be wrong. Col her elbow, look

1702
02:05:29.520 --> 02:05:33.720
at look at Terry in the blue
trunk. Look at him working the work

1703
02:05:33.760 --> 02:05:39.399
in the hold against the ropes,
looking for a clean break. He had

1704
02:05:39.479 --> 02:05:43.159
weights, So I said he did
weights. Huh didn't show what do you

1705
02:05:43.199 --> 02:05:46.520
mean by waights? Well, in
that article it says he and that I

1706
02:05:46.560 --> 02:05:49.960
read it about his football career,
and so I was talking about how he

1707
02:05:50.000 --> 02:05:55.960
did weights, lifted weights and put
on pounds and doesn't look like he used

1708
02:05:56.000 --> 02:06:00.640
weights to put on pounds in this
match. Yeah, this is probably pre

1709
02:06:00.039 --> 02:06:03.319
Royd usage. He did talk a
little bit about using them in college because

1710
02:06:04.079 --> 02:06:06.199
it was like, you know,
nobody knew really what it was doing.

1711
02:06:06.279 --> 02:06:09.640
It was just something that worked,
so you took it just like anything else.

1712
02:06:10.199 --> 02:06:13.479
But I don't think he really made
it a point to do things for

1713
02:06:13.520 --> 02:06:15.479
cosmetic purposes early in his career.
The business wasn't really like that when he

1714
02:06:15.520 --> 02:06:18.960
broke in. But look at look
at the look at the essence of funk.

1715
02:06:19.479 --> 02:06:24.920
That should have been the name of
the fun, the essence of Funk.

1716
02:06:25.119 --> 02:06:27.319
I mean, he's just controlling the
leg on the mat, driving his

1717
02:06:27.399 --> 02:06:31.359
knee into it. Very technical,
not not something I would be fully expecting

1718
02:06:31.359 --> 02:06:33.920
from Terry Funk. Yeah, this
is what they wanted in Saint Louis.

1719
02:06:33.920 --> 02:06:39.760
They wanted a collery element work in
the arms. He's picking him up,

1720
02:06:39.800 --> 02:06:43.439
you know, and then he drops
the guy down in his fucking back hooking

1721
02:06:43.439 --> 02:06:45.800
the leg. When we started the
lapsed funk and we know, you know

1722
02:06:45.920 --> 02:06:48.199
Terry Funk of the nineties, like, this is not what you picture.

1723
02:06:48.720 --> 02:06:53.840
No, that's what one thing I
was excited about is really getting acquainted with

1724
02:06:53.880 --> 02:06:58.560
this part of Funk's career. Yep. Yeah, totally solid finals on the

1725
02:06:58.600 --> 02:07:05.399
scoop and slam. He's got a
great intensity too, Like it's not just

1726
02:07:08.039 --> 02:07:14.159
it's not just doing the you know, technical moves and having that catch base.

1727
02:07:14.399 --> 02:07:18.520
It's like he's actually really really intense
with it and it looks like it

1728
02:07:18.600 --> 02:07:23.359
hurts. Yeah, and you can
tell these people are extra animated in this

1729
02:07:23.399 --> 02:07:26.079
small studio setting. This isn't the
wrestling at the Chase or anything. This

1730
02:07:26.199 --> 02:07:31.600
is just the studio wrestling show.
Yeah, but he's doing these holes,

1731
02:07:31.600 --> 02:07:40.560
these exchanges with so much body language. Yep. He's getting a lot more

1732
02:07:40.600 --> 02:07:42.880
out of a standard iriship to the
corner. See way flew out of that

1733
02:07:42.880 --> 02:07:45.520
corner. Also, also he's got
incredible speed too. Yeah, this is

1734
02:07:45.520 --> 02:07:49.520
before those knees gave out on him. You don't get a lot of what

1735
02:07:49.640 --> 02:07:55.319
you do. But the matches of
Terry Funks where his knees are in working

1736
02:07:55.319 --> 02:07:58.159
shape and he's able to get a
lot of spring are not the ones that

1737
02:07:58.239 --> 02:08:01.960
are most frequently watched. I drop
kick and I snap mare. I drop

1738
02:08:03.039 --> 02:08:09.239
kick from Terry Funk. I mean
that's perfect. Who knew so that that's

1739
02:08:09.279 --> 02:08:15.600
the vaunted spinning toe hold. Yep, affected by his dad. That's a

1740
02:08:15.640 --> 02:08:18.760
stupid move. Supposed to twist that
ankle right at the top there, and

1741
02:08:18.800 --> 02:08:20.920
you go over and over, round, then round, twist it over and

1742
02:08:20.000 --> 02:08:26.800
over and and you trap. It
keeps going even after the bell is called

1743
02:08:26.800 --> 02:08:31.279
for, and he drops that knee
on the leg after the wind. It's

1744
02:08:31.319 --> 02:08:37.399
all grappling baby. Yep. That's
great. We see him getting heat,

1745
02:08:39.439 --> 02:08:43.239
which would come to be a problem, as we'll talk about, because I

1746
02:08:43.239 --> 02:08:45.840
mean, they like you to be, you know, they don't mind you

1747
02:08:45.880 --> 02:08:46.800
being a heel in Saint Louis.
It's not like everyone has to be a

1748
02:08:46.840 --> 02:08:50.520
pure babyface versus pure baby face match. But you cannot go as far in

1749
02:08:50.600 --> 02:08:54.239
Saint Louis as you could in all
the other areas of the country that Terry

1750
02:08:54.279 --> 02:08:58.319
Funk made money in to get the
people to hate you and get them riled

1751
02:08:58.399 --> 02:09:01.479
up. That's not what Sam Muchnick
was looking for. But of course he's

1752
02:09:01.479 --> 02:09:05.079
been Saint Louis two or three falls, of course, as a funk with

1753
02:09:05.159 --> 02:09:09.600
a low ankle. Pick there and
goes right back to driving the knee like

1754
02:09:09.600 --> 02:09:13.279
a fucking savage in the damaged wheel
of his opponent. Damn, look at

1755
02:09:13.319 --> 02:09:18.079
him. Go let him go with
that knee over and over again. He's

1756
02:09:18.079 --> 02:09:20.479
just getting over such a killer instinct, even though he's not doing anything cheating.

1757
02:09:22.039 --> 02:09:24.439
Yep, all he has to do
is slap on one twist of the

1758
02:09:24.479 --> 02:09:28.680
spinning toe hold to take the second
fall his hand raised. This fucking goof

1759
02:09:28.760 --> 02:09:33.560
is done. Even sure who this
is he's beating up on it. J

1760
02:09:33.560 --> 02:09:37.000
A broni X Yep, that's that. Wow, of course, that's wild,

1761
02:09:37.520 --> 02:09:39.760
just just such a glimpse of a
different funk. So the thing about

1762
02:09:39.760 --> 02:09:43.359
Saint Louis, of course, is
that it's not like other territories, and

1763
02:09:43.359 --> 02:09:48.840
that it doesn't have a core group
of wrestlers that define the Saint Louis territory.

1764
02:09:48.680 --> 02:09:52.439
There's always transience. Saint Louis is
sort of a lead and that the

1765
02:09:52.479 --> 02:09:54.960
best come through, spend some time, and then go back to their home

1766
02:09:56.039 --> 02:09:58.560
base. But there's really no wrestler
you could call a Saint Louis wrestler.

1767
02:10:00.159 --> 02:10:03.359
Mm hmm. It kind of called
hardly that because he was from Kansas City

1768
02:10:03.359 --> 02:10:05.840
and that was his base of operations, but he was touring the country's world

1769
02:10:05.920 --> 02:10:09.439
champion. It wasn't like there was
a crop of guys related to, you

1770
02:10:09.479 --> 02:10:13.880
know, a wrestler like a Fritz
or a Dory or a Bosh or a

1771
02:10:15.000 --> 02:10:18.279
Joe Blanchard or a Don Owen or
it wasn't wrestler, but who took over

1772
02:10:18.319 --> 02:10:22.960
the territory and ran it with his
crew of guys. So when you went

1773
02:10:24.000 --> 02:10:26.600
to Saint Louis, you were sort
of like showcasing yourself in a way that

1774
02:10:26.640 --> 02:10:30.720
you weren't in other territories where you
were going just to sort of make money

1775
02:10:30.720 --> 02:10:33.720
and to draw house. And that's
happening here for Terry Funk very very early

1776
02:10:33.760 --> 02:10:37.680
on, and he was pushed as
a star early. Meltzer wrote that much

1777
02:10:37.760 --> 02:10:41.640
Negle liked the brother tag team where
they had matches in sixty six against Fritz

1778
02:10:41.680 --> 02:10:45.600
van Erk and the Crusher, which
they won via dequ There are some really

1779
02:10:45.600 --> 02:10:48.600
big wins on the records of Dory
and Terry Funk in the earliest days of

1780
02:10:48.640 --> 02:10:52.720
them coming to Saint Louis that really
indicate that Sam much Neck liked what he

1781
02:10:52.760 --> 02:10:54.840
saw and Dorry Funk Senior was a
power player in the NWA. We talked

1782
02:10:54.840 --> 02:10:58.119
about this, Yeah, yeah,
that territory, even though it would wane

1783
02:10:58.159 --> 02:11:03.960
tremendously and in fluence after Dory Funk
Senior's departure was a huge center of power

1784
02:11:03.960 --> 02:11:07.560
in the National Wrestling Alliance in the
sixties and seventies. The Dory Denton story

1785
02:11:07.600 --> 02:11:13.039
we talked about dark Soar Paulus,
the promoter that Dorry Senior bought out to

1786
02:11:13.039 --> 02:11:16.399
take over Amilla, was a big
power player in the NWA, very former

1787
02:11:16.479 --> 02:11:20.560
NWA president and close to the sun
as it regards the national influence of the

1788
02:11:20.560 --> 02:11:26.279
wrestling industry. So this is big
and certainly that's gonna that's going to weigh

1789
02:11:26.319 --> 02:11:30.359
on Sam Mutchnick in terms of,
you know, influence and sort of bringing

1790
02:11:30.359 --> 02:11:33.439
them into Saint Louis and casting them
in a favorable light. It's happening very

1791
02:11:33.479 --> 02:11:39.319
early, but there became a problem. You see, Terry's learning how to

1792
02:11:39.399 --> 02:11:43.720
really get heat yeap, Like the
kind of heat where people want a knife

1793
02:11:43.720 --> 02:11:48.039
a motherfucker yep. Like they come
to the arena literally hoping that you really

1794
02:11:48.079 --> 02:11:52.520
want the kind of heat that ar
wrestler should want. I mean, I

1795
02:11:52.520 --> 02:11:58.720
think so, but he takes it
too far in the eyes of Sam Muchnik

1796
02:11:58.960 --> 02:12:03.880
And this is just a wonderful illustration. I think this story is a wonderful

1797
02:12:03.920 --> 02:12:09.359
illustration of how sneakily complex the wrestling
business was in the sixties and seventies as

1798
02:12:09.359 --> 02:12:16.560
it regards how the different territories regarded
the rules and how important they thought it

1799
02:12:16.680 --> 02:12:20.199
was to their business that the rules
be respected or totally disregarded. It was

1800
02:12:20.199 --> 02:12:24.640
one of the two. You know, ECW would have never been ECW if

1801
02:12:24.640 --> 02:12:28.600
the referees were disqualifying people. Yeah, you couldn't have the promotion that way.

1802
02:12:28.159 --> 02:12:33.920
Conversely, you could not have Saint
Louis Wrestling for forty to fifty sixty

1803
02:12:33.000 --> 02:12:39.159
years running as strongly as it did
without referees that were deputized to step in

1804
02:12:39.319 --> 02:12:45.039
take control of matches as any real
referee would sam Muchnick, of course,

1805
02:12:45.119 --> 02:12:50.239
was a sportswriter before he became the
most influential promoter in professional wrestling, and

1806
02:12:50.319 --> 02:12:54.720
he took sort of a cue from
the fact that sports writers would constantly be

1807
02:12:54.720 --> 02:12:56.479
making fun about the fact that in
professional wrestling there were six, seven,

1808
02:12:56.520 --> 02:13:01.119
eight, nine world champions, and
what kind of a sport doesn't have one

1809
02:13:01.159 --> 02:13:07.439
solid champion, thus THEW and so
he's also very attentive to the fact that

1810
02:13:07.680 --> 02:13:13.880
in real sports, referees decisions have
sway they cannot be ignored. You cannot

1811
02:13:13.920 --> 02:13:16.680
have a referee make a call and
then just not take the ten yard penalty

1812
02:13:18.199 --> 02:13:22.000
to say fuck you dare me.
You know, you certainly can't waffle him

1813
02:13:22.000 --> 02:13:24.520
in the middle of the field and
ever expect to play football again. And

1814
02:13:24.520 --> 02:13:28.199
the way Sam much Nick thought about
what his fans wanted from professional wrestling,

1815
02:13:28.239 --> 02:13:31.159
and he was right in that part
of the country. You had to be

1816
02:13:31.199 --> 02:13:37.600
protective of that. But with a
fucking Texas cyclone like Terry Funk coming through

1817
02:13:37.520 --> 02:13:41.680
and the lessons he's learning about how
to get attention on himself and how to

1818
02:13:41.680 --> 02:13:43.960
get heat and how to get people
coming back, it was just oil and

1819
02:13:45.000 --> 02:13:48.720
water, which is fascinating because he
does eventually win over the NWA and become

1820
02:13:48.760 --> 02:13:54.600
world champion and represent the organization well
far and wide. But there was a

1821
02:13:54.640 --> 02:13:58.840
period where that was not so obvious
that these two would find a way to

1822
02:14:00.119 --> 02:14:03.000
that these two styles we should say, would find a way to coexist.

1823
02:14:03.479 --> 02:14:05.119
Yeah, and it comes in the
form of Johnny Valentine, who of course

1824
02:14:05.199 --> 02:14:07.760
is an all time legend in the
business. Came up a ton in the

1825
02:14:07.800 --> 02:14:15.479
Lamental tragedy, huge star in Texas
across all Dallas Houston, Amarillo, everywhere

1826
02:14:15.520 --> 02:14:20.239
really he ever worked and the father
of course of Greg the Hammer Valentine.

1827
02:14:20.000 --> 02:14:22.760
And we turned to Greg Valentine in
a shoot interview that he did with Title

1828
02:14:22.840 --> 02:14:30.640
Match and It's Okimetube where he talks
about Terry Funk and the role he played

1829
02:14:30.680 --> 02:14:37.239
in his family's history in the business. Did your fathers know each other?

1830
02:14:37.760 --> 02:14:43.000
Oh? Well, of the first
matches. Oh yeah, so Dorry Funx

1831
02:14:43.119 --> 02:14:50.000
Senior. I when I wrestled in
the early seventies in Amarillo, Dorry Funx

1832
02:14:50.560 --> 02:14:56.880
he was fantastic and he always get
the young guys and talked to us,

1833
02:14:58.680 --> 02:15:03.479
got us gone, and there was
Dory Junior. He used to watch before

1834
02:15:03.520 --> 02:15:07.159
I got in the in the wrestling. Uh. I sit on the front

1835
02:15:07.199 --> 02:15:13.199
room in Fort Worth, Texas,
watched a couple of matches with Johnny Valentine

1836
02:15:13.119 --> 02:15:18.960
against Dorry Funk Junior when he was
a world champion, and uh, great

1837
02:15:20.039 --> 02:15:24.800
matches. I said, Wow,
you know, my dad would hang his

1838
02:15:24.960 --> 02:15:28.640
tongue out and going like this over
by me, I said, ringside watching

1839
02:15:28.720 --> 02:15:35.199
this, you know, great matches. So they they had to be real.

1840
02:15:35.399 --> 02:15:41.560
They were so so awesome. So
reflections on his father tangling with the

1841
02:15:41.560 --> 02:15:50.479
Funks now when they bring the few
to say they were so awesome. Greg

1842
02:15:50.479 --> 02:16:00.520
Mama, for Kelly's such an ugly
man and his name is Don Fargo.

1843
02:16:00.800 --> 02:16:05.079
In the very beginning, he wasn't
even a Valentine. Wow. Like that

1844
02:16:05.159 --> 02:16:09.600
magazine we were reading from that chronicled, you know, Dorry's story and him

1845
02:16:09.600 --> 02:16:13.600
bringing his boys into the business from
sixty three. There's an article in there

1846
02:16:13.880 --> 02:16:16.600
that shows Greg Valentine and a picture
of him and it says Don Fargo underneath

1847
02:16:16.600 --> 02:16:22.920
his face. So they bring the
Johnny Valentine Terry Funk dynamic to Saint Louis,

1848
02:16:22.960 --> 02:16:26.479
and here's the problem. We turned
first to Terry Funk's book. Johnny

1849
02:16:26.560 --> 02:16:28.680
Valentine was one of the later challengers
who battled me on his way to junior.

1850
02:16:30.039 --> 02:16:33.239
We had a short feud February nineteen
seventy three in Saint Louis over the

1851
02:16:33.239 --> 02:16:35.879
Missouri title. We wrestled thirty minutes
for TV. It was so damn good

1852
02:16:37.079 --> 02:16:39.799
because of Johnny, not because of
me. At the end of the match,

1853
02:16:39.799 --> 02:16:41.879
we had a deal where I clipped
his leg with a chair. Johnny

1854
02:16:41.920 --> 02:16:45.840
sold it so well that the people
were coming unglued. I mean, the

1855
02:16:45.840 --> 02:16:48.319
whole arena was ready to jump in
the ring and believe me, I've had

1856
02:16:48.360 --> 02:16:50.959
them do it. So I was
watching it was chaotic. Later on Sam

1857
02:16:52.000 --> 02:16:54.639
Muchnick, the Saint Louis promoter,
came and told us he wasn't running it

1858
02:16:54.680 --> 02:17:00.040
on the TV show because it was
too hot. Wow, Terry, he

1859
02:17:00.120 --> 02:17:03.719
was the first wrestler who was too
hot for TV. That's one thing people

1860
02:17:03.719 --> 02:17:07.159
fail to realize when they talk about
a fluke finish where there is no finality.

1861
02:17:07.479 --> 02:17:11.079
It's what you do going into those
finishes that's so important. A screwy

1862
02:17:11.120 --> 02:17:13.840
finish can be just me hitting you
and you being laid out if the match

1863
02:17:13.879 --> 02:17:18.120
is popping and the people are being
set for it. That Saint Louis crowd

1864
02:17:18.200 --> 02:17:20.440
was hot because of the way we
set it up in that long match,

1865
02:17:20.920 --> 02:17:24.319
and because of the way Johnny Valentine
sold the pain of his leg. I'm

1866
02:17:24.319 --> 02:17:26.000
not trying to put myself on a
level with Johnny Valentine, but I truly

1867
02:17:26.040 --> 02:17:30.200
think he and I took the same
approach when he was selling that cheer.

1868
02:17:30.239 --> 02:17:33.000
He was really hurting. To be
able to totally do that is rare,

1869
02:17:33.280 --> 02:17:37.520
but he had that power not just
to portray it, but to deliver the

1870
02:17:37.559 --> 02:17:39.399
truth of what he was doing to
the people in those stands and have them

1871
02:17:39.440 --> 02:17:43.360
feel that Sam was a smart man. Though to this day, I think

1872
02:17:43.360 --> 02:17:46.040
part of the heat for my issue
with Valentine was Sam showing part of the

1873
02:17:46.079 --> 02:17:48.959
angle but not all of it.
But at the same time, cutting that

1874
02:17:50.000 --> 02:17:52.520
angle short was caused by Sam not
wanting to put so much power in our

1875
02:17:52.600 --> 02:17:56.520
hands. If he'd shown that whole
thing, Johnny and I would have been

1876
02:17:56.559 --> 02:18:01.879
locked in for a long run there, and Sam had other plans. I

1877
02:18:01.959 --> 02:18:05.920
love it throwing shade on Sam Muchnick. That's great. Those plans included not

1878
02:18:07.000 --> 02:18:09.040
letting anyone get so hot that Saint
Louis was to reliant on one piece of

1879
02:18:09.079 --> 02:18:13.280
talent. Remember I said there were
no Saint Louis guys. Perhaps that boss

1880
02:18:13.319 --> 02:18:16.360
was by design. Sam always kept
control of his own and wisely so,

1881
02:18:16.520 --> 02:18:20.399
Funk concludes. Larry Mattisick, of
course, was Sam much Nick's right hand

1882
02:18:20.399 --> 02:18:24.399
man and took the territory over after
Sam Muchnick gave up. Later went to

1883
02:18:24.440 --> 02:18:28.959
work for Has McMahon and allowed WWF
to push strongly into Saint Louis right as

1884
02:18:28.959 --> 02:18:33.840
the national expansion began in eighty three
late eighty three, And here's his recollection

1885
02:18:33.879 --> 02:18:37.159
of this infamous angle from his book
Wrestling of the Chase, The Inside Story

1886
02:18:37.159 --> 02:18:41.559
of Sam Muchnick and the Legends of
Professional Wrestling. Terry Funk was one grappler

1887
02:18:41.639 --> 02:18:46.719
who found out how serious Sam was
about his keep it in the ring guidelines.

1888
02:18:46.319 --> 02:18:48.959
That is to say, right,
Sam didn't want matches spilling out into

1889
02:18:48.959 --> 02:18:52.639
the floor. He certainly didn't want
them spilling out into the stands like the

1890
02:18:52.639 --> 02:18:56.000
Texas Death matches did, or out
to the the fucking you know, popcorn

1891
02:18:56.000 --> 02:19:01.319
booth and all that. The Every
Tenth nineteen seven twenty three broadcast, Funk

1892
02:19:01.479 --> 02:19:05.319
defeated Johnny Valentine. Sam was at
a charity luncheon and had to miss part

1893
02:19:05.319 --> 02:19:07.280
of the taping, but he'd already
decided that Terry would take the Missouri state

1894
02:19:07.360 --> 02:19:11.479
championship. With only the details remaining
to be worked out. He left Pad

1895
02:19:11.520 --> 02:19:16.079
O'Connor, his booker, in charge
of the show. Lo and behold,

1896
02:19:16.079 --> 02:19:20.040
Funk used a chair to batter Valentine's
leg right in front of referee Joe Schoenberger.

1897
02:19:20.239 --> 02:19:24.840
That's something Terry doesn't mention, MM
think. Then Funk clamped on a

1898
02:19:24.879 --> 02:19:28.120
spinning toe hold for the victory.
When Sam got back to the Channel eleven

1899
02:19:28.159 --> 02:19:33.760
studio with the programs being taped.
Fans were enraged. Sam viewed the footage,

1900
02:19:33.799 --> 02:19:35.799
and I can vouch for his reaction. It was one of the few

1901
02:19:35.840 --> 02:19:39.680
times I ever saw him truly angry. O'Connor nearly lost his job. The

1902
02:19:39.680 --> 02:19:45.559
booker Wow Funk caught a serious dose
of hell. The entire booking sequence was

1903
02:19:45.639 --> 02:19:48.719
re arranged so a rematch could take
place on March sixteenth at Kiel. Without

1904
02:19:48.799 --> 02:19:52.120
question, the belt was going back
to Valentine. Fate got in the way,

1905
02:19:52.120 --> 02:19:56.280
though, as Valentine was hospitalized with
heart trouble in Houston the night before

1906
02:19:56.280 --> 02:19:58.799
the rematch was to take place.
Sam got the call at one thirty.

1907
02:20:00.879 --> 02:20:03.040
I was handling the publicity by then, so Sam instructed me to notify everyone

1908
02:20:03.079 --> 02:20:05.760
about what had happened. That still
left him with the problem, how would

1909
02:20:05.760 --> 02:20:09.639
he feel the main event slot an
almost impossible notice. Fritz van Eric had

1910
02:20:09.639 --> 02:20:11.799
a show in Dallas, so he
was out. My wife Pat hurt us

1911
02:20:11.799 --> 02:20:15.799
talking read the situation, and,
in her debut as a booker, whispered,

1912
02:20:15.799 --> 02:20:18.879
what about Kinisky Wow? Dutifully I
repeated her words to Sam. He

1913
02:20:18.959 --> 02:20:22.799
loved the idea, and while I
notified everyone from the keel manager in the

1914
02:20:22.799 --> 02:20:24.959
box office folks, to the Globe
Democrat in the Post dispatch, and every

1915
02:20:26.000 --> 02:20:28.079
radio station I could find. Sam
called Big Thunder Kinisky, drove from his

1916
02:20:28.120 --> 02:20:31.399
home outside Vancouver to Seattle, caught
a flight at three fifteen am, arrived

1917
02:20:31.399 --> 02:20:35.719
in a big thunder. That's funny
was that his nickname like his gimmick name

1918
02:20:35.799 --> 02:20:41.159
thunder Yep, big Thunder, Big
Thunder, Big Thunder Gene Kiniski. Samrant

1919
02:20:41.159 --> 02:20:43.120
I had no clue and arrived in
Saint Louis round seven thirty am. The

1920
02:20:43.120 --> 02:20:46.319
Warri Hotel manager let Geen in our
office where he was doing dozing in my

1921
02:20:46.399 --> 02:20:48.879
chair when Sam and I came in
around ten am. Where have you guys

1922
02:20:48.920 --> 02:20:54.079
been for crowning out loud? Kiniski
roared By the way Kiniski won funk relinquished

1923
02:20:54.200 --> 02:20:58.000
the Missouri crown. I learned so
much from that sequence of events. First,

1924
02:20:58.120 --> 02:21:00.959
Sam made it clear what could and
could not be done in Saint Louis

1925
02:21:01.000 --> 02:21:03.600
and that no matter what, he
was the boss. Second, we only

1926
02:21:03.600 --> 02:21:07.799
had to refund sixty dollars worth of
tickets that night, testimony to the fact

1927
02:21:07.000 --> 02:21:11.159
that Sam's honesty and dealing with the
substitution was recognized. Third, Sam had

1928
02:21:11.159 --> 02:21:15.760
earned a loyalty with a talent that
few others in the business could claim.

1929
02:21:16.000 --> 02:21:18.959
So you do not make the referee
look like he doesn't know what he's doing

1930
02:21:18.959 --> 02:21:24.479
in Saint Louis, and by smashing
Johnny Valentine's leg of a chair and plain

1931
02:21:24.600 --> 02:21:26.799
view of the referee despite the fact
that the referee's hands were tied, not

1932
02:21:26.840 --> 02:21:31.559
being able to call for disqualification.
Knowing Funk was to go over without Sam

1933
02:21:31.639 --> 02:21:35.600
much Nick in the building, but
everyone in an impossible position, and Sam

1934
02:21:35.639 --> 02:21:39.719
took action, and so Funks all
pissed because he thinks he did what it

1935
02:21:39.760 --> 02:21:43.079
took to make the splash and draw
business as he'd learned to in other parts

1936
02:21:43.120 --> 02:21:46.719
of the country. But it just
wasn't going to be a fit that.

1937
02:21:48.239 --> 02:21:54.120
That's just what a business in seventy
three. Yeah, for all those myriad

1938
02:21:54.120 --> 02:22:03.920
considered into it the absolute glory.
Years now, Terry Funk meets another very

1939
02:22:03.959 --> 02:22:07.120
notable and high profile challenger for the
first time on June second of nineteen sixty

1940
02:22:07.120 --> 02:22:11.000
six, in the form of Fritz
van Eric. Fritz von Eric comes to

1941
02:22:11.040 --> 02:22:15.440
the Sports Arena and Amarilla to wrestle
a two out of three falls match against

1942
02:22:15.520 --> 02:22:20.360
Terry, who's only a few months
into the business, and the history between

1943
02:22:20.399 --> 02:22:26.360
the Funks and Von Eric is kind
of undertold. I think in some ways

1944
02:22:26.760 --> 02:22:33.040
we didn't barely even touched on Dori
Funk when we did Lamental Tragedy. But

1945
02:22:33.120 --> 02:22:35.000
there's a lot to be said,
and I think we're going to turn to

1946
02:22:35.079 --> 02:22:39.159
Ron Mullenac's book Fritz Van Eric,
Master of the Iron Claw. Okay,

1947
02:22:39.600 --> 02:22:41.879
and I ask you to share this
with the Solar System boss. They just

1948
02:22:41.879 --> 02:22:46.600
popped it in the window there already. This will give a I think,

1949
02:22:46.639 --> 02:22:54.040
a really nice sketch for how the
Von Eric and Funk stories intersect. Okay,

1950
02:22:56.639 --> 02:23:01.680
is this told in who Who's Who? Says? Who's Who's? His

1951
02:23:01.799 --> 02:23:09.559
voice? Is Fritz talking? It
is? I've known Old Dorry for a

1952
02:23:09.600 --> 02:23:16.399
few years because my old Dory.
When we first met, he was a

1953
02:23:16.600 --> 02:23:28.920
superintendent and uh superintendent of cal Farley's
Boys Range outside Amarilla, you know when

1954
02:23:28.959 --> 02:23:33.280
he uh where he started at,
where he'd started a wrestling program for the

1955
02:23:33.399 --> 02:23:39.920
kids. Shortly afterwards, Dorry would
become the wrestling promoter in Amarilla, Texas,

1956
02:23:39.000 --> 02:23:45.319
where he and I got to know
each other very well. I once

1957
02:23:45.399 --> 02:23:48.680
heard that when attendance was down at
the local wrestling matches there in Amarilla,

1958
02:23:50.040 --> 02:23:54.840
Dory Senior would jump in his truck
and drive old to all the bars around

1959
02:23:54.879 --> 02:24:00.920
town, talk taking on all covers
and telling everyone they had better get their

1960
02:24:00.959 --> 02:24:05.959
butts to the arena. Our tenants
would climb for a few weeks and then

1961
02:24:05.000 --> 02:24:09.360
start dropping and get back again,
so after the bars he would go.

1962
02:24:09.120 --> 02:24:13.559
Dori Senior was not a physically large
man, but he was a mean one.

1963
02:24:13.680 --> 02:24:18.719
He and I had some bloody matches
back in the late sixties and early

1964
02:24:18.760 --> 02:24:24.200
seventies before he passed away, drawing
record crowds and the local arenas. Ye,

1965
02:24:24.319 --> 02:24:26.600
we once had a hell of a
match there at Amarilla. It was

1966
02:24:26.639 --> 02:24:33.879
our first time wrestling together and my
first match in Amarilla. When I arrived

1967
02:24:33.879 --> 02:24:37.040
at the arena that evening, the
promoter told me the match that and I

1968
02:24:37.120 --> 02:24:39.360
would be a special match, a
one fall, a no time limit,

1969
02:24:39.440 --> 02:24:45.440
no disqualification match, and falls would
count outside the ring. This was something

1970
02:24:45.479 --> 02:24:48.680
new to me. I had never
heard of anything remotely like this at the

1971
02:24:48.719 --> 02:24:54.239
time and was very skeptical. I
looked at the promoter in disbelief. No

1972
02:24:54.319 --> 02:24:56.959
time limit, no disqualification. I
exclaimed, Do you mean we could be

1973
02:24:58.040 --> 02:25:03.719
rear wrestling all night until one of
you pins the other? He replied calmly.

1974
02:25:03.520 --> 02:25:09.120
Now I began to wonder what I
had gotten myself into and who who

1975
02:25:09.159 --> 02:25:13.639
had thought this kind of match.
I did not like the sound of this

1976
02:25:13.719 --> 02:25:16.879
because at all, because of the
chance Door and I would be taking.

1977
02:25:18.520 --> 02:25:22.760
This kind of match could leave of
one of us or both of us injured

1978
02:25:22.799 --> 02:25:26.520
and unable to wrestle for months.
Now I knew deep down inside that it

1979
02:25:26.639 --> 02:25:30.520
was going to be one hell of
a match. That night, before the

1980
02:25:30.559 --> 02:25:33.000
match started, I walked out of
my dressing room to see how large a

1981
02:25:33.040 --> 02:25:37.559
crowd was. When I opened the
door, I could not be leave my

1982
02:25:37.559 --> 02:25:43.399
eyes. The arena was packed and
fans were standing against the walls, creating

1983
02:25:43.440 --> 02:25:46.200
waiting for the main event to start. As I scanned the arena, there

1984
02:25:46.319 --> 02:25:50.680
was not one place in that building
that another fan could squeeze into. As

1985
02:25:50.719 --> 02:25:54.639
I walked to the ring that night, the Amarella fans booed and threw ice

1986
02:25:54.719 --> 02:26:00.639
and wads of paper at me,
something I was not used to and returning

1987
02:26:00.680 --> 02:26:05.840
home to Texas, Dory made his
appearance next, and the fans screamed and

1988
02:26:05.920 --> 02:26:09.600
cheered so loudly I thought my ear
drums would explode. When the match did

1989
02:26:09.639 --> 02:26:15.239
start, Dory and I were fighting
in the ring. Outside the ring and

1990
02:26:15.319 --> 02:26:20.000
men in the crowd where some of
the fans got carried away and tried to

1991
02:26:20.079 --> 02:26:24.040
kick me. Security had surrounded us, trying to keep the fans out of

1992
02:26:24.079 --> 02:26:28.399
the action the best they could.
We were hitting each other with the metal

1993
02:26:28.479 --> 02:26:33.000
ring, side chairs, or anything
else we could get our hands on,

1994
02:26:33.360 --> 02:26:37.399
trying to pit each other on the
floor and on top of tables or anything

1995
02:26:37.440 --> 02:26:39.639
else. Together, they get the
match over with now. Later in the

1996
02:26:39.680 --> 02:26:45.440
match, when we even broke through
the side door, the side eggs of

1997
02:26:45.520 --> 02:26:50.360
door that let outside behind the arena
where the VIP parking lot was now,

1998
02:26:50.399 --> 02:26:54.680
Dory and I were just outside the
eggs of door, standing toe to toe

1999
02:26:54.000 --> 02:26:58.440
going at it when Dorry picked me
up and bought a sami on the hood

2000
02:26:58.440 --> 02:27:01.559
of Mayor's car, shattering in the
windshield and putting a large det in the

2001
02:27:01.600 --> 02:27:07.079
hood. That man did not know
the meaning of the word quit. All

2002
02:27:07.159 --> 02:27:09.959
the fans were pushing and shoving each
other, trying to get a peek out

2003
02:27:11.000 --> 02:27:13.440
the door to see who was winning. Security had their hands full of trying

2004
02:27:13.520 --> 02:27:18.600
to hold the crowd back and screaming
at the referee to just to get us

2005
02:27:18.639 --> 02:27:22.440
back in the building. After about
five minutes of fighting outside, under and

2006
02:27:22.559 --> 02:27:26.520
on top almost every car in that
parking lot, the referee finally managed to

2007
02:27:26.559 --> 02:27:31.520
get us back inside the building.
The lash continued for another forty minutes before

2008
02:27:31.520 --> 02:27:35.719
I was able to get my hands
on one of the metal ring side chairs

2009
02:27:35.000 --> 02:27:39.120
and hit Dory Senior in the back
of the head, knocking them down long

2010
02:27:39.239 --> 02:27:43.520
enough to get to get the iron
claw on him and get a three count

2011
02:27:43.680 --> 02:27:50.840
from the referee. You know that
no time limit. That no time limit

2012
02:27:50.920 --> 02:27:54.120
match lasted about two hours and not
one fan left the arena before the end

2013
02:27:54.159 --> 02:27:58.079
of the match. When that match
did end that night, Dory Senior and

2014
02:27:58.159 --> 02:28:03.799
I were both covered blood. The
skin in our on our backs and knees

2015
02:28:03.840 --> 02:28:07.000
had been torn off from wrestling on
the ground outside the arena. The security

2016
02:28:07.040 --> 02:28:11.959
guards, who were off duty Amarilla
police officers, had to escort me back

2017
02:28:11.000 --> 02:28:16.719
to my dressing room because, uh, because of the drunken Amarilla fans who

2018
02:28:16.799 --> 02:28:22.360
could not stand to see their hometown
hero losing a wrestling match. Later that

2019
02:28:22.479 --> 02:28:24.479
night, in my dressing room,
when I was trying while I was trying

2020
02:28:24.520 --> 02:28:28.120
to get dressed as fast as possible
and get to my private plane so I

2021
02:28:28.159 --> 02:28:31.159
could get out of manner. You
got to get out of my Amilla.

2022
02:28:31.559 --> 02:28:33.920
A police officer showed up in my
dressing room. A police officer told me

2023
02:28:33.920 --> 02:28:37.000
I would have to pay for the
damage that I had done the Mayor's car

2024
02:28:37.079 --> 02:28:41.440
before I left Amarilla, or he
would have to take me to jail.

2025
02:28:41.760 --> 02:28:52.520
Now everyone everyone in the arena were
sorry something. Uh. Everyone in the

2026
02:28:52.520 --> 02:28:56.159
read of that night was a Dory
func Senior fan. And for a while

2027
02:28:56.360 --> 02:29:00.479
there was there, I was thinking
this joker was really good to take me

2028
02:29:00.520 --> 02:29:03.760
to jail. I tried to explain
to him that he should be talking to

2029
02:29:03.760 --> 02:29:05.760
Dorry and not me. I mean, after all, Dorri slammed me down

2030
02:29:05.799 --> 02:29:09.120
on the hood of the car.
It was not as if I had had

2031
02:29:09.280 --> 02:29:11.280
a choice in the matter. There
are a few minute A few minutes later,

2032
02:29:11.319 --> 02:29:16.319
in walked old In walked Old Dorry
Senior, who as a police officer.

2033
02:29:16.360 --> 02:29:18.920
What was going on. The police
officer explained to Dorry that the mayor

2034
02:29:20.040 --> 02:29:24.559
was very upset about over his windshield
being broken out and had asked him to

2035
02:29:24.600 --> 02:29:28.200
find out who was going to pay
for the damage to his car. Dorry

2036
02:29:28.239 --> 02:29:31.360
looked over at me and smiled and
told me the officer but the promotions until

2037
02:29:31.360 --> 02:29:35.799
the officer of the promotions people would
take care of any damages to the Mayor's

2038
02:29:35.799 --> 02:29:37.399
car, and he needed to get
his ass out of the wrussel's dressing room

2039
02:29:37.760 --> 02:29:43.239
and go take care of the traffic. Dorry then turned to me and said

2040
02:29:43.280 --> 02:29:46.760
he was going to drive me to
the Amarilla Airport because of the drunken fans

2041
02:29:46.040 --> 02:29:50.319
who were still hanging around outside the
arena. After that first match in Amarilla,

2042
02:29:50.360 --> 02:29:54.879
Dory Senior and I became the best
of friends. As it turned out,

2043
02:29:54.920 --> 02:29:58.840
Dora was a person responsible for putting
together that sold out match that night.

2044
02:29:58.120 --> 02:30:01.719
He and I would lay come up
with all kinds of matches with lots

2045
02:30:01.719 --> 02:30:07.040
of crazy rules and names that sold
out arenas all over the world. The

2046
02:30:07.079 --> 02:30:11.920
Texas Death Match was one of the
most popular these special events. This wrestling

2047
02:30:13.000 --> 02:30:16.520
match would take place in a steel
cage that is lowered down over the ring

2048
02:30:16.719 --> 02:30:20.239
entire ring itself. The cage only
has one door, which was locked at

2049
02:30:20.239 --> 02:30:24.159
the beginning of the match with a
padlock. This match, too, was

2050
02:30:24.239 --> 02:30:28.959
a no time limit notice qualification match. Texas death match would not end until

2051
02:30:28.959 --> 02:30:33.319
one man could no longer continue.
The fans love them all. The promoters

2052
02:30:33.840 --> 02:30:39.920
overseas were begging us to bring them
to their arenas. The tap of match

2053
02:30:39.959 --> 02:30:43.000
became so popular that we later came
up with another version called the Texas Barbed

2054
02:30:43.000 --> 02:30:48.120
Wire Match. Barb Wire was strung
around all around the ring in ropes,

2055
02:30:48.399 --> 02:30:50.879
and the wrestlers would trying to throw
each other into the ropes while avoiding the

2056
02:30:50.879 --> 02:30:54.760
same faith for themselves. The truth
was that Bob Weire left many cuts that

2057
02:30:54.840 --> 02:30:58.840
bled like crazy, but the scratches
were not serious at all. As long

2058
02:30:58.879 --> 02:31:03.799
as the wrestlers could keep their face
away from the barbed wire, it looked

2059
02:31:03.799 --> 02:31:07.479
a lot worse than it really was. However, for days afterwards, the

2060
02:31:07.520 --> 02:31:11.840
men would look as though a wild
cat had gotten a hold of them.

2061
02:31:11.440 --> 02:31:16.000
The money they would get for such
an event had them all lined up at

2062
02:31:16.000 --> 02:31:20.079
my door trying to get in on
these wild, crazy matches. The crowd

2063
02:31:20.239 --> 02:31:22.639
loved them, loved all the new
events we had started to bringing into the

2064
02:31:22.639 --> 02:31:28.600
arenas. Wrestling was starting to change
as never before, and all eyes were

2065
02:31:28.639 --> 02:31:33.559
on Texas and the WCCW. You
know, we sold out arenas all over

2066
02:31:33.600 --> 02:31:37.040
the world, and not one fan
ever left the building until that night's main

2067
02:31:37.079 --> 02:31:41.000
event was over. Those matches marked
the beginning of a new era in professional

2068
02:31:41.040 --> 02:31:45.440
wrestling that is still going strong today. Dorry Senior's oldest son, Dorry Junior,

2069
02:31:45.760 --> 02:31:50.239
was a great athlete and wrestling like
his old man, he was what

2070
02:31:50.399 --> 02:31:54.639
some people call a scientific or pure
wrestler. He and I had a few

2071
02:31:54.680 --> 02:31:58.959
good matches ourselves, with Dory Junior
taking home a couple of world titles before

2072
02:31:58.959 --> 02:32:01.879
he retired. I always thought the
youngest son, Terry, was the most

2073
02:32:01.959 --> 02:32:05.399
like his dad, mian as hell
and toughest nails. Hadn't I have the

2074
02:32:05.440 --> 02:32:09.719
opportunity to see son Terry's matches on
satellite television in the early nineties when he

2075
02:32:09.760 --> 02:32:13.959
was wrestling for an ec W.
I'm too it watching Terry perform. I

2076
02:32:15.000 --> 02:32:18.360
also turned it tuned in to see
him in the East W World Championship title,

2077
02:32:18.600 --> 02:32:22.319
which was some match watching Terry that
night, probably back to the old

2078
02:32:22.399 --> 02:32:26.799
days when Dorry and I would be
were packing him in the arenas. Wrestling

2079
02:32:26.840 --> 02:32:31.639
sure has changed over the years.
I was very impressed with the e CWN.

2080
02:32:31.920 --> 02:32:35.680
These guys hit each other with everything
in the house and stored stuff under

2081
02:32:35.680 --> 02:32:39.239
the ring they can pull out and
use on one another. Terry won that

2082
02:32:39.360 --> 02:32:43.719
night, but be sure, but
he sure took some bad bumps like it.

2083
02:32:43.799 --> 02:32:46.879
Just like I said before, he
was so much like his father,

2084
02:32:46.040 --> 02:32:52.000
his old man, min as Hell
and Toughest Nails. Fritz fan Eric on

2085
02:32:52.120 --> 02:32:56.840
working Dory Sr. And creating,
according to his account, so many of

2086
02:32:56.840 --> 02:33:01.520
the things we would consider lynch pins
of Terry Funk's legacy in the business.

2087
02:33:01.520 --> 02:33:05.079
Our wire cages, brawling, fighting
in all different corners of the arena.

2088
02:33:05.200 --> 02:33:11.120
We're starting to see a picture come
into relief of the many influences that Terry

2089
02:33:11.120 --> 02:33:16.920
Funk would pull into his style and
where it all came from. Yeah,

2090
02:33:16.040 --> 02:33:20.600
promos from Malinko, brawling style from
his dad, with Texas Death Matches with

2091
02:33:20.680 --> 02:33:24.079
the likes of Iron Mike Debiassi.
What I like about the way Fritz describes

2092
02:33:24.120 --> 02:33:28.159
the Texas Death Matches, so it
gives us a lot more detail about how

2093
02:33:28.200 --> 02:33:33.799
all over the place these matches were
and how they added different accoutrema like barbed

2094
02:33:33.840 --> 02:33:39.280
wire. I mean, right,
we talk about something totally associated with Terry

2095
02:33:39.319 --> 02:33:41.600
Funk in his nineties matches with Saboo
and in the King of the Death Match

2096
02:33:41.639 --> 02:33:46.559
tournament in Japan, Barbed Wire all
Day, the CW logo for Starters,

2097
02:33:48.680 --> 02:33:52.719
and it's all from these little pockets
of influence of what his dad was doing

2098
02:33:52.760 --> 02:33:54.879
and what others were doing around him
as he came up in the industry in

2099
02:33:54.920 --> 02:33:58.920
the time period we're talking about this
week on the Lapsed Funk and it's starting

2100
02:33:58.920 --> 02:34:05.879
to really come together, like where
what mosaic he created. Another Fritz book

2101
02:34:05.920 --> 02:34:09.280
that came out is Don Smith's Fritz
on Eric Tribe and Tragedy, and this

2102
02:34:09.360 --> 02:34:13.079
talks about how Fritz beat Dorey Funk
Senior and Terry Wants in a handicap match

2103
02:34:13.440 --> 02:34:18.920
Wow in nineteen sixty six, number
sixteenth, and that has of course echoes

2104
02:34:18.920 --> 02:34:24.239
of when Fritz and David wrestled Hartley
Race and Saint Louis in the handicap match.

2105
02:34:24.360 --> 02:34:30.040
And remember that David beats Harley and
it's Larry Mattison on the call and

2106
02:34:30.399 --> 02:34:33.840
they get all animated because holy shit, like it was supposed to be the

2107
02:34:33.879 --> 02:34:35.399
unfair advantage for Race, but he
was so confident that he could beat the

2108
02:34:35.440 --> 02:34:39.040
old man and the young kid,
and the young kid just does it all

2109
02:34:39.040 --> 02:34:41.719
without any of his dad's help and
an instant world title challenger has made.

2110
02:34:41.760 --> 02:34:45.360
Of course it would never happen for
David von Eira, but the pieces were

2111
02:34:45.360 --> 02:34:48.920
in place. This is sort of
like a first version of that in sixty

2112
02:34:48.920 --> 02:34:52.920
six in Saint Louis. That's wild. Now Fritz doesn't lose to Funk Senior

2113
02:34:52.959 --> 02:34:56.280
and Terry, but Terry is,
you know, less than a year into

2114
02:34:56.280 --> 02:35:01.920
the business and has already cast in
a similar against Fritz. Don Smith wrote,

2115
02:35:01.920 --> 02:35:05.079
this is a rather important outcome since
Fritz beat the Funk family patriarch in

2116
02:35:05.120 --> 02:35:09.200
the future NWA World champion in a
handygap match. Of course, this was

2117
02:35:09.239 --> 02:35:11.280
promoter Sam Muchnick's call, but Sam
was pushing Fritz as a bigger crowd draw

2118
02:35:11.319 --> 02:35:15.200
than the Funks, as he always
had. In early March nineteen seventy two,

2119
02:35:15.200 --> 02:35:18.760
Fritz followed up at Northside Coliseum in
Fort Worth and announced that Dorriy Funk

2120
02:35:18.840 --> 02:35:22.120
Junior was the only Funk he was
willing to meet in the ring. Apparently

2121
02:35:22.159 --> 02:35:24.159
they were offers for Fritz to Facedoory's
younger brother Terry, but of course no

2122
02:35:24.239 --> 02:35:28.120
championship would be at stake there.
Fritz waned the NWA World title so April

2123
02:35:28.120 --> 02:35:31.920
eleventh, seventy two in Dallas,
Fritz lost to Dory Funk Junior, viewed

2124
02:35:31.920 --> 02:35:35.719
his qualification, and then in early
May nineteen seventy two, mister Fuji issued

2125
02:35:35.719 --> 02:35:39.719
a challenge to Fritz, who had
report reputedly defeated the Japanese star for the

2126
02:35:39.760 --> 02:35:43.719
All Asia Championship. Actually that time
it was a Dallas Fort Worth creation that

2127
02:35:43.040 --> 02:35:48.040
was not around too long. Yeah, which Sid's a tight bulletin from May

2128
02:35:48.120 --> 02:35:52.319
seventy two reporting that Dorrifunk Senior,
the father of for NWA world champion Dory

2129
02:35:52.360 --> 02:35:56.479
Junior, had offered a five thousand
dollar reward to anyone who could beat Fritz

2130
02:35:56.479 --> 02:36:00.680
and knock him down in the ratings
rankings so his son would not have to

2131
02:36:00.680 --> 02:36:03.639
face him in the title defense.
On May twenty nine, Fritz and Terry

2132
02:36:03.639 --> 02:36:07.559
Funk engaged in a heated interview in
Fort Worth. The stage was set for

2133
02:36:07.600 --> 02:36:11.479
an all out war between Fritz and
the Funks. Fast forward to June of

2134
02:36:11.559 --> 02:36:16.319
seventy two and irving Texas, Fritz
drew against Stry Funk Junior at Texas Stadium.

2135
02:36:16.719 --> 02:36:20.000
How about that Texas Stadium? Failing
to win the end to be a

2136
02:36:20.040 --> 02:36:24.639
world title. Several weeks before the
match, Fritz announced if he failed to

2137
02:36:24.639 --> 02:36:28.479
defeat Funk, he would never seriously
consider challenging for the NAA World Championship again.

2138
02:36:28.719 --> 02:36:31.399
Fritz received a standing ovation as he
made his way to the ring and

2139
02:36:31.440 --> 02:36:33.319
the first fall. Fritz came out
as the aggressor, dominating Funk for the

2140
02:36:33.360 --> 02:36:37.479
first five minutes. Funked then rebounded
with some offense, but soon found himself

2141
02:36:37.520 --> 02:36:39.399
in the grip of the iron claw, first to the head and then to

2142
02:36:39.440 --> 02:36:43.159
the stomach. The champion saved himself
by finally draping his lid. Never seriously.

2143
02:36:43.399 --> 02:36:48.280
What does that mean? Never seriously
can be a contender or whatever?

2144
02:36:48.200 --> 02:36:52.879
I guess what he means is he's
not going to campaign to face like top

2145
02:36:52.920 --> 02:36:56.319
contenders and try to, you know, get the shot. It doesn't mean

2146
02:36:56.319 --> 02:37:01.120
someone won't give him a shot,
but this game, she's not going to

2147
02:37:01.159 --> 02:37:05.440
seek the toughest competition. That's how
I read it. I don't fucking know

2148
02:37:05.479 --> 02:37:07.360
what it means. It means my
sons are going to win the belt,

2149
02:37:07.360 --> 02:37:11.479
not me. Yeah, I don't
know about that. After Fritz deck Funk

2150
02:37:11.520 --> 02:37:13.959
with the dropkick and fail to connect
with the second, Funk applied as famous

2151
02:37:13.959 --> 02:37:16.120
spinning to hold to win the first
fall. And in the second fall,

2152
02:37:16.239 --> 02:37:18.200
Funk escaped several of Fritz's attempts to
win with the iron claw. Finally,

2153
02:37:18.239 --> 02:37:22.239
however, Fritz dragged Funk into the
ropes and cotton, rebounding with the iron

2154
02:37:22.280 --> 02:37:24.760
claw to win the second fall,
and in the third fall, Fritz had

2155
02:37:24.799 --> 02:37:26.440
Funk with the grip of the iron
claw. When the one hour time limit

2156
02:37:26.479 --> 02:37:31.959
expired, Dory's brother Terry was officially
barred from ringside, but briefly showed up

2157
02:37:31.959 --> 02:37:35.079
to harass Fritz during the intermission before
the third fall. Twenty six thousand,

2158
02:37:35.120 --> 02:37:39.200
three hundred and thirty nine fans attended. This was the first card that Fritz

2159
02:37:39.239 --> 02:37:43.600
presented at Texas Stadium. Wow.
Uh, that was a big one.

2160
02:37:43.920 --> 02:37:48.959
And so the von Eriks and the
Funks very much important to each other.

2161
02:37:48.479 --> 02:37:52.440
Big box office draws, both fathers
against each other, Fritz against the sons,

2162
02:37:54.000 --> 02:37:58.920
and interestingly, Fritz kind of the
first example of the wrestler who looked

2163
02:37:58.920 --> 02:38:03.280
past Terry to get to Dory,
creating this sort of character that would also

2164
02:38:03.319 --> 02:38:05.200
be central to Funk's early identity in
wrestling. It's kind of like the scrappy

2165
02:38:05.239 --> 02:38:09.920
younger brother who was sent in there
to do some dirty work against somebody that

2166
02:38:09.959 --> 02:38:13.120
was nipping at Dorry's heels and trying
to get a world title shot, and

2167
02:38:13.159 --> 02:38:16.280
somebody that was sort of a had
a chip on his shoulder because he was

2168
02:38:16.319 --> 02:38:18.520
the younger brother that wasn't the world
champion and had kind of a more wide

2169
02:38:18.520 --> 02:38:22.680
open style. Yeah, people didn't
take quite as seriously. And I love

2170
02:38:22.760 --> 02:38:28.600
that little wrinkle there of Dory Funk's
senior sending Terry because he's nervous that this

2171
02:38:28.639 --> 02:38:33.319
guy's coming for his son's title,
thus making the funks. You know,

2172
02:38:33.479 --> 02:38:37.879
world champion baby faces in Amarillo,
but everywhere else they went, they were

2173
02:38:37.920 --> 02:38:41.799
playing all these little fucking political games
to keep the belt in the fence wild.

2174
02:38:41.920 --> 02:38:46.479
Like I said, they're elite cowboys. There's a ring. I mean,

2175
02:38:46.479 --> 02:38:50.360
I dig that. I do dig
that. So we're talking about all

2176
02:38:50.399 --> 02:38:54.000
these giants coming through from Wahoo McDaniel. We talked about Tito Santana came through

2177
02:38:54.000 --> 02:38:56.280
the territory, talked about, of
course, Fritz von Eric having formative experiences

2178
02:38:56.280 --> 02:39:01.360
in and around the funks. We
talked about, but Nick Monroe coming through.

2179
02:39:01.399 --> 02:39:05.479
We talked about Dennis Stamp wasn't a
big star, but all these people

2180
02:39:05.520 --> 02:39:13.120
are becoming, uh what he booked
is Johnny Valentine. How about Gary Hart?

2181
02:39:15.479 --> 02:39:18.799
I mean you want to cut deep? We're talking Texas July twenty seven,

2182
02:39:18.840 --> 02:39:24.520
sixty six, Chicago, absolutely in
Lubbock, Texas, Gary Hart versus

2183
02:39:24.639 --> 02:39:30.399
Terry Funk. Wow. Now this
is not the Gary Heart that we knew

2184
02:39:30.399 --> 02:39:33.840
when celebrated in World Class. This
is not even the Gary Hert that's got

2185
02:39:33.879 --> 02:39:39.360
to start in Chicago in the Deumont
network days. This boss is someone I'd

2186
02:39:39.440 --> 02:39:43.799
like to introduce to you at this
point. This is gay Gary Hart.

2187
02:39:46.040 --> 02:39:54.399
Excuse me well? From Halsted Street, we have Dory Funk Senior's interpretation of

2188
02:39:54.639 --> 02:39:58.959
the character Gary Hart should play in
the wrestling ring. Wow. From Gary

2189
02:40:00.000 --> 02:40:03.200
her Heart's book. Killer Carl Cox
was a major wrestling star and was wrestling

2190
02:40:03.200 --> 02:40:07.040
for Dorriy Funk Senior in Amarillo.
He came up to Detroit, where Gary

2191
02:40:07.079 --> 02:40:11.280
Hart was wrestling to start his career
for a brief tour. Really took a

2192
02:40:11.280 --> 02:40:13.639
liking to me and asked me if
I would be interested in moving to Amarillo.

2193
02:40:13.920 --> 02:40:15.840
We talked for a bid, and
then he put me on the phone

2194
02:40:15.840 --> 02:40:18.600
with Dorrifunk Senior, who asked if
I would be interested in wrestling for him.

2195
02:40:18.799 --> 02:40:20.600
I explained that I really enjoyed managing
and developing talent, and that I

2196
02:40:20.680 --> 02:40:24.239
wasn't sure I wanted to make my
living solely as a full time wrestler.

2197
02:40:24.600 --> 02:40:26.600
Dorry Senior was very blunt and told
me that he didn't use managers and wasn't

2198
02:40:26.639 --> 02:40:28.879
interested in me as a manager,
but that he would hire me as a

2199
02:40:28.879 --> 02:40:33.239
wrestler. Even though I wasn't thrilled
with the prospect of going into a territory

2200
02:40:33.479 --> 02:40:35.959
where I was only getting an opportunity
to wrestle, it was time to move

2201
02:40:35.959 --> 02:40:37.799
on. My experience with Jim Myers
that is, the George and the Animal

2202
02:40:37.840 --> 02:40:43.000
Steel up in Detroit really built my
confidence in molding and developing wrestlers, though,

2203
02:40:43.040 --> 02:40:45.200
and I loved every second of it. I knew that I would eventually

2204
02:40:45.239 --> 02:40:48.879
concentrate on managing and developing talent,
but for now my site were set and

2205
02:40:48.959 --> 02:40:52.319
continuing my wrestling career in Nemillo,
Texas. I arrived in Amillo in early

2206
02:40:52.399 --> 02:40:56.200
nineteen sixty six just as Funk was
debuting Terry that Is, and moved into

2207
02:40:56.200 --> 02:41:01.399
the Downeaster Downtowner Hotel rather because that's
where Karl Kox suggested I stay. What

2208
02:41:01.479 --> 02:41:05.840
a culture shockgame Marilla was. I
spent my life in cities like Chicago and

2209
02:41:05.879 --> 02:41:07.799
Detroit where everything was open twenty four
hours and where I could go to the

2210
02:41:07.799 --> 02:41:11.680
movies after I came home from the
matches. That is something picture Gary Hart

2211
02:41:13.200 --> 02:41:16.920
movie in Chicago after Mett wrestling.
I can, I can. What do

2212
02:41:16.959 --> 02:41:22.200
you see? Well, let's see
he comes out, well, probably porn

2213
02:41:24.719 --> 02:41:28.440
like Jack Nils, yeah right,
or some kind of like you know,

2214
02:41:28.559 --> 02:41:37.000
grindhouse double feature. What does the
screen look like on his face? What?

2215
02:41:37.000 --> 02:41:41.120
What does the projector screen look like
reflecting on his face in the darkened

2216
02:41:41.159 --> 02:41:43.479
Oh? Oh, it's just like
just you can, oh, you can

2217
02:41:43.680 --> 02:41:50.079
see like very muddy colors, you
know, like scratches reflected off like just

2218
02:41:50.120 --> 02:41:56.719
the you know, the screen,
you know, like basically blinking off of

2219
02:41:56.719 --> 02:42:01.440
his face. Very dirty. So
I hope you get the point by now.

2220
02:42:01.440 --> 02:42:05.719
This is kind of definitely you know, and definitely too definitely the only

2221
02:42:05.920 --> 02:42:13.440
the only theater showing showing movies this
late has got sticky floors. Okay,

2222
02:42:15.280 --> 02:42:18.040
so very sticky. You gotta that. That is the thing when you like

2223
02:42:18.079 --> 02:42:20.760
when you when you when you you
step, you take a step, and

2224
02:42:20.760 --> 02:42:26.760
then all of a sudden, you
lift your foot up and that every time.

2225
02:42:26.399 --> 02:42:30.479
What's the term in TV or in
movies where they come out with a

2226
02:42:30.559 --> 02:42:35.239
movie that happened concurrent to the old
story, but you know, it's like

2227
02:42:35.280 --> 02:42:37.000
now it's being told like this is
supposed to have happened at the same time

2228
02:42:37.040 --> 02:42:45.159
that the last movie happened. Sequel, if there's a term for it.

2229
02:42:45.680 --> 02:42:46.719
I don't even know if it's a
term for it, but usually it's kind

2230
02:42:46.719 --> 02:42:52.479
of like a spin off of swords
or an alternate view on the same time

2231
02:42:52.520 --> 02:42:56.319
period. Yeah, and yeah,
I hope we're realizing by now that the

2232
02:42:56.399 --> 02:43:01.079
lapsed funk is that for the lamentable
tragedy for sure, because all of these

2233
02:43:01.159 --> 02:43:05.600
characters that we saw come to life
on the history of the Dallas Territory.

2234
02:43:05.040 --> 02:43:07.959
So many of them not only came
through Amarillo, but like Gary Hart,

2235
02:43:09.159 --> 02:43:13.399
started really in Amarillo for all tax
purposes and were shaped and molded and given

2236
02:43:13.399 --> 02:43:18.319
their first exposure to wrestling in Texas
in Amarillo before Dallas. And Fritz Van

2237
02:43:18.440 --> 02:43:22.479
Eric himself is defining what it means
to be Fritz fan Eric and the Rings

2238
02:43:22.479 --> 02:43:26.719
of Amarillo as much as he is
Rings in his own territory, and it's

2239
02:43:26.959 --> 02:43:35.680
a remarkable thing to think about where
Dory Funk Senior would have stood visa VI

2240
02:43:35.760 --> 02:43:41.079
these other giants of Texas wrestling had
he lasted a little longer. Heart continues.

2241
02:43:41.120 --> 02:43:43.600
In Amarillo, the movie houses were
only open on the weekends, and

2242
02:43:43.600 --> 02:43:46.799
everything closed down at eight pm,
even the restaurants. That says a lot

2243
02:43:46.799 --> 02:43:50.479
about you know that That informs a
lot about Terry Funk, doesn't it.

2244
02:43:50.719 --> 02:43:54.079
Oh? Yes, he grew up
in a city that closes at eight o'clock

2245
02:43:54.120 --> 02:43:58.280
at night. I learned quickly that
unless I bought food here before I went

2246
02:43:58.319 --> 02:44:00.399
to the matches, I wasn't going
to eat that evening. And before I

2247
02:44:00.399 --> 02:44:01.920
had time to fully deal with the
culture, I was given another shocker.

2248
02:44:01.959 --> 02:44:07.680
Dorry Funk Senior wanted to name me
gay Gary Hart. Fucking why. I

2249
02:44:07.760 --> 02:44:09.879
want you to be a gorgeous George
type of guy, he told me,

2250
02:44:09.879 --> 02:44:13.079
as my jaw dropped. I want
them to think you're a queer. I'm

2251
02:44:13.120 --> 02:44:16.719
playboy Gary Hart from Chicago, I
explained, and I really don't want to

2252
02:44:16.719 --> 02:44:18.719
present myself as a gay guy.
Dory's Senior wouldn't budge, though, he

2253
02:44:18.760 --> 02:44:22.159
wanted a gay wrestler and his roster
and told me, well, your name

2254
02:44:22.239 --> 02:44:24.680
is already gay Gary Hart, and
I'm not changing it, so you better

2255
02:44:24.680 --> 02:44:28.000
come up with something. There we
go. I really infuriated the people.

2256
02:44:28.079 --> 02:44:30.600
It also got my character away from
the gay gimmick and just made me more

2257
02:44:30.639 --> 02:44:33.239
of a creep. However, no
matter how hard I tried to steer my

2258
02:44:33.280 --> 02:44:35.200
character in another direction, all the
guys in the dressing room knew that the

2259
02:44:35.200 --> 02:44:37.959
persona of Gay Gary Hart was supposed
to be that of a queer, wanted

2260
02:44:37.959 --> 02:44:41.000
nothing to do with me and tried
to avoid working with me. Dory Senior's

2261
02:44:41.040 --> 02:44:43.920
two boys didn't have any choice,
though, because they did whatever their father

2262
02:44:45.000 --> 02:44:48.120
said. Therefore, I was immediately
put in a program with Dory Funk Junior,

2263
02:44:48.600 --> 02:44:50.799
and the first time I ever met
his brother, Terry, was one

2264
02:44:50.840 --> 02:44:56.799
of those day during this Toms your
time, get your ash eating out back

2265
02:44:56.840 --> 02:45:01.959
to that. Now, Gary,
I understand that you've got some concerns with

2266
02:45:01.000 --> 02:45:03.639
the duck, but take it from
me, I've run wrestling in this town

2267
02:45:03.639 --> 02:45:07.360
for many, many, many years, and i know what draws money.

2268
02:45:07.239 --> 02:45:11.200
You need to have a garage George
type queer character on roster. Now here's

2269
02:45:11.239 --> 02:45:13.600
what I would suggest if you have
reservations about the gimmick. There's a few

2270
02:45:13.639 --> 02:45:20.360
things we can do. One,
you can go in the ring and eat

2271
02:45:20.399 --> 02:45:24.879
another wrestler's ass, just to kind
of understand where you're coming from a character.

2272
02:45:26.520 --> 02:45:28.360
Two, another wrestler can go in
the ring and eat your ass.

2273
02:45:28.440 --> 02:45:35.719
What'll it be? Or number three, I can shove a gun up your

2274
02:45:35.799 --> 02:45:41.360
ash and pull the trigger till it
goes click. Welcome to West Texas Sports.

2275
02:45:43.719 --> 02:45:48.639
Western State sports. Isn't that what
it's called? That's right? So

2276
02:45:48.680 --> 02:45:50.600
he goes into funk Junior. The
first time I ever met his brother,

2277
02:45:50.680 --> 02:45:52.600
Terry, was in wrestling junior at
the Immoral Fairgrounds. I knew that at

2278
02:45:52.639 --> 02:45:56.120
some point of the match, Terry
would jump in and attack me, but

2279
02:45:56.159 --> 02:45:58.120
I had never met him. Because
the Heels and babyfaces had dressing rooms on

2280
02:45:58.159 --> 02:46:09.120
either side of the building, I
was pounding on Junior, so we grew

2281
02:46:09.200 --> 02:46:11.360
up in the boys ranch. Then
I guess, so he's used to this,

2282
02:46:11.440 --> 02:46:13.520
I guess, And suddenly there was
a roar from the crowd. I

2283
02:46:13.559 --> 02:46:16.719
looked up and there was Terry and
the process of jumping over the top what

2284
02:46:18.440 --> 02:46:24.040
he missed caught his foot and collapsed
in the middle of the ring. A

2285
02:46:24.520 --> 02:46:28.840
junior just looked at me in deadpanned
meet my brother Terry. Oh my god,

2286
02:46:30.079 --> 02:46:33.719
that's a great moment. That was
the opening of the movie. Oh

2287
02:46:33.879 --> 02:46:37.479
Terry does the run in wet behind
the ears and falls on his face trying

2288
02:46:37.520 --> 02:46:41.440
to get in the ring. I
tried Dad. Eventually I started the feud

2289
02:46:41.440 --> 02:46:45.120
with Terry and we got into a
really hot program. During one of our

2290
02:46:45.159 --> 02:46:48.719
matches to the Odessa Fairgrounds Coliseum,
I busted Terry open pretty bad and we

2291
02:46:48.719 --> 02:46:50.000
took the match out of the ring
and to the front of the building where

2292
02:46:50.000 --> 02:46:54.879
the concession stands were again the early
Jurorf the brawling style that Terry Funk had

2293
02:46:56.079 --> 02:46:58.479
known for. Yeah, that's fucking
crazy. Terry went out the front door.

2294
02:46:58.479 --> 02:47:01.920
I started back to the dressing room. However, the fans had me

2295
02:47:01.959 --> 02:47:05.079
trapped in the concession stand and weren't
about to let me go. Thankfully,

2296
02:47:05.079 --> 02:47:07.399
Professor Tanaka and Art Nelson came out
to save me. Tanaka got about forty

2297
02:47:07.399 --> 02:47:11.440
stitches in his head from people hitting
him with chairs, and Art got stabbed

2298
02:47:11.479 --> 02:47:13.280
in his leg and back during the
melee. They got me to the back,

2299
02:47:13.319 --> 02:47:16.079
but once we were there, Art
was Yeah. What he didn't say

2300
02:47:16.079 --> 02:47:18.840
is he was the one that stabbed
him by the way. Yeah, they

2301
02:47:18.879 --> 02:47:20.840
got me to the back, but
once we were there, Art was really

2302
02:47:20.879 --> 02:47:24.239
upset with me, screaming, you
stupid idiot, you could have gotten us

2303
02:47:24.319 --> 02:47:26.280
killed. What were you doing fighting
in the concession stand. Even though Terry

2304
02:47:26.280 --> 02:47:28.959
and I were in a program and
weren't supposed to travel together, sometimes we

2305
02:47:30.040 --> 02:47:31.719
had no choice. One time,
Terry and I wrestled each other in the

2306
02:47:31.719 --> 02:47:35.639
opening match in Herford at seven thirty
pm, and then we had to get

2307
02:47:35.680 --> 02:47:37.399
ourselves to plane View so we could
wrestle in the main event. It was

2308
02:47:37.479 --> 02:47:41.399
dark when we left the arena in
Herford and if all the fans were inside

2309
02:47:41.399 --> 02:47:43.120
the auditorium in plain View, So
we threw caution to the wind and traveled

2310
02:47:43.120 --> 02:47:46.639
together. Most Knightstick and I would
secretly meet up with Terry after the matches

2311
02:47:46.680 --> 02:47:50.239
and we would ride the oil wells. We would bring some beer, crawl

2312
02:47:50.319 --> 02:47:52.440
up the head of an oil well, settle ourselves on the pump, and

2313
02:47:52.559 --> 02:47:56.360
ride the oil well while we drank
our beer, talked about life and shocked

2314
02:47:56.399 --> 02:47:58.000
Jack Rabbits. I don't know what
it means to ride an oil well,

2315
02:47:58.000 --> 02:48:03.719
but it sounds very very texas you
sit on it and it just pumps and

2316
02:48:03.760 --> 02:48:05.799
you go up and do it.
It sounds normal. I guess that's amazing.

2317
02:48:07.120 --> 02:48:09.280
Also sounds like bullshit, but I'm
sure it happened. One night,

2318
02:48:09.360 --> 02:48:13.120
Terry and I drove out to the
desert to shoot some jack rabbits. We

2319
02:48:13.159 --> 02:48:15.600
fell asleep in the car, and
when we woke up the next day,

2320
02:48:15.719 --> 02:48:18.120
we realized there had been a hillacious
rainstorm. Because we were in the desert,

2321
02:48:18.200 --> 02:48:22.319
we were basically stuck on an island, and it took until four pm

2322
02:48:22.479 --> 02:48:26.239
until the water ran off and we
could drive out of there. Everyone was

2323
02:48:26.280 --> 02:48:28.719
worried about us because no one knew
where we were. I had a lot

2324
02:48:28.760 --> 02:48:31.719
of great times with Harry. Of
course I promised him I would, knowing

2325
02:48:31.760 --> 02:48:33.399
it can only help me on interviews
to brag about how I beat up the

2326
02:48:33.440 --> 02:48:37.040
Funk Brothers in Ambillo. I was
very appreciative of Okay, so he's saying.

2327
02:48:37.079 --> 02:48:41.479
He eventually agreed to do the gay
character. I was very appreciative of

2328
02:48:41.479 --> 02:48:43.600
the opportunity dory function your gave me. Even though he wouldn't let me manage

2329
02:48:43.600 --> 02:48:46.719
and develop guys the way I wanted
to, he showed me I was valuable

2330
02:48:46.719 --> 02:48:50.360
and paid me very well. He
was at a dynamic guy, and every

2331
02:48:50.399 --> 02:48:54.040
wrestler who ever worked for him would
have cut their head off for him,

2332
02:48:54.079 --> 02:48:56.719
and I was no different. We
all loved him, yet we were afraid

2333
02:48:56.760 --> 02:49:00.239
of him too because he was so
tough. I may have been a freak

2334
02:49:00.280 --> 02:49:03.360
kid who hung out with gangsters,
but he was the real deal. I

2335
02:49:03.440 --> 02:49:07.360
know because I wrestled him. I
was unbelievably fortunate because for the third time

2336
02:49:07.360 --> 02:49:09.360
in my career, in just the
third territory i'd been in, I'd found

2337
02:49:09.440 --> 02:49:13.719
yet another great mentor. Billy Golds, Bert Ruby and Dorrifunk Senior really deserve

2338
02:49:13.760 --> 02:49:16.159
a lot of credit for getting me
ready to be able to handle myself in

2339
02:49:16.159 --> 02:49:20.239
the business and for my future success. And as grateful as I was to

2340
02:49:20.319 --> 02:49:22.879
be working for Dorrifunk Senior, I
knew it was time for me to move

2341
02:49:22.920 --> 02:49:28.360
on. Wow, So put another
one in the bank for the funks,

2342
02:49:28.479 --> 02:49:33.760
Gary Hart on his way. Unbelievable. You know. While in Saint Louis

2343
02:49:33.799 --> 02:49:35.760
things are changing. Sam Muchnick has
stepped down as president of the NWA.

2344
02:49:37.799 --> 02:49:41.799
Apparently he was insulted at the idea
of promoters trying to cut out his two

2345
02:49:41.840 --> 02:49:45.440
and a half percent of gait On
all the championship title, defenses the NBA

2346
02:49:45.520 --> 02:49:48.920
World Champion. And so who became
president? Do you remember this? Do

2347
02:49:48.959 --> 02:49:54.879
you remember who steps in and becomes
president of the NWA after Sam much Nicks,

2348
02:49:54.040 --> 02:50:03.479
after Sam Muchnik. We're about to
ross currents again, is it?

2349
02:50:03.680 --> 02:50:16.200
Uh? Is it Carbo Fritz?
Fritz? I forgot he was fucking president

2350
02:50:16.239 --> 02:50:18.360
of the NWA. It brings his
sons to Vegas for the convention and get

2351
02:50:18.399 --> 02:50:24.399
some hookers. Remember that when they
were God yep, and they reflessly pound

2352
02:50:24.479 --> 02:50:28.079
Vegas hookers. I'm sure I wonder
if zac Efron get some of that in

2353
02:50:28.120 --> 02:50:35.440
the movie, you know, you
know, did you watch the trailer?

2354
02:50:35.200 --> 02:50:39.000
Yeah, of course you did.
I What do you think of the trailer?

2355
02:50:39.440 --> 02:50:43.600
I liked it too. I thought
it was pretty good. I'm very

2356
02:50:43.239 --> 02:50:46.120
there were there were two things like
that that well, one thing made me

2357
02:50:46.239 --> 02:50:54.920
concerned. One thing got me concerned, and that was and about about the

2358
02:50:54.000 --> 02:51:01.600
details of the whole thing. Because
at one point, the guy playing Fritz

2359
02:51:01.680 --> 02:51:07.200
lifts off his favorite you know,
the the in order his favorite sons or

2360
02:51:07.200 --> 02:51:13.840
like, you know, and it
goes Carrie, Kevin, and David in

2361
02:51:13.920 --> 02:51:20.479
that order. When was David ever
third in that list? That's like it

2362
02:51:20.520 --> 02:51:24.040
was to me. It made me
nervous. To me, it made me

2363
02:51:24.079 --> 02:51:33.719
think that they think Carrie because w
w, it's funny exactly exactly the probably

2364
02:51:33.760 --> 02:51:39.639
do for purposes in marketing the movie. I mean, let's face it,

2365
02:51:39.680 --> 02:51:43.920
that's why we were interested in the
von Erics because we remembered Kerry one Eric.

2366
02:51:45.639 --> 02:51:50.760
Yeah, it does doesn't excuse them
fucking with the timeline. But I

2367
02:51:50.159 --> 02:51:52.600
I also, well, it's not
even just fucking with the timeline. It's

2368
02:51:52.600 --> 02:51:58.600
fucking with the truth. I mean, and there's that, and then I'm

2369
02:51:58.639 --> 02:52:05.360
just like, you know, I
was like, if I get I get

2370
02:52:05.399 --> 02:52:09.239
nervous because I know this is an
approved movie. So well, I saw

2371
02:52:09.479 --> 02:52:13.559
Kevin Son say on Twitter that the
family was not involved. Oh okay,

2372
02:52:13.559 --> 02:52:16.920
well but did they but they had
to sell their rights or whatever. Well

2373
02:52:18.120 --> 02:52:20.159
either way, okay, great,
I mean that's that's great, that is

2374
02:52:20.200 --> 02:52:26.440
the case, because I really hope
to god, you know, to me,

2375
02:52:28.959 --> 02:52:33.079
the only way it's going to be
a good movie, and like a

2376
02:52:33.120 --> 02:52:37.520
true movie obviously, is if is
if we get uh, you know,

2377
02:52:37.600 --> 02:52:41.680
Fritz holding the gun to Kevin.
Yeah, all right, and then if

2378
02:52:41.719 --> 02:52:46.680
we want a Best Picture winner,
we're going to have a cotton ball moment

2379
02:52:46.719 --> 02:52:50.239
with Mike von Eric right where he's
start writing traffic at the press conference while

2380
02:52:50.239 --> 02:52:54.840
the sun is half dead, right
right, all right, and then we

2381
02:52:54.879 --> 02:52:58.360
can talk about it like we always
said, it's about Fritz. It's about

2382
02:52:58.600 --> 02:53:03.799
exactly. You don't have the right
view of Fritz, and it's culpability.

2383
02:53:03.879 --> 02:53:07.040
It's it's not gonna it's not gonna
stand up. The project isn't gonna stand

2384
02:53:07.079 --> 02:53:11.559
up. It's going to fall apart
because it has it has to be anchored

2385
02:53:11.559 --> 02:53:15.920
to the idea that this guy is
pushing everybody in the in the wrong direction

2386
02:53:16.040 --> 02:53:18.680
all the time. Yes, yes, for the wrong reasons, Like like

2387
02:53:18.799 --> 02:53:22.040
it should it should almost, it
should end. It should begin and end

2388
02:53:22.639 --> 02:53:26.520
kind of like Citizen Kane. Yes, you know, like it should open

2389
02:53:26.639 --> 02:53:37.959
with with with you know, Fritz
on his deathbed saying to whomever I should

2390
02:53:37.959 --> 02:53:43.360
have bought the bait and tackle show
hoptally Man, you know. And apparently

2391
02:53:43.440 --> 02:53:46.319
people have deduced from the trailer.
I mean, I didn't watch it closely

2392
02:53:46.440 --> 02:53:50.239
enough to know where they got this
from. But that Chris isn't even going

2393
02:53:50.319 --> 02:53:54.200
to be part of it. Oh
god, you gotta what are you doing?

2394
02:53:54.239 --> 02:53:56.680
Guys? I mean you got to
have moll. I mean, these

2395
02:53:56.760 --> 02:54:01.639
these are that's the tragedy of it. The tragedy, the tragedy is I

2396
02:54:01.639 --> 02:54:05.319
mean, first of all, yes, the David death is is is tragic

2397
02:54:05.360 --> 02:54:11.079
in its own way, but the
real tragedy is the three suicides. That

2398
02:54:11.440 --> 02:54:18.000
Dad pushed them, that that hard, and and and that much. And

2399
02:54:18.079 --> 02:54:22.600
if you don't do that, what
are you? What do you? What

2400
02:54:22.639 --> 02:54:24.680
do you? What story are you
trying to tell? Right? And that's

2401
02:54:24.959 --> 02:54:30.319
you know, if you can't be
wrestlers, you know, like he'll let

2402
02:54:30.360 --> 02:54:33.719
them. He would rather let them
try and fail till they died to be

2403
02:54:33.799 --> 02:54:37.680
wrestlers than to just do something else. Or apparently they felt that that's all

2404
02:54:37.680 --> 02:54:41.399
he would settle for, because look
what they put themselves through. Yep.

2405
02:54:41.200 --> 02:54:45.399
I mean, who am I to
say that Chris van Eric was wrong about

2406
02:54:45.399 --> 02:54:50.760
what his father wanted from him,
so can't wait. But that's so what

2407
02:54:50.799 --> 02:54:54.799
I'm trying to say. Here's Fritz
taking control of the n w A after

2408
02:54:54.840 --> 02:54:58.920
Sam Muchnick, who is no fan
of Terry Funk in terms of that angle,

2409
02:55:00.280 --> 02:55:03.440
and needed to be sort of sold
on Funk more than the typical promoter.

2410
02:55:03.840 --> 02:55:05.760
Now that's not a concern and what
are you knowing about a year?

2411
02:55:07.120 --> 02:55:09.360
Is Terry rolling up Jack Briscow to
become NWA World's Champion? I think so,

2412
02:55:11.040 --> 02:55:13.600
but that's all still to come here
in the lapsed Funk just note that

2413
02:55:13.680 --> 02:55:18.520
that happens, and that's a bit
of important shifting sands in the NWA as

2414
02:55:18.559 --> 02:55:24.520
it regards the Funks, and Jim
Barnett takes over the duties of booking the

2415
02:55:24.600 --> 02:55:39.159
champion. What that's really good?
Actually? So yeah much Nick President from

2416
02:55:39.159 --> 02:55:43.680
sixty three to seventy five. Wow. So after Funks get started wrestling,

2417
02:55:43.719 --> 02:55:46.280
of course in Amarillo, having that
Johnt of the a w A, going

2418
02:55:46.280 --> 02:55:48.600
over to Saint Louis and Kansas City
for Muchnick and really getting acquainted with the

2419
02:55:48.680 --> 02:55:54.000
key power brokers in the business.
What we consider Funk's first real territory abroad,

2420
02:55:54.000 --> 02:55:56.799
that is to say, a place
he went for more than just a

2421
02:55:56.840 --> 02:56:01.120
couple of weeks without an exact you
know date, certain that he would return

2422
02:56:01.159 --> 02:56:09.000
to Amarillo was indeed Florida Championship Wrestling. Wow. And second only to Texas,

2423
02:56:09.319 --> 02:56:13.040
Florida is the place that the Funks
truly made their legacy in the business.

2424
02:56:13.840 --> 02:56:18.120
That's where Dory established his base of
operations opened up the Funking Conservatory Wrestling

2425
02:56:18.120 --> 02:56:22.200
School in Ocala, Florida, that
I think still exists to this day.

2426
02:56:22.799 --> 02:56:24.680
And Dorriy Funk Junior, I mean, in his highest peak of his career

2427
02:56:24.719 --> 02:56:28.559
and into retirement, was just as
much a Floridian as he was a Texan

2428
02:56:30.239 --> 02:56:33.360
in terms of living there and being
based out of there. And it's where

2429
02:56:33.440 --> 02:56:37.680
Terry Funk goes to develop his heel
persona times one hundred, to draw heat

2430
02:56:37.760 --> 02:56:41.159
like nobody else, and to begin
feuding with the American dream. Dusty Rhodes

2431
02:56:43.559 --> 02:56:46.680
was of course an absolute sensation in
Florida for Ready Graham for about a full

2432
02:56:46.719 --> 02:56:54.040
decade there, So that's all going
to begin developing. April nineteen sixty seven,

2433
02:56:54.760 --> 02:56:56.200
the first run of the territory that
he would end up being most famous

2434
02:56:56.200 --> 02:57:01.319
in championship wrestling from Florida Rights.
He was there for three and a half

2435
02:57:01.360 --> 02:57:05.879
months before his father told him to
come back home. But it is definitely

2436
02:57:05.879 --> 02:57:13.000
where he's going to start start really
making his bones. So let's see,

2437
02:57:13.079 --> 02:57:16.399
Terry. Do you have Terry talking
about this point in time on an RF

2438
02:57:16.520 --> 02:57:24.159
video shoot interview? I believe we
do. Fans stand by what was at

2439
02:57:24.159 --> 02:57:28.440
the time and you broke into the
restling business, what was maybe if you

2440
02:57:28.479 --> 02:57:31.000
can explain to a lot of people
watching, what was the business like then

2441
02:57:31.399 --> 02:57:35.719
as compared to now, which I'm
sure was completely different, It really was,

2442
02:57:35.799 --> 02:57:37.639
you know. I mean, first
of all is you'd go to a

2443
02:57:37.719 --> 02:57:41.040
town and a small town and we'd
go through small towns. Well, one

2444
02:57:41.079 --> 02:57:46.840
of the big differences was pay.
Yeah, we would drive to Ablene,

2445
02:57:46.920 --> 02:57:48.920
Texas, which is two hundred and
fifty miles one way and two hundred and

2446
02:57:48.920 --> 02:57:54.840
fifty miles back and make our sales
twenty five dollars guarantee five hundred mile trip.

2447
02:57:54.879 --> 02:57:58.959
We'd all file into one car and
make it. You know, I'll

2448
02:57:58.959 --> 02:58:03.959
never forget my father. I was
down in Florida in nineteen sixty seven and

2449
02:58:05.200 --> 02:58:11.280
uh, I was in Florida wrestling
for eighty gram at the time, and

2450
02:58:11.600 --> 02:58:13.520
my father called me up and he
said, doctor Pulice. It was then

2451
02:58:13.639 --> 02:58:16.719
the promoter in Ambrella had passed away, and he said, Terry, he

2452
02:58:16.719 --> 02:58:20.879
said, we're gonna take over the
promotional business. And uh, not like

2453
02:58:22.000 --> 02:58:26.600
take it over by overpowering somebody or
anything else, but he was buying the

2454
02:58:26.639 --> 02:58:30.799
business from Lusar Police at the time. Might because she wasn't able to run

2455
02:58:30.840 --> 02:58:33.079
it being a lady in the business
at the time as a man's business.

2456
02:58:33.840 --> 02:58:37.479
And uh, he said, come
on back up here. I said,

2457
02:58:37.479 --> 02:58:39.239
I don't know if I can.
Dad. He said, well why and

2458
02:58:39.479 --> 02:58:43.200
I said, well, I'm I'm
I'm averaging two hundred and fifty dollars a

2459
02:58:43.200 --> 02:58:46.360
week. Yeah, you know,
and that was big money for me at

2460
02:58:46.360 --> 02:58:48.879
the time, you know. And
he said, well, he says,

2461
02:58:48.959 --> 02:58:52.559
I think it would do better than
that if you come on up here.

2462
02:58:52.639 --> 02:58:56.719
So I went back to Amberill and
we ran a business. Apparent we were

2463
02:58:56.719 --> 02:59:01.639
doing big business in Florida. Bit
right, wrestling is There's so many guys

2464
02:59:01.639 --> 02:59:05.680
that I've known through the years that
I wish that they were into this era

2465
02:59:05.079 --> 02:59:11.920
that are good friends of mine and
good guys that back then you would you

2466
02:59:11.000 --> 02:59:13.920
were into wrestling for a different reason. I mean, these guys were in

2467
02:59:13.959 --> 02:59:18.680
it for a lifetime. They didn't
have a second job like you see guys

2468
02:59:18.719 --> 02:59:22.680
have today and wrestling in the spots
shows. They were wrestlers and a lot

2469
02:59:22.719 --> 02:59:28.799
of them really didn't make enough to
retire or set any money back at all

2470
02:59:28.959 --> 02:59:33.280
at that time, you know.
And after they completed wrestling, they had

2471
02:59:33.280 --> 02:59:35.520
to get a job in security.
Some of them have done well, but

2472
02:59:35.719 --> 02:59:39.600
most of them, you know,
just kind of you know, old wrestlers,

2473
02:59:39.920 --> 02:59:43.040
they never they used to say,
they never died. They just payed

2474
02:59:43.079 --> 02:59:46.559
away, you know, and they
just kind of disappear and find a way

2475
02:59:46.600 --> 02:59:50.559
of making a buck some other way
back then, you know. And I

2476
02:59:50.600 --> 02:59:54.399
wish that they could have gotten in
the business now, where a guy can

2477
02:59:54.440 --> 02:59:58.239
wrestle five six years if he gets
in with one of the big organizations,

2478
02:59:58.760 --> 03:00:03.840
set himself for life. A little
bit of lessons of Funk there as well.

2479
03:00:03.040 --> 03:00:07.559
So it's a headfam this first junt
of Florida, because Harry goes there

2480
03:00:07.680 --> 03:00:13.000
and Dorry and Terry win the Florida
version of the World tag titles from Kurt

2481
03:00:13.040 --> 03:00:16.799
and Carl Browner. Actually that's upon
the return. So they go down there

2482
03:00:18.000 --> 03:00:22.920
and they're setting themselves up and establishing
a foothold in Florida, when suddenly things

2483
03:00:22.959 --> 03:00:26.840
change back in Amarillo and Doxarpoulis,
who was the longtime promoter there, had

2484
03:00:26.879 --> 03:00:33.280
died, and you better believe that
Dorry Funk Senior is moving in to take

2485
03:00:33.319 --> 03:00:35.079
ownership of the territory in full reigns. I think he'd already bought in,

2486
03:00:35.120 --> 03:00:39.159
and he's already business partners. We've
talked about previously on the lapsed Funk,

2487
03:00:41.040 --> 03:00:45.639
But this is like when Fritz van
Eric closed in and ed maclamore in Dallas

2488
03:00:46.200 --> 03:00:50.280
and became the sole guy in this
oratorium, the sole guy running the wrestling

2489
03:00:50.319 --> 03:00:54.079
business in that city. And that
happens to take place in Amrello because when

2490
03:00:54.079 --> 03:00:58.120
Funk first gets in, Darksar Paulis
is still in the picture for a couple

2491
03:00:58.159 --> 03:01:03.079
of years there. When Terry Funk
first gets in the ring and he goes

2492
03:01:03.120 --> 03:01:05.159
to Florida to begin building his career, and suddenly the phone call comes from

2493
03:01:05.239 --> 03:01:07.719
Dad who says, you know,
we just bought the whole place, needs

2494
03:01:07.760 --> 03:01:11.159
you to come down here. And
now, of course he runs the whole

2495
03:01:11.159 --> 03:01:13.520
thing, so he's got better control
of the purse strings apparently such that he

2496
03:01:13.559 --> 03:01:16.399
can promise his son Terry that he'll
make better money back home in a Marilla

2497
03:01:16.920 --> 03:01:18.959
than he was making it the time
in Florida. I think he said two

2498
03:01:20.040 --> 03:01:22.000
hundred and fifty dollars a week,
which was really good money in nineteen seventy

2499
03:01:22.000 --> 03:01:26.200
three, I'd imagine, or nineteen
sixty eighty seven as it were, or

2500
03:01:26.200 --> 03:01:31.319
sixty eight, So Dorry and Terry
come home, and as mentioned, they

2501
03:01:31.319 --> 03:01:33.200
beat Kurt and Carl von Browner for
the world tag titles in that part of

2502
03:01:33.200 --> 03:01:37.559
the country on June eighteenth, nineteen
sixty eight in sant Angelo, Texas and

2503
03:01:37.600 --> 03:01:39.879
would go on to wag straps all
over the world. Of course, so

2504
03:01:39.920 --> 03:01:45.520
pretty much operating is a brother tag
team at this point in time are Dorry

2505
03:01:45.639 --> 03:01:48.639
and Terry Funk. But Dorry,
of course, having gotten a several year

2506
03:01:48.680 --> 03:01:50.639
head start on Terry end of the
pros, having wrestled a lot of high

2507
03:01:50.680 --> 03:01:54.440
profile people across the country. At
that point in time, the seeds were

2508
03:01:54.479 --> 03:02:03.079
already being planted for young Dorince Junior
to be the Funk to win the NWA

2509
03:02:03.159 --> 03:02:09.399
World Heavyweight Championship and achieve that level
of glory that Fritz van Eric himself and

2510
03:02:09.440 --> 03:02:11.719
his sons, with the exception of
that, of course, brief Kerry win

2511
03:02:11.760 --> 03:02:16.680
in eighty four, never really were
able to capture. This was Dorry Funk

2512
03:02:16.760 --> 03:02:18.959
Junior being put in position to do
it. It was telegraphed as far back

2513
03:02:20.000 --> 03:02:24.840
as nineteen sixty five in this article
on the Emerald Globe War Wow No Shit

2514
03:02:24.920 --> 03:02:30.239
where jing Kiniski, of course,
was the big star in wrestling at the

2515
03:02:30.239 --> 03:02:33.399
time of the world champion or on
his way to becoming. So this article

2516
03:02:33.399 --> 03:02:37.000
reads in sixty five both big grid
names Jing Kiniski and Bob geigeltangle in the

2517
03:02:37.000 --> 03:02:41.360
first main event Jan played at Arizona
and later in the Canadian League under Darryl

2518
03:02:41.440 --> 03:02:45.639
Royal. Geigel was a defensive end
at Iowa. Promoter Dark Sarpolis says,

2519
03:02:45.719 --> 03:02:48.319
quote people all over the country think
the Kaniski will be the man to win

2520
03:02:48.319 --> 03:02:52.799
the world championship from Luthez, and
he would become the world champion and he

2521
03:02:52.840 --> 03:02:58.200
would be the one to drop that
strap to Dorry Funk Junior. All rings

2522
03:02:58.280 --> 03:03:03.840
very familiar a boss like Fritz all
the way down to influence at the NWA

2523
03:03:03.959 --> 03:03:07.360
level, the power brokerage, the
taking over territories that you were once a

2524
03:03:07.360 --> 03:03:13.600
headliner in the dynasty family with the
Texas ranch positioning the eldest son to become

2525
03:03:13.639 --> 03:03:24.840
world's heavyweight champion. But the key
difference is the Funks would not truly blossom

2526
03:03:26.799 --> 03:03:31.920
under their dad's stern demand and watchful
like the van Erics did their father yep.

2527
03:03:33.360 --> 03:03:43.639
Because the Funk's father, their patriarch, certainly would not outlive them right.

2528
03:03:43.959 --> 03:03:52.680
Dory Funk Senior died June third,
nineteen seventy three, and in this

2529
03:03:52.799 --> 03:04:01.079
piece from Terry Funk's interview with Jim
Cornett for k Fabe Commentaries, reflects upon

2530
03:04:01.159 --> 03:04:07.120
the day the Funk family patriarch,
Dory Senior the Boys Ranch leaves this earth

2531
03:04:07.440 --> 03:04:13.120
and what it was is last Thornton
was there too, and he said that

2532
03:04:13.840 --> 03:04:18.719
nobody can hold me down in the
front face lock, you know. So

2533
03:04:18.840 --> 03:04:24.159
my father got down on you know, so my father front face locked him

2534
03:04:24.840 --> 03:04:30.280
and on a you know, they
were in the kitchen, you know,

2535
03:04:30.319 --> 03:04:33.159
when he got down on top of
him and slapped the front face lock on

2536
03:04:33.239 --> 03:04:39.040
em, and they went all over
the kitchen and wels Thornton couldn't get away,

2537
03:04:39.159 --> 03:04:43.239
you know, and father kind of
choked him out, you know.

2538
03:04:43.479 --> 03:04:48.200
And uh, and he went in
and came back over there where I was

2539
03:04:48.319 --> 03:04:54.920
and sat down by me and my
brother. He said it wasn't bad for

2540
03:04:54.959 --> 03:04:56.280
an old man, was it?
I said, no, it wasn't.

2541
03:04:58.159 --> 03:05:01.360
And then he walked out on a
from port and my wife is out there,

2542
03:05:01.360 --> 03:05:05.360
and my wife is smoking a cigarette
on a front porch at ranch,

2543
03:05:05.479 --> 03:05:11.680
you know, and he says,
go back in there and tell Terry that

2544
03:05:11.760 --> 03:05:18.760
I think I'm having a heart attack. So my wife came in here and

2545
03:05:18.799 --> 03:05:22.520
told me that, and I went
out there and we got him the canyon

2546
03:05:22.600 --> 03:05:30.040
right quick. And it was a
small town and a very small community at

2547
03:05:30.079 --> 03:05:37.399
the time. And I had one
doctor in town and he was a good

2548
03:05:37.479 --> 03:05:41.360
doctor, but he wasn't, you
know, a small town doctor. And

2549
03:05:41.399 --> 03:05:45.559
he said, you need to row
with a Dori and we're gonna get you

2550
03:05:45.559 --> 03:05:50.520
at Ambrilla. So they called an
ambulance. It took about thirty minutes get

2551
03:05:50.600 --> 03:05:54.040
there, which is more time and
more time. Yeah. And then so

2552
03:05:54.719 --> 03:05:58.719
we got in the ambulance with him. Brother was in the front seat,

2553
03:06:00.120 --> 03:06:03.440
was in the back with my dad, and he said, I'm much further

2554
03:06:03.479 --> 03:06:07.920
We got to go. Terry,
so he is about a mile and a

2555
03:06:07.959 --> 03:06:11.959
half from the hospital in Amrell and
I said about a mile and a half.

2556
03:06:13.040 --> 03:06:16.520
Yeah. He says I can't make
it. He says, I'm going

2557
03:06:16.479 --> 03:06:24.719
just like that, and he has
gone wow. I mean, Dori Funk,

2558
03:06:24.840 --> 03:06:31.200
we've talked about it would have Eddie
Graham tackle him from behind out of

2559
03:06:31.239 --> 03:06:35.360
nowhere and an attempt to test his
shooting ability. Dorry Funk Senior would never

2560
03:06:35.719 --> 03:06:41.799
hesitate to, at least in a
wrestling term, throw down if you wanted

2561
03:06:41.840 --> 03:06:45.840
to challenge his grappling ability. And
it was just another day back at the

2562
03:06:45.879 --> 03:06:50.559
house, as Dory Senior would do
throughout Terry Funk's formative youth, invite the

2563
03:06:50.559 --> 03:06:54.000
boys over for a barbecue, tell
stories until two three in the morning,

2564
03:06:56.159 --> 03:07:01.600
and just sort of make manifest that
camaraderie that Terry Funk so vividly recalls and

2565
03:07:01.639 --> 03:07:05.280
so warmly recalls being around growing up
is essentially a gypsy family in the wrestling

2566
03:07:05.319 --> 03:07:09.920
business, as his father found his
way, and it was one such get

2567
03:07:09.959 --> 03:07:16.719
together that led to Dorifunk Senior's fatal
heart attack in nineteen seventy three. Les

2568
03:07:16.719 --> 03:07:20.440
Thornton apparently a wrestler we talked about
back in the Black Saturday series. He

2569
03:07:20.479 --> 03:07:24.879
was on TBS a lot back then. Yeah, highly skilled technical junior heavyweight

2570
03:07:24.920 --> 03:07:30.440
wrestler from England who had a long
career in the United States. Basically got

2571
03:07:30.440 --> 03:07:33.639
to talk in at dorrif Funk Senior
at the house and pretty soon the furniture

2572
03:07:33.719 --> 03:07:37.120
was being cleared out of the way
and they were testing each other in a

2573
03:07:37.120 --> 03:07:43.360
shoot context. Terry sort of forlornly
recalled there. It was all downhill for

2574
03:07:43.399 --> 03:07:48.079
his father as he realized that he
was having a heart attack. This is

2575
03:07:48.079 --> 03:07:52.000
something that deeply impacted Terry, as
you'd imagine what anybody, but the whole

2576
03:07:52.079 --> 03:07:58.920
dynamic of could I should I right
around getting my dad to a hospital faster,

2577
03:07:58.319 --> 03:08:03.799
perhaps discouraging him at his age from
engaging in a pointless amateur wrestling skirmish

2578
03:08:03.879 --> 03:08:07.600
in the living room. But that's
wu Dorifunk Senior was going to be until

2579
03:08:07.639 --> 03:08:11.159
his dying day, and that's who
he was. And his book, Terry

2580
03:08:11.200 --> 03:08:16.239
recalls the following. The ambulance took
another twenty minutes. The whole thing took

2581
03:08:16.280 --> 03:08:18.239
us about an hour and a half
from the time he told us he was

2582
03:08:18.239 --> 03:08:20.239
having a heart attack to the time
we pulled into the bigger hospital in Amarilla.

2583
03:08:20.520 --> 03:08:24.079
But by the time he pulled in, he was already gone. The

2584
03:08:24.120 --> 03:08:28.000
thing that haunts me is wondering if
we'd just gone to Amarilla first, would

2585
03:08:28.040 --> 03:08:31.159
we have been all right? Would
my dad have lived through it? My

2586
03:08:31.280 --> 03:08:33.399
dad was only fifty four when he
passed. On. Hell, I'm past

2587
03:08:33.479 --> 03:08:37.680
sixty and I've done a lot of
living between fifty four and sixty. After

2588
03:08:37.719 --> 03:08:41.600
my dad died, I had anxiety
attacks, thinking I was having heart problems.

2589
03:08:43.239 --> 03:08:45.760
Six months after his death, I
was coming back from a show in

2590
03:08:45.760 --> 03:08:48.120
New Mexico when I started feeling flush. I went to the next hospital I

2591
03:08:48.159 --> 03:08:52.760
got to in my blood pressure was
sky high. I had just scared myself

2592
03:08:52.760 --> 03:08:54.719
into it because of what happened to
my father. A little later, we

2593
03:08:54.719 --> 03:08:58.040
were in El Paso and Junior and
I had just finished a tag match.

2594
03:08:58.440 --> 03:09:01.959
We got to the law room and
I sat down as a Junior, I'm

2595
03:09:01.000 --> 03:09:03.559
having a heart attack. I don't
want to move real fast, but get

2596
03:09:03.600 --> 03:09:07.760
me to a hospital. Junior said, my God, okay, and he

2597
03:09:07.840 --> 03:09:09.840
got me in the car. We
buzzed down to the hospital and I sat

2598
03:09:09.879 --> 03:09:13.840
down in the emergency room. There
must have been twenty people in there,

2599
03:09:13.840 --> 03:09:16.239
and I sat down while Junior went
to talk to a nurse about me.

2600
03:09:16.600 --> 03:09:18.680
He came back over and said they
would be over in a minute, but

2601
03:09:18.680 --> 03:09:22.319
someone in the waiting room screamed Terry. Junior kept trying to tell me what

2602
03:09:22.399 --> 03:09:24.760
was going on, but Terry funk. I looked over and coming my way

2603
03:09:24.799 --> 03:09:28.520
was a guy who must have been
waiting to see a doctor. Obviously he

2604
03:09:28.600 --> 03:09:30.879
was a wrestling fan. I can't
believe it, Terry Funk, how the

2605
03:09:30.920 --> 03:09:31.920
hell you doing? And I want
to shake your hand. How's it going,

2606
03:09:33.000 --> 03:09:35.479
Terry, Honey, come over here, it's Terry Funk. You got

2607
03:09:35.479 --> 03:09:39.440
some paper, honey, just to
clean X. She said, Terry,

2608
03:09:39.440 --> 03:09:43.360
would you sign this for me?
I tried to stay calm as I signed

2609
03:09:43.360 --> 03:09:45.680
the autograph. Well, how are
you here? You go? Hope you

2610
03:09:45.799 --> 03:09:48.040
enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by. All the while I was thinking,

2611
03:09:48.079 --> 03:09:52.200
please pal, have a little courtesy, Please God. I don't want to

2612
03:09:52.200 --> 03:09:54.440
die like this. I should have
blown my nose on the damn thing.

2613
03:09:56.040 --> 03:10:00.639
The doctors told me I'd been causing
myself anxiety and had been humping up my

2614
03:10:00.639 --> 03:10:05.000
own heartbeat. It's pretty amazing.
Wow, mind it can do. Dave

2615
03:10:05.040 --> 03:10:07.639
Meltzer, who was in constant contact
with Terry Funk and had a very good

2616
03:10:07.639 --> 03:10:13.079
relationship with him and talked to him
really until he began a cognitive decline,

2617
03:10:15.639 --> 03:10:18.559
wrote the following upon Terry's death,
I don't want to say Terry changed.

2618
03:10:18.600 --> 03:10:22.600
In nineteen ninety eight, when he
turned fifty four. That would be the

2619
03:10:22.639 --> 03:10:26.559
same age his father died of a
heart attack. That would be too strong,

2620
03:10:26.920 --> 03:10:31.840
but he referenced many times after that
point that he had passed the age

2621
03:10:31.879 --> 03:10:35.079
that his father died, and it
was something often on his mind. Terry

2622
03:10:35.120 --> 03:10:39.440
relived that so many times. What
if his father and Thornton didn't get into

2623
03:10:39.440 --> 03:10:43.040
that altercation, what if he sped
to Amarillo Hospital first before going to Canyon.

2624
03:10:43.040 --> 03:10:46.040
He would relive that moment, often
getting anxiety attacks and was fearful of

2625
03:10:46.040 --> 03:10:48.879
getting a heart attack. Once coming
back from a show, he worked himself

2626
03:10:48.879 --> 03:10:50.239
into such a fit he checked himself
from the hospital and his blood pressure was

2627
03:10:50.239 --> 03:10:52.639
through the roof. At another point, he thought he was having a heart

2628
03:10:52.680 --> 03:10:56.760
attack and told his brother he was
having one, and they rushed him to

2629
03:10:56.799 --> 03:11:03.079
the hospital. So Terry Funk's on
his way thanks to the rather brilliant introduction

2630
03:11:03.120 --> 03:11:05.879
of his father into the business.
But he'd also have a cross to bear

2631
03:11:07.879 --> 03:11:11.959
as it regards a ticking clock,
which is something remarkable for someone who came

2632
03:11:11.959 --> 03:11:15.079
to be known chiefly for his one
of a kind longevity in the business.

2633
03:11:15.079 --> 03:11:18.280
That Terry Funk, right in the
back of his mind was always counting the

2634
03:11:18.360 --> 03:11:22.719
days, and it might tell us
a lot about why he made seemingly a

2635
03:11:22.719 --> 03:11:28.159
lot more wiser choices around putting family
first at critical junctions in his career where

2636
03:11:30.000 --> 03:11:33.040
he could have just let that collapse
under the weight of becoming a big professional

2637
03:11:33.079 --> 03:11:37.280
wrestling superstar. Now, it's worth
noting that this story, this apocryphal story

2638
03:11:37.319 --> 03:11:41.200
of how Dorry Funk Senior died,
does have multiple perspectives. You know,

2639
03:11:41.319 --> 03:11:45.520
Terry was sure to tuck in that
his father somehow choked out Less Thornton.

2640
03:11:45.600 --> 03:11:50.159
That's I don't know if that makes
him feel better or whatever, but it's

2641
03:11:50.200 --> 03:11:56.159
not necessari obviously true. Greg greg
Oliver Slam Wrestling talked to several people involved,

2642
03:11:56.200 --> 03:12:01.000
including Jerry Kozak, who made mentioned
of functioniors eat habits. In this

2643
03:12:01.120 --> 03:12:05.200
case, Yes, you guessed it, Boss Steak. Oh, come on,

2644
03:12:05.479 --> 03:12:07.079
like that's a surprise, he tilled
Greg Oliver. Dorry Senior was sitting

2645
03:12:07.120 --> 03:12:09.200
at the head of the table once
and I was cutting the fat away from

2646
03:12:09.239 --> 03:12:11.840
the meat. He said, what
are you going to do? All they

2647
03:12:11.879 --> 03:12:15.040
do, all they do is raise
the stacks. Ok. Yeah, literally

2648
03:12:15.079 --> 03:12:16.879
out the cattle. He said,
what do you do with that? I

2649
03:12:16.879 --> 03:12:18.719
said, well, I'm not going
to eat it. He said, well

2650
03:12:18.760 --> 03:12:20.760
give it here. I said,
dad, gum Dory, you eat it.

2651
03:12:20.799 --> 03:12:24.239
All that fat is going to kill
you, and it surely did.

2652
03:12:24.000 --> 03:12:28.840
Mmm. There are matches. On
June third, seventy three, Funk didn't

2653
03:12:28.840 --> 03:12:31.559
wrestle, but he wrestled not too
long before this. He'd actually, I

2654
03:12:31.559 --> 03:12:35.520
think, similar to Iron Mike DBIASI
had sort of like a late call in

2655
03:12:35.559 --> 03:12:39.719
as a substitute in a match.
So while he had slowed down his in

2656
03:12:39.840 --> 03:12:43.479
ring career substantially by nineteen seventy three, Funk Junior Senior was still seeing some

2657
03:12:43.559 --> 03:12:48.600
action, and according to the Greg
Oliver piece, on that day, Senior

2658
03:12:48.600 --> 03:12:52.239
invites a bunch of wrestlers over at
the Flying Mere Ranch. After a few

2659
03:12:52.319 --> 03:12:56.159
drinks, the challenges started and he
talked to Les Thornton did Greg Oliver,

2660
03:12:56.440 --> 03:13:01.239
who said the following quote. The
old man said, tried to get out

2661
03:13:01.239 --> 03:13:05.159
of this fella. He put a
full nelson on me. So I picked

2662
03:13:05.239 --> 03:13:07.959
him up and ran him into the
fridge and all the stuff came flying out.

2663
03:13:09.159 --> 03:13:11.879
We all got caught. He put
a bandage on his head. He

2664
03:13:11.959 --> 03:13:15.479
was a tough old bugger. He
just laughed about it. That does it's

2665
03:13:15.520 --> 03:13:18.440
only getting choked out to me that
that sounds like Dory Funk getting thrown around

2666
03:13:18.479 --> 03:13:22.600
the living room and smashed into the
refrigerator. But that's fine. Like a

2667
03:13:22.639 --> 03:13:26.200
bitch. Yeah. Gordon Nelson,
a Canadian amateur champion, was also there

2668
03:13:26.239 --> 03:13:31.360
and also tussled with Dorry Funk.
But for some reason when the was it

2669
03:13:31.360 --> 03:13:35.239
a colossal tussle. That's that's yet
to be determined. But for some reason,

2670
03:13:35.280 --> 03:13:37.559
when the Funks tell the story,
they never mentioned Gord Nelson. They

2671
03:13:37.639 --> 03:13:41.280
just mentioned Les Thornton as the person
that wrestled their dad upon his heart attack.

2672
03:13:41.680 --> 03:13:43.920
Nelson said he had a short battle
with Funk Senior. He said,

2673
03:13:43.920 --> 03:13:48.680
I'm getting too old, he remembers
Funk Senior saying, and Nelson thought that

2674
03:13:48.719 --> 03:13:54.680
was significant because quote, that's something
that he would never say otherwise, and

2675
03:13:54.719 --> 03:13:58.000
that at about ten thirty pm,
Funk suffers the heart attack. The eyes

2676
03:13:58.040 --> 03:14:01.840
at SENI it that he's hospital in
Amarillo. Jerry Kozak, who promoted some

2677
03:14:01.879 --> 03:14:05.440
towns for the Funks, was also
there that night. They recalled, quote,

2678
03:14:05.440 --> 03:14:05.959
all of a sudden, it was
like, where the hell is Dory?

2679
03:14:07.200 --> 03:14:09.239
Where's Junior and Terry? They're gone
and we couldn't figure it out.

2680
03:14:09.440 --> 03:14:11.760
That's when they took Doory to the
hospital. Of course, we found out

2681
03:14:11.760 --> 03:14:16.239
the next few days that he passed
away. A wrestler named Moose Morowski was

2682
03:14:16.280 --> 03:14:18.079
there. He recalls quote, I
was in another room. They started wrestling,

2683
03:14:18.079 --> 03:14:20.879
and I don't know what it was. Next thing I know, I

2684
03:14:20.920 --> 03:14:22.799
hear that they called the doctor ambulance
or something. He died at the hospital.

2685
03:14:22.799 --> 03:14:26.559
It was terrible, Senior. Every
year he threw a thing for the

2686
03:14:26.559 --> 03:14:28.840
guys that wrestled there. He'd throw
a barbecue at his ranch. They'd castraight

2687
03:14:28.879 --> 03:14:37.440
some bulls. Have a big barbecue, lots of food, lots of drink,

2688
03:14:37.920 --> 03:14:43.959
big cast straight bulls. So normal
activity. That's what I do actually

2689
03:14:43.959 --> 03:14:48.200
every weekend and have a ranch.
You don't know what it's like to be

2690
03:14:48.239 --> 03:14:56.440
a rancher. But the cock the
cocks off bulls, cockin bowl af cockon

2691
03:14:56.440 --> 03:15:03.000
bowl story. Oh my god,
that's it. That's it. And so

2692
03:15:03.159 --> 03:15:09.520
unlike Carrie and the David and the
Mic, they don't have the shadow over

2693
03:15:09.559 --> 03:15:13.200
their shoulders. As the funks make
their way in professional wrestling, I'd argue

2694
03:15:13.239 --> 03:15:16.959
that plays no small part in their
ability to have a whole hell of a

2695
03:15:16.959 --> 03:15:20.959
lot more to show for it.
Dorriy Funk Junior, in fact, wrestled

2696
03:15:20.040 --> 03:15:26.680
Les Thornton, or was scheduled to
wrestle Les Thornton three days after he died

2697
03:15:26.840 --> 03:15:31.639
after his dad died wrestling les Thornton
in the living room, according to an

2698
03:15:31.680 --> 03:15:35.159
ad that I see here for a
show at Lubbock Fair Park scheduled for June

2699
03:15:35.200 --> 03:15:39.799
and sixth. Not sure that one
took place, but some irony there for

2700
03:15:39.840 --> 03:15:45.280
sure, and returned to Dorry Funk's
book forget another account of the passing and

2701
03:15:45.319 --> 03:15:50.760
Funk Senior. My Lincoln Continental Mark
three left Umbarger, Texas, traveling northeast

2702
03:15:50.799 --> 03:15:54.639
on Highway sixty, headed toward Canyon, Texas. It was just after midnight

2703
03:15:54.799 --> 03:15:56.959
and the speedometer was stuck in one
hundred miles per hour. It was just

2704
03:15:58.000 --> 03:16:01.200
minutes earlier that Terry's wife, Vicky, had told me that my father wasn't

2705
03:16:01.200 --> 03:16:03.600
feeling good, and Terry had left
the Flying Mayor Ranch minutes before that to

2706
03:16:03.639 --> 03:16:09.440
take him to meet his doctor at
Kenyon's Neblett Hospital. I was concerned because

2707
03:16:09.479 --> 03:16:11.399
of the tension in her voice and
her comment that Terry thought he might have

2708
03:16:11.440 --> 03:16:16.040
had a heart attack. As I
sped along the highway, I thought about

2709
03:16:16.079 --> 03:16:18.399
the last time I had seen him, couldn't have been more than thirty minutes

2710
03:16:18.440 --> 03:16:22.280
ago. Gordon Elson, les Thornton, and my father were wrestling on the

2711
03:16:22.360 --> 03:16:26.040
kitchen floor. It was a party. All the wrestlers who had worked so

2712
03:16:26.159 --> 03:16:31.520
hard to make the Amberilla territorious success
were invited to a barbecue at my father's

2713
03:16:31.520 --> 03:16:35.159
Flying Mare ranch. It was the
spring of nineteen seventy three. Some of

2714
03:16:35.159 --> 03:16:37.719
the wrestlers at the ranch were King
Curtis i Akea, Carl von Steiger,

2715
03:16:39.079 --> 03:16:45.000
Don Fargo, Danny Miller, Jumbo
Shiuda, Jim Dalton, Referee, Ken

2716
03:16:45.040 --> 03:16:50.079
Farber, Thornton Nelson, Marie la
Verne, am Mailla promoter, Jerry Coosak

2717
03:16:50.440 --> 03:16:54.600
Lubbock promoter Nick Roberts, and Scott
Casey. Only Ricky Rimero of the regular

2718
03:16:54.600 --> 03:16:58.559
wrestlers, was missing, but that
was expected, as Ricky felt it was

2719
03:16:58.600 --> 03:17:01.399
best for the business not to associ
after work hours with the other wrestlers.

2720
03:17:01.799 --> 03:17:05.600
He was invited and welcome, but
his feelings were respected. The subject of

2721
03:17:05.639 --> 03:17:09.040
the wrestling that took place on the
kitchen floor was a hold called the keel

2722
03:17:09.239 --> 03:17:13.319
lock, a wrestling hole that was
extremely painful but generally wouldn't cause serious injury.

2723
03:17:13.600 --> 03:17:16.840
It is a type of wrist lock
that, when applied properly, is

2724
03:17:16.840 --> 03:17:20.959
difficult to escape. My father had
applied it to Les Thornton and he had

2725
03:17:20.000 --> 03:17:26.799
tapped out. I remember Gordy's comment
that he would never give up in that

2726
03:17:26.879 --> 03:17:31.479
hold because pain didn't bother him in
the hold really wouldn't cause serious injury.

2727
03:17:31.000 --> 03:17:33.879
I remember being proud of my father. He was mixing it up with two

2728
03:17:33.879 --> 03:17:37.120
of the toughest wrestlers in the business, and even at the age of fifty

2729
03:17:37.120 --> 03:17:39.440
four, he was able to come
out on top with these guys. However,

2730
03:17:39.520 --> 03:17:41.440
just as Gordon Nelson said, he
could not make him submit to a

2731
03:17:41.520 --> 03:17:45.959
keel lock. I hit the brakes
as I was now approaching the y in

2732
03:17:46.000 --> 03:17:48.719
the road where Highway sixty turns from
northeast to due east. Now I was

2733
03:17:48.799 --> 03:17:52.600
just three and a half miles from
Canyon, Texas. At one hundred miles

2734
03:17:52.600 --> 03:17:54.799
an hour, it wouldn't be long. It was nothing unusual to see my

2735
03:17:54.840 --> 03:17:58.200
father have a go at it with
wrestlers when I was a child. My

2736
03:17:58.280 --> 03:18:01.120
uncle Herman would wrestle my father in
the living room, and my grandmother,

2737
03:18:01.200 --> 03:18:03.079
Amma Funk, would come in swing
in a broom to break them up.

2738
03:18:03.559 --> 03:18:07.319
Later, at Texas Boys Ranch,
my father and Bob Geigel got after it

2739
03:18:07.360 --> 03:18:09.440
in the gym in front of the
whole wrestling team. And then there was

2740
03:18:09.479 --> 03:18:11.879
the time veran Gania, Joe Scarpello
and my father had to go in our

2741
03:18:11.920 --> 03:18:16.040
garage. I hit the brakes just
in time to make the turn at the

2742
03:18:16.120 --> 03:18:18.760
underpassing canyon. I would go straight
to Fifth Avenue and turn left to Neblood

2743
03:18:18.760 --> 03:18:22.879
Hospital. My father's blood pressure was
always perfect. He had the best blood

2744
03:18:22.879 --> 03:18:26.479
pressure of all the boys in the
dressing room, one twenty over eighty.

2745
03:18:26.959 --> 03:18:28.680
Maybe it wasn't a heart attack,
but if it weren't serious, Terry would

2746
03:18:28.680 --> 03:18:31.879
never have called doctor Moore at midnight
and asked him to meet him here at

2747
03:18:31.879 --> 03:18:37.799
Neblod Hospital. Now I remembered earlier
Terry had told me Dad was upset that

2748
03:18:37.840 --> 03:18:41.079
Don Fargo was riding his motorcycle over
his pasture land, but Dad felt too

2749
03:18:41.120 --> 03:18:45.559
tired to say anything about it to
him. And I saw Dad one time

2750
03:18:45.600 --> 03:18:48.600
earlier in the day, almost exhausted
after just riding a lawnmower for a few

2751
03:18:48.600 --> 03:18:52.639
minutes. I should have known something
was wrong. I burst through the door

2752
03:18:52.639 --> 03:18:56.600
and into the emergency room. All
was quiet. Doctor Moore and Terry were

2753
03:18:56.639 --> 03:19:00.639
there, and my father was sitting
up on a hospital bed. They had

2754
03:19:00.680 --> 03:19:05.639
called the technician who would administer an
electrio cardiogram. Comment for my dad was

2755
03:19:05.680 --> 03:19:07.440
that he just felt a little bit
bad and if he could just get home

2756
03:19:07.479 --> 03:19:09.639
and get some rest, he thought
he would feel better in the morning.

2757
03:19:11.719 --> 03:19:16.479
The technician arrived and began administering that
electro cardiogram. He tore off the paper

2758
03:19:16.479 --> 03:19:20.399
containing the graphical information and gave it
to doctor Moore. Doctor Moore left the

2759
03:19:20.440 --> 03:19:22.920
room for no more than fifteen seconds. When he returned, he said,

2760
03:19:22.959 --> 03:19:26.360
Dorry, you have had a massive
heart attack. An ambulance is on the

2761
03:19:26.360 --> 03:19:28.639
way. We were taking you to
the emergency room at Northwest Texas Hospital in

2762
03:19:28.719 --> 03:19:33.239
Amarilla. I want you to relax
and go along with everything we are going

2763
03:19:33.520 --> 03:19:37.479
to do. My father looked at
me and Terry. He said, I

2764
03:19:37.520 --> 03:19:41.360
don't think they are right. You
guys had better keep this one quiet.

2765
03:19:41.840 --> 03:19:43.719
Terry answered, yeah, Dad,
I know what you're talking about. A

2766
03:19:43.719 --> 03:19:48.559
lot of people would like to have
a piece of our territory. All other

2767
03:19:48.639 --> 03:19:52.239
conversation was directed toward getting him in
the ambulance. In on the way to

2768
03:19:52.319 --> 03:19:56.799
Northwest Texas Hospital and Amarilla. We
were in the ambulance and headed toward Amarillo.

2769
03:19:56.879 --> 03:20:00.520
Northwest Texas Hospital was twenty miles away. Doctor Moore was in the front

2770
03:20:00.520 --> 03:20:01.600
seat and I was in the back
on the right side of my father.

2771
03:20:03.000 --> 03:20:05.000
Terry was on the left. I
was holding my father's hand. I'm sure

2772
03:20:05.040 --> 03:20:09.600
Terry was touching him somewhere. The
ambulance driver was going sixty five to seventy

2773
03:20:09.639 --> 03:20:13.000
miles an hour. I heard Terry
cuss him out and in no uncertain terms

2774
03:20:13.040 --> 03:20:16.959
tell him to pick up the speed
and get us to the hospital. Now,

2775
03:20:16.959 --> 03:20:20.000
traveling at eighty and ninety miles an
hour, we were passing under Bell

2776
03:20:20.079 --> 03:20:24.280
Avenue, just five miles and minutes
from Northwest Texas Hospital. I heard the

2777
03:20:24.360 --> 03:20:28.639
last words from my father as he
said, I'm going. There was a

2778
03:20:28.680 --> 03:20:31.520
last desperate attempt by doctor More to
save his life, but nothing was of

2779
03:20:31.520 --> 03:20:37.280
benefit for all practical purposes. His
life ended there on the Canyon Freeway under

2780
03:20:37.319 --> 03:20:39.959
Bell Avenue. There were attempts to
save him when we arrived at Northwest Texas

2781
03:20:41.000 --> 03:20:45.200
Hospital, but it was all too
late. The Amarillo, Japan and the

2782
03:20:45.239 --> 03:20:50.319
wrestling business had lost a legend.
We can't change the past, but there

2783
03:20:50.319 --> 03:20:52.479
are some things we can learn from
it. With heart disease the number one

2784
03:20:52.520 --> 03:20:56.239
killer in the United States today,
it makes good sense to make yourself aware

2785
03:20:56.239 --> 03:20:58.639
of the fastest route to the hospital
with the best cardiac care union in the

2786
03:20:58.680 --> 03:21:03.040
area. It makes good sense to
learn the early warning signs of heart attack.

2787
03:21:03.479 --> 03:21:05.360
Makes good sense to take the best
care possible of our bodies and start

2788
03:21:05.399 --> 03:21:09.920
at an early age. That night, under the overpass at Bell Avenue,

2789
03:21:09.319 --> 03:21:13.200
Terry and I lost our father,
our best friend, and our business partner.

2790
03:21:15.200 --> 03:21:16.680
My match at fifty years of Funk
is dedicated to you, Dad.

2791
03:21:18.239 --> 03:21:20.239
I will do my best. Thanks
for sharing your life and guiding us from

2792
03:21:20.239 --> 03:21:24.000
the little house in Hammond, Indiana
to the party at the Flying Mer Ranch.

2793
03:21:24.799 --> 03:21:30.239
We're together. We took our last
ride, Boss. If you could

2794
03:21:30.239 --> 03:21:33.159
pull the second of the two magazine
articles I presented to you, Yes,

2795
03:21:33.520 --> 03:21:37.959
this was the aforementioned wrestling review,
pretty much the leading pre after mag Era

2796
03:21:39.079 --> 03:21:43.239
wrestling publication of the country, and
a full ten years after the clip we

2797
03:21:43.280 --> 03:21:46.719
started this episode of the Lapsed Funk
reading as Dory Funk Senior establishes his bona

2798
03:21:46.719 --> 03:21:50.680
fides, his mystique, and then
introduces his boys into the pages of the

2799
03:21:50.799 --> 03:21:58.200
leading wrestling magazine. That same magazine
cover story the loss of Doroy Funk Senior,

2800
03:21:58.639 --> 03:22:01.280
and I wish you could share with
the soul or system. How it

2801
03:22:01.399 --> 03:22:07.520
was conveyed in those same pages.
Dorry Funk Senior a boy's boy who grew

2802
03:22:07.600 --> 03:22:13.840
up to be a man's man.
Dory Funk Junior is a young man of

2803
03:22:13.879 --> 03:22:24.040
great intestinal wait intestional that's how it's
spelled. There's a type of in intestional

2804
03:22:24.719 --> 03:22:31.200
fortitude. Brother, what and never
has he needed such a quality as he

2805
03:22:31.280 --> 03:22:41.040
does now. In recent months,
the good looking Taxes tax As athlete lost

2806
03:22:41.079 --> 03:22:45.959
his World's Wrestling championship to Harley Race, and prior to that dethronement, Funk

2807
03:22:46.120 --> 03:22:50.399
was seriously injured in an automobile accident
in his native state. Yet the most

2808
03:22:50.399 --> 03:22:56.719
shattering experience of all was the unexpected
death of his father, Dory Funk Senior,

2809
03:22:56.760 --> 03:23:01.079
a victim of a heart attack.
All the fucking typos I can tell,

2810
03:23:01.159 --> 03:23:05.559
I can tell, because there have
been three already. The world of

2811
03:23:05.600 --> 03:23:11.239
wrestling was both saddened and shocked earlier
this year when it learned of the passing

2812
03:23:11.280 --> 03:23:18.360
of the elder Funk at the comparative
young age of fifty three. But how

2813
03:23:18.360 --> 03:23:24.479
many years did he actually live is
the question? In Texas years, Yes,

2814
03:23:24.360 --> 03:23:30.200
seven, there you go. Although
a great amount of the wrestling audiences

2815
03:23:30.239 --> 03:23:33.879
of North America never had the opportunity
of seeing Dory Senior wrestle. He was

2816
03:23:33.920 --> 03:23:41.879
one of the top wrestlers in the
nation. Feared and I don't understand how

2817
03:23:41.920 --> 03:23:46.079
could he be a top wrestler of
the nation and not be seen by a

2818
03:23:46.079 --> 03:23:52.200
great amount of wrestling audiences of North
America. Good question. Maybe because he

2819
03:23:52.280 --> 03:23:56.239
never landed in a territory with great
television. I see feared and dreaded by

2820
03:23:56.280 --> 03:24:01.479
his opponents. He was the type
of wrestler who loved the the roughhouse style

2821
03:24:01.520 --> 03:24:05.479
of a match. A grappler,
a fighter, a bruiser. He enjoyed

2822
03:24:05.479 --> 03:24:11.559
the violent action and gory battles.
I first saw Dorry Senior wrestle on Amarilla

2823
03:24:11.719 --> 03:24:15.920
in nineteen sixty two. He was
pitted against another lover of the gory battles,

2824
03:24:16.559 --> 03:24:20.120
Fritz von Erik, who was busy
putting wrestlers out of the profession with

2825
03:24:20.159 --> 03:24:26.120
his dreaded claw hold. It was
a sellout crowd that never did sit in

2826
03:24:26.159 --> 03:24:30.319
their seats. Within minutes, both
wrestlers were covered with blood and the feared

2827
03:24:30.399 --> 03:24:37.159
claw dug into Dory senor oh dug
Dory Senior time after time and again,

2828
03:24:37.239 --> 03:24:41.239
and again, Dorry fought back and
brought the fans to the very tips of

2829
03:24:41.280 --> 03:24:48.239
their toes. It was exciting,
thrilling, the kind of match that causes

2830
03:24:48.280 --> 03:24:54.360
intense sensations. It was his type
of match. Dorry Funk Senior was born

2831
03:24:54.399 --> 03:24:58.319
in Hammond, Indiana. To say
he was a boy's boy would be an

2832
03:24:58.399 --> 03:25:03.280
understatement. From the time he could
walk, he was a scrapper and loved

2833
03:25:03.399 --> 03:25:09.920
all sports, but was partial to
contact sports. The heart of the contact,

2834
03:25:09.920 --> 03:25:13.120
the better. It was just a
matter of time until football and wrestling

2835
03:25:13.159 --> 03:25:18.360
would hold his entire attention. During
his high school days, he won the

2836
03:25:18.399 --> 03:25:22.639
Indiana State wrestling championship on three different
occasions while still finding time to be president

2837
03:25:22.719 --> 03:25:28.840
of the student body. A football
and wrestling scholarship brought him to the University

2838
03:25:28.879 --> 03:25:33.239
of Indiana, where he won the
AAU Wrestling Championship and was voted into the

2839
03:25:33.280 --> 03:25:39.319
Indiana Wrestling Hall of Fame. Just
about this time, another fight was starting

2840
03:25:39.680 --> 03:25:46.360
with Dorry, and Dorry wanted some
of that action, so it was off

2841
03:25:46.479 --> 03:25:50.879
to serve for Uncle Sam in the
Navy. Dory Senior first appeared in the

2842
03:25:50.920 --> 03:26:01.680
Lone Star State in Between eight in
a team forty nine in nineteen forty nine

2843
03:26:01.760 --> 03:26:05.120
is what it is, and from
that the time he hit a Marilla,

2844
03:26:05.399 --> 03:26:09.440
he knew this was his kind of
town, defeating all opponents that promoters could

2845
03:26:09.479 --> 03:26:13.760
bring into the Panhandle. He was
invited out to Boys Ranch by the late

2846
03:26:13.840 --> 03:26:20.799
Cal Farley. Cal had founded Boys
Ranch in nineteen thirty nine, but when

2847
03:26:20.840 --> 03:26:26.639
the boys threatened to throw the superintendent
in the Canadian River, it was time

2848
03:26:26.760 --> 03:26:30.559
to bring in some muscle. From
the first moment he was on trial,

2849
03:26:30.639 --> 03:26:33.920
Dorry took the boys down to the
gym and on the mat. The situation

2850
03:26:33.120 --> 03:26:37.079
was soon cleared up, and although
he promised cal three months, he stayed

2851
03:26:37.600 --> 03:26:45.520
three years, coaching football and wrestling. Many a man today can look back

2852
03:26:45.559 --> 03:26:48.920
and realize the character that he was
building came from the hearts of men like

2853
03:26:48.000 --> 03:26:54.360
Calan Dorry Senior. His greatest pride
was yet to come. With two sons

2854
03:26:54.360 --> 03:27:00.360
following in his footsteps, it was
a question of who would be Dad's team

2855
03:27:00.440 --> 03:27:05.239
partner. Long hours, strict training, the job of teaching the experiences of

2856
03:27:05.280 --> 03:27:11.319
wrestling, the holes, counter holds, what wrestler did, what wrestler's tricks,

2857
03:27:11.360 --> 03:27:15.680
the knicks, the knacks, even
to the taping of a sprain or

2858
03:27:15.760 --> 03:27:22.360
bad bruise many hours day months,
and at last a father's dream come true

2859
03:27:22.719 --> 03:27:26.840
to be in his son's corner when
he would face the world's heavyweight champion.

2860
03:27:26.879 --> 03:27:33.479
Big Gene Kiniski, ex pro footballer, X amateur wrestling champion, was champ

2861
03:27:33.719 --> 03:27:37.799
and beating all comers, and although
Senior had chances for the coveted belt,

2862
03:27:37.280 --> 03:27:43.200
it always seemed to elude him.
The pulse was getting quicker, the heart

2863
03:27:43.239 --> 03:27:46.120
pumping faster, and a lump came
to his throat when he heard the announcer

2864
03:27:46.159 --> 03:27:52.840
say, Dory Funk. Junior Kinisky
came on bit fast, big and strong.

2865
03:27:52.200 --> 03:27:56.120
The Canadian giant was a powerhouse.
The fans came out of their seats.

2866
03:27:56.840 --> 03:28:01.600
Remarks were shouted, quote it.
It will be over any second now.

2867
03:28:01.239 --> 03:28:05.280
Gene is too big for Funk.
Gene has gout him, et cetera.

2868
03:28:07.559 --> 03:28:11.760
As Kinisky pinched, kicked, slammed, and drove his head into the

2869
03:28:11.799 --> 03:28:18.559
mat. If there is such a
thing as inheriting guts and determination, perseverance,

2870
03:28:18.760 --> 03:28:24.239
bulldog tenacity, the will to win, the ambition, desire and courage,

2871
03:28:24.879 --> 03:28:28.479
all attributes of a champion, it
was to be seen in that arena

2872
03:28:28.760 --> 03:28:35.079
that night. My thoughts raced back
to the first time I saw Senior with

2873
03:28:35.200 --> 03:28:39.959
Von Eric, and now he had
come back, the blood pouring from his

2874
03:28:39.440 --> 03:28:45.079
from two open holes at his temples. If Young Funk was anything like his

2875
03:28:45.159 --> 03:28:50.280
old man, if he could produce
a portion of Senior's courage, If if,

2876
03:28:50.680 --> 03:28:56.799
if only, And as the words
trailed from my mouth, young Funk

2877
03:28:56.200 --> 03:29:01.239
was coming back, coming up as
slowly as first, as he struggled to

2878
03:29:01.239 --> 03:29:05.760
find himself. God, where was
that much needed second wind? And Young

2879
03:29:05.840 --> 03:29:11.360
Funk was searching and finding Dorry Senior's
eyes, And as he came up,

2880
03:29:11.440 --> 03:29:18.840
the crowd came with him. Pandemonium, the smell of victory, the young

2881
03:29:18.879 --> 03:29:26.360
matador finding the ingredients to make the
kill. And there was Dorry Junior applying

2882
03:29:26.399 --> 03:29:31.159
the world famous spinning toe hold,
the hold Dorry Senior introduced into the wrestling

2883
03:29:31.200 --> 03:29:35.719
profession, the hold that had taken
years to perfect and longer to teach.

2884
03:29:35.639 --> 03:29:43.479
The noise was deafening the new world
heavyweight champion, Dorry Funk Junior. You

2885
03:29:43.520 --> 03:29:48.920
could have said Senior, for Junior
was the product the older Funk molded.

2886
03:29:50.280 --> 03:29:56.000
Dorry took turns teaming with Junior and
Terry, who had developed, who had

2887
03:29:56.000 --> 03:30:00.000
developed into a star in his own
right. I ran into Dory Senior again

2888
03:30:00.040 --> 03:30:03.399
two years ago at the Madison Square
Garden in New York. Oh, sorry,

2889
03:30:03.159 --> 03:30:07.239
at the Madison Square Gardens in New
York. He was teamed with son

2890
03:30:07.319 --> 03:30:11.000
Terry that night, and I had
a long talk with him, as Dorry

2891
03:30:11.079 --> 03:30:15.840
Senior never lived a dull day and
was always good for an interesting story.

2892
03:30:16.000 --> 03:30:20.200
I asked why he did most of
his wrestling around Texas and never gave the

2893
03:30:20.200 --> 03:30:22.600
fans in other parts of the country
much of a chance to see him in

2894
03:30:22.639 --> 03:30:28.280
action. Well, I love Texas
and it's kind of hard to stay away

2895
03:30:28.399 --> 03:30:31.200
from a beloved one for long.
He kind of chuckled, and it was

2896
03:30:31.200 --> 03:30:35.319
hard to think of this man being
capable of the many things he had done

2897
03:30:35.399 --> 03:30:41.079
to wrestlers or thought they or thought
they had who thought they had his number.

2898
03:30:41.920 --> 03:30:45.280
Dorrifunk Senior rough, tough, feared, hated, loved, yes.

2899
03:30:46.000 --> 03:30:50.319
A man who could weep over a
dying neighbor's child, a man who loved

2900
03:30:50.360 --> 03:30:56.200
dogs and would and would doctor sick
animals. A boy's boy who grew up

2901
03:30:56.239 --> 03:31:01.799
to be a man's man. Dorry
Senior never had to be pointed out for

2902
03:31:01.920 --> 03:31:09.959
his colorful appearance and casual Swagger for
his trademark. This story is ending as

2903
03:31:09.000 --> 03:31:13.920
your life did, Dory, But
for those of us who knew you,

2904
03:31:15.040 --> 03:31:22.360
we were all touched with a little
greatness. W. L. Putt Powell,

2905
03:31:22.360 --> 03:31:26.479
who was a key sportswriter in the
Amorlo Globe News and in the area

2906
03:31:26.520 --> 03:31:30.639
and one of the originators of the
Texas High School Football Hall of Fame,

2907
03:31:31.319 --> 03:31:35.680
took to the pages of his newspaper
upon the passing of Dorriyfunk Senior. The

2908
03:31:35.719 --> 03:31:39.840
Amoralo Globe Times, June fourth,
nineteen seventy three. The life of Dorriy

2909
03:31:39.879 --> 03:31:43.920
Funk Senior ended at age fifty four
Sunday. I doubt if anyone ever lived

2910
03:31:43.959 --> 03:31:48.719
a more exciting or enjoyable life.
He never knew a dull day. He

2911
03:31:48.840 --> 03:31:52.959
was always the center of attention.
He grew up in Hammond, Indiana,

2912
03:31:52.079 --> 03:31:56.600
and was an all around athlete.
He learned to professional He learned professional wrestling.

2913
03:31:56.680 --> 03:32:03.200
Following World War Two. Funk received
his greatest satisfaction while serving at Boys

2914
03:32:03.239 --> 03:32:07.040
Ranch. The late Cal Farley founded
Boys Ranch in nineteen thirty nine. Farley

2915
03:32:07.040 --> 03:32:11.600
also had come to Emmarillo as a
wrestler. Story was told in a book

2916
03:32:11.680 --> 03:32:16.559
entitled to shirttail to hang to.
Farley gave Dorry credit for saving Boys ranch.

2917
03:32:16.600 --> 03:32:20.280
In nineteen fifty, a bunch of
the older boys were in a state

2918
03:32:20.280 --> 03:32:24.639
of revolt and had threatened to throw
the superintendent into the Canadian River. Farley

2919
03:32:24.680 --> 03:32:28.719
begged Dorry to take over for a
few months. Bunk was on trial.

2920
03:32:28.840 --> 03:32:31.760
The first day, he insisted some
of the tough boys to work out with

2921
03:32:31.840 --> 03:32:35.159
him on the mat. The boys
were not in a hurry so that Dorry

2922
03:32:35.159 --> 03:32:39.920
could handle the situation. Dorry also
coached the football team and all other sports.

2923
03:32:41.319 --> 03:32:45.239
He planned to stay there months but
stayed three years. Another great tribute

2924
03:32:45.399 --> 03:32:48.600
to Dory Funk Senior as his two
sons, Dorry Junior and Terry. I'm

2925
03:32:48.639 --> 03:32:52.159
sure Dorry Senior was a stern father, but no one ever raised two finer

2926
03:32:52.239 --> 03:32:56.760
young men. It was the dream
of Dorry Senior for one of his boys

2927
03:32:56.760 --> 03:33:01.120
to win the World wrestling championship.
Dory Junior. He won the World championship

2928
03:33:01.120 --> 03:33:03.879
but finished gen Kiniski with a spinning
toe hold, which was introduced by Dory

2929
03:33:03.920 --> 03:33:11.000
Senior. Terry also has been a
successful wrestler. Both boys were standout football

2930
03:33:11.000 --> 03:33:15.760
players at West Texas State. Some
of my most pleasant memories are of the

2931
03:33:15.920 --> 03:33:20.879
times Dorry Funk Senior would drop by
this newspaper office for visits late at night.

2932
03:33:20.399 --> 03:33:26.479
He was sharp on many subjects.
I'll never forget the TV shows Dorry

2933
03:33:26.600 --> 03:33:31.360
Senor used to have on Sundays.
He ribbed himself about receiving an award from

2934
03:33:31.360 --> 03:33:37.319
Interstate Theaters. Doriy Senior said he
received the award because his TV show put

2935
03:33:37.719 --> 03:33:43.000
more people back in the theaters.
Wow. Dorry Senor used to belittle my

2936
03:33:43.120 --> 03:33:48.079
football guesses on his TV show.
Doriy Senior used to make his picks after

2937
03:33:48.120 --> 03:33:52.319
the games had been played and say
that is just the way he selected.

2938
03:33:52.559 --> 03:33:58.360
I didn't have a chance. Dorry
Senior held many people and many organizations that

2939
03:33:58.399 --> 03:34:07.479
few people knew anything about. There's
there's no telling. This is another bad

2940
03:34:07.479 --> 03:34:11.920
scan to your point, Yeah,
there's no telling. How much he contributed

2941
03:34:11.920 --> 03:34:16.959
to Boys Ranch. He bought toys
and things like that for children in hospitals

2942
03:34:16.639 --> 03:34:22.719
and homes. Dorriy Funk Senior was
a familiar figure walking down the streets in

2943
03:34:22.760 --> 03:34:26.840
his colorful clothes. He had a
swagger in his walk. Most everyone was

2944
03:34:26.879 --> 03:34:33.920
saying, there's Dory Funk Senior.
Many people are saying today Dory Funk Senior

2945
03:34:33.360 --> 03:34:37.479
was a great guy. And when
it's all said and done, on a

2946
03:34:37.559 --> 03:34:43.840
later tribute, what better tribute can
you receive from your fellow man. That's

2947
03:34:43.840 --> 03:34:50.360
how Doriy Funk Senior was remembered in
Amillo. His obituary noted two sons,

2948
03:34:50.399 --> 03:34:54.079
Dorry Junior and Terry, have followed
their father inner wrestling. Dorry Junior held

2949
03:34:54.079 --> 03:34:58.399
the National Wrestling Alliance World Championship until
he lost it to Harley Race recently.

2950
03:34:58.680 --> 03:35:03.040
He the belt. Survivors include his
wife Betty, two older sons, two

2951
03:35:03.079 --> 03:35:07.079
other sons. He had two other
sons which you didn't talk about. Almost

2952
03:35:07.159 --> 03:35:11.840
nothing is known about these guys,
Bobby Funk and Donnie Funk. Bobby and

2953
03:35:11.879 --> 03:35:16.000
Donnie. The Funks now a daughter, Dorry, So apparently he had a

2954
03:35:16.040 --> 03:35:20.840
daughter too, So the Terry and
Dorry have a sister, Dorry. Wow

2955
03:35:20.879 --> 03:35:28.520
b O R E E. Does
it really there's another Dory a brother Herman

2956
03:35:28.559 --> 03:35:31.639
of Amarello a sister. Doctor Dorothy
Webb of Hammond, Indiana and his parents

2957
03:35:31.959 --> 03:35:39.760
outlived him. Mister and Missus Adam
Funk and acknowledgment of the passing of Dorriy

2958
03:35:39.799 --> 03:35:43.879
Funk Senior. Ordessa Wrestling promoter Pado
Dowdy announced the program schedule for Tuesday at

2959
03:35:43.879 --> 03:35:48.319
Ector County Coliseum has been canceled because
of the death of Doriy Funk Senior.

2960
03:35:48.959 --> 03:35:52.159
Funeral services for Dorri Funk Senior were
held on June fifth, nineteen seventy three,

2961
03:35:52.159 --> 03:35:54.959
at the First Methodist Church of Canyon, Texas, and he was buried

2962
03:35:54.959 --> 03:36:00.159
in the City of Canyon Cemetery and
the family asked that all remembrances beside and

2963
03:36:01.639 --> 03:36:07.920
naturally to cal Farley's Boys Ranch Amarillo. Of course, the patriarch is gone,

2964
03:36:09.319 --> 03:36:16.840
but as the king dead, m
we will find out because fortunately for

2965
03:36:16.879 --> 03:36:22.719
the Funks, the legacy of their
father won't be one of overbearing but one

2966
03:36:22.799 --> 03:36:28.680
of kind of a wistful, distant
memory of inspiration. It's really the flip

2967
03:36:28.719 --> 03:36:31.959
side of the coin in so many
ways, and it's something that Terry Funk

2968
03:36:33.040 --> 03:36:39.239
never let go of, never stop
referencing, never stopped thinking about. Despite

2969
03:36:39.239 --> 03:36:41.399
his mention in that article you read, Dorry Funk scene, you're never really

2970
03:36:41.440 --> 03:36:46.920
having much of an exposure from a
national television point of view, not being

2971
03:36:46.959 --> 03:36:50.280
somebody who's greatness in the ring and
innovations in the ring were really felt much

2972
03:36:50.319 --> 03:36:56.680
beyond the bounds of West Texas as
Terry Funk embarked on a career that would

2973
03:36:56.719 --> 03:37:01.040
take him to the brightest of spotlights
in the rings of Japan and in the

2974
03:37:01.120 --> 03:37:05.399
rings of the most prominent wrestling territories
in the United States, to Puerto Rico,

2975
03:37:05.920 --> 03:37:11.479
to Germany, to many other far
flung places. He would remember Dorry

2976
03:37:11.559 --> 03:37:15.719
Senior and do what he could to
keep him alive. And thanks to this

2977
03:37:15.840 --> 03:37:20.719
digest today we know the many little
pieces that went into the mosaic that would

2978
03:37:20.719 --> 03:37:24.639
become Terry Funk. As He's about
to embark on Japan and bark on the

2979
03:37:24.639 --> 03:37:28.280
feud with Dusty Rhoads, embark on
the program with Jerry the King Lawler and

2980
03:37:28.319 --> 03:37:31.360
the Mpty Arena match, and bark
on the death matches in Japan. Embark

2981
03:37:33.280 --> 03:37:35.200
on a remarkable run through all Japan
Pro wrestling with his brother and some of

2982
03:37:35.200 --> 03:37:39.559
the most legendary tag team matches in
the history of the business. Embark on

2983
03:37:39.959 --> 03:37:46.319
many false retirements, and bark of
being a central figure at the heart of

2984
03:37:46.360 --> 03:37:52.440
the attitude that was Extreme Championship Wrestling. To runs against Hulk Cogan and Mick

2985
03:37:52.479 --> 03:37:56.840
Foley in the WWF, to a
run in WCW that he would probably prefer

2986
03:37:56.879 --> 03:38:01.440
to forget to the wonderful program with
the Rick Flair and nineteen eighty nine the

2987
03:38:01.559 --> 03:38:05.760
reminded the world that all these years
Terry Funk was developing into one of the

2988
03:38:05.760 --> 03:38:11.159
most complete and excellent professional wrestlers there
ever was. And among the many promos

2989
03:38:11.200 --> 03:38:13.479
he cut and that Rick Flair program
in nineteen eighty nine, which of course

2990
03:38:13.479 --> 03:38:18.440
we'll get to here on the lapsed
Funk, he called back on his dad

2991
03:38:18.920 --> 03:38:26.360
one more time. I am from
a professional wrestling family, and many years

2992
03:38:26.399 --> 03:38:31.639
ago my father was a wrestler too, and my father died in my arms

2993
03:38:31.920 --> 03:38:39.920
after a professional wrestling match. They
had his funeral and thousands of people came

2994
03:38:39.959 --> 03:38:45.319
to his funeral, and they brought
every kind and color of flower imaginable.

2995
03:38:46.079 --> 03:38:50.000
That's like I said, was many
years ago. Then the years went by

2996
03:38:50.200 --> 03:38:56.600
and I went back to the gravesite
and all it was there was me and

2997
03:38:56.719 --> 03:39:01.799
a West Texas win. And I
looked down down at that headtone of heav

2998
03:39:01.360 --> 03:39:11.639
and had that thone hel you in
CA and iWar to the heavens of Bob

2999
03:39:11.120 --> 03:39:20.600
that I would make that name snonymous
with Ruth Wayne forever, forever you know

3000
03:39:20.200 --> 03:39:39.040
good for nothing eggs second, dumb
as a music man. We did it

3001
03:39:39.239 --> 03:39:46.520
our way because we love it that
way. We love it that way.

3002
03:39:48.040 --> 03:39:52.440
I have this wonderful gut feeling and
I've had it all my life. When

3003
03:39:52.479 --> 03:40:16.040
it's time to go, I think
it's now there's time to go. Holler, h