Professional wrestling is a business full of people who call themselves “icons” and “legends.” The terms are basically throwaway marketing terms guys use to make themselves sound bigger than they actually are.

Conversely, Terry Funk, who passed this week at 79 following a protracted battle with dementia, was the very definition of an icon and legend.

Born in 1944 in Hammond, Indiana to Dorothy and wrestling promoter Dory Funk, Terry and his family moved to Amarillo, Texas after World War II ended. Amarillo would eventually become known as “the Funks’ territory” as Dory Senior basically raised his two sons, Dory Junior and Terry, in the wrestling business there.

Terry would go to West Texas State University and compete in football and amateur wrestling before making the jump to pro wrestling in 1965.

For the first few years of Terry Funk’s wrestling career he worked in Dory Senior’s Western States Sports promotion with his brother Dory Junior in both singles contests and tag matches. The Funk brothers showed so much aptitude for the wrestling business the National Wrestling Alliance made both World Champion at different points in their careers. By the ’80s, Terry and Dory weren’t just drawing huge money in America. The brothers were international stars.

When Terry won the NWA World Title from Jack Brisco in 1975 it set the Funker on a title reign that lasted over a year. Terry would defend the World Championship in North America, Canada, Singapore, Australia and Japan.

Japan was huge for Terry Funk, and he became a bit of a cult hero there with his over the top antics in the ring, colorful outfits, and wild brawling style. Later in life, Terry would make a name for himself in the brutal world of “Deathmatch” wrestling, competing in ludicrous matches that featured lots of barbed wire, exploding rings, or even flaming branding irons.

The branding iron, in case you didn’t figure it out, was Terry Funk’s idea. You really can take the man out of Texas but not the Texas out of the man.

In 1981, Funk had one of the most memorable matches of all time in Memphis with Jerry Lawler in an empty arena. You read that right. The only people there were Funk, Lawler, commentator Lance Russell, and a cameraman. Do yourself a favor and go check it out if you’ve not seen it as it’s really something special and would birth many imitators over the years.

Going into every aspect of Terry Funk’s career would take up pages, so I’m going to hit some high points I remember. From 1989-1990 Funk had a hellacious feud with Ric Flair in WCW that saw the two brawl multiple times in several different matches. During this feud, Funk went so far as to suffocate Flair on television with a a plastic shopping bag. You can probably guess how much TBS’s Standards and Practices division loved this.

By the 1990s, Funk had largely pushed traditional wrestling out of his repertoire, choosing to focus more on the “hardcore” and “deathmatch” styles of wrestling that basically adhered to one rule: There were no rules. He would spend a lot of time at this point in Philadelphia’s Extreme Championship Wrestling, where he won their world title in the main event of “Barely Legal,” the promotion’s first pay-per-view event.

Funk would compete in a match ECW referred to as “Born to be Wired,” where the ring ropes were taken down and replaced with barbed wire, against a wrestler named Sabu. The extremely violent contest eventually ended with both men having to be cut out of the barbed wire at the conclusion of the match. Sabu loved this match and thought very highly of Terry Funk—actually taping up a bicep torn open by the barbed wire to continue wrestling!

In 1997, Terry Funk started his second stint with the World Wrestling Federation under, oddly enough, a mask made of panty hose as “Chainsaw Charlie.” He would team with his friend Mick “Cactus Jack” Foley in a series of tag team matches. It’s hard to keep a legend under a mask, though, and by April of 1998 WWF commentators were calling Terry by his real name.

By the 2000s, Funk was largely making appearances on the independent circuit. He competed during this time for more organizations than I care to admit. This was impressive and spoke to the longevity Funk’s career enjoyed. You have to remember at this time he was in his sixties and still working on a regular basis.

Funk also made a mark in the movie business, stealing the show from Patrick Swayze in the 1989 film “Road House.” He would feature in a short lived western called “Wildside.” Funk also did some fight choreography for “Rocky V.” It was during this film’s principal photography Funk made some waves in film industry press by stating two pro wrestlers could choreograph a fight scene that would work from any camera angle in less time and for less money than professional stunt people.

He was right, but it didn’t earn him any favors with anyone. Fortunately, Terry was too stubborn of a man to care.

Terry would eventually quietly retire from public life around 2020. In 2021 Don Muraco, another bona fide wrestling legend, would reveal Funk had been living with dementia and was actually in an assisted living facility. Ric Flair would state in December of 2021 that Funk had returned home to live with his daughters Stacy and Brandee, who took care of their father until his passing.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of Terry Funk to the wrestling business. He won so many championships, was the face of countless promotions, and worked to elevate the wrestling business in more ways than most ever will. Many fans count Terry as one of those wrestlers who make it on their “Mount Rushmore” of the best ever.

I know I sure do.

So take some time with me this weekend to pour a cold one, lift it in honor of one of pro wrestling’s real outlaws, and play “Desperado” for a true legend who passed this week.

This one sucks. We’ll see you next week everyone.