Terry Funk On Why He Was Upset With Ric Flair "I Quit" Match, Who Should Be In The WWE Hall Of Fame
Hardcore wrestling legend Terry Funk recently spoke to Andy Malnoske of Wrestling Inc. about his career, his wrestling style and much more.
Funk was asked about his longtime rival in NWA, Ric Flair. Funk joked that Flair deserved all the hardcore things Funk did to him, but said they had some amazing matches together. But Funk recalled an incident where a promotion they were working in falsely advertised his retirement.
"We had some great ones on TV at the time that just produced fantastic ratings overall," Funk said. "I know that I wrestled Ric in an 'I Quit' match that had a few bones in it that I didn't like. It wasn't Ric so much, it was the promotion, the people in power at that time. They were bound and determined that Terry Funk wasn't gonna survive. They definitely retired me and had a retirement match that I didn't even know about that they had advertised on television. I never did really appreciate that very much, that was always a thorn in my side, believe me."
Funk also discussed the WWE Hall of Fame, pointing out that there are a number of wrestlers who haven't been inducted because they were the ones who put over the wrestlers who were inducted. Funk championed for them to receive their recognition because without the losers, there would be no winners.
"The guys that go into the Hall of Fame are the winners, and the losers are the ones who put them in there, and I would like to see some of the great losers through the years be in the Hall of Fame," he said. "I know that that's probably impossible, but you've got to give those losers credit, they made the winners."
Funk was asked what he wanted to see return to the wrestling business. He said he would like to see more physicality and more wrestlers who were willing to perform lengthy matches that would captivate audiences.
"I would like to see another Johnny Valentine. I always had tremendous respect for Johnny, I used to watch and Wahoo McDaniels totally beat the crap out of each other all night long. He was special to me, he was a very physical form of wrestler," Funk said. "I'll would never be Johnny, but I'll be Terry Funk and I want to be remembered as the guy that was willing to go the distance as far as the physicalness inside that ring. That's where I think the true masters are, guys like my father and like Mike DiBiase, guys that can go grab an armbar and keep you interested for an entire 45 or 50 minutes. That was wrestling. I don't like so much the premeditated [nature] in wrestling, I like just what comes up and what happens."
Funk also discussed his hardcore style, working in ECW, his longevity, that he'd like to see return to wrestling and more. You can listen to the full interview in the video above.