“The Funker” joined “Your Home Of Wrestling Radio” for his first interview in over four years with The Big Mosh, Blade, & The Mayhem’s Senior Show Correspondent/columnist “The Chairman Of The Board, Todd Vincent: “It’s great to be back talking to you guys about ECW…which is very, very dear to me & very important to me — It really is.” Terry went on to add that he believes ECW was the last real threat to become competitive to the WWE at that time. ” It was quite a deal, and it wasn’t an easy thing to accomplish, from nothing to something. And ECW went that route.”
Many fans are gearing up for the forthcoming benefit show “Legends Of The Arena,” (on Saturday night, June 27th), which will reunite many members of the original ECW, including Terry himself (who will be the special guest referee in the match between The Sandman & Sabu). Mosh & Blade asked Terry about the memories flooding his mind, as he gets ready for what could be his last appearance in Philadelphia & the arena that cemented his legacy. “It will be my last time in The ECW Arena more than likely.” He continued, “I can’t think of anybody else with the desire & passion other than Francine to do something like this. She is driven but not just her love of the business, but her love for her family.” Later in the interview, he stated that he is good financially, and that he’s simply going back for the love of the people. “I’m going up to The ECW Arena not out of need, but because I love the people that I’m going to see…Sabu, Fonzie (Bill Alfonso)…what a one night it’s gonna’ be.”
After the success of the One Night Stand PPV’s, it only became a matter of time before the WWE brought in ECW as a third brand into the company, which has indeed been very successful on Sci-Fi. Many of those who performed with the original Extreme Championship Wrestling have been critical over the years of the legacy of ECW being “tarnished” and/or the brand does not resemble anything from year’s past. The Mayhem Crew asked Terry for his thoughts on the brand now, as we head into Extreme Rules this Sunday night on Pay-Per-View. “It’s a world away.” Terry then said that The Undertaker/Shawn Michaels match at WrestleMania XXV was full of moves that he & others from the prior ECW performed years ago: “They didn’t originate one goddamn move in that thing…Think about that. Where did you see all that before? What has wrestling evolved to?” Terry implored for the WWE to “create something new.” “If you’re gonna do something, create something new.” He did say that HBK & ‘Taker busted their asses in that match, and his statements are not directed to them, but to the WWE as a whole.
Terry’s good friend & former ECW colleague, “The Innovator Of Violence” Tommy Dreamer, is in a must-win this Sunday at Extreme Rules (in a Triple-Threat, Hardcore Rules Match against Christian & Jack Swagger), where he must either win the ECW Championship or retire from the business. As many remember, Terry & Tommy had some memorable moments as part of Extreme Championship Wrestling. Mosh, Blade, & “The Chairman Of The Board” asked Tommy for his comments on Dreamer’s potential last match in New Orleans this weekend, if he sees Tommy retiring, & what Dreamer’s legacy would be to ECW. “Tommy has a very important place in my heart, he really does. If I could have adopted a kid or had a son, I would have wanted him to be like Tommy, because Tommy has a true love for the business…always has.” He continued that Dreamer “should have a place in this business, and if there ever was an ECW Hall Of Fame, I’d vote for him before anyone else.”
The current TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Mick Foley, has had many battles with & against Terry Funk through the years (including their WWE World Tag Team Title reign in 1998 as Chainsaw Charlie & Cactus Jack). As some already know TNA recently ran a house show through Terry’s famous Amarillo, TX “stomping grounds,” and “The Funkster” had the chance to meet up once again with his longtime friend. Simply put, Terry has the feelings about Mick as he described about Tommy Dreamer. “I just love him. There’s so many guys that I had special relationships with up there (in ECW). It wasn’t the type of relationship that started out as a loving relationship, but it became that way. Guys that I like, and we just liked being around each other.” Mosh & Blade asked if he is surprised that Mick is still going strong to this point in time, especially with being crowned the TNA Champion at Lockdown. “That *ssh*le should be going…I’m 105, Flair’s 104, and Foley’s half our age. Foley’s not that old, if he doesn’t have a few years left in this business, nobody does. Has he reached his prime? I don’t know.”
As part of the legendary “Class Of 2009,” Terry & his brother Dory, Jr. were inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame just several short weeks ago, and “Your Home Of Wrestling Radio” was the first to hear Dory’s thoughts about his feelings leading into his induction. To make things come “full circle,” The Mayhem Crew asked for Terry’s reflections on his memorable weekend. “That was a pretty big deal…I was very honored by that, and my brother was too.” Terry’s speech at the Hall Of Fame Ceremonies was complimented on the guys, but he only had one issue with the ceremony. “You gotta’ live by the times & rules of television, but to get 40 years of wrestling in two & a half minutes, there’s so many guys I wanted to mention & my brother wanted to mention, and there wasn’t time to do it. And if I mention two or three guys, you are gonna’ forget four, five or six, and some feelings will be hurt.”
As a final parting shot to The Mayhem Nation, Mosh asked Funk about his legacy & how he will be looked at in the business, his career will be remembered, & how the fans should see him. “I want to be remembered as a good man….And that’s a pretty hard to be remembered that way.” He added, “I think that’s all anybody could do is be remembered as a person that was a pretty damn good guy, that was pretty damn straight, and didn’t screw too many people around.” From Terry Funk to his legions of fans around the world, “I’m still alive!!!”
More is featured in this 40+ minute exclusive interview with the man who has been called “middle-aged & crazy” & “Wrestling’s Living Legend,” including what his reasons were for not doing the very first WWE/ECW One Night Stand (in 2005) & instead doing “The Franchise” Shane Douglas’s “Hardcore Homecoming” event, who Terry picks as his favorite ECW opponent during his time in the company, his memories of some of his favorite cities/towns that Extreme Championship Wrestling ran regularly (including Buffalo), who he forgot to mention in his WWE Hall Of Fame speech (in lieu of the time allotment given to all of the inductees), what he sees happening when he gets “roasted” this October (as part of Ring Roasts II), & even more of his heartfelt thoughts/excitement about the upcoming Legends Of The Arena show at the former ECW Arena on Saturday, June 27th.
