During the latest edition of his “Grilling JR” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer and AEW broadcaster Jim Ross commented on Terry Funk’s legacy, why he’s a once in a lifetime talent, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Terry Funk’s legacy in wrestling: “He’s a once in a lifetime talent. No doubt. He’s as extraordinary as anybody I’ve ever worked with. He could do it all. His background is what extended his career. He’s a lifer and this is all he’s known basically since he was a kid – being raised by his dad who was a famous promoter in Dory Sr. Terry is just an interesting guy and he has such an amazing background. His paths have touched so many talents. If you talk to a lot of talents, they’ll tell you Terry Funk is one of their all-time favorites because he extended his career and reinvented himself two or three times and wasn’t afraid to take a chance. I’m a big fan of Terry Funk.”
On his first time meeting Funk: “I think the first time I ever saw Terry, Cowboy [Bill Watts] had an angle going on in Mid-South where Ken Mantel was the top babyface, and Colonel Buck Robley had a bounty on Mantel. The ‘ol bounty angle. I think it ran for six or eight weeks. Cowboy would bring in somebody, and when it came down to the last bounty hunter to take on Mantel, it was Terry Funk. I was refereeing. So, the first time I ever saw Terry back in the 70s as the last bounty hunter in the program – I refereed a lot of matches for Cowboy back in that era, but I never was in the ring with anybody quite like Terry. A lot of guys had a rhythm and a cadence and things you would expect them to do. But man, Terry had another book. I thought that night I had seen as good a wrestler to date that I had ever seen. He was that amazing.”
On what current generation talents can learn from Funk: “How many times have we talked about Terry reinventing himself? He always stayed ahead of the curve. He was always willing to take a chance and put his established routines aside to reinvent something new. That’s what I encourage a lot of talents today [to do]. You’ve gotta keep evolving your game. You’ve gotta change or it becomes the same mask. He’s just one of the most creative visionaries I ever met. I would say if I really thought about it and wrote a book about my favorite talents and stories about them all, he would be one of the first guys I would want to write about because he’s that extraordinary.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
