Terry Funk recently spoke with Justin Barrasso for Sports Illustrated Extra Mustard‘s Week In Wrestling; you can read a few of Funk’s comments about his in-ring return below. Funk will work two matches next month for Big Time Wrestling in North Carolina on September 22nd and in South Carolina on the 23rd:
Funk comments on his return to the ring:
“I’m back doing what I love. I’m really honest about this, I don’t need the money.”
Funk comments on concern over his age and competing in the ring; Funk reveals his father died after a heart attack following a wrestling match:
“My pop was in the business and he loved it very much. He actually went ahead and passed away while wrestling. We used to have a few parties out at the house and invite the wrestlers. There was one by the name of Lance Thornton, and he thought he could take my father. My father went ahead and said, ‘Dah gumit, I don’t think you can do that.’ So everybody pushed by the tables and chairs in the house, and they went at it.“My father, who was 54 at the time, beat him. He sat down beside me and said, ‘Wasn’t bad for an old man, was it?’ Then he got up and left the room and went out the front door. About 15 minutes later, my wife came to me and said, ‘Your father is out on the front porch and thinks he’s having a heart attack.’ Sure enough, he was, and he passed away. He passed away doing what he loved. I certainly don’t want to pass away, but I’m doing what I love. And so what if I’m doing it in my 70s? I know this is hard for some people to understand, but I still think I can kick ass. This love of wrestling has been in my family with my dad, my brother, and myself. To this day, it’s what I love.”
Funk adds:
“I don’t want to die. The last thing I want to do is go in a wrestling ring with a bunch of people watching. I’d rather it be somewhere high up on a mountain. I don’t need any fans there for that.”
Funk expresses his gratitude for wrestling fans sticking with him over the years:
“The crowd is everything in my life. I just love the fans, and I also have a lot of respect for them. They’ve given me everything I have in my life. They’ve given me my house. They gave me my ranch when I had a ranch; don’t have one now, I sold the damn thing, but I shouldn’t have because if went up in value.
“It’s the wrestling fans who’ve done that, and nobody else, and I understand that. I more than appreciate them, I love ‘em. I’ve got all the time in the world for them. I’ll be with them until midnight if they want; if they want an autograph, I’ll give them one.”
