The following are highlights from a recent interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Terry Funk:
His excitement level for seeing his friends and fans at next weekend’s NWA Legends Fanfest: “I’m a mark. You go to these things, and I just love it. I love being with the people I was in the ring with. I love the fans also. I really do. I enjoy talking with them, I enjoy being with the guys. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but every year, it seems like there’s a few less of them, but I hope we’re all around a few more years for sure. It’s a great thrill for me.”
The evolution of the WWE Hall of Fame since his own WWE HOF induction and the importance of inducting legends that didn’t “cross over” into the WWE: “I think it’s really good, because they’re stepping back and picking really good people from the past. Eddie Graham, Dusty (Rhodes), and guys like that. I crossed over into the WWE, but a lot of guys never did cross over. Dusty crossed over, but they grabbing guys from the past and recognizing them, and I think that’s a wonderful thing for them to do.”
Why he is a strong advocate of CM Punk’s current WWE push: “I think he’s in sync with wrestling fans. I think he’s in sync with the country. I think it’s a very smart move on what’s doing right now. I have a lot of respect for the guy. I have a lot of respect for his ability in the ring. I think CM Punk is a hell of an in-ring performer. If they let him go and go on his own, they might find out that he’s a hell of a talker. Let it go back to being an extension of your own personality. I think that would be a positive for their company.”
The stars of yesterday vs. the stars of today and what he believes is missing in the industry today: “I think the product they are putting out is a product that has been developed, because it turns the turnstile, and that is what wrestling always becomes. It becomes what the fans want to see. I truthfully believe we have the greatest athletes we’ve ever had in wrestling right now. I think we had better wrestlers in our day, but that’s my own opinion. Are they has good as we were? At what they do, they’re better, and what we did, we were better. The only thing of it is you only have one TV show that you could really watch right now. It’s hard not to become repetitive. It’s hard to change talent. It poses a lot more problems than all the territories across the country.”
Check out the complete interview online at MondayNightMayhem.com.
