It didn’t take long to realize that two hours with Terry Funk were not going to be enough.
I’m not sure that two days would even be enough to hear all Funk’s stories about his 34 years in wrestling — plus all the years growing up with a wrestler for a father.
Chris Gramlich chats with Terry Funk. Photo by Greg Oliver
Funk, dressed in a grey Henley shirt, baseball cap, and hair in a ponytail, sat down with Chris Gramlich and I on Saturday night at The Bounty restaurant in Mississauga, along with Sully’s Gym trainer Rod Boudreau, AWF owner Chris Mulchinock and his wife Dyana.
I kind of wish that Louis Malle had been there to film it — My Dinner With Terry.
As it was, Gramlich taped the interview, and is working on a story about Funk — from his early days to his hardcore days, to what’s in store next. Needless to say, his deadline isn’t tomorrow.
But just sitting there, hearing a true legend of wrestling tell stories was something.
Over dinner — Funk had a BLT, and later got into the chewing tobacco — he told us crazy stories that spanned the globe. Adrian Adonis eating a 6-foot sub almost by himself, the Iron Sheik’s paranoia, Kerry von Erich’s problems. And his nickname for Abdullah the Butcher, who he faced Sunday afternoon at the AWF show, is ‘Spanky’. I wish that we had taped that part too, but it was not exactly an ‘on the record’ discussion.
That said, however, Funk does not hold anything back in his interview with SLAM! Wrestling.
He doesn’t like Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan. He loves to make money.
Funk may be proud that he doesn’t “hang on to the past,” but for Gramlich and I, it’s a night that we will always hang on to.
And I’m probably looking forward to reading Gramlich’s story more than you are!
Results from Sunday’s AWF show in Toronto at The Guverment:
- Mysterious Mayhem beat Custom Made Man in the opener
- Canadian Lightning Jim Fury beat Sheik Mustafa when the Sheik’s chairshot backfired
- Wild Thing (Black Eagle and Iceman) beat Access/Denied (Chackal & Piranah) for the NCW Quebec tag team titles. A really good match, featuring a terrifying moment when Iceman fell off the top rope and into the barrier. He got back up eventually, and back into the match.
- El Fuego Kid beat Zakk Wylde. After the match, Wylde took to the house mic and blasted AWF commissioner Ron Hutchison for always making him job. He claims he should be in the WWF with fellow Sully’s Gym classmates Edge and Christian.
- Ms B Haven beat Squeegee Kid. After the match, Jim Fury and Sheik Mustafa got involved.
- Intermission featured autographs by Terry Funk and Abdullah the Butcher.
- In a lightweight ladder match, L’artiste beat Sexy Baby Jamie Jackson. Both the title and an envelope were suspended above the ring. The title fell during the course of the match, so neither man could be champ. L’artiste won the match by getting the envelope first.
- Abdullah the Butcher beat Terry Funk by DQ when Funk piledrove the ref. Tables, chairs, blood and bottles all became involved.
- In the finale, Zakk Wylde won a battle royale.
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