|
TERRY FUNK & BILL APTER INTERVIEWS ONLINE! |
 Many consider this man the greatest wrestler of
all time. Looking at his track record of being a former NWA and ECW Heavyweight
Champion, it is difficult to argue his spot near the top of that list. He
is "The Hardcore Legend," Terry Funk. And, he's the latest guest on The
Interactive Interview!
Due to contractual agreements elsewhere, the Internet
broadcast of this interview has been cut short. But, rounding out a good
portion of the Funk interview is the complete interview with Mr. Bill Apter
of WOW magazine and Pro Wrestling Illustrated fame.
Both interviews can be downloaded now in addition to
James and Erik's "Royal Rumble Round Up" discussing every Royal Rumble in
the annals of history starting with 1988 to this Sunday's 2005 edition! This
is a brand new TII and it is, now and forever, located at
www.WrestlingEpicenter.com!
Listen
in Streaming Media ::
Download
to Desktop
NOTE: This and all interviews are in Real Audio format. If you do
not have a Real Player, you can download one free by
clicking here. It's free and is
a relatively small download.
"THE HARDCORE LEGEND" TERRY
FUNK & BILL APTER
-- The show opens with "Desperado" by the Eagles which
was Terry's well known ECW theme song.
-- James and Erik welcome Terry to the show expressing
what a great honor it is to speak to "The Hardcore Legend," Terry laughs
and says he doesn't know if it should be an honor or not but thanks the two
for their kind words and says he is honored to be on the show.
-- Terry is excited to be a part of the upcoming Wrestle
Reunion spectacular. He puts over the fact that it will feature over 80 top
stars and says he can't wait to see some old faces again.
-- At Wrestle Reunion, Terry will announce his retirement
yet again. All 3, including Terry, laugh about this but Terry says this time
might be the time he actually stays retired.
-- Growing up in a wrestling family, Terry always wanted
to be a wrestler. Other kids may have had other dreams, wrestling was always
what he wanted to do. He never was pushed by his father because it was his
dream anyway.
-- James asks about nepotism from Dory Sr, Terry's father,
and if it resulted in him receiving heat sort of how Triple H gets heat for
marrying into the McMahon family. Terry says, "nepotism was great." He feels
it did benefit him early in his career because he received opportunities
thanks to his father. But, he makes it clear that he and his brother kept
those opportunities because they proved themselves.
-- James, Erik, and Terry somehow began discussing the
Cauliflower Alley Club. Terry laughs and says he hopes Chavo Guerrero Sr.
will be there. He then says Chavo was crazy last year and that it's always
fun when he's around.
-- When asked to compare the NWA and the WWF of the 1980's,
Terry says it is the difference between a well oiled machine in the WWF and
a runaway train in the NWA. It is not clear if Terry was referring to WCW
in his final run or if he meant the NWA, however. But, Terry states the inmates
were always running the asylum in one company while the WWF was always well
managed.
-- While Terry was in the WWF with his brother Dory Jr,
Dory was given the name "Hoss Funk." When asked why they changed his name,
Terry immediately asks what they called Dusty when he went to the WWF. When
Erik and James discuss the polka dots Dusty wore with the "American Dream"
character in addition to his African American girlfriend, Terry jumps in
by saying he felt Dusty looked like he was suffering from the measles. Back
to Dory, Terry simply says, "Sometimes people have bad ideas" most likely
speaking of Vince. Terry feels the best gimmicks are a play on a portion
of that person's personality.
-- Terry enjoyed working with Flair and says a good portion
of that feud was his idea. He also puts over the fact he made good money
on that feud.
-- Erik asks about the "I Quit" match. Terry laughs and
says when he quit the match, the promoter said he quit wrestling. So, they
put him in the announce booth with Chris Cruise which he enjoyed tremendously.
But, they then tried to cut his pay because he was an announcer and not a
wrestler and that is when he decided to pack up and leave.
-- When asked about Paul Heyman's wonderful remarks about
him in the Rise and Fall of ECW, Terry said he appreciates the kind words
he receives for his work in ECW. But, he feels those words would mean more
if ECW were still going and was still a force in the wrestling business.
-- About Barely Legal when he won the world heavyweight
title, Terry says it was up there among his honors but feels the difference
between that and winning the NWA belt was the NWA brought credibility to
him while he brought credibility to the ECW title belt.
-- "It was insane because it was between two insane
individuals," says Terry when asked about the "insane" match he had at Born
to be Wired with Sabu, the brutal barbed wire contest. Terry expresses how
happy he is to step away from that match alive and says it was one of the
more crazy things he's done.
-- James starts to ask about his retirement match at
"Terry Funk's Wrestlefest" when Terry jumps in saying, "I said it was my
last match in Amarillo!" Terry then discusses his retirement matches through
the year talking about the 1983 match in Japan, the "I Quit" match with Flair,
and this one.
-- Erik asks why Terry chose to have his "last match"
with Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Terry says he is a great second-generation wrestler
and, on top of that, he was the hottest thing at the time as the WWF
champion.
-- Erik asks Terry about his initial impressions of the
"Chainsaw Charlie" character. Terry said very quickly in, he thought, "I've
just made a big mistake!" Terry adds he came up with Chainsaw Charlie. They
got the jeans off Prichard which were baggy on Terry and he had the red shirt
and there was Chainsaw Charlie. He doesn't consider this one of his better
runs.
-- Erik jumps in and discusses a "fun match" Terry had
at Wrestlemania 14. Terry cuts him off and says, "It wasn't fun for me! I
lost my ass cheek in that match." Terry explains that someone in the prop
department of the WWF put a 2x4 in the dumpster to keep the lid open. Terry
ended up hitting it and tearing the muscles in his ass cheek. Terry says
they still don't work.
-- Erik and James bring up the King of the Ring 1998
Hell in a Cell with Mick Foley and the Undertaker. Terry feels Mick Foley
took a crazy bump off the cage and was amazed he got up from that. But, while
the bump through the cage was "protected," it wasn't because the prop department
screwed up the rigging and instead of the cage breaking slowly, he went through
it like water and came straight down. Terry feels Mick is lucky he didn't
break his neck.
-- Terry feels people that put down Mick, Flair included
and especially, simply have no idea what Mick does. Mick realized he has
not been blessed with the greatest physique, so he made up for it by doing
what he could do and enjoyed an incredibly successful career by doing that.
Terry feels Flair has been in WCW and WWE so long that he hasn't had to
experience the other atmospheres out there and as such doesn't understand
why certain styles work some places and not others. He also thinks Flair's
judgment of Mick is very closed minded. James jumps in by saying, "until
you walk a mile in my shoes, don't judge me." Terry says, "That's exactly
right." James then explains his on air confrontation with Flair when James
himself refused to join Flair in Bret Hart bashing.
-- WCW was absolutely out of control when he got there
in 2000. He feels it was clearly on a rapid downward spiral and there just
was no way to stop it before it hit the bottom.
-- Terry thinks Vince buying WCW was wise just for the
tapes. He feels owning the tapes was more important than owning the company
itself.
-- In MLW, Terry saw a company that had potential but
just never took off. He feels Bower had too many people in his ear telling
him what would be good for the future of the company but they were really
telling him what would be good for themselves.
-- Terry never did appear for TNA as a part of the
"Championship Committee." The only reason his name is on that list is because
Jeff Jarrett called him and asked if he could use it. Terry said, "If it
helps your business, use my name."
-- Terry once again states this weekend, he will announce
his official retirement.
-- "I don't know if I'd be physically well enough to
do it," said Terry when asked about coming out of retirement to do the WWE
presents ECW pay per view scheduled for June. James and Erik seem a bit taken
back by this and Terry had a response that may go down as one of the scariest
moments in the history of The Interactive Interview...
-- "Is something wrong with Terry Funk? Maybe. Will I
discuss it now? No."
-- We then roll into Terry's book which we touch upon
tremendously throughout the interview. Terry wants to go with the name, "Just
Passing Through." He feels it fits the book. Terry states he feels wrestling
fans will laugh a lot, cry a little, and ultimately be entertained when reading
his book.
-- "Do you think the book will sell," asks Terry in an
honest way and not a cocky way. James and Erik say they each will buy a copy
when it is released in March. Erik states, "You're Terry Funk, of course
it will sell." The difference between James and Erik and the other talk show
hosts ... When we state something is an honor, it truly is an honor.
-- We then roll into word associations with names like
Mick Foley, Dory, Vince McMahon and others. Since this is not featured on
the Internet edition audio, I will give a few of the answers in text.
-- Missy Hyatt: "Nobody will ever kick Missy in the ass
and prevent her from making money off it."
Vince: "I dispize the man as much s I like him."
-- Terry leaves the show as James and Erik promote his
new book due out in a few months. You can pre-order the book now at Amazon.com
by clicking this link,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=theinteract04-20&path=tg%2Fdetail%2F-%2F1582619913%2Fqid%3D1106953224%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fv%3Dglance%26s%3Dbooks.
-- Bill Apter then joins the show. James mentions we
just had Terry Funk on to which Bill does an absolutely amazing impression
of Terry.
-- Bill then plugs the Wrestle Reunion fan convention
in Tampa pushing it very hard. Check out www.WrestleReunion.com for more
details!
-- Bill, James, and Erik enjoy a good 45 minute discussion
about the wrestling business past, present, and future discussing such topics
as too many pay per views, the negativity of Internet "smart" fans, the death
of tag team wrestling, TNA and ROH's chances of catching on, and even a little
talk about Bill's tremendously successful career in wrestling
journalism.
-- After Bill Apter leaves the show, James and Erik then
talk about The Royal Rumbles through the years from 1988 to now.
-- This 2 hour show is available to download right now,
for free, by simply following the links below or visiting
www.WrestlingEpicenter.com!
Listen
in Streaming Media ::
Download
to Desktop
© Copyright 2005
Wrestling Epicenter
All rights reserved
Privacy Policy
|
![[Image]](http://www.wrestlingepicenter.com/topgraph.jpg)
