Bully Ray Shares Charming Anecdote About Late WWE & Wrestling Legend Terry Funk

It's been a somber few days in wrestling. As talent and fans continue to mourn the losses of WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk and former WWE Champion Bray Wyatt, Bully Ray chronicles a wholesome memory he shared with Funk, whom he considered a friend. On "Busted Open Radio," Bully recalled his performance at the September 1997 WrestleFest event, entitled "50 Years of Funk," which honored the career of Funk, who was planning to retire after the show. Both Funk and Bully competed in No Disqualification matches that evening, with Funk facing Bret "The Hitman" Hart, while Bully battled Balls Mahoney. It was the events that unfolded after the show, though, that Bully will forever cherish.

"When Terry Funk came up to me and he paid me for that show, I was in shock, because I couldn't believe that I was actually getting paid to wrestle on this huge event," Bully said. "Terry Funk's like ninth retirement or whatever number retirement that was. And what I'm holding up right now is the actual check that Terry Funk handed to me in the locker room in Amarillo, Texas. He thanked me for wrestling on the show and he thanked me for being there. I think that's the first time I heard Terry Funk call me 'friend.'"

Upon further inspection of the check, Bully noted that Funk had signed it with "immaculate penmanship," and the cash amount was way higher than he anticipated. "As you can see, the account is drawn on Terry and Vicki Funk, and in the bottom left-hand corner, it says 'Wrestlefest.' The pay was $400, which is considerably more than young boy Bubba Ray Dudley expected that night because I expected zero," Bully said. 20 years after the event, Bully finally told Funk that he never cashed the check. In response, Funk jokingly said, "You son of a b****. That's how come I can't balance my checkbook."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.