Video: Terry Funk Receives His Latest HOF Ring
Terry Funk is a shoo-in for any pro wrestling Hall of Fame and just last year the "Hardcore Legend" entered another one. Funk was inducted into the International Pro Wrestling Hall Of Fame in August of 2021 and video footage of him receiving his HOF ring from longtime friend Manny "The Bull" Fernandez has been released.
"Manny and I go back a long way," Funk said in the induction video. "All the way back to West Texas, played a little football together and I'll tell ya, this is such an honor to me to get this ring presented by him to me and from the organization that it's coming from. This really means something."
"There's so many people you put on the map, made their careers, especially mine, which I've never forgotten what you did for me in Florida and I'll never ever forget that," Fernandez said.
"A lot of boys came out of West Texas a whole bunch of them did, a whole bunch of good ones. A bunch of guys that took care of their profession and they loved it," Funk said.
"I think that we should have the college of West Texas present some kind of award sometime in the future for what all the boys did for them and put into the world of wrestling."
The names that came out of West Texas football and into pro wrestling are quite extensive. Along with Funk and Fernandez were Terry's brother Dory, Tully Blanchard, Bruiser Brody, Ted DiBiase, Bobby Duncum, Stan Hansen, Kelly Kiniski, Dusty Rhodes, and Tito Santana.
"A lot of nutty guys, a lot of nutty ones," Funk added.
The International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame is based out of Albany, NY and Funk joined 23 other legends of the business in the inaugural class of inductees. He joined the WWE Hall Of Fame with his brother Dory back in 2009. Earlier this year, Funk was the recipient of the Stanley Weston Lifetime Achievement Award from Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Funk has remained mostly out of the limelight after it was reported he entered assisted living back in the summer of 2021, but friends such as Mick Foley have went gone to visit Funk several times. The former NWA and ECW Champion is set to turn 78 this year.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit IPWHF with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.