WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk, who died last Wednesday at the age of 79, is the greatest pro wrestler of all time, according to Jon Moxley.
Moxley recently told Sports Illustrated‘s Justin Barrasso that Funk was the real deal.
“If Terry Funk’s not the greatest of all time, then who the fuck is?” Moxley said. “Terry Funk wasn’t playing a pro wrestler. He was the real thing.”
Throughout his career, Funk had many legendary rivalries with a wide range of opponents with varying in-ring styles.
“You could put him anywhere in the world against any opponent,” Moxley said. “He’d cut an intense promo dripping with authenticity and then go work a killer match.”
Funk’s work as a forefather of indie wrestling was noted by Moxley, who believes Funk would be working for AEW and doing Canadian Destroyers if he were still wrestling today.
“We can learn a lot from Terry Funk,” Moxley declared. “He was so giving. He chose to give back in ECW. And he wasn’t the type of guy who’d say the kids today couldn’t work. He was doing moonsaults in his 50s. If he were wrestling today, I fully believe he’d be in AEW and doing shows for Revolver or Bloodsport and doing Canadian Destroyers.”
Moxley, who used Funk’s branding iron during the Stadium Stampede match at AEW All In on Sunday, said he will continue to extol Funk’s virtues whenever he enters the ring or shares stories in the locker room.
“There are so many different criteria that it’s impossible to pick the greatest ever,” Moxley said. “Look at Bret Hart and Ric Flair. They worked two completely different styles, and they were two completely different artists. It was like one guy played the trumpet and the other guy played a pair of bongos. They made different music. Terry Funk always gets passed over in that discussion. He was often the heel coming into a territory, putting over the babyface, and leaving to do something else. But look at the body of work. It’s pretty clear. You can’t tell me Terry Funk isn’t the fucking greatest of them all.”
