Terry Funk

Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was born in Hammond, Indiana to Dorothy (née Culver) and legendary wrestler‑promoter Dory Funk. After World II the family moved to Amarillo, Texas, where Terry grew up immersed in the territorial wrestling business alongside his brother Dory Funk Jr. He excelled in amateur wrestling and football at West Texas State University before making his professional debut on December 9 1965 against Sputnik Monroe in his father’s Western States Sports promotion. Throughout the 1970s he became a marquee star in the National Wrestling Alliance, capturing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1975 and defending it across the United States, Japan, Australia and Singapore. His gritty, hard‑hitting style earned him a reputation as a true "tough‑as‑nails" performer, and he was instrumental in popularizing the hardcore aesthetic that would later define extreme wrestling.

In the 1980s and 1990s Funk’s career entered an even more volatile phase as he toured Japan’s All Japan Pro‑Wrestling, ECW, WCW and the WWF, adopting memorable personas such as Chainsaw Charlie and the Black Baron. He won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship twice, the WWF Tag Team Championship with Cactus Jack, and multiple United States and Hardcore titles in WCW. Beyond the ring, Funk appeared in Sylvester Stallone’s Paradise Alley, performed stunts for Rocky III, and acted in Road House and Over the Top. His autobiography, More Than Just Hardcore, cemented his legacy as a cultural icon. Inducted into the WWE, WCW and NWA Halls of Fame, Terry Funk’s influence endures in modern wrestling’s emphasis on storytelling, intensity, and the willingness to push physical limits.