Jon Moxley – ‘Terry Funk Is The GOAT’

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Jon Moxley recalled his fond memories of WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk, who passed away last week at the age of 79.

During the interview, Moxley discussed his chance of getting to work with Funk for a promo segment in WWE.

You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:

On Terry Funk: “We’d met a few times before that, but all those were quick. This was the only time I worked with him. Terry Funk was a genius, a f***ing genius. I already knew that, but I saw it firsthand that night. It’s insulting that we asked Terry Funk to memorize lines. It’s Terry Funk. But he found a way to do it his way. Back then, I was getting two-page f***ing scripts all the time. They had this two-page script for us, and it was trash. It’s Terry f***ing Funk. You don’t need to give him a script. When I walked in, a bunch of writers came up to me, and they were in a panic. It was all about Terry. ‘He can’t remember his lines,’ they kept telling me. They made it sound like he was having trouble remembering anything and that his confidence was in the toilet.”

On what happened in a final script with only one line for Funk: “So the writers tried to make Terry feel better, and they finally started writing new drafts. The final one, Terry only had one line. The new plan was that I talked, then Terry would have his line, then I’d take it home. So I say my first piece. Then Terry is up, and he starts going off. He cut this f***ing awesome, insane, f***ing classic Terry Funk spiel. ‘This kid, he’s the best in the country!’ I loved that he said country, which was such an old school line. He was incredible. It took a second to see this wasn’t a sad old man with no confidence, it was Terry Funk.”

On what they ended up filming for the segment: “What we filmed wasn’t from the script, so the writer in charge wanted to do it again. I was like, ‘F*** this. We just got a Terry Funk classic. We’re not doing it again. If Vince is upset about it, I’ll talk to him myself.’ So the writers agreed, and I was pumped. We got a classic piece of Terry Funk in the flesh. Afterward, I spoke with Terry. ‘They think I’m just some crazy old man,’ he told me. He was smiling about it when he said, ‘I’m not going to remember all that s*** they wanted me to say. Wasn’t it better this way?’”

On Funk being the greatest of all time: “There are so many different criteria that it’s impossible to pick the greatest ever. 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 f***ing greatest of them all.”

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