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Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore
He's been a fixture in professional wrestling for five decades. He's plied his trade around the world, building a legion of fans spanning multiple generations. He's held the NWA Heavyweight title, and helped introduce a hardcore wrestling style that you see in the WWE and Japan today. He's made his mark in Hollywood, and acting in film and television. He's Terry Funk, and he's more than just hardcore.Terry More Than Just Hardcore is the life story of one of professional wrestling's most enduring and endearing figures. Terry talks about growing up in a wrestling family, including running a wrestling promotion with his father, Dory Funk Sr., and teaming with his brother and former fellow NWA Heavyweight champion, Dory Jr. Terry shares humorous road stories and anecdotes from his memorable feuds with Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Mick Foley, Jerry Lawler, and many more. He shares his views on the wrestling business today, and why his retirements do not stick.
244 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
24 people are currently reading
697 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
June 14, 2013
Back when I was a wrestling fan, up until about 2003 or so, I had two favorite wrestling books. This is one of them.
Terry Funk hit 68 not too long ago and still wrestles. This book goes from his beginnings in the Amarillo Territory, to his days as NWA champion, to his career with All Japan Pro Wrestling, though his many retirements, to his tenure in ECW and to the present day.
Funk reminds me of the old gunfighter in the song Desperado. He just doesn't know when to hang it up and likes talking about past glories. The things this guy continues to do to put food on the table are mind boggling. A 60 year old man shouldn't be in barbed wire matches for God's sake!
The best part of this book by far is the road stories. Funk talks about drinking beer by the case with his friends and shooting rabbits from a moving vehicle. Hilarious if not somewhat disturbing.
Later edit:
A few days ago, I read that Terry Funk is wrestling Mexican wrestling legend Mil Mascaras a couple hours away from my house. Since they're both wrestling legends, I may have to go despite their combined age being close to 150.
Terry Funk hit 68 not too long ago and still wrestles. This book goes from his beginnings in the Amarillo Territory, to his days as NWA champion, to his career with All Japan Pro Wrestling, though his many retirements, to his tenure in ECW and to the present day.
Funk reminds me of the old gunfighter in the song Desperado. He just doesn't know when to hang it up and likes talking about past glories. The things this guy continues to do to put food on the table are mind boggling. A 60 year old man shouldn't be in barbed wire matches for God's sake!
The best part of this book by far is the road stories. Funk talks about drinking beer by the case with his friends and shooting rabbits from a moving vehicle. Hilarious if not somewhat disturbing.
Later edit:
A few days ago, I read that Terry Funk is wrestling Mexican wrestling legend Mil Mascaras a couple hours away from my house. Since they're both wrestling legends, I may have to go despite their combined age being close to 150.
August 27, 2021
In the world of professional wrestling whose origins are of one of deception and chicanery it is uncommon to find honest, decent and loyal people. Terrence "Terry" Funk is one such person. In a career that spanned some four decades, the Funker has seen and done a lot. He has been the top dog in the largest federation (NWA world champion) and has wrestled in glorified backyards. Throughout all of his travels he has maintained a love and loyalty towards professional wrestling and its inhabitants that is most admirable.
To understand someone it is said you must know their formative years. Terry grew up the son of a famous wrestler/promotor Dory in Amarillo, Texas. Him and his brother, Dory Jr. grew up in the rough and tumble world of professional wrestling and the lessons he learned here, were largely ones he kept throughout his career. Foremost among these lessons were loyalty. Whether it was wrestling in the territories in the early part of his career or his various trips overseas, Funk exhibit this quality in spades. He felt such loyalty towards Giant Baba and his federation All Japan Pro Wrestling that even after Baba's death he was reluctant to wrestle for any other Japanese federation. Admittedly, he cost himself lucrative deals due to his fidelity but there is a reason that very few people bad mouth even to this day. His loyalty extended beyond the ring into his relationship with his longtime wife Vicki. They had some rough patches, even separating for awhile but their love and respect for each other prevailed. Unlike many wrestlers, Terry does not mention the ring rats (wrestling groupies) that was so prevalent during his main event run. Whether or not he had such dalliances can not be found in this book.
Another quality that is frequently exhibited by the Funker is his decency. Professional wrestling is a dog-eat-dog world where backstabbing is as common as a forearm strike. The very few times that Funk says anything negative about someone is typically in regards to his defending the honor or skills of those he respects. He somewhat takes Ric Flair to task for his disparaging comments on Brett Hart and Mick Foley, he considers two of the better performers he has faced. His sharpest criticism is for those he believed cheated the wrestling business by being selfish such as Kevin Nash and Scott Hall or those who made a mockery out of the business like Vince Russo.
Overall, if you want a pleasant read from a man who has experienced most of what professional wrestling has to offer for 40 plus years than this is the right book for you. A man of integrity who has boatloads of stories from numerous colorful characters such as Dick Murdoch, Dusty Rhodes, Eddie Graham, Jerry Graham and countless others. Who has shed more blood than a stuck pig. Whose wrestling style changed from a strike based ground bound style to incorporating moonsaults (backflips from the top rope) and copious amounts of violence. Terry Funk has seen the wrestling business change and has precipitated many of its extreme variants and even with all of this constant flux he just wants to make sure he and his family have enough wealth to live comfortably on his property, the Double-Cross Ranch.
To understand someone it is said you must know their formative years. Terry grew up the son of a famous wrestler/promotor Dory in Amarillo, Texas. Him and his brother, Dory Jr. grew up in the rough and tumble world of professional wrestling and the lessons he learned here, were largely ones he kept throughout his career. Foremost among these lessons were loyalty. Whether it was wrestling in the territories in the early part of his career or his various trips overseas, Funk exhibit this quality in spades. He felt such loyalty towards Giant Baba and his federation All Japan Pro Wrestling that even after Baba's death he was reluctant to wrestle for any other Japanese federation. Admittedly, he cost himself lucrative deals due to his fidelity but there is a reason that very few people bad mouth even to this day. His loyalty extended beyond the ring into his relationship with his longtime wife Vicki. They had some rough patches, even separating for awhile but their love and respect for each other prevailed. Unlike many wrestlers, Terry does not mention the ring rats (wrestling groupies) that was so prevalent during his main event run. Whether or not he had such dalliances can not be found in this book.
Another quality that is frequently exhibited by the Funker is his decency. Professional wrestling is a dog-eat-dog world where backstabbing is as common as a forearm strike. The very few times that Funk says anything negative about someone is typically in regards to his defending the honor or skills of those he respects. He somewhat takes Ric Flair to task for his disparaging comments on Brett Hart and Mick Foley, he considers two of the better performers he has faced. His sharpest criticism is for those he believed cheated the wrestling business by being selfish such as Kevin Nash and Scott Hall or those who made a mockery out of the business like Vince Russo.
Overall, if you want a pleasant read from a man who has experienced most of what professional wrestling has to offer for 40 plus years than this is the right book for you. A man of integrity who has boatloads of stories from numerous colorful characters such as Dick Murdoch, Dusty Rhodes, Eddie Graham, Jerry Graham and countless others. Who has shed more blood than a stuck pig. Whose wrestling style changed from a strike based ground bound style to incorporating moonsaults (backflips from the top rope) and copious amounts of violence. Terry Funk has seen the wrestling business change and has precipitated many of its extreme variants and even with all of this constant flux he just wants to make sure he and his family have enough wealth to live comfortably on his property, the Double-Cross Ranch.
April 21, 2020
With the unparalleled career that Terry Funk has had this should be the best wrestling book ever written on just content alone, however it falls short of that by some margin. Covering a 50+ year career in under 250 pages, it does come off as a little rushed at times and areas of his career where you would love to hear more details are left as mere mentions. The writing style is a little stunted too, seemingly hopping around from paragraph to paragraph with no real link, which at times can be a little disorienting. It's telling that the best written part of the book is the intro by Mick Foley which does make you wish that Terry had roped in Foley to be his ghost writer on this one.
However, as flawed as it is as a book, Funk has led an interesting enough life to still make this a worthwhile read. His career is like no other and to hear some of the inner workings of that is a great privilege. Don't expect too many revelations as Funk isn't the sort of man who seems to have a lot of bad blood but there's still some great stories to tide you over nonetheless.
However, as flawed as it is as a book, Funk has led an interesting enough life to still make this a worthwhile read. His career is like no other and to hear some of the inner workings of that is a great privilege. Don't expect too many revelations as Funk isn't the sort of man who seems to have a lot of bad blood but there's still some great stories to tide you over nonetheless.
April 5, 2022
One of the more interesting wrestling memoirs in that Funk really has lived through all of the major modern eras and not only in America. The book gives insights throughout the territory days, into the modern WWE/WCW era and independents as well as forays into Japan and the inner workings of 90s AJPW.
Funk is genuinely interesting and makes some good and bad calls on where the future of wrestling lies (considering the book is about 15 years old, some have come to fruition, some never will). On the other hand, the book does occasionally meander into a series of anecdotes or recollections of all the people who worked in a territory or for x promotion at the time.
Funk is genuinely interesting and makes some good and bad calls on where the future of wrestling lies (considering the book is about 15 years old, some have come to fruition, some never will). On the other hand, the book does occasionally meander into a series of anecdotes or recollections of all the people who worked in a territory or for x promotion at the time.
July 10, 2023
A book about Terry Funk
June 1, 2016
Not as much fun as watching a couple grown men pretend-punch each other with barbed wire but still pretty good.
October 6, 2025
This book isn’t your typical wrestler autobiography full of exaggerated road stories or tall tales. What makes Terry Funk’s story stand out is its honesty. It’s less about shock value and more about truth — a rare thing in a world where wrestlers often build myths out of themselves.
Funk writes like he lived: genuine, humble, and straightforward. He takes you through his life from growing up in Amarillo to becoming a world champion and one of the most respected names in the business. There’s a deep sense of perspective here — he doesn’t shy away from the hard parts, but he never leans on self-pity or ego either.
While the book might feel a little lighter on wild road stories than some fans might expect, that’s actually part of its strength. Funk’s storytelling isn’t about inflating his legend — it’s about honoring the people who shaped it. His shoutouts and tributes to other wrestlers come across as sincere, and you get the sense that he values respect far more than fame.
There’s also a quiet reflection that runs through the whole thing — a man who’s been everywhere, done everything, and still speaks like one of the boys from the locker room. It’s not flashy, but it’s real.
In the end, More Than Just Hardcore fits its title perfectly. It’s a story not just about the wild matches or barbed wire brawls, but about a man who gave his entire heart to wrestling. A must-read for anyone who loves the sport for what it really is: grit, loyalty, and passion — without the showmanship of pretending otherwise.
Funk writes like he lived: genuine, humble, and straightforward. He takes you through his life from growing up in Amarillo to becoming a world champion and one of the most respected names in the business. There’s a deep sense of perspective here — he doesn’t shy away from the hard parts, but he never leans on self-pity or ego either.
While the book might feel a little lighter on wild road stories than some fans might expect, that’s actually part of its strength. Funk’s storytelling isn’t about inflating his legend — it’s about honoring the people who shaped it. His shoutouts and tributes to other wrestlers come across as sincere, and you get the sense that he values respect far more than fame.
There’s also a quiet reflection that runs through the whole thing — a man who’s been everywhere, done everything, and still speaks like one of the boys from the locker room. It’s not flashy, but it’s real.
In the end, More Than Just Hardcore fits its title perfectly. It’s a story not just about the wild matches or barbed wire brawls, but about a man who gave his entire heart to wrestling. A must-read for anyone who loves the sport for what it really is: grit, loyalty, and passion — without the showmanship of pretending otherwise.
December 15, 2022
It's not too often that I go back and read a book that I read upwards of fifteen years ago, but I did that very thing this week when I drug out my old copy of Terry Funk - More than Just Hardcore and gave it a second go. This was brought on by my recent foray into listening to Mick Foley's new podcast, and thinking that I'd like to get Terry's take on some of the stuff that he was saying. I remembered bits of this book, but with it being something I read that many years ago, most was hazy. This book came out when wrestling biographies had hit their absolute zenith in popularity. With Mick Foley being a multi-time New York Times bestselling author, tons of 80's and 90's wrestlers started tossing books out there with varying degrees of success. This was one of the few not churned out by the media machine that was the WWE at the time, and while it meanders a bit, it had far more heart than most of their output. Now the question is, was it worth checking this back out? My answer is yes.
This book is one of those ghost-written affairs where you know Scott E. Williams likely sat down with Terry Funk for a series of discussions and ultimately turned that material into the book. This is done a lot with books from sports stars and wrestlers alike. That said, I've read some utterly terrible books written that way from other publishers, and this was not only very well done, but it retains the style and personality that fans have seen from Funk in interviews and promos for decades. It seems like there was a concerted effort here to get the mans words on a page rather than just churn out a book to showcase a popular person.
The book chronicles Terry's life from his early childhood, his entire wrestling career in its different phases, his flirtations with Hollywood, and more. Everything goes all the way up to around 2004, and the book was then published in 2005. I found it quite funny that the book talks about the numerous times he attempted to retire from wrestling, most of which were brought on by promoters and hyped without Terry really being on-board for such a life-changing event. I think one of the first times I really became a big fan of Funk's was through the 1999 Barry W. Blaustein documentary Beyond the Mat, which chronicled his 1997 attempt to retire as one of it's many subjects. The fact that he went on another TWENTY YEARS is crazy to me. He finally retired in a 2017 match with Big Time Wrestling in Raleigh, North Carolina. He teamed with The Rock N' Roll Express in a six-man tag team match, where they defeated Doug Gilbert, Jerry Lawler and Lawler's son Brian Christopher via disqualification. Considering he is nearly 80 now, and suffering from some kind of dementia, one can only hope he stays retired, but crazier things have happened in the world of wrestling.
When Funk wrote this, he was north of fifty years old, and from an older generation that sometimes say off-color things. As one can imagine, he sometimes can be a tad colorful with his language, for example calling a suspected pedophile a "baby banger". He never gets too bad or veers into any bigoted territory, but one should be prepared for it if they get upset by stuff like that. The majority of the book is Funk going through his career chronologically and talking about various people he knew in the past. One can see a pattern of stories beginning with " I remember this guy named ____, he was a tough SOB and he could work, he was a hell of a guy. I remember this one time ____". It can get a bit repetitive, but considering the nature of how the book was written and how one would address road stories involving your friends, I can definitely understand why it was done this way.
One of the more interesting parts of this book is the epilogue where Funk basically makes predictions of what the future of professional wrestling would be like. Not only does he literally predict the start of NXT being helmed by HHH and existing as a in-house developmental system, he basically predicts the rise of UFC, which at the time wasn't very popular. Then again, he attributes the MMA explosion (he called it "shoot fighting") of the mid 2000's as something he felt Vince Mcmahon would get into, not many predicted the 2007 expansion helmed by Dana White. He also talks about the futures of both Ring of Honor and TNA, which is now called Impact Wrestling, as being companies to look out for, little did he know a brand-new competitor would show up to challenge Vince much later on in All Elite Wrestling. For all the talk of older wrestlers refusing to understand modern wrestling, Terry Funk seemed to have his finger on the pulse of modern wrestling and the future. Then again, I guess it helped that he never really left, and stayed a part of wrestling in one capacity or another for upwards of 60 years.
One sad thing in the book is a section where he talks about guys he feels are "the future of wrestling" which consisted of men like Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit amongst others. As fans will know, Eddie died in 2005 and Benoit would later commit an infamous murder suicide in 2007 that risked killing the wrestling industry entirely. Much like the feeling I get when I looked at the pictures I have taken of wrestlers that have died from shows and conventions, stuff like this is always very sad.
Overall, it was fun revisiting this book, and honestly it hits better now than it did before. With Terry's career now unquestionably over, and his opinions on modern wrestling and the future in hand, this book becomes that much more interesting and would be a great read for any wrestling fan. Terry Funk - More than Just Hardcore may not have the intimacy of a Mick Foley book, but it has all the character and twists and turns one can imagine from a man that wrestled for nearly sixty years. It's a shame we never got a new edition of this with additional chapters later on, or perhaps a full-on second book, but as it stands this is a great way to get to know Funk, and get ideas for matches one should seek out. I think I may eventually go back and re-read some of the Mick Foley books as well, as I can imagine a new look at those would be very interesting.
This book is one of those ghost-written affairs where you know Scott E. Williams likely sat down with Terry Funk for a series of discussions and ultimately turned that material into the book. This is done a lot with books from sports stars and wrestlers alike. That said, I've read some utterly terrible books written that way from other publishers, and this was not only very well done, but it retains the style and personality that fans have seen from Funk in interviews and promos for decades. It seems like there was a concerted effort here to get the mans words on a page rather than just churn out a book to showcase a popular person.
The book chronicles Terry's life from his early childhood, his entire wrestling career in its different phases, his flirtations with Hollywood, and more. Everything goes all the way up to around 2004, and the book was then published in 2005. I found it quite funny that the book talks about the numerous times he attempted to retire from wrestling, most of which were brought on by promoters and hyped without Terry really being on-board for such a life-changing event. I think one of the first times I really became a big fan of Funk's was through the 1999 Barry W. Blaustein documentary Beyond the Mat, which chronicled his 1997 attempt to retire as one of it's many subjects. The fact that he went on another TWENTY YEARS is crazy to me. He finally retired in a 2017 match with Big Time Wrestling in Raleigh, North Carolina. He teamed with The Rock N' Roll Express in a six-man tag team match, where they defeated Doug Gilbert, Jerry Lawler and Lawler's son Brian Christopher via disqualification. Considering he is nearly 80 now, and suffering from some kind of dementia, one can only hope he stays retired, but crazier things have happened in the world of wrestling.
When Funk wrote this, he was north of fifty years old, and from an older generation that sometimes say off-color things. As one can imagine, he sometimes can be a tad colorful with his language, for example calling a suspected pedophile a "baby banger". He never gets too bad or veers into any bigoted territory, but one should be prepared for it if they get upset by stuff like that. The majority of the book is Funk going through his career chronologically and talking about various people he knew in the past. One can see a pattern of stories beginning with " I remember this guy named ____, he was a tough SOB and he could work, he was a hell of a guy. I remember this one time ____". It can get a bit repetitive, but considering the nature of how the book was written and how one would address road stories involving your friends, I can definitely understand why it was done this way.
One of the more interesting parts of this book is the epilogue where Funk basically makes predictions of what the future of professional wrestling would be like. Not only does he literally predict the start of NXT being helmed by HHH and existing as a in-house developmental system, he basically predicts the rise of UFC, which at the time wasn't very popular. Then again, he attributes the MMA explosion (he called it "shoot fighting") of the mid 2000's as something he felt Vince Mcmahon would get into, not many predicted the 2007 expansion helmed by Dana White. He also talks about the futures of both Ring of Honor and TNA, which is now called Impact Wrestling, as being companies to look out for, little did he know a brand-new competitor would show up to challenge Vince much later on in All Elite Wrestling. For all the talk of older wrestlers refusing to understand modern wrestling, Terry Funk seemed to have his finger on the pulse of modern wrestling and the future. Then again, I guess it helped that he never really left, and stayed a part of wrestling in one capacity or another for upwards of 60 years.
One sad thing in the book is a section where he talks about guys he feels are "the future of wrestling" which consisted of men like Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit amongst others. As fans will know, Eddie died in 2005 and Benoit would later commit an infamous murder suicide in 2007 that risked killing the wrestling industry entirely. Much like the feeling I get when I looked at the pictures I have taken of wrestlers that have died from shows and conventions, stuff like this is always very sad.
Overall, it was fun revisiting this book, and honestly it hits better now than it did before. With Terry's career now unquestionably over, and his opinions on modern wrestling and the future in hand, this book becomes that much more interesting and would be a great read for any wrestling fan. Terry Funk - More than Just Hardcore may not have the intimacy of a Mick Foley book, but it has all the character and twists and turns one can imagine from a man that wrestled for nearly sixty years. It's a shame we never got a new edition of this with additional chapters later on, or perhaps a full-on second book, but as it stands this is a great way to get to know Funk, and get ideas for matches one should seek out. I think I may eventually go back and re-read some of the Mick Foley books as well, as I can imagine a new look at those would be very interesting.
April 25, 2022
Terry Funk's Wrestling-Biographie lohnt sich schon allein deswegen zu lesen, da er das Business aus der Sicht eines Wrestlers der zweiten Generation beschreibt. Sein Vater hatte das Amarillo-Territorium inne, als ein Quasi-Monopol der WWE noch in weiter Ferne lag.
Insofern bemerkt man bei Funk sofort eine ganz andere Einstellung für seinen Beruf. Auf jeder Seite spürt man den Respekt für seine Kollegen, aber auch die nötige Distanz zu einem Business, dass sich meistens kaum um das Individuum schert.
Im Buch deckt er seine extrem lange Karriere ab und findet quasi zu jeder Promotion und sehr vielen Wrestlern Anekdoten und Einschätzungen. Hier liegt aber auch ein wenig die Schwäche des Buches, da das teilweise nicht besonders strukturiert wirkt. Man hat eher den Eindruck mit dem Funker am Küchentisch zu sitzen und er erzählt wild drauf los und springt teilweise vor und zurück, sobald bestimmte Namen fallen.
Aber dieser Stil geht vollkommen in Ordnung. Auch sein kruder Humor wird immer wieder untergebracht, genauso wie seine zeitlosen Weisheiten zur Kunstform Wrestling.
Grade das "Selling" von spektakulären Moves ist leider eine Kunst, für die seit Jahren leider kaum Zeit bleibt.
Insofern bemerkt man bei Funk sofort eine ganz andere Einstellung für seinen Beruf. Auf jeder Seite spürt man den Respekt für seine Kollegen, aber auch die nötige Distanz zu einem Business, dass sich meistens kaum um das Individuum schert.
Im Buch deckt er seine extrem lange Karriere ab und findet quasi zu jeder Promotion und sehr vielen Wrestlern Anekdoten und Einschätzungen. Hier liegt aber auch ein wenig die Schwäche des Buches, da das teilweise nicht besonders strukturiert wirkt. Man hat eher den Eindruck mit dem Funker am Küchentisch zu sitzen und er erzählt wild drauf los und springt teilweise vor und zurück, sobald bestimmte Namen fallen.
Aber dieser Stil geht vollkommen in Ordnung. Auch sein kruder Humor wird immer wieder untergebracht, genauso wie seine zeitlosen Weisheiten zur Kunstform Wrestling.
Grade das "Selling" von spektakulären Moves ist leider eine Kunst, für die seit Jahren leider kaum Zeit bleibt.
September 20, 2025
Terry Funk was born in 1944 in Indiana. Funk wrestled for several companies for over fifty years, including the ECW, WCW, and WWF. He would ultimately be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and the WCW Hall of Fame. He died in 2023 from dementia related complications, and was honored on WWE SmackDown alongside Bray Wyatt, who died the day after him. This book recounts his many memoires of his wrestling career, which was LONG. He had some really interesting experiences. Despite what people think about the illegitimacy of the storylines, wrestling is a physically demanding sport. Stories like this are proof of that fact.
This book was free to listen to on the Audible Plus catalog, so if you are interested in the book, check there first. I am sure if you are a super hardcore wrestling fan, you would like this book. I found it to be an decent memoir of someone's wrestling career, but it was not one of my favorites of the year by any stretch.
This book was free to listen to on the Audible Plus catalog, so if you are interested in the book, check there first. I am sure if you are a super hardcore wrestling fan, you would like this book. I found it to be an decent memoir of someone's wrestling career, but it was not one of my favorites of the year by any stretch.
July 10, 2024
Terry Funk is my favorite wrestler of all time next to Ric Flair. This book started out a little slow, but it really picked up steam after a while. Terry Funk does a great job of breaking down the business in a way that makes sense and he uses great examples to back up his opinions. This book gives great insight into the man that he is and why he made certain decisions throughout his career. Overall, I wish the book had been a lot longer. Terry Funk had a storied wrestling career. This book should’ve been 400 to 450 pages. It just scratches the surface on his legendary career. This is a man who loved wrestling, but most of all, he loved his family. It’s a heartfelt and engaging read. I just wanted a lot more detail and information from the Funker.
May 4, 2021
Hear the business in Terry’s own words
I grew up watching the Funk family in Amarillo. I had the pleasure of meeting Dirk and getting to spend an evening with Terry and his wife, Dory and his wife, and Dirk. They were my childhood heroes but they were a down to earth family that were nice to me. I was lucky to meet them and Ricky Romero and Duck Murdoch and some of their family members. So being able to read Some of Terry’s accounts of the business was pretty cool. I’m back in the Panhandle now and it’s great. Who knows maybe I’ll run into them again. But if your a fan of wrestling it’s a must read.
I grew up watching the Funk family in Amarillo. I had the pleasure of meeting Dirk and getting to spend an evening with Terry and his wife, Dory and his wife, and Dirk. They were my childhood heroes but they were a down to earth family that were nice to me. I was lucky to meet them and Ricky Romero and Duck Murdoch and some of their family members. So being able to read Some of Terry’s accounts of the business was pretty cool. I’m back in the Panhandle now and it’s great. Who knows maybe I’ll run into them again. But if your a fan of wrestling it’s a must read.
January 1, 2019
Terry funk loves wrestling.
I think that's the main thing I took away from this book.
The funk family are famous throughout the wrestling world due to the impact they have had since the 1940s. Usually I can't wait to get to the wrestling career and bypass the early life in an autobiography. But I found funks early life fascinating.
The man who helped invent hardcore has an educated opinion on everything.
It was a joy to follow his life up until 2004.
It's just ashame that he continues to wrestle today. He could never ruin his legacy, but sadly, it has been tarnished.
I think that's the main thing I took away from this book.
The funk family are famous throughout the wrestling world due to the impact they have had since the 1940s. Usually I can't wait to get to the wrestling career and bypass the early life in an autobiography. But I found funks early life fascinating.
The man who helped invent hardcore has an educated opinion on everything.
It was a joy to follow his life up until 2004.
It's just ashame that he continues to wrestle today. He could never ruin his legacy, but sadly, it has been tarnished.
March 27, 2021
This wasca very enjoyable often funny biography. Funk's stories are very funny and sometimes poignant. The book was written 17 years ago so it's interesting to see his perspective on the business in hindsight. You would think that someone Funk's age would be critical of Vince McMahon and what the wrestling business has evolved into. That isn't so. He doesn't let nostalgia get in the way of the truth as he sees it.
March 4, 2018
A great book.
This book tells the story of one of the most long lived people in the business. It offers a look at the territory days and shows the evolution of the industry through the years.
This book doesn’t bury anyone but does give opinions on some of the characters both in and out of the ring.
This book tells the story of one of the most long lived people in the business. It offers a look at the territory days and shows the evolution of the industry through the years.
This book doesn’t bury anyone but does give opinions on some of the characters both in and out of the ring.
May 11, 2022
Biography on of the greatest professional wrestlers in history. Terry Funk is more like “the” pro wrestler in the eyes of many. The book describes his great respect and love for the wrestling business and his crazy journey through it’s crazy world. If you are a wrestling fan and love history, you will love this book.
July 1, 2024
Good read with lots of fun stories from one of the all time greats. Terry seems like a legitimately good guy who had positive things to say about many of the guys with whom he shared the ring. The writing isn't great and I was all set to give this 3 stars til I got to the part about working with the Insane Clown Posse. Automatic 4th star for those stories!
May 18, 2018
Funker did well. Great read and full of interesting tidbits and stories I hadn't heard. Funk (and his dad and bro) were some of the best of their time. Especially Terry. He seems like someone you could stop by his place and have some sweet tea with. Just shoo the sh*t. Great read!
January 26, 2022
Low expectations for Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore were pretty much met. The requisite stories from the road and philosophy of the business were present. Of interest was some of the insight on how the business differs in Japan and some of the promotional wars there. However, for the most part, Terry Funk was average, as was expected.
July 27, 2022
Great view into old school wrestling
Really enjoyed Terry's giving us glimpses of how things were run and how things were done and how it all varied between the 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond. Fun read from a great old school representative.
Really enjoyed Terry's giving us glimpses of how things were run and how things were done and how it all varied between the 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond. Fun read from a great old school representative.
October 14, 2022
Been on my wrestling TBR for years. Finally got round to it. A superb telling of an even better career. Funks literally been everywhere and seen it all. The stories are first class, I just wish he’d of gone into more detail on specific years of his career.
September 7, 2023
Must Read For Rasslin' Fans
A true encyclopedia of knowledge from the late great Funker. Taking us through the territory days, NWA, WCW, Japan and the WWF and so much more. Stories from the road, behind the scenes, Funk really paints a picture with his passion for the business
A true encyclopedia of knowledge from the late great Funker. Taking us through the territory days, NWA, WCW, Japan and the WWF and so much more. Stories from the road, behind the scenes, Funk really paints a picture with his passion for the business
December 25, 2023
A fun read, his writing or whoever wrote it based on his stories is a little jarring. It jumps around a bit. A lot of it reads like stream of consciousness. Still an interesting look at things from Funks perspective and the pro union part was nice.
November 24, 2025
up from 4.5. by some distance the best wrestling book I've read, I had a few genuine lols. the book assumes an intermediate knowledge of the wrestling world which is a massive plus; all other wrestling books have spent too much time explaining the business.
Read this book.
Read this book.
August 19, 2018
Terry signed my book over a cup of coffee with me, my dad, and himself at a local grocery store. Why would I not give it 5 Stars??
May 27, 2021
Great Book
Great read for older-school fans...one of my favorite wrestlers back in the day all the way up thru ECW. He covers it all here!
Great read for older-school fans...one of my favorite wrestlers back in the day all the way up thru ECW. He covers it all here!
December 11, 2021
gives a lot of insight into the promotion / narrative side of the business. 1.8x
June 8, 2022
This was a very informative book on the life of Terry Funk. It was interesting to hear some of what went on in wrestling in the 60s and 70s, and how that is different from today's wrestling.
July 1, 2022
It's not very well written and the structure is a mess, but it's worth it because it's full of Terry Funk stories.
October 28, 2023
Great book on pro wrestling legend Terry funk
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