Terry Funk On Sabu's Influence On The Wrestling World

The legendary Terry Funk believes Sabu’s influence on the wrestling business came at a cost but it also shouldn’t be understated.

Funk spoke with WrestleZone’s Dominic DeAngelo as the two talked about all the details of his 2005 autobiography Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore to discuss his family legacy, and spoke about his incredible run in ECW. Funk took some time to praise Sabu for being an innovator, noting that his move set definitely took years off of his career but fans can’t deny his passion for the wrestling business.

“He created a different look to the profession and I really mean that. What he created was ‘Hey, this guy is going beyond what he should possibly do in the ring,’ and he did. He would go in the ring and physically abuse himself and do things that physically hurt himself. He’s still wrestling, but they definitely shortened his career, you know? That guy has got a tremendous heart and a love for his business and that’s why he did what he did and took the chances that he took within the ring.

“He loved the business, I’m sure he still loves it, but as far as far as financially goes, it wasn’t that good to him. Why? Because the one person that makes you rich wasn’t there and he had the qualities to do it, but he did so much. And he loved it so much that he is very much like Cactus, destroyed their bodies for the fans.”

“I saw The Sheik in his eyes, but Sabu was Sabu from the heart, when it came to wanting to have a match that would be remembered from then on and that time on and to make every match that he was in the main event. He tried to do that all the time.”

Funk said the entire ECW roster was full of wrestlers who gave their all every single night. He said every single one of them was competitive and that led to events that could have gotten over no matter where it was hosted.

“They were very competitive too, but they wanted to have the best match on the card, every one of them did. Anywhere that you would have put that card, they would have tore the house down. Doesn’t matter if it was in south Texas or Mexico or over in Japan, they would have tore the house down with the card that they had and it was just each guy giving 100%.”

Dominic DeAngelo of WrestleZone has an exclusive chat with Terry Funk covering his 2005 biography, “Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore.” Other topics include:

Terry’s upbringing and how his father balanced life as a wrestler and superintendent of The Boys’ Ranch in Texas.
His time as NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion
The wrestling stars of West Texas Football
Dick Murdoch
How having a family to lean on became crucial to his wrestling career
ECW, Paul Heyman and how Sabu is vastly underrated in the business.
Mick Foley
How he learned to be a “heel” in the business & his biggest influences
The details of delivering an effective promo
Wrestling in Japan
Legit good guys in wrestling: Bruno Sammartino & Wahoo McDaniel
Sputnik Monroe
How family legacies in wrestling still continue to live on through Cody Rhodes, Dustin Rhode and Randy Orton.