Terry Funk Talks How Much Wrestling He Watches, Part Time Performers, Paul Heyman & ECW, More

WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk was recently interviewed by Justin Barrasso for Sports Illustrated’s Week In Wrestling column.

His article is titled Terry Funk On The Evolution Of Hardcore and some of excerpts can be found below. You can read the full article by clicking HERE.

Related: Terry Funk Says, “We Are In The Era Of The Wrestlers Calling Spots”; Remembers Working w/ Jimmy Snuka

On how much wrestling he watches these days:

I still love watching it, which is maybe why I don’t watch it. I love it too much. I loved what I did for all of those years. What it’s evolved to? Am I happy with it? I really don’t know, but I certainly don’t dislike it. I certainly like the athletes that are in it right now, and I think there are a lot of talented people in the wrestling world right now. If they weren’t talented, they wouldn’t be producing at the box office the way they do.

On if he has a problem with “part time performers” taking top spots from young talent at shows like WrestleMania:

Are they old-timers? I prefer to call them ‘fresh-timers.’ That means that they’re pulling people in from the outside with a fresh taste to it. They have a tremendous following from the wrestling universe. Who hasn’t heard of Goldberg? Who hasn’t heard of Lesnar? There are many people out there who want to see what is going to happen when you put those two into the ring.

On Paul Heyman and ECW:

Paul Heyman knows shock value, and he was able to find talent. He could find guys who were great, but he could also pull guys out of a hat and make them successful. He has a great mind for the world of professional wrestling, and he certainly did because he existed when McMahon wanted to destroy everybody and was attempting to do so.

ECW was a very physical form of entertainment. It was an era that was more physical than it is right now, and it also provided an existence for guys who didn’t want to be involved in the WWE Universe.