Many wrestlers and wrestling fans consider Terry Funk to be the greatest of all time, including Jon Moxley.
Moxley spoke to
Sports Illustrated in the wake of Funk's passing last week and said Funk's body of work outshines all others who have ever performed in the ring.
“If Terry Funk’s not the greatest of all time, then who the f--- is?” Moxley asked. “Terry Funk wasn’t playing a pro wrestler. He was the real thing.”
“You could put him anywhere in the world against any opponent,” Moxley continued. “He’d cut an intense promo dripping with authenticity and then go work a killer match.”
Moxley was able to work with Funk briefly in March 2016 when the two filmed a backstage skit in WWE. At the time, Moxley was building to a no-holds-barred match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32.
Moxley says the WWE writers were worried that Funk wouldn't be able to remember his lines. The script was changed so that Funk would only say a few words but then when the camera was on, Funk cut a promo that Moxley described as "classic."
“What we filmed wasn’t from the script, so the writer in charge wanted to do it again,” said Moxley. “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."
In terms of being the best of all time, Moxley conceded it depends on the criteria being used. However, he believes when you look at Funk's total body of work, it's pretty clear he's "the f------ greatest of them all.”
“There are so many different criteria that it’s impossible to pick the greatest ever,” said Moxley. “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------ greatest of them all.”
