Tommy Dreamer, Bully Ray Talk Shared Admiration For WWE Hall Of Famer Terry Funk
During the latest episode of "Busted Open," Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray memorialized Terry Funk after the hardcore legend died at the age of 79.
"This is the hardest show I'll probably ever have to do," Dreamer said while getting choked up. "Terry was everything for me. I apologize for being very emotional on this show, but this is a hard one. Without Terry Funk, there would be no Tommy Dreamer. It's that simple. He went out of his way for me in ways that it's hard to talk about a mentor, and it's a reason I kind of go out of my way."
Dreamer added, "He saw something in people that I don't know others did. I don't know why he saw that in me. I know it had a lot to do with respect, and I was able to pick his brain. I put this on my Facebook page that my greatest moments of my career, I shared with him."
Dreamer shared that wrestling fans were the most important thing to Funk next to his wife and two daughters. They maintained communication up until about three months ago and never thought he would die.
'The toughest man I ever was in the ring with'
Dreamer added, "He's the toughest man I ever was in the ring with. Like I saw him do things at my age and older that you cannot possibly — I would say to him, this was later on in our conversations, 'How the hell did you do it?' He said, 'I did it because I loved it,' and it just meant everything to me."
Bully Ray also weighed in and reflected on how Funk brought credibility to ECW at a time when they needed it most.
"Terry Funk gave credibility to a company that lacked it at the time," Ray said. "It was just this dirty pro wrestling company that was acting like the wild west, and here comes Terry Funk and basically said that, 'I like this company, this is a company that I want to work for. This is a locker room that I want to be a part of,' and instantly put us on the map. I think we will all forever be grateful for that. As a performer, there was no better."
Lance Storm, Triple H, Frankie Kazarian, and many others have shared their Terry Funk stories. Kevin Owens also went as far as to say that Funk was "the absolute best of us."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.