Bruce Prichard Recalls Origins Of Terry Funk's Chainsaw Charlie Gimmick

When Terry Funk reemerged in WWE in the late '90s wearing pantyhose on his head, fans weren't quite sure what to make of it. Most assumed it was another harebrained idea from the WWE creative team, known for saddling established stars with unusual or cartoonish gimmicks. However, according to Bruce Prichard on "Something to Wrestle," Funk's portrayal of Chainsaw Charlie was actually Funk's own idea, inspired by a childhood barber.

"I pitched Terry to do this thing with Cactus [Jack] — as Terry Funk," Prichard recalled. "And Terry said, 'You know, Prichard, I've been in as Terry Funk ... but do you remember John Ayers?' John Ayers was a football player ... They were very good friends and John lost his life to cancer, and Terry wanted a way to remember John Ayers. 'When John and I were kids and we would go to the barber. And the barber, he was a horrible barber, Bruce. By god, he would get in there, and it'd be like he took a godd*** chainsaw to your head! Your hair looked horrible! And we cried, "I don't wanna go to Chainsaw Charlie!"'" Funk's use of a real chainsaw was apparently borrowed from his former colleague in Japan, Mike Penzel — better known to WWE audiences as Corporal Kirchner. Penzel was portraying the horror movie-inspired Leatherface character to Japanese audiences at the time.

"'See that right there, Prichard? ... Brings that godd*** chainsaw to the ring! They've got it gimmicked so there's no blade on it... when you hit the thing, and it's goin' and the sparks fly, it's amazing!'" Prichard said he acquiesced to Funk's strange request, but remembered Funk had no clear vision on what the character would look like. "I was like, 'Okay, what would that look like, Terry?' 'Godd***, I don't know, maybe we'll get some f***in' pantyhose on my head' ... but the pants are mine. Those were my pants. I never got them back."

Please credit "Something to Wrestle" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.