RIP Terry Funk

Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–1997)

Later in Funk's career, his style changed from wrestling traditional southern style wrestling matches to the more violent style of hardcore wrestling. In 1993, after a special appearance against Blanchard at World Championship Wrestling's Slamboree, Funk promised to help the fledgling Eastern Championship Wrestling (later renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling or ECW) by lending his talent and notoriety to the promotion. On July 16, Terry and Dory Funk lost a barbed wire match against The Public Enemy. Funk maintained a regular schedule of wrestling for ECW in its early days while also competing in Japan. He had many feuds and wrestled programs with wrestlers such as Cactus Jack, "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, The Sandman, Sabu, and Terry's own protege, Tommy Dreamer.

Funk further elevated ECW by headlining their first pay-per-view, Barely Legal on April 13, 1997, winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship from Raven. Earlier in the night, he defeated The Sandman and Stevie Richards in a Triple Threat match, thus earning him the match with Raven. Funk went on to successfully defend the title in bouts at Chapter 2, The Buffalo Invasion, Wrestlepalooza, and Heat Wave. He was ultimately defeated for the title by Sabu in a barbed wire match at Born to be Wired in August 1997, in which the ropes of the ring were taken down and replaced with barbed wire. Both men had to be cut out of the wires at the end of the match. Sabu had his biceps visibly torn open by the barbed wire – as a result, the wound was taped up and the match continued.

In September 1997, a show was held in Funk's hometown of Amarillo. It was called "Terry Funk's WrestleFest" and was both his own show and a celebration of the careers of Terry, his father, and his brother. Terry lost to then-WWF Champion Bret Hart in the main event, a non-title match. Beforehand, ECW owner Paul Heyman presented Terry with a belt, paid for through a collection taken up by wrestlers on the ECW roster, that declared him the Lifetime ECW World Heavyweight Champion.

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