Terry Funk is one of the most underrated legends in the history of wrestling. The Amarillo,Texas native rose to prominence in the 70s and reinvented himself in the 90s. Many current wrestling fans often remember him for his days at ECW and WWE, but he's competed with pretty much every legend.
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Funk spent a large part of his career in the tag division. He was a prodigious partner for almost anyone he teamed with even though he had some lackluster partners over his career. This list will examine the five best and five worst partners of Terry Funk's illustrious career.
10 Best: Cactus Jack
Terry Funk and Mick Foley started teaming up in the early 90s. The two legends matched each other's intensity and hardcore mindset despite their 23-year age gap. The pair notably competed at ECW and WWE. Funk only held one major title at the WWE, and it was the WWE World Tag Team Championship with Cactus Jack.
They always had entertaining matches, even when Funk was "Chainsaw Charlie." The pair wrestled their last match as a unit in 2001 when they were defeated by Bob Orton & Roddy Piper at Juggalo Championship Wrestling. Foley and Funk's careers will always be associated thanks to their time as a unit.
9 Worst: Bradshaw
Before he was a WWE Hall of Famer, JBL was still trying to make a name for himself in the world of wrestling as "Bradshaw." He was in a well-known tag team stable with Faarooq, APA.
Funk and Bradshaw teamed up a few times at Shotgun Saturday Night in 1998. They even competed at In Your House 23: Fully Loaded, where they competed in a subpar match against Faarooq & Scorpio. Considering the star power in the ring, Funk and Bradshaw's lack of chemistry played a large part in the match quality. They also lost the bout.
8 Best: Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk started competing against each other in the 60s. The two legends battled in tremendous matches for the NWA World Heavyweight Title many times and that chemistry carried into their tag team matches as a unit.
They competed as a unit at Championship Wrestling From Florida (CWF). The pair also competed for the NWA World Tag Team Titles, but could never defeat Ole Anderson & Stan Hansen for the belts. The pair had two of the most over-the-top performers that could have been a huge tag team unit if they had more matches together.
7 Worst: Arn Anderson
Despite Arn Anderson and Terry Funk competing in the wrestling industry for decades before the 90s, they didn't cross paths in the ring until 1994. At ECW When Worlds Collide, the legendary team of Funk and Anderson were defeated by Bobby Eaton & Sabu.
The two are also members of the "Stud Stable" at WCW. They never did anything of note and lost most of their televised matches. They were two huge legends that did shockingly very little as a tag team unit.
6 Best: Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino is the longest reigning WWE Champion of all time. His 2,803-day reign will never be replicated. Funk and Sammartino started teaming up in 1976 during Sammartino's second title run that lasted 1,237 days.
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They teamed up at All Japan Pro Wrestling and were never defeated as a team. He was, without a doubt, one of the highest profile partners of Funk's early career.
5 Worst: The Sandman
Although The Sandman and Terry Funk were ECW legends, the two only crossed paths a few times at the company. They never competed as a tag team unit or in a singles match.
One of the first major tag team matches they had a unit was at NWA Total Nonstop Action #83. The pair were defeated by The Gathering, which featured Julio Dinero and CM Punk. They lost the bout in less than five minutes and never teamed up as a unit after the TNA match in 2004.
4 Best: Steve Austin
The state of Texas has produced many wrestling legends. Two of the biggest names are "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Terry Funk. The two didn't cross paths in the ring until Terry Funk joined the WWE in the mid-90s.
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Their only tag team matches as a two-man tag team took place during an unaired "dark" matches at the WWE. They defeated D-Generation X (Billy Gunn and Triple H) at one of those shows. Their only major televised tag match happened at In Your House 20: No Way Out Of Texas where Owen Hart and Cactus Jack helped them score a victory against Savio Vega, The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & The Road Dogg) & Triple H in the Lone Star State.
3 Worst: Pat O'Connor
Pat O'Connor is a wrestling icon. He's a WWE Hall of Famer who was the first AWA Champion. Despite him and Funk being big-time wrestling legends, the two did not have a great record as a tag team unit.
O'Connor and Funk first started competing against each other in the late 60s. They competed for the NWA Title numerous times. They had two major tag team matches at NWA. Although they defeated Bennie Ramirez & Larry Booker, they lost their only major high-profile match to Bulldog Brown & Superstar Billy Graham. Overall, they're forgotten tag team partners.
2 Best: Dory Funk Jr.
Terry Funk's entire career will always be associated with his brother, Dory Funk Jr. (aka “Hoss Funk” in WWE). The two were one of the most well-known tag team units for decades. Although they adopted a few gimmicks over their careers, the two were very successful. They had many tag team titles over their time as a unit that ended in 2013 at All Japan Pro Wrestling.
For the most part, they spent a large part of their careers putting other stars over. They competed against every major tag team unit of their era including the teams of Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik, Andre The Giant & Dusty Rhodes, and Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka.
1 Worst: Bunkhouse Buck
Funk had a very up-and-down run at WCW. He held the WCW Hardcore Championship and WCW United States Championship at the company. One of his strangest moments at the company was his time with Col. Parker’s pack.
Bunkhouse Buck was one of the weirder wrestlers in the stable. He and Funk paired up multiple times and were not often victorious. Despite the WCW roster full of talent, Bunkhouse Buck was one of the most common pairings of Funk's later career, which seems like a huge missed opportunity for Funk.
