Terry Funk is one of a small selection of wrestlers ever to compete in an exploding barbed-wire death match. Funk wrestled the match type’s pioneer, Atsushi Onita, in May of 1993 in such a match for FMW. He also faced Cactus Jack in a very similar No Rope, Barbed Wire, Explosive Barbed Wire Board, Time Bomb Death Match in 1995.
The 76-year-old recently spoke to SI.com and offered some advice for Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley who will take part in the match tonight. “It’s the roughest style match I’ve ever been in,” said Funk. “I put a lot into those matches. I put in 100%, and I came out with a lot of damage to my body.”
“If you want to make this match work, you need to give the people their money’s worth. That’s the bottom line, that’s the most important thing. You need to do whatever you can to accomplish that. Physically, that can sometimes be a rugged game to play.”
Funk says the two won’t be worried about storytelling during the match, however. The only story is that both guys will be trying to win the fight.
“You’re not trying to tell a story, you’re trying to win a g—— match,” said Funk. “That’s the whole point. Win the match, win the fight.”
Funk concluded by saying that if Moxley and Omega give the fans their money’s worth, the match will live on in history just like his match against Onita has.
“This is a tough match. It was for me at least, as tough as it could possibly be. It’s up to them how they treat it. This match, their job is to go ahead and give the people their money’s worth. If they do that, their match will live on for a long time. These two guys, I think they’ll do it to the best of their ability.”
