“He Was Trying to Kill Me”: Ric Flair Narrates Violent Terry Funk Story That Almost Ended Both Men’s Careers Before Reaching Legend Status

Ric Flair has performed as a heel throughout a major part of his pro wrestling career. But when he feuded against the late great Terry Funk, he was being treated as a babyface. The two went through many matches in a feud that ended at Clash of the Champions 9 event on November 1989 in an ‘I Quit Match’.

The late Terry Funk was known for his hardcore matches throughout his career. But there was one moment that crossed limits even for his old friend Ric Flair. Flair recalled an extremely violent moment from a match involving Funk where he was trying to “kill” Flair during the match.

Flair recalls the violent moment with Funk

Legendary WWE Ric Flair was on the Podcast ‘Everyone Talks To Liz Calman’. He talked to the host on many topics for the episode titled ‘A “Flair” For The Dramatics: Pro Wrestler Ric Flair On His Six Decades Of Life Smackdowns’. Flair narrated how he felt during the moment when Funk choked him using a polythene bag during a Clash of Champions match. 

He further said that they almost lost TV broadcasting from the TBS cable network because of how violent the moment was. Flair said, “That was real too. He was trying to kill me. We almost lost TV because of that. ” The host said that “TBS couldn’t have been thrilled” because of this and Flair replied, “Na, no, That was one of those that you can call in on the fly.”

This moment once again proved that Funk was willing to go to great lengths to bring realism to his matches and this around Flair was at the receiving end of his extreme antics.

Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk ends at Clash of the Champions

The reference match was from the Clash of the Champions IX  event on September 12, 1989. The main event of the match was Ric Flair & Sting vs. Dick Slater & The Great Muta.

Ric Flair dropped Dick Slater on the mat with an atomic drop, following it up with his signature Figure Four Leg Lock. Just then, he was attacked by his arch-rival Terry Funk. The referee immediately called disqualification for interference, eventually resulting in Flair & Sting winning by DQ.

Though the two great wrestlers rekindled their rivalry briefly in 2000, outside of the ring, Flair and Funk were great friends. Such was Flair’s love for Funk, that he even called out ESPN network when they did not honor Funk after his death.

Watch this story: 5 Pro Wrestlers Who Passed Away After Or During Matches