Terry Funk Presents: Wrestle Fest - 50 Years of Funk

Original Airdate: September 11, 1997

From Amarillo, Texas; Your Host is Joey Styles 

Opening Match: Roadkill v Wing Kanemura: Posturing to start, until Wing knocks him out of the ring, and dives with a tope. Roadkill grabs a chair and tees off with that, and a sidewalk slam gets him two on the way in. Roadkill with a chokeslam for two, but a flying splash misses, and Wing comes back with a series of strikes. A legsweep gets two, so Roadkill fires back with a big boot. Powerbomb, but Wing blocks, and dropkicks the knee to cut him off. That allows Wing a bodyslam to set up a flying senton splash at 5:57. Very basic and felt like an Indy match. ½*

ECW Television Title Match: Taz v Chris Candido: They trade hammerlocks to start, and Taz takes him down into a cross-armbreaker, but Candido is immediately in the ropes. They trade more wristlocks, and Taz gets another takedown, so Candido stalls him out. Chris with a waistlock takedown, but Taz escapes, and gets a waistlock takedown of his own. Taz with a series of forearms to send Candido to the outside, but Chris manages to turn the tide once getting back inside. Chris delivers a legdrop for two, but a cross corner whip gets reversed. Candido goes up for a dive, but gets caught in an overhead suplex. Clothesline, but Candido ducks, and ‘hits’ a leg-feed enzuigiri. It missed by a mile, but still got a two count. Must have been one hell of a drag coefficient. Taz comes back with a variety of suplexes, and the Tazmission finishes at 7:19. ½*

Lady Cooga v Shark Tsichiya: Shark strikes first, and chokes her down. Shark gets a bodyscissors on, but Cooga escapes. Cooga tries to make a comeback, but Shark isn’t having it, and finishes her off at 6:53. DUD

The Bushwhackers v Mark Youngblood and Chris Youngblood: What the fuck is this piece of shit? The Bushwhackers kickstart things, and we have a brawl. Joey is quick to remind us that the Bushwhackers are actually super violent and hardcore, in case we are only familiar with the last, like, ten years of their careers. Yeah, but other than that blip. Anyway, they do get super violent here indeed. At one point, Butch holds a chair! And threatens to hit someone with it! The Youngbloods sucker Luke with a double team to score the pin at 10:14. DUD

Bubba Ray Dudley v Balls Mahoney: This is supposed to be Balls against Sandman, but Dudley attacks Sandman before the match, so that’s off. That offends Balls’ delicate sensibilities, though, so he challenges for this impromptu match. Balls goes to town, weapons come into play, and Balls scores the pin at 5:40. Man, this show has been terrible thus far. DUD

ECW World Title Match: Shane Douglas v Tommy Dreamer: Tommy kickstarts things, and clotheslines Shane over the top. Dreamer follows to continue beating him on the outside, but Shane manages to attack the leg, and he works the part. Shane grabs a chair to unload with, and he puts Tommy in a figure four. Beulah makes the save, allowing Tommy an abdominal cradle for two, so Douglas clips the leg. Shane goes to the top, so Beulah distracts him, and Dreamer slams him off the top. Dreamer with a hiptoss into the corner, and a backdrop follows. Tommy lands a bulldog for two, and he sets up for the DDT, but Francine rakes the eyes. That draws Beulah in to brawl with her, and that allows Shane to recover with another chop block. Shane follows by beating up Beulah, but wastes time, and Dreamer schoolboys for two. Dreamer with a death valley driver for two, and a belly-to-belly suplex is worth two. He delivers the DDT, but Francine is on him again to prevent the pin. Tommy responds by piledriving her, but that allows Shane time to recover, and a belly-to-belly retains at 10:11. Finally, a match of the non-terrible variety! This was enjoyably chaotic once it kicked into gear. *

Rob Van Dam v Dory Funk Jr: Posturing to start, and Rob puts him through a criss cross to try and blow him up, but Dory tags him with a forearm, and Van Dam bails. Back in for another try, and Funk holds the line, and knocks Van Dam back to the outside with uppercuts. Rob manages to sweep the leg from out there, and he tries a somersault dive, but misses. Looks like that wasn’t meant to miss, but Rob messed up. Inside, Funk butterfly suplexes him, but RVD makes a brief comeback, before getting hooked in a cradle at 11:33. This was, as expected, a major style clash. I liked it for the novelty, though. Still, DUD

Mankind v Sabu: I’m kind of shocked he’s working as Mankind, and not Cactus Jack. Mankind wins a slugfest, but Sabu spinkicks him out of the ring. Sabu dives after him with a somersault plancha, and Mankind’s knee is all messed up from it. Mankind fights to beat the count in, but Sabu is waiting with a dropkick to the knee, and he goes to work on the part from there. Sabu with a springboard leg lariat in the corner for two, but another springboard gets blocked, and Mankind goes to the middle. The bad wheel slows him down, however, allowing Sabu to bring him down with a rana for two. Mankind grabs a chair, but gets it kicked back in his face, and Sabu dumps him. Sabu planks a table between the guardrail and the apron, but takes too long setting up his dive, and Mankind blocks. They slug it out on the apron, and Mankind tries a suplex through the table, but now Sabu blocks. Sabu is able to come at him with a bodypress to put him through the planked table, and Sabu uses a chair in the ring. Mankind pops up and pounds Sabu into the corner, and he manages to deliver a running kneesmash. Mankind with a double-arm DDT, and he slaps the mandible claw on, so Bill Alfonso comes in for the DQ at 8:31. A really weak finish, but not a bad match. ¾*

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Jake Roberts and The Headhunters v Jensei Shinzaki, Masato Tanaka, and Hayabusa: Jake is wearing sweatpants out there. Lots of posturing, until the heels get control of Tanaka, and work him over. They go for the kill with Jake setting up the DDT, but his partners dive in to save, and Roseanne Barr the door! Hayabusa manages to isolate one of the Headhunters, and a flying 450 splash finishes him at 10:56. ½*

Main Event: No Disqualification Match: Bret Hart v Terry Funk: Bret is the WWF Champion here, but this is non-title. Feeling out process to start, with Funk dominating. Hart manages to swipe at the leg to block the spinning toehold, and the Hitman goes to work on the leg. Bret puts on a figure four to try for the submission, but Terry gets the ropes, so the various Hart Family members at ringside attack him. Funk fights them off, and beats on Bret with a series of punches, and a neckbreaker gets him two. Funk with a DDT for two, and a piledriver gets two, so he dumps Bret to the outside. They spill into the crowd for a brawl, and Funk brings a chair into the ring with him as they return. Hart manages to sweep the leg from the outside, and he pulls Terry into the corner for a ringpost figure four. Hart goes back to work on the leg, and uses a chair to really work it in. Funk fights him off, and returns the favor with the chair, but a side suplex goes sideways when Bret gets the shoulder up first at 25:07. I remember really liking this match when I first saw it in 2016, but I found it dull and taxing tonight. * (Original rating: *** ½)

BUExperience: I was really excited about revisiting the main event, and hoping to find some other gems on the undercard. I was disappointed twice. 

DUD