Terry Funk could use our love & support, but ‘terrible news’ isn’t pending

Last week, the legendary Terry Funk posted a video asking people to stop sending him autograph requests. The 76 year old said “I’m an old man and I’m tired and I truly, truly mean that,” and said he was getting “lame-brained”.

Yesterday (Feb. 7), Dustin Rhodes tweeted out an update about his friend:

You can see why a lot of wrestling fans got concerned about the Hall of Famer. Rhodes shed a little more light on the situation...

It was appreciated. But no one doubted Chainsaw Charlie’s toughness, and there were still a lot of questions about how the Funkster was doing. Mike Johnson of PWInsider provided a more comprehensive update this morning.

In addition to the hip pain - and probably issues with a lot of other parts of his body, given what he’s put it through to entertain us over the course of a 50+ year in-ring career - Johnson reminds us that Funk’s wife Vickie died in 2019. The combination of ending his life on the road (his latest and likely final retirement came in 2017) and losing his life partner in short order is a heavy load.

He’s still tweeting, which is a hopefully a good sign. He has friends like Dustin checking on him. And there are millions of us who love and appreciate his work in the squared circle.

So keep a good thought for Terry Funk, and send him prayers or positive energy if you believe in the power of those. He can use those, even if there’s no imminent reason to expect a ten bell salute in his honor.