TERRY FUNK

My first match was against Sputnik Monroe at the Amarillo Sports Arena. It was scheduled for only ten minutes. Sputnik got me down and was on top of me for the first eight minutes. My father came running down to the ring and yelled for me to get up. I don't know how I got up but I did. I was a lot more scared of my father than I was Sputnik.

In all my years I don't think I've ever said anything nice about Dusty Rhodes to any member of the media.

Wrestling is all about the power of the individual.

It's the fans that dictate what wrestling is. That's the one constant from 1917 to 2017.

What is hardcore? Hardcore is not just being hardcore, hardcore is going in the ring and giving 100% of yourself. Hardcore is great fans.

In ECW, hardcore wrestling wasn't done just for the fun of it. It was done for a purpose, for a reason. And for me, it was done to exist and produce a revenue for my family.

There never was one like Ric Flair, and there will never be another one like him.

Boxing was not as big as wrestling in Japan, but people knew Leon Spinks.

There are a lot of things that I remember about Dusty Rhodes. There are so many things that stick out about him. He used to work at my father-in-law's gas station pumping gas.

You must be very creative in our business. Creating in this business is making something new, but it is also touching on something old.

My father left a bit of his life with me. He gave me a gift, as did so many other wrestlers, like Mike DiBiase, Bob Geigel, Verne Gagne and Gene Kiniski. They all left me with something.

I think we have too much violence in wrestling, on TV in general, and society as a whole.

I have had about 15 operations due to the wrestling profession, and I have a problem with an abdominal hernia.

Wrestling is eye-opening because it's constantly changing.

Personally, I like to think I'm like my old man. I like to think I have the brains he did.

My father was strict. He knew how to have a good relationship with Dory Jr. and I. He was our best friend, but we had a lot of fear.

I came up with all kinds of stuff. That was part of being great and having creativity. I'm not just bragging about myself. I'm just saying.

This love of wrestling has been in my family with my dad, my brother, and myself.

Wrestling is truly my life, and I love being part of the professional wrestling world.

I've loved wrestling from the first moment I stepped between the ropes. Don't know where I'd be without it.

Ric Flair is a wonderful person, and he was such a great in-ring performer. He had a great deal to do with the direction of the business. There are great characters that have come into this business, but Flair can't be duplicated.

Extreme rules, hardcore wrestling - whatever they want to call it - was born out of a necessity to survive.

I have an abdominal hernia which I tore and had operated on, and it's not the easiest thing in the world to get over. I'm gonna go on down the road, but hopefully I can get over the damn thing.

I would like to see another Johnny Valentine.

McMahon has made a lot of guys very rich, but he may also be taking years off their lives.