This is a
"Terry Funk Retirement Match" which is all that needs to be said, it
was taped 11th September 1997, with the original airing date below the title.
It also featured on the movie Beyond the Mat. In England, the event DVD was
sold under the ECW banner, so I shall count it for the purpose
of this. Bret Hart grabs the microphone before the match,
putting over Terry Funk and Amarillo. They shake hands in the ring as
he thanks Funker for the opportunity and his contributions to the business.
Joey Styles is on commentary for this match and the announcer tells us the
match is no disqualification.
Another collar-elbow tie-up in the ring gives Terry Funk a side headlock. He brings Bret down to the mat, Bret rolls over with
a bridge keeping Funk's shoulders down for some quick 1 counts. Funk keeps Bret
on the mat with the headlock, the referee's doing a good job checking for
covers in this sequence. Bret gets back to his feet and forces Funk against the
ropes, but Funk still waits for a few seconds before releasing. They cautiously
grapple before Funk takes Hart over with a fireman's carry, he keeps Bret to
the mat momentarily with an arm bar, moving back to the side headlock on the
mat. Bret's shoulders go down for one, and he gets Funk's shoulders to the mat
for a nearfall. Bret tries to leverage Funk's chin away and breaks the
headlock, quickly applying a front facelock on the mat. Bret gets to his feet
trying to get his weight onto Funk, but can't get proper leverage on Funk. Funk
makes it to his feet and grabs Bret's right leg, he sweeps the left but Bret scrambles
out of the ring to avoid the Spinning Toehold.
The crowd went nuts just seeing that move attempted, and it's
proof sometimes you don't need to kill yourself to get a reaction. Terry Funk
follows Bret outside the ring, Bret gets back in and allows Funk in with no
issue. They lock up and Bret backs Funk into the ropes, Funk tries to switch
positions but getss stuck in the corner instead. No chance of a clean break
this time as Bret hits Funk with right hands in the corner. Funk gets kicked in
the leg by Bret half-way around the ring before deciding to take a minute
outside. Bret sends Funk back in the ring and chokes him, taking full advantage
of the no disqualification rules. Terry Funk gets to his feet and Bret grabs a
loose headlock, hitting Funk with right hands and tying him up in the ropes. I
thought they were going see-saw spot but another right by Bret sends Funk out
to the floor. Bret lets Funk get back on the apron, before trying to give him
cauliflower ear and pulling his neck back. Terry's brother, Dory Funk Jr.
is his cornerman tonight, he faced Rob Van Dam earlier
tonight.
Terry Funk sits on the apron, so Bret rakes at his face,
before dragging him to his feet over the top rope. A headbutt and right hand
bring Funk in the ring, where Bret takes him over with a quick suplex. Bret
starts bending at Funk's leg and cannonballs down on it in the ropes. Funk's
leg is twisted around the middle rope as Bret carries on working it over,
leading Funk by his ankle and taking him down. Hart drops the elbow and twists
the knee more before driving his own knee into Funk's on the mat. Funk hobbles
to his good leg and jabs at Bret, just keeping him at bay whilst he tries to
get the circulation back a bit. Bret's able to get in some quick kicks to Funk's
knee, and Funk uses the ropes to keep his balance. A right hand sends Funk out
of the ring and Bret Hart's quick to follow.
Bret uses a chair on Funk's right knee, causing the referee to have some words. Bret slams Funk's head into the timekeeper's table as the referee tries to get it back in the ring. Terry Funk doesn't need to be told twice, slowly crawling under the bottom rope, but Hart's able to cut him off. Funk takes a tonne of right hands to the head but makes it to his feet. He swings wildly but completely misses each time before Bret kicks the knee again, dropping Funk to the mat. Bret Hart locks in a Figure Four, using the ropes for leverage. The referee can't do anything about that, it's no DQ as Styles reminds us. Terry Funk gets to the ropes, and Styles explains that Hart should still break the hold, since rope break and disqualification rules are different, but since the consequence is disqualification the referee has to break it himself. If that makes a bit more sense. Two of Bret's brothers and his father, Stu Hart are in his corner, and one hits Funk in the face with a chair. Terry Funk's decided he's had enough and starts fighting back on his knees. He hits Bret with lefts and rights to the ribs, Hart is hitting Funk with right hands but Funk gets to his feet. One more shot from Funk sends Bret down and the crowd into a frenzy. Bret begs off into a corner as he gets to his feet, but Funk isn't letting up, hitting him with a combination of strikes to knock him down again. Funk hits the hangman's neckbreaker but only gets a nearfall!
Funk drops Hart with a DDT for another nearfall as a “Terry” chant
begins. Terry Funk hits a Piledriver and covers, but Bret's brother puts Bret's
foot on the rope. Bret kicks out anyway (Because who can trust family these
days?) but Joey Styles is still pissed off. Terry Funk sends Bret to the
outside at the 15-minute mark and slams his head into someone's chair in the
crowd. Funk gets back in the ring as it sounds like one of Bret's brothers gets
angry with the crowd over the mic. Bret trips Funk, who's back in the ring, for
the ring post assisted Figure Four. The referee is forced to physically break
it so Bret shoves him before getting back in the ring. He works on Funk's knee
some more. Bret's brother shouts some encouragement on the mic as Bret brings
Funk over to the ropes and drops on his left knee. Funk uses his upper body to
crawl away, but Bret is quick to catch him up, bringing him to his feet and
hitting a backbreaker. Bret brings another chair into the ring and drives it
into Funk's knee. He wraps it around Funk's knee and drops the leg, and you can
hear a woman in the crowd scream “No!” each time the chair collides with Funk's
knee.
Terry Funk sits up and swings wildly for Bret's right knee, he grabs
Bret's ankle before standing up and trips his leg. Funk hits a leg drop across
Bret's knee before calling for a chair. It doesn't take long for him to get one
and he hits it across Bret's knee. The referee gets rid of it so Funk asks for
another and gets two. The referee calls off the chair throwing as Funk sends it
into Bret Hart's knee again. Bret is sent to the outside, Funk follows and
strikes him across the back with a chair. Funk sets the timekeepers table
between the barricade and apron before setting Bret up on it. Funk misses a
Vader splash going straight through the table. Joey Styles is on point
mentioning that Funk's knees took the brunt of the impact there. Bret sends
Funk into what's left of the timekeeper's table and Funk's busted open. The
Harts argue with the referee as Bret gets Funk back in the ring to another
chorus of “Terry” chants. Bret hits the falling elbow drop and a headbutt to
Funk's midsection before mocking the crowd with thumbs down. Bret sets up
for the sharpshooter but Funk rolls him up, Bret rolls back and Funk has to
kick out.
Bret is back to his feet first, but Funk has hold of his right leg. Bret gets a couple of shots in but Funk moves out of his reach so he drops to the mat. Spinning toe hold! Bret somehow reaches up, getting an inside cradle, 1, 2, no. (Joey Styles' commentary speed and the speed of the actions really didn't match up there.) Bret knocks Funk down with a clothesline, and another but Funk ducks the third one, knocking Hart down with a shoulder block, but it took as much out of Funk as he collapses on top of Hart, it takes the referee a second to check it's a pin and that allows Hart to kick out at 2 ½. Bret rakes at Funk's eyes and grabs a side headlock.
Terry Funk gets a back suplex!
Both mens' shoulders are down 1, 2, Bret gets his shoulder up before three! The
fans think Funk won it and there's a moment of confusion in the arena before
Bret Hart is officially announced as the winner. Terry Funk can't believe it,
and he checks with the referee sat on the mat, but takes his word for it. Bret
Hart and Terry Funk shake hands.
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