Terry Funk, one of the highest-regarded professional wrestlers in history has died in a hospital near Phoenix. He was 79.
His death was announced on Wednesday by World Wrestling Entertainment, the company for which his career exploded in the 1980s.
The announcement did not cite a cause.
The Hall of Fame professional wrestler was well known for his hard-core fighting style which inspired decades of bloody brawls and entertaining matches.
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Funk’s wrestling career, which began in the mid-1960s and lasted four decades, took him around the country and the world, from playing in front of sold-out WWE crowds to entertaining fans in the growing Japanese market with All Japan Pro Wrestling.
He quickly became known as a fierce wrestler who wielded improvised weapons against his opponents: chairs and ladders, barbed wire and bats, trash cans and fire.
Ric Flair, a retired professional wrestler known for his flashy outfits and extravagant lifestyle, said on Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that he had “never met a guy who worked harder” than Funk.
Mick Foley, who also wrestled Funk, said on Facebook that he was “the greatest wrestler” he ever worked with.