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Post by elliott on Dec 8, 2017 1:44:52 GMT -5
Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr vs Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy 08/31/83 AJPW
The Terry Funk retirement match. The first one. And holy hell it is a great brawl. I'm relatively down on Gordy, but I'm happy this was 83 Gordy and not Brody or Dibiase teaming with Hansen. The post match is wonderful and this stands out as one of the great moments of the 80s.
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Post by Cap on Dec 8, 2017 8:37:55 GMT -5
Second
BOOOOOOO to being down on Gordy
Anyway, this is an absolute blast, a match with great rewatch value. To me this is four legends and at least two guys that I think are locks for my top 10 ever, so it is tough to go wrong with you give them a big stage. Lots of violence with drama and nuance woven in. I like it a lot.
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Post by stunninggrover on Jan 14, 2018 1:10:37 GMT -5
Third.
Terry Funk juiced. Tremendous crowd heat from start to finish. I believe this was the first of approximately 20 “retirements” of Terry Funk, who cut an awesome promo after the match: “Japan number one! Forever and ever! Forever! Forever! Forever! Forever! Forever! Forever! Forever! Forever! Sayonara! Goodbye! I love you!” This is one of the most memorable matches of 1983.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jul 22, 2018 20:00:58 GMT -5
Another contender to Greatest Match of all time! Terry Funk & Stan Hansen just belong together.
Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs Dory & Terry Funk - AJPW 8/31/83 Terry Funk Retirement Match
Terry Funk kills any chance of running for public office in America by proclaiming that "Japan is Number 1 forever, forever, forever, forever, forever, forever". Guess America is just playing for second place.
The crowd loves the Funks like this has to be one of the most over babyface acts of all time. The dichotomy between the brothers is on display here as Dory gives one of the more uninspired face in peril segments in the way of selling compared to Terry basically giving the performance of a lifetime. In Dory's defense, I loved how much he was struggling to get out every armbar and how much fire he had, but could have used some more selling. Stan Hansen is a Terry Funk seeking missile to start and wants to re-open a cut above his eye. Dory is fucking useless trying to save his brother. Love the chaos in the midst of all the streamers. Terry tags out to big brother and they look to double team Hansen, who is wiser than he looks. Hansen grabs Dory by the arm and bullies him over to his corner. This is one of the best Gordy appearances I have ever seen. He was in lockstep with Hansen in terms of strategy, but presented a more vulnerable side. Dory may have not sold well, but he was firing those forearms off with all he had. Loved the heels always grabbing that arm and pulling him back to their corner to prevent the tag. This crowd is going apeshit for Dory Fucking Funk! Terry starts to get pissed about the constant double teaming and says two can play at that game. I love Dory forearming through a Hansen kick. That's what makes pro wrestling look great. This has been nothing, but balls to the wall action. Hot tag to Terry, who is bleeding, but he does not give a fuck as he FINALLY levels Hansen with a series of punches to a huge pop. Unfortunately Gordy cheapshots him and Terry cant press his advantage. This leads to Hansen kicking Terry's leg really fucking hard like really fucking hard. The leg work that ensues is amazing. The heels are vicious and dicks about it. Gordy was constantly holding Terry from the outside by the foot while Hansen would stomp and drop his weight on the knee. You just felt like poor Terry was helpless against these animals and his face showed all the pain. Gordy even went as far to use the Spinning Toehold against him! Terry blasts him in the head and then headbutt. Hot tag to Junior! Melee ensues leaving Terry and Terry in the ring. Gordy belly flops and Funk sunset flips from the middle rope to win his retirement match! Hansen ever the sore loser attacks Terry's leg and murders a young boy with a lariat before being restrained by a school of young boys.
I have always loved this match and again it was a total energetic tour de force. The heels dominate the match and beat the shit out of the Funks, but the Funks are not going down without a fight. I wish Terry got the win over Stan, but Hansen was staying not Terry. At least Terry finally got to knock him off his feet. Still it is a great feel-good moment and balls to the wall action. One of the best tag team matches ever! *****
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Post by cactus on Nov 19, 2021 5:19:15 GMT -5
This is Terry's 'retirement' match and this has one of the loudest crowds I have ever heard. You know you have a hot crowd when they are going apeshit for Dory Funk Jr. of all people! The match starts off with Dory being worked over by the heels. They mostly keep him immobilized with an armbar and strikes. Dory gets the crowd pops big whenever he gets in a lucky jab. Terry was sublime in this, egging his brother on and pacing up and down the apron when he's not tagged in and throwing some great punches and doing a marvelous sell job of his leg when he is the legal man. Everything looks snug and not one move looks phony. This is yet another hellish brawl that we need more of in today's wrestling. Above all the great strikes and well-done tag team wrestling, the emotion is off the charts. The crowd is fully invested in EVERYTHING that is going on. ★★★★★
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Post by club on Mar 21, 2022 6:04:45 GMT -5
FORRREVVEER. The match itself is a great tag match with a nuclear crowd. This is my favourite version of Terry Funk. That said, for me at least it’s in the discussion for the post-match. Terry covered in blood, crying and yelling is such an iconic emotional moment. However, I’ve rewatched a few matches recently (Chigusa/Dump, Savage/Warrior) where the post-match was also elevated the match to something truly special. Compared to those matches, this match itself felt quite inconsequential to what happened after. So yeah, this is great but I'm not sure what to make of this anymore when it comes to ranking this.
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Post by silverwidow on Mar 21, 2022 13:27:16 GMT -5
I feel the same way about Flair/Funk 7/89; the match itself is a classic (probably 4.5-4.75 for me) but the wild-ass brawl after enhances it.
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Post by puropotsy on May 30, 2023 16:12:59 GMT -5
A classic babyface performance by both Funks but especially Terry. While Terry retiring has been a bit of a joke, the emotion here is real. The match has some more subdued sections than I remembered but starts at a blistering pace. Dory had a face-in-peril segment and just as I was wondering if Terry would be more effective in that role in his retirement match, he hot tags and starts his own. And of course he bleeds. This is a great end to one of the all-time great babyface runs. Forever.
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