Heartbreak spread across the wrestling world yesterday when the news broke of Terry Funk’s passing at the age of 79. Several wrestling legends and icons have since taken to social media to pay tribute to The Hardcore Icon including Ric Flair who called him “unbelievably fearless” and Mick Foley who deemed him “the greatest wrestler I ever saw.” Now, CM Punk has joined in on the wave of tributes to the late legend.
The self-proclaimed “Real” AEW World Champion delivered a heartfelt speech just hours after Funk’s passing was made public following last night’s taping of AEW Collision. After the show concluded, Punk grabbed a sign from the crowd that read “Terry Funk Forever” and spoke to the audience in attendance as Sting and Darby Allin watched on from the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I love coming to work and I’m excited every day to see two different generations, one I’m in the middle of, Sting and Darby Allin,” Punk said. “I appreciate coming to work and seeing all of you stay late, hanging out with all of us and letting us entertain you. One of the big reasons I would say that I’m here, maybe that Sting’s here, maybe that Darby’s here, there’s a little piece of this man in every single one of you today. I stand on the shoulders of giants and today we lost one, Terry Funk.
No matter what religion you believe, maybe you don’t have a religion, one thing I believe is that you are never truly gone as long as the people who look up to you remember you and continue to tell stories long after you’re gone. My heart is heavy tonight because Terry is gone but I can still smile because Sting is still here. Bret Hart is still with us and I text him every day. There’s a lot of legends that are still here but we have to give respect to people that paved the way. Let me hear, one time, for Terry Funk.”
Punk is set to compete at AEW All In: London this weekend in a match for his “Real” AEW World Championship against Ring of Honor Television Champion Samoa Joe. Other notable matches on the historic Wembley Stadium event include MJF defending the AEW World Championship against Adam Cole and The Young Bucks challenging FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championship – which is still planned for the event despite Cash Wheeler’s arrest.
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