Jon Moxley recalls almost fighting Vince McMahon over a 'Terry Funk classic' segment
In a recent interview, Jon Moxley (known as Dean Ambrose in WWE) shared his experience working with Terry Funk on the March 21, 2016 episode of WWE RAW, during the build-up to his WrestleMania 32 match against Brock Lesnar. Moxley said he already knew that Terry Funk was a genius, but he got firsthand experience during the segment.
The three-time AEW World Champion recalled that when he walked in, the writers told him that Terry Funk was unable to memorize the script and had lost his confidence. A new script was created for the WWE Hall of Famer, in which he had only one line.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Moxley revealed that Terry Funk went off-script during the segment and cut an incredible promo with his classic touch.
"So the writers tried to make Terry feel better, and they finally started writing new drafts. The final one, Terry only had one line. The new plan was that I talked, then Terry would have his line, then I’d take it home. So I say my first piece. Then Terry is up, and he starts going off. He cut this f****** awesome, insane, f****** classic Terry Funk spiel. ‘This kid, he’s the best in the country!’ I loved that he said country, which was such an old school line. He was incredible. It took a second to see this wasn’t a sad old man with no confidence, it was Terry Funk,” said Moxley.
Jon Moxley said that the writer in charge wanted to re-shoot the segment, but he didn't. The Lunatic Fringe told the writer that if Vince McMahon got upset, he would talk to him. The writers agreed, and the classic Terry Funk promo made it to the screen.
"What we filmed wasn’t from the script, so the writer in charge wanted to do it again,” said Moxley. “I was like, ‘F--- this. We just got a Terry Funk classic. We’re not doing it again. If Vince is upset about it, I’ll talk to him myself.’ So the writers agreed, and I was pumped. We got a classic piece of Terry Funk in the flesh."
Mox also talked about his conversation with Funk after the incident
“Afterward, I spoke with Terry. ‘They think I’m just some crazy old man,’ he told me. He was smiling about it when he said, ‘I’m not going to remember all that sh** they wanted me to say. Wasn’t it better this way?'"
Terry Funk had a legendary professional wrestling career as he worked across multiple promotions, most notably AJPW, WCW, and WWE, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. The Legend recently passed away on August 23, 2023.
Jon Moxley will challenge for the AEW International Championship at this weekend's ALL Out pay-per-view
AEW is getting ready for the fifth edition of its annual pay-per-view, All Out, which will take place on Sunday, September 3, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois.
The Jacksonville-based promotion produced ALL IN, its biggest pay-per-view ever, this past Sunday, August 27, 2023, and had only a week to build up to All Out. On the most recent episode of Dynamite, AEW announced many matches that will be featured at the upcoming event.
One of the matches announced was for the AEW International Championship. Jon Moxley will vie for the title when he faces the current Champion, Orange Cassidy, at All Out.
Who will walk away with the AEW International Championship at AEW All Out? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.