73 Year Old WWE Hall of Famer Returning to the Ring

Stop us if you’ve heard this story before: wrestling legend Terry Funk is coming out of retirement.

Funk will be wrestling two matches next month for Big Time Wrestling. The matches will happen September 22 in Raleigh, North Carolina and September 23 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He will likely be working in tag team matches.

Funk sat down with SI’s Extra Mustard to talk about his return to the ring. Specifically, he spent a good amount of time addressing those who are understandably a little bit nervous about his return to the ring given his age. Interestingly, he addressed the fact that his father passed away wrestling.

“I certainly don’t want to pass away, but I’m doing what I love. And so what if I’m doing it in my 70s? I know this is hard for some people to understand, but I still think I can kick ass. This love of wrestling has been in my family with my dad, my brother, and myself. To this day, it’s what I love.”

He further explained that he doesn’t need the money; Funk says he is returning solely out of his love for the sport and the feeling that he can still go.

Funk has retired from professional wrestling many times in the past, only to make a return at a later date. His most notable retirement came in the fall of 1997 when a retirement show was put together in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas. At that show, Funk wrestled then WWF Champion Bret “Hitman” Hart in the main event. He was even presented a “lifetime ECW Champion” title belt before the match. The belt was paid for by donations from the ECW roster at the time and given to him by Paul Heyman. The event was also captured in the film Beyond The Mat.

Funk was in the ring again three months later and wrestled at WWE‘s WrestleMania XIV just six months after the Amarillo retirement show.

The last time the Funker was in the ring was in October 2015 in a match with Jerry “The King” Lawler for USA Championship Wrestling in Tennessee. He again announced his retirement in September 2016 at a House of Hardcore show.

We’ll see how long this retirement lasts.