Terry Funk and Dean Ambrose made a rare appearance together on WWE Raw in 2016. However, it was ultimately pointless and overall a waste of the legendary former NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Terry Funk Gave Dean Ambrose A Special Gift
In the build up to his Wrestlemania match with Brock Lesnar, Dean Ambrose met with some wrestling legends to get some help. He first met up with WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley and took advice and more from the former WWE Champion.
Foley told him he came bearing a gift, and checked that he really wanted to step into the ring with Lesnar. When certain that Ambrose was genuine and would give it his all, he awarded him with a large red box. Inside it lay his famous barbed wire bat, lovingly named Barbie. This was the be a great equalizer in the battle against The Beast and gave Dean Ambrose a fighting chance at Wrestlemania 32.
The next week, another familiar face came knocking. Wrestling legend Terry Funk, who had not been seen on WWE TV since the 2009 Hall of Fame ceremony, did something similar to Foley. He met Ambrose in what looked like a restaurant, presumably near Funk’s hometown of Amarillo, Texas.
After a short promo on the former AEW Champion, Terry Funk called Dean Ambrose “The best in the country” before handing him a gift of his own – A Chainsaw. The weapon was reminiscent of Funk’s run as Chainsaw Charlie in the Attitude Era in the WWF. I’m not sure if he expected Ambrose to cut Lesnar into tiny pieces to beat up, but at least the thought was there.
Ambrose then proceeded to cut through a table in the restaurant, ruining many people’s meals.
His Chainsaw Was Unused During Wrestlemania Match
The Wrestlemania 32 match between Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar was one of the most anticipated in years. Lesnar was an unbeatable monster and in normal circumstance Ambrose would have no chance at winning. However, it was a No-DQ match, meaning anything goes and giving Ambrose a fighting chance.
The Chainsaw was not used at all in the match. The Beast escaped with all of his limbs still attached to his body, much to the chagrin of the entire audience. Barbie was also barely used, with the only real piece of weaponry being a pile of chairs used.
Lesnar’s match with Ambrose was very disappointing. With Ambrose past as Jon Moxley, CZW legend and expert at Deathmatches on the indies, fans were expecting a bloody and brutal affair. Sadly, Lesnar was training for a UFC fight at the time and didn’t want to risk any injury on the lead up to that. This led to a neutered version of what the match could have been, with no input from Terry Funk or Mick Foley at all.
Ambrose was critical of Lesnar during that match, although Paul Heyman soon clapped back at the former WWE Champion. In an interview with Inside the Ropes, Heyman said;
“Ask Steve Austin how he feels about Dean Ambrose,” Heyman said. “I’m sure he’s ‘(expletive) that kid came on my podcast and I don’t know what the hell, I ask him a question, and what the hell he’s half asleep on me’. If Steve Austin could have come out of retirement at that moment, I’m sure he would have b**ch slapped Dean Ambrose all over his face.”
“Anybody who thinks Brock Lesnar is lazy is not taking a look at the right circumstances,” Heyman said. “Come on, lazy? Lazy got him to an NCAA Division I Heavyweight championship? Lazy got him to knock out Randy Couture in his fourth MMA fight? The greatest heavyweight champion of all time, and Brock Lesnar didn’t grapple Randy Couture, take down, tap him out. He knocked out Randy Couture!”
That match was a contributing factor as to why Dean Ambrose left WWE in 2019. However, the build up to the match was Terry Funk’s last WWE appearance and a year before he wrestled his last match in wrestling. He now lives in an assisted living facility in Texas, and is regularly visited by his friends like Mick Foley as he suffers the effects of dementia.