Texas Death Match by Dory Funk Jr.

Wrestling is a sport that I hold very near to my heart. Generations of my family have contributed to it, one way or another. Throughout it's long and storied history, there have been plenty of types of matches. From it's origins of two men squaring off to see who is the better grappler, to the vitriol of bitter blood feuds to the spectacle that is much of today's sport, there have been numerous ways to settle things beyond just a pinfall. But I believe that there is no match more dangerous, than a Texas Death Match.

The "Texas Death Match" was invented by my father, Dory Funk Sr. in the Amarillo, Texas wrestling territory. In those early days of the sport of professional wrestling, few had seen mayhem as wild as that particular match brought. I, myself, have engaged in several violent Texas Death Matches throughout my long career. While I preferred to wrestle a more technical style, I was well aware that this match took years off a career so I only agreed to one when the circumstances were most dire. My brother, former EWA World Champion Terry Funk, amplified the violence seen in the match and increased it's popularity as a way to finish off feuds throughout the 70s and 80s.

These days fans are conditioned to seeing wrestling matches that may involve weapons or maneuvers that would otherwise be illegal in the confines of a traditional wrestling contest, but a Texas Death Match is more than just weapons or banned holds. This match has violence in it's DNA. It's reserved not for the outrageous, but for men who truly want to hurt one another and settle a rivalry in a pure, definitive way.

No disqualification.
No time limit.
No count outside the ring.
No stopping the match because of blood.
Anything goes.
Falls don't end the match - There can be one or a hundred falls.
Thirty seconds between falls.
The match continues until one man is unable to return to action after a fall and 30 second rest period.
Once the 30 second rest period is over, the Referee will begin a 10 count and if the pinned wrestler cannot make it to his feet, the match is over.

On the surface, those rules are relatively simple. No cages. No ladders. No convoluted structures. But what makes a Texas Death Match so dangerous in my view is the way in which you win. Putting a man down for a three count is tough enough. Knocking a man out for 10 seconds is very difficult. But this match requires you to do both, and that break between the falls, that additional time for recovery, is central to that. It means to put your opponent down where he can no longer answer the count, you have completely defeated him. That's the toughest part, the most dangerous part, because in order to do that you have to truly hurt a man.

A Texas Death Match is a testament of will. My father Dory Funk Sr. once had a Texas Death Match against Mike Dibiase that went OVER 3 HOURS before one man could no longer get to his feet. Big Van Vader and Cactus Jack had a memorable Texas Death Match in World Championship Wrestling that nearly killed them both. I've seen barbwire and bloodshed in these matches, but to me the most grueling bouts were the ones that taxed the combatants on physicality, on wrestling holds and submissions, on hard hitting professional wrestling the way it's always been done in Texas. Fists, fighting and a free for all. A Texas Death Match is a decisive way to settle an issue between two combatants.

Having this match in Amarillo, Texas, not only adds to the historic nature of it, but it brings it back home. Back to the roots where my father first invented this contest. It also creates an atmosphere not unlike the very first Texas Death match. The air is just a touch thicker in Texas. The tension always palpable. Amarillo has a certain type of heat in October that just boils the blood to a right simmer. It drives a man to the brink of insanity and forces him to reach outside of himself and go to whatever lengths are needed to get the job done.

This is exactly the type of match that's needed to settle the issues between EWA World Champion Pete Dunne and former EWA World Champion Marty Scurll. Both men know how to wrestle on a scientific level. Both wrestlers have plenty of submissions skills. Both can hit hard, strike fast and immobilize their opponents. And both men are desperate to definitively prove that they are better than one another. The coveted EWA World Championship will be on the line and there will be a clear, undisputed, winner. I will be there to watch these two great athletes battle it out in the most demanding of wrestling matches.

I'll see you in Texas!