Skip to main content

UnWrest Focus REWIND: Terry Funk vs. Sabu (Barbed Wire Match, ECW, 1997)

Welcome to the latest edition of UnWrest Focus REWIND. This edition is going to the EXTREME. And it perhaps is going too far into the extreme. Terry Funk is known for being one of the toughest and most hardcore wrestlers to ever lace up a pair of boots. Sabu is known for being perhaps even more insane than Cactus Jack, and that's coming from Mick Foley! Now, imagine: You take Terry Funk and Sabu, and what can you do to make that match even more insane? HOW ABOUT BARBED WIRE ROPES? That's right: Terry Funk defended his ECW Championship against Sabu in a BARBED WIRE MATCH! This is one of the sickest, most deranged match ideas in wrestling history. And we're going there now.

Let's do this!!!

ECW Born to be Wired 1997
8/9/1997
ECW Championship
Barbed Wire Match
Terry Funk (c) vs. Sabu (w/ Bill Alfonso)

The ropes are gone, replaced by strands of Barbed Wire. In other words, if Funk whips Sabu into the ropes, Sabu is getting pierced with barbed wire. Even the blood-thirsty ECW fans are somewhat muted for this starting off here. Funk had won the ECW Championship in this building 4 months prior at ECW's first Pay Per View event Barely Legal. Now, he's in a match that SHOULDN'T be legal.

The bell rings. Don't expect a lot of move calls here, folks. The referee is wearing gloves and long sleeves. Sabu and Funk are actually doing some ground work early on here. Sabu teases hitting the ropes early on, but he "puts on the brakes" before hitting them. Funk does the same thing seconds later. A little psychology early on here as both men work up the gimmick a little bit. Funk takes the advantage with neckbreakers, DDTs, and piledrivers. This is an odd match for Sabu. He can't use the ropes as usual for his moonsaults and dives.
Both men fight off getting raked into the wire, each sacrificing their hands to prevent it. Sabu eats the barbed wire first as Funk pushes him off a pin attempt. Sabu is already bleeding. Face first rake for Sabu into the wire followed by a throw back first into the wire. YIKES! THIS IS SICK! FUNK SADDLES SABU ON THE BARBED WIRE FOR GOD'S SAKES! Sabu's tights are torn up. Sabu gets thrown into another set of barbed wire, and he literally has to ply the barbed wire out of his flesh. This is insane. FUNK NOW GETS THROWN INTO THE WIRE! Sabu ties up Funk in the wire. Now Sabu attacks Funk with a steel chair. SABU RAKES AND JABS A RAZOR ON THE WIRE INTO THE FACE OF FUNK! Sabu now dives and hits Funk while in the wire. "ECW" chant.
Sabu dives at Funk again, but Funk moves sending Sabu right into the wire again! (Why did I eat before watching this?) Sabu's bicep is torn open. Dear God. Funk now covers Sabu for a 2. Sabu's legs now get caught in the wire. Sabu is now using athletic tape to seal up the open wound on his arm. He even takes a neckbreaker while doing so. The sell is interesting after the move: He's obviously still applying the tape, but he kicks his legs up and down in pain doing so. Sabu gets up after taping up his arm and goes after Funk.
They now roll outside the ring and begin fighting. Both men are bleeding profusely. Sabu again meets the barbed wire face first. Now, FONZIE gets dragged across the wire trying to save Sabu. Now Sabu gets dropped stomach first on the wire! Now Funk nails Fonzie with the barbed wire wrapped fist and rakes it against his bare back. This is a dang bloodletting. Now Funk is whipping Sabu with a strand of barbed wire. Funk is now beating up Fonzie on the outside as Sabu is cutting off wires from the ringposts.
RVD runs in and attacks Funk. He has work gloves on. Lol. Not Lol though as he's WRAPPING FUNK IN BARBED WIRE! Funk looks like a sick ball of barbed wire now. RVD puts Funk on the table, and Sabu dives off the ring and legdrops him through the table. RVD gets beaten up by Tommy Dreamer and taken to the back. Funk kicks out of the pin attempt. Another table is set up. Funk is placed on it by Sabu and Fonzie. Sabu WRAPS HIMSELF UP IN BARBED WIRE AND LEGDROPS THROUGH FUNK AND THE TABLE! They are now in this sick, twisted, intertwined ball of barbed wire. Fonzie and the referee on the outside literally have to help Sabu and Funk get back up into the ring to do the finish. Funk is screaming "Oh God!" Sabu covers for 2. Cover? More like rolls over Funk at this point. Funk is fighting as much as he can. Sabu gets Funk's shoulders down on the mat again. 1-2-3. New World Champion. Get these boys a Tetanus shot.
After the match, the referees literally have to cut Sabu and Funk loose from the barbed wire. They are that intertwined. Funk continues to scream in pain and anger.

Winner: Sabu (NEW ECW World Champion)
Match Grade: C (Match Quality); A for Effort- This is not a match you can really judge fairly compared to other matches. Most other matches tend to have more going for them in terms of being able to use ropes and other gimmicks at their disposal. I really enjoyed the effort that both men made in the match. Both Funk and Sabu sacrificed their bodies... I mean, for God's sakes, Sabu basically performed triage in the middle of the ring!!! The drama was there. But the match didn't have much of a rhythm to it. And their move sets were (understandably) limited due to the nature of the match.

You can find this match online (Dailymotion has it on their service). I'm not sharing it for a lot of reasons. But needless to say, it's not for the faint of heart. Do not watch it if you can't take it.
_ _ _ _

That does it for this edition of UnWrest Focus REWIND. Until next time, take care of yourselves.
Spread some awesomeness.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

WWE Evolution Predictions + Thoughts on An Underpromoted All-Women PPV

Credit: WWE WWE Evolution Promotional Poster This should feel like a bigger deal. After all, this is the first time ever that an All-Women PPV is taking place under the WWE corporate umbrella. But WWE has done a great job of completely killing the show with an uninspired card, lack of promotion, lack of interest overall, and finding a million different other things to promote to undermine the event. Still, some fans (like myself) want to give the women their due and hope to enjoy this show. Here's a rundown of the card and my predictions for each match: 1) Raw Women's Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Nikki Bella If this goes longer than 5 minutes, it's definitely too long. As good as Nikki can be in the ring (at times), Rousey should just absolutely massacre her. The only ways to prolong this match in a realistic way would be 1) an injury angle or 2) Twin Magic with Brie interfering. Otherwise, this should be short and awesome. Prediction: Ronda Retains 2)...

WWE TLC 2018 Review- Tables and Ladders and Chairs, Oh My!  

        HERE WE GO!    Pre-Show   1) WWE Cruiserweight Championship   Buddy Murphy (champ) vs. Cedric Alexander   They started this match early. Apparently, they wanted just as many fans in the arena as there usually are in 205 Live matches for this to give it the authentic feel.   The bell rings. A lot of tie-ups and switches to start up the match to a good reaction from the crowd. A Loud 205 Chant. Alexander takes down Murphy to the floor. Really good back and forth action here with both men moving quickly. Alexander catches Murphy with a dropkick for a 2 count. BIG KNEE to the head of Alexander sends him to the floor. Murphy flies off the top rope and hits a Meteora (maybe that’s what they were going for?) for a 2 count. Murphy has the advantage for a few moments, including a power choke on the corner on Alexander. He jumps off it to eat a SUPERKICK to the chest. Crowd seems invested in the matc...

WWE Super Show-Down 2018 Review: Last Time Ever Delivers + Some Other Solid Matches

Another big show in the WWE this year will happen today as WWE comes from Melbourne, Australia in front of 70,000 people. A lot of big matches are happening here. Let's Do This! No Pre-Show today. It's straight to the show. The new WWE opening takes place, and we get a WWE video package putting over the show and the LAST TIME EVER match. It looks like the Raw Announce Team will be calling the show. We go to the arena, and they've already spent more money on fireworks than they have for WWE programming this year. 70,309 in attendance. For once, the entrance way is understated. 1) SmackDown Live Tag Team Championship The Bar vs. The New Day (c) I wonder if Vince/WWE Management is ordering people to run the aisle tonight. Both tag teams were doing that coming to the ring.  Nice back and forth action with Kingston and Cesaro, along with Woods after getting the tag. Woods and Kingston had an awesome sequence of moves to start off. The Bar a minute later catches bot...