[8.0] "Feels weird rating this since it is more of an angle than a match, but damn if it isn't memorable. Terry Funk is in prime form here, ranting and raving in the ring before Lawler coolly walks down the aisle in the empty arena. They brawl a bit before Funk gets stabbed in the eye and then wails like a lunatic. His reaction, complete with the blood pouring out of his eye area, is legitimately horrifying."
[9.0] "This is the first time I've seen this in full. What. The. Actual. Fuck. This is a horror film. From the filming, audio... everything about this, what a surreal match. I'd seen clips of the spike to the eye before but wow, bone chilling shit. Funk's cries and squeals are mortifying. Absolutely one of the greatest performances to ever take place in professional wrestling by Funk. ****3/4."
[10.0] "You know I've watched a lot of wrestling that always had some real elements to them but never felt as real as this.. fight does. There's some pro wrestling-isms like the piledriver and Lawler placing his hand to protect his head hitting the table (Even though I'm pretty sure his head does hit it at one point anyway.) but this does feel like a real heated fight. It helps that there's only one camera, we get Lance Russell smoking, Terry Funk is absolutely unhinged going into a high pitch voice that I never knew he could hit. And I mean the finish is iconic, I've been doing that "My Eye" bit for years and I don't think I actually knew where it came from until now. And that spike hits his eye I gasped, it actually got him, I believe Terry Funk is insane enough to jab himself near his eye socket. I don't think any match can come close to how unique and of it's time this one is. Just a fascinating watch. Five Stars out of Five."
[10.0] "One of the most strangest and stupious ideas I ever saw in a pro wrestling match. And that is a good thing! The entire scene felt like it was from a movie, Terry Funk was protesting against Jerry Lawler saying that he was a bum protected by the fans and the entire Memphis company was at his side. So, to have a "fair" battle, he took EVERYTHING away. Now it is only him and Lawler alone in the ring for ten minutes straight sharing a brutal violence nonstop. The infamous "my eye" screen was something that I knew it was about to happen but at some point I start doubting myself if that would REALLY happen. So, even knowing the spot, I was shocked when it happenned. Terry Funk was the soul, spirit and veins of this entire match, screaming like a psycho wanting to make him or Lawler die in that ring. The atmosphere was great because there is no atmosphere at all, no one to see it. It sounds pretty unique even nowasday after the pandemic era, but at the 80s? Whoever had the idea had a creative mind, even knowing that almost killed the company, idc. This is a five stars match for me, I just love this type of match."
[10.0] "Terry Funk goes from a bully heel, to a complete psycho, to a coward who gets his ass kicked in the span of about 10 minutes. Everyone here plays their roles to perfection, Lawler, Funk and Lance Russel. More of an angle than a match, but it's A+ stuff all around."
[8.0] "That was terrifying but yet so interesting to see. An intense brawl with a tremendous finish. The counter-parts of a yelling Terry Funk and a complete silent Jerry Lawler made everything so much cooler, so many emotions in this. Loved it."
"This is an early found footage horror movie disguised as a wrestling match. I love lo-fi horror movies, so even if the fighting isn't objectively the greatest, the atmosphere more than makes up for it. Just the sound of the feet of the wrestlers echoing in the silent arena gave me chills, to say nothing of the ending, with Funk's screams of "my eyes! ""
[8.0] "Sorry to say but, though I love Funk, as a match I didn't think this really qualified as something great. Like, a great angle I think, but the match was just sort of strange. The best thing about it was the yelling, weirdly enough. Funk had such a great voice for this kind of thing. The eye injury was also very memorable but I prefer their real matches when it comes down to it. Maybe if I watched it again I might feel differently but that's my current view, definitely unique but not something I would rush to recommend. EDIT: Revisited this and it's better than I gave it credit for, I still much prefer their proper matches but there is value to something like this for sure. EDIT Revisited again and liked it more. Still a bit overrated but it has grown on me."
[8.0] "I cannot imaging how surreal this would have felt to watch on TV back in 1981 when there was still a sense of kayfabe. Not the best brawling I have seen from either guy but still good stuff. Anytime you see a piledriver onto the concrete, you have to respect it. Funk's primal screaming the whole way was wild with nobody in the place. Also we got a "tuba-four" call so there's that. Ending was just as surreal as the match itself."
[10.0] "It would take a full 40 years and the impact of COVID in the form of the original AEW Stadium Stampede to produce a match that could match the level of sublime carny genius of this. The match itself is secondary though it too is a perfect execution of something that feels decades ahead of its time in US wrestling. But it only works when taken in tandem with the wall-to-wall perfection of how everyone plays his part. Funk opens this up cutting a promo so hateful that about 30% of it is bleeped and another 20% probably should have been. He shits on Lawler, the fans he relies on, the fans who aren't even there, Lawler for seemingly wussing out, Memphis, Tennessee, and maybe even God for making all these shitty things who steal oxygen from Terry's air. Then, Lawler shows up looking like a a life-size chess king with a beer gut, slowly walking toward the ring like a pageant contestant, and proceeds to maul Funk with an air of almost disturbing calm and ease. This is the shitkicker equivalent of the moment in a samurai movie when the stoic ronin seems not to move as his opponent barrels at him full steam ahead and screaming, running right past and laughing until suddenly the image cuts to a POV shot of the villain where the image breaks cleanly in half and begins to slide apart to reflect that the man has just been sliced right down the middle. Funk spins on a dime from his opening trash talk to give the best chickenshit heel routine of all time, his Deliverance squeals bouncing off the walls of the coliseum as he moans and sobs and begs for a doctor. "MY EYYEEEEEEE" he yells and hears only his own echo as a response. Terry Funk invented the final 20 years of his career before he'd even gotten to his first retirement and was then still at his peak as a proper worker and global draw. No one in wrestling before or since had his vision."
[9.0] "[4.5*] What a beautiful horror movie. This wasn't properly a match but an angle with the highest quality. For this match you must have the full experience, including the pre-match promo by Funk calling Lawler out, saying that he needed the fans to win. It's such a shame that Funk himself hates this beautiful disaster tho. Anyways, this was so brutal, so horrifying, and Lawler's focused and quiet persona in contrast with Funk's exaggerated screaming was so cool, specially at the ending where Lawler was almost killing him like a psycho and Funk was screaming "MY EYES", "I CAN'T SEE" and "HELP ME! ". An extraordinary experience, I love creativity in my professional wrestling. I just disliked the cuts, this can really hurt the viewing."
[9.0] "This is the Terry Funk you think of. A pure brawl with a brutal ending. Funk is so vocal throughout, whilst Lawler remains quiet and subdued. The commentary from Lance Russell makes it even better. The pre match rant is perfection. The ending feels raw and real and Terry sells it so so well."
[10.0] "One of the most harrowing uses of violence in wrestling I have ever seen. The surreal, bizarre quality of a fight that goes slightly too far. Violence outside of the bounds of sport is nothing more than pathetic brawling that leads to real damage. There is a manic, palpable danger to Funk here that becomes genuinely chilling at a certain point. Loved this a ton."
[9.0] "I watched this again last night and I absolutely love every moment of it. Yes it's more of a brawl but everything about it has the same kinda vive as an indie horror film made in the late 70s. Funk does way more than he needs to and the whole thing is just utterly compelling"
[10.0] "Funk calling Lawler a "son of a bitch" for the millionth time >>>. Jokes aside, there's an almost surreal quality to this match -- something about it, man. It feels like watching actual domestic violence unfold in real time. If modern wrestling is cinematic in the Avengers Endgame kind of way, then this is more like the final scene of Taxi Driver."
[10.0] "Damn, this is a cathartic experience, way ahead of its time, what a phenomenal job by those two greats, unbelievable. At the time, Lawler was the undisputed King of Memphis, and he had wins over Terry and Dory Funk in the past two weeks, defending his home turf and making the fans go crazy about their guy, so Terry Funk, tired of that shit, challenged him to an Empty Arena match, at the legendary Mid-South Coliseum, the house that Lawler built, but this time without fans, without the usual home field advantage, that according to Funk, was boosting Lawler to get his wins. This is very hard to rate, because it's a cinematographic match, and it's always super hard to rate those, because it has a really different structure, and they're usually pre-taped, meaning that overall they are very different, by essence, from the traditional wrestling matches, like the one they had before, the No DQ. But from what we could see, this whole cinematic experience was extraordinary, everything worked out pretty well, it's one of those moments you simply will never forget, Lance Russell was incredible, he sold the entire thing with rare brilliancy, it was only him and a camera-man, per Funk's orders, and he conducted the entire stuff magnificently. What can I say about Terry Funk? This was his own private show, he was unbelievable, one of the best selling that pro-wrestling has ever saw, before, during and after the match, he was impeccable, his impatience towards Lawler's arrival before the match was incredible, the guy was torturing Russell and you can feel every emotion they've transmitted. Lawler was stoic here, said very few words, a beautiful contrast to Terry's agitation, he was there to prove a point and do his job, without his main strength, the fans, he was a man on a mission, ready and focused all the time. The brawl looked short, but it was extremely effective, no matter how Terry tried, Lawler looked stronger every time, and he had to try other methods to put the man down, he grabbed a sharp stick and tried to put into Lawler's eyes, a very agonizing angle, but the strategy backfired and Lawler caught the stick and stuck into Terry's eyes, ending the match. The way Funk sold the finish was legendary, and gave us many remarkable phrases like 'MY EYE' and 'YOU PIG'... damn, the man started crying, the whole thing was just magical. The only thing that probably holds this to receive the higher rating possible is the fact it was more an angle than a match, but it was absolutely incredible and revolutionary, a masterclass, the first Empty Arena match of all time couldn't be better - {****3/4}"
[7.0] "This is a famous and inventive segment. It's good but slightly overrated imo. It is good, and Lance Russell is amazing here. But it is slightly hammy at times with the high pitch screaming."
[9.0] "I saw the uncensored full version that Jim Cornette luckily saved from destruction and everyone here is doing their job to the fullest. Lance Russell on commentary pre-match and during is outstanding. Funk is doing some of the best work I've seen the legend do here. Lawler comes in like the heroic gunslinger of the old west though being in the King outfit is a little weird. The action itself is just a fight, which is what it needed to be but Terry's shouting and selling is top notch. I'm wondering if any CWA match will top this for me which is odd to think about but they have a tough hill to climb if they want to beat this."
[9.0] "Yes, it is a pre-taped match. But for all intensive purposes, it is a legit worked match. The amount of emotion is incredible. Terry Funk proves that he is the best seller ever, that he was actually just an incredible actor all together, and that he excelled in unique scenarios. Terry was awesome"
[9.0] "It's hard to rate this as an actual match as you can argue that it is more of an angle, but its influence cannot be denied. This is basically the Terry Funk Show. Terry Funk is the first wrestler to get to the Mid South Coliseum and he is pissed. He isn't sure if Lawler has stood him up or is planning to ambush him and Funk lets Lance Russell hear his complaints. Lawler finally appears and is in full gear, complete with crown. Terry notices this and it leads to a hilarious rant from Funk questioning why Lawler has bothered to dress up for a match with an attendance of zero. You can tell that this remark makes Lawler question his choice of attire. Once they start fighting, it is nothing particular mind-blowing. They fight around the ring and throw each into the rows of the empty chairs. Funk fills the silence by wailing like a pig. In perhaps the most famous moment of Memphis wrestling not involving Andy Kaufman, Funk gets a broken wooden chard kicked into his eye moments after he attempted to blind Lawler with that same shard. Funk rolls around and screams about his eye. Lawler decides Funk has suffered enough and leaves him in a puddle of his own blood as this legendary segment wraps up"
[9.0] "This is rightly legendary and almost every single thing about it is perfect from Lance Russell through the fight and the final ending. It feels raw and it feels real in a way that we just do not get in this day and age. Everyone needs to take time to watch it."
[10.0] "This is wrestling excellence. Whatever this was, classified as a segment, or a match, was AMAZING. Funk's work here is some of the best you'll ever see. I can tell why he was cast in multiple films. He played his character to a tee and remained entertaining and believable simultaneously. The whole narrative of the deal was great. It started off with hope that the fight would happen, to funk showing up and mocking lawler, to lawler finally showing up and fighting him. The realness of this was on a different level. I believed every single one of the characters involved. I can't even imagine how I would've felt had I watched this live as a fan of either men. The finish is brutal and funk sells it perfectly. His promo afterwards also sells their next match (which to my knowledge isn't on tape because I haven't found it ANYWHERE). Incredible stuff all around and every individual involved in this deserves their flowers."
[9.0] "This is just tremendous, from Lance Russell's pitch perfect introduction that sets the stage for what is to follow, to the match itself. Russell makes this feel so authentic before it even gets started. His interactions with Terry Funk once he enters the venue are brilliant - everything in the pre-match feels so realistic and everybody treats this completely seriously. The match is a wonderful character piece for Terry Funk, who seems completely unhinged. It's incredible how he balances being a depraved madman with total cowardice - he talks a big game, but any time Lawler really brings the fight to him he backs off and starts looking for an unfair advantage. The finish is excellent - both karmic justice as well as a violent spectacle. I really need to sing Russell's praised here too, because he does such an expert job of grounding things. I love his call towards the end where he puts over the entire concept by saying this is 'exactly why there are officials that are assigned to matches, to try to keep some kind of order, rather than have the animal type of thing that you saw here today'. The only thing holding it back from a 10.0 for me is that it feels a bit strange to give full points to a match with so little actual wrestling - this is all very short, and there's more talking here than anything else. Regardless, this is a completely unique experience, and there are a lot of lessons that modern wrestling could take from this. Definitely a 'must see' match."
[9.0] "This was pretty much the OG of cinematic matches in my opinion. Jerry Lawler is cool, calm, & collected. Terry Funk is a deranged, unhinged, lunatic. Terry Funk's high pitch squeal way of screaming is very memorable on it's own, and I believe that AEW's Luther is directly imitating that squeal. If you listen to Luther's squeal, and then watch this particular match, it's sounds incredibly similar. Mick Foley also had moments where he too would imitate the same squeal. Terry's selling is legendary. No wonder he would end up becoming an actor in Hollywood. How could you not believe in Terry Funk being an actor?"
[10.0] "The first Empty Arena Match, while short in length Terry Funk completely carries with his performance against Lawler especially after the match with the selling of his eye being gouged with a spike"
[5.0] "I just cant say I understood this match. I dont understand why the ratings are so high for this match. It is definitely unique but I dont get it."
[9.0] "Bloody hell, this was a very gross match by the end. Lawler bloodies Funk? s eye up badly and Funk? s panicked squealing made the finish very uncomfortable and disturbing to watch. Funk desperately calling for the Doctor and Lance Russell (aw) was horrifying but the perfect finish to an incredible match. I never realised just how big the Mid-South Coliseum was until the lights go on and you see a sea of seats. And they made great use of the space, brawling in the crowd seats, using the empty chairs to their advantage. I loved the contrasted tempo of emotions from the two. Funk starts off the match with Lance Russel blowing his lid, itching to face Lawler who came out calm and focused. And the match was the same. The brawling was erratic and aggressive but Lawler was able to calm the storm and use that to win the match. Funk? s trash talking was awesome (yet another good use of the empty arena setting). ****1/2"
[9.0] "The Terry Funk Show. This is incredible. Why oh why did Funk have to put on one of the best performances of all time in this. I don't want to recommend Lawler matches to people but this RULED. I am trying not to hype up matches featuring scumbags unless they are absolute must-see matches for the sake of the other wrestler in the match, not for the scumbag. Sadly, this is one of them. It is one of the most captivating matches I have ever seen, and I fully mean that. There is just some almost ephemeral aura about it all. How the arena is dead quiet while the screams of one man fill up every chair."
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