We haven’t done a “Mic Battle” in years! Let’s look at two rivals from 1980s Memphis in Jerry “The King” Lawler and Terry Funk. Who would win in an all-time face-to-face mic battle.
Jerry Lawler
The King came from a period of wrestling when face-to-face in-ring mic confrontations were extremely rare but made it into an era where there’s at least one per show. Usually, when wrestlers came face-to-face it was at the announce desk when someone barged in on an interview.
This was pretty normal in southern wrestling as the babyface couldn’t get anything out without the regional loudmouth having their say about something on someone else’s time. As a face or heel, Jerry Lawler exceeded in this role.
However, Lawler also had a tendency of running down his opponent even as a babyface. I mean, he would roast them to the point that he couldn’t lose to them. He had to win or else he lost to a joke that apparently wasn’t on his level.
Of course, this was Lawler being consistent. Just because he turned over a new leaf or is beefing with a heel didn’t mean he wasn’t going to roast his upcoming opponent.
When he reached WWE, that worked in his favor and made him one of the beloved in-ring special attractions and commentary members in the company’s history.
I’d say his strengths on the mic and as a personality were his comedic chops and the way he’d talk as if he was big sh*t in this town and he knew it. A turn in his approach came with the ECW vs. USWA/WWF War where he that fire from his peak heel days in Memphis returned.
Lawler was aggressive, disrespectful as hell, and everything that would’ve made for an entertaining ECW star.
Terry Funk
The Funker is another legend with some chops on the mic. I’d liken him to mixing Knoxville legend Ron Wright, the Dirty White Boy, and Jake Roberts into one promo-flexible wrestler. The man could come in as a crazy babyface, a sympathetic babyface, or a raving madman that someone needs to call the cops on.
Now, I love short, punchy, raucous promos. A tight five at most but honestly, only the important stuff needs time. There’s nothing wrong with character building if it’s done during the right part of the show but it can’t be a promo that causes a lull in the action. The speak for 15 to 20 minute promos then simply dropping the mic tends not to do it for me.
Funk would get in and get out while saying what needed to be said in under five. Sure, he could go on the mic longer and if he was a heel, it would an interesting and eventful ten minutes. However, he typically didn’t need that long. He was often given that long but it was never necessary.
A weakness of Funk is that while he is good as a babyface, he’s way better as a heel and his promos tend to be better. Funk needs to rave and run down an opponent.
Verdict: Jerry Lawler
While I’m a bigger Terry Funk fan, Lawler is able to keep the same energy whether he is a face or heel. Funk’s energy comes from being a chaotic heel despite being able to freshen it up better than Lawler on the mic.
That isn’t to say that Lawler could be stale on the mic but Lawler’s power comes from roasting opponents which is always entertaining.
A heel Funk against a face Lawler would be a close win for Funk but a face Funk going up against a heel Lawler on the mic is a smooth win for the King of Memphis.
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