At Funk’s funeral, Dreamer heard from Manny Fernandez, Ted DiBiase, Tully Blanchard, Bret Hart, and so many others that Funk either saw something in them or trained them. One piece of advice that Funk gave Dreamer was the same thing he relayed to other performers.

Dreamer said, “In the sense of how he helped me, he literally gave me non-stop advice of how to be true to yourself and your character will become exactly who you are in that sense.”

The current Impact Wrestling talent went on to explain how Funk changed the culture of how American wrestlers are perceived in Japan.

“If you think about Terry Funk — and I told him this — back in the day, the Americans were always the bad guy in Japan,” Dreamer recalled. “Why? Because we dropped a bomb on their country. The United States wrestlers were always the bad guys until Terry Funk. He changed the culture of people. I told him this, and he just didn’t really think about what he did. But you think about now all the Americans that are cheered there. Who’s the first that they were like, ‘Oh, wait, we actually love this person.’ Because he broke down barriers. That’s a cultural statement.”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Under The Ring” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.