Professional wrestling career The Honky Tonk Man

1 professional wrestling career

1.1 years (1977–1986)
1.2 world wrestling federation (1986–1991)

1.2.1 run (1986–1987)
1.2.2 intercontinental heavyweight champion (1987–1988)
1.2.3 rhythm , blues , departure (1989–1991)


1.3 world championship wrestling (1994)
1.4 return wwf (1997–2001)
1.5 second return world wrestling entertainment (2008–2013)

1.5.1 final matches (2008–2009)
1.5.2 sporadic appearances (2010–2013)


1.6 independent circuit (2000–present)

professional wrestling career
early years (1977–1986)

farris began career in 1977 working in malden, missouri , wrestled alongside training partner koko b. ware promoter henry rogers. farris moved on memphis wrestling in 1978. wrestled in birmingham, dothan, mobile, , pensacola dynamite wayne farris. starting out undercard wrestler, later achieved greater success when teamed larry latham form blond bombers when put gerry brisco in florida championship wrestling. bombers later put sgt. danny davis manager when came memphis. blond bombers involved in heated feuds several fan favorite across 2 competing tennessee promotions, appearing in both nick gulas nashville based territory, , jerry jarrett s memphis area. signature moment famous tupelo concession stand brawl against jerry lawler , bill dundee. had stints in american wrestling association, jim crockett promotions, world wrestling council, southeastern championship wrestling, southwest championship wrestling, national wrestling alliance , stampede wrestling through 1980s, winning multiple singles , tag team championships in each.

world wrestling federation (1986–1991)
early run (1986–1987)

farris entered world wrestling federation (wwf) in 1986 under ring name honky tonk man. honky made televised wwf debut on september 28, 1986 episode of wrestling challenge, defeating terry gibbs pushed fan favorite wrestler elvis impersonator gimmick, honky cut series of promos jesse body ventura aired on wwf s syndicated programming asking fans vote of confidence , while these promos insulted fans in manner of andy kaufman before him. results predictably came negative, , not long before honky turned cocky villain , took on mouth of south jimmy hart manager. hart billed colonel jimmy hart honky s matches, reference elvis manager, col. tom parker. honky s first major feud came against jake snake roberts, in midst of fan favorite turn. feud intensified when honky attacked roberts on talk show set, snake pit. according roberts, honky supposed hit him gimmicked balsa wood guitar. roberts believes farris accidentally grabbed real, non-gimmicked guitar , smashed across roberts back, legitimate injuring him, , starting him on dependence of prescription pain medication (in interview, roberts claimed picking pieces of guitar out of weeks after hit). however, in interview world wrestling insanity, honky tonk man disputed roberts assertion saying, s not true and, in fact attribute of mick foley, wrote in book, , jake, lied , although television footage of incident showed guitar did not break gimmicked 1 have , took several more hits roberts guitar break apart. during feud, culminated @ wrestlemania iii, honky grabbed ring ropes score tainted win; afterward, roberts cleared ring of honky before , alice cooper attacked hart damien, roberts python.

intercontinental heavyweight champion (1987–1988)

on june 13, 1987 episode of superstars, honky defeated ricky dragon steamboat wwf intercontinental heavyweight championship; honky reversed steamboat s inside cradle , grabbed onto bottom ropes leverage pinfall win. honky meant transitional champion hold on title short period of time. yet since roberts still suffering intermittent effects of guitar shot several months earlier, honky became booked remain champion record-setting run. in later interview, honky remarked hulk hogan, whom had friendly, collaborative relationship outside of scripted in-ring rivalry, had helped give honky chance @ title after coincidental meeting between hogan, honky, , vince mcmahon took place. hogan stuck honky, though mcmahon had had else in mind. preserve title, taken pinfall or submission, honky got himself deliberately counted out or disqualified against challengers such steamboat, billy jack haynes, bruno sammartino, , george animal steele. during time, honky began using 50s-styled, themed entrance song performed farris (included on piledriver - wrestling album 2, wwf s second album of wrestling themes). september 1987, macho man randy savage in midst of fan favorite turn , began challenging honky title (after honky had made comments himself being greatest intercontinental heavyweight champion of time , disparaging comments former champions, particularly savage). although had several matches beforehand – had met in 1986, when then-villain savage champion , challenged fan favorite honky – first savage-honky match air on national television on october 3, 1987 episode of saturday night s main event, taped on september 23 in hershey, pennsylvania. during match, savage defeated honky until honky s allies in jimmy hart s stable, hart foundation (who had interfered throughout match), ran ring , attacked savage, getting honky disqualified. savage s manager, miss elizabeth, attempted stop attack on savage, honky shoved down , fled locker room; meanwhile, honky completed attempt break guitar on savage s head. shortly thereafter, elizabeth returned savage s former rival, hulk hogan, aided savage in running off heels (leading formation of mega powers). honky tonk man continued bitter feud against savage, honky make advances toward elizabeth – including 1 such incident @ 1987 slammy awards – agitate challenger. last high-profile savage-honky match, aired part of undercard hulk hogan vs. andre giant on 1988 main event, saw honky lose countout after savage rammed him ring post on outside of ring. feud blown off in weeks before wrestlemania iv through series of tag team-style steel cage matches, involving various allies of both honky , savage on respective sides , savage emerging victorious.

honky retained title in matches savage , brutus barber beefcake, honky s next major rival. during beefcake-honky tonk feud – began @ wrestlemania iv (where jimmy hart got him disqualified knocking out referee megaphone while beefcake had honky in sleeper hold, , saw honky retain title, hart got haircut beefcake himself) , continued during spring , summer of 1988 – honky vowed not let beefcake cut ducktail hair, beefcake said in promos. in matches, honky seconded mysterious woman named peggy sue; while wwf women s champion sherri martel played role television tapings, more not, peggy sue jimmy hart dressed in drag. beefcake countered woman of own: georgina (george animal steele in drag). honky , beefcake scheduled square off @ 1988 summerslam in billed beefcake s last shot @ renamed intercontinental championship. however, in storyline twist, beefcake thrust in feud outlaw ron bass after bass committed sneak attack on beefcake; incident aired weekend before summerslam. @ event, announced mystery opponent face honky title. when came time match, honky grabbed microphone , proclaimed did not care opponent was. ultimate warrior ran out , pinned stunned opponent in 31 seconds intercontinental championship, ending reign @ 454 days. honky had been champion 1 year, 2 months , 27 days – longest intercontinental championship reign in history. honky s bids reclaim title unsuccessful , began moving down card.

rhythm , blues , departure (1989–1991)


honky tonk man (right) rhythm , blues tag team partner greg valentine

in 1989, honky began feud against american dream dusty rhodes, lost. in late 1989 , 1990, , greg valentine, managed jimmy hart, aligned tag team rhythm , blues. after competing against such teams hart foundation , legion of doom, rhythm & blues part of ted dibiase s million dollar team along mystery partner, debuting undertaker, against rhodes dream team of hart foundation , koko b. ware @ 1990 survivor series. honky wrapped wwf career stint pro-villains color commentator alongside vince mcmahon , roddy piper on superstars before leaving in january 1991.

world championship wrestling (1994)

in summer winter 1994, honky wrestling world championship wrestling , challenged johnny b. badd wcw world television championship, until left due dispute management. in book controversy creates cash, eric bischoff stated favorite firing of honky tonk man. honky has responded saying honor, bischoff had fired number of people while in wcw until got himself fired.

return wwf (1997–2001)

after brief stint in american wrestling federation, honky resurfaced in wwf in 1997 color commentator on raw war , manager of billy gunn, had started singles run. under honky s tutelage, gunn became known rockabilly , short-lived , unsuccessful gimmick. honky made appearance in 1998 royal rumble event. honky tonk man returned wwf one-time appearance @ 2001 royal rumble, eliminated kane after being hit on head guitar.

second return world wrestling entertainment (2008–2013)
final matches (2008–2009)

in 2008, santino marella announced intention break honky tonk man s record longest intercontinental championship reign, displaying special honk-a-meter comparing honky tonk man s 64-week record length of own reign @ time. on october 6 episode of raw, honky tonk man, along goldust , roddy piper, named 1 of possible opponents marella s intercontinental championship @ cyber sunday. voted in 35% of vote; despite concern injured finger might require surgery, did appear, winning match disqualification (thus failing win title). first time wrestled fan favorite in wwe (former wwf) since first joined in 1986. after match had ended, goldust , piper came down ring and, along honky, attacked marella. afterward, 3 legends celebrated in ring , shared laugh, brought on honky tonk man s celebratory dance, came abrupt halt due slipping on goldust s wig. on october 27 episode of raw, honky tonk man appeared special guest commentator. after impersonation of marella s on-screen girlfriend, beth phoenix, charlie haas knocked announcer table, , marella attacked honky, prompting piper , goldust block marella s escape ring. upon goldust s entry ring, marella turned around smashed on head honky s guitar. honky tonk man inducted koko b. ware wwe hall of fame on april 4, 2009.

sporadic appearances (2010–2013)

in 2010, wwe offered him place in wwe hall of fame, rejected it. honky tonk man made brief appearance on old school raw on march 4, 2013. following match between team of brodus clay , tensai , 3mb, smashed 3mb member heath slater on head guitar. danced clay , tensai signature cool, cocky, bad theme song.

independent circuit (2000–present)

the honky tonk man deven michaels

since 2000, honky tonk man has worked independent wrestling shows on world. honky tonk man, along ryan smith , host of others, ran series of controversial wrestling websites 2000–2006. thehonkytonkman.com featured frequent updates honky tonk man himself, highly interactive message board community, extensive photo gallery, audio updates, , more. notable online feuds began between honky tonk man , jerry king lawler, rowdy roddy piper, , others. these intense online rivalries became major drawing point fans. website unexpectedly closed without explanation in december 2006. site forwards various new ventures of former website manager ryan smith, remains tight-lipped closing.

the honky tonk man has wrestled southern championship wrestling in castroville, texas, , msw in eastern canada. on april 23, 2008, honky tonk man seen wrestling in presque isle, maine north atlantic american wrestling association promotion. appeared on heavy on wrestling on june 14, 2008, in superior, wisconsin. wrestled fan favorite, defeating big brody hoofer , hitting cameron steele guitar. appeared @ pdx wrestling (the new-age portland wrestling, run sandy barr s son josh) teaming local fan favorite against 2 villains.

on april 26, 2008, honky inducted xwf hall of fame creator jack blaze @ 2008 xwf superbrawl event. xwf later renamed lpw (legends pro wrestling) honky still honored in hall of fame class 2008. on june 28, 2008 in chicago ridge, illinois, made special guest appearance ring of honor storyline sweet n sour larry sweeney had brought him on board sweet n sour inc. faction. praised crowd , sing , dance them until sweeney stepped in , told him not doing either until demands met.

on july 27, 2008, honky tonk man had index finger of right hand severed during public appearance in canada before ultimate championship wrestling show in charlottetown, prince edward island. making appearance @ boston pizza in charlottetown several hours before show when wanted take photo him both men clashing guitars. when guitars collided, neck of honky tonk man s guitar turned , sliced honky tonk man s finger, severing it. honky taken queen elizabeth hospital doctors stitched finger , bandaged it. honky made appearance @ ultimate championship wrestling show several hours later. unable wrestle scheduled match due injury , replaced trash canyon, whom managed ringside. honky tonk man, although injured , in obvious pain, sang theme song twice in ring.

in august 2008, honky tonk man appeared @ wrestling supershows across canada. honky tonk man made appearances in swcw in oklahoma city, oklahoma. on october 24, 2008, wrestled big time wrestling (his first match in 4 months), beating l empereur. on january 7, 2009, appeared in world pro wrestling event in colusa, california, teaming doink clown (a new masked version) face wpw world tag team champions first class express, jerry grey , mighty henrich. match ended in no contest doink turned on honky , 3 triple-teamed him. on may 7, 2009, honky tonk man , bushwacker luke defeated kowboy mike hughes , wildman gary williams ucw tag team championship. on january 31, 2011, honky tonk man made dynamic wrestling alliance debut defeating col. jonathan james @ golden opportunity ii event in middletown, ohio.

on june 5, 2016, honky tonk man wrestled in impact pro wrestling in new zealand, @ armageddon expo in wellington. teamed brook duncan , britenay defeat team of ipw new zealand heavyweight champion curt chaos, taylor adams , mr burns.