Terry Funk, the Hall of Fame professional wrestler whose hardcore fighting style in the ring inspired decades of bloody brawls and entertaining matches, has died. His death was confirmed on Wednesday by World Wrestling Entertainment, the company for which Mr. Funk’s career exploded. No cause of death was given, and relatives could not be immediately reached for comment on Wednesday evening. Mr. Funk’s wrestling career, which began in the mid-1960s and lasted four decades, took him around the country and world, from playing in front of sold-out crowds for W.W.E. That extreme quality to his matches made Mr. Funk among the most celebrated wrestlers of his generation in a sport built on performer-athletes playing exaggerated or downright invented versions of themselves.

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Persons: Terry Funk, Funk Organizations: of Fame, World Wrestling Entertainment, Japan