The Honky Tonk Man

From Free net encyclopedia

Roy Wayne Farris (born January 25, 1953 in Arizona) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name The Honky Tonk Man. Currently working on the independent circuit, he has previously worked for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation. In an internet poll, patrons of WWE.com named him "the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time."

1 Career
2 Trivia
3 Additional statistics
4 Championships and accomplishments
5 External links

[edit]

Career

Farris won several regional tag team titles as one half of the "Blond Bombers" with Larry Latham, who went on to become Moondog Spot.

The Honky Tonk Man debuted as a face in the World Wrestling Federation with promo endorsements from Hulk Hogan. The fans rejected Honky Tonk Man as a face, however, so the WWF turned him heel.

As a heel, he was managed by "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart, dubbed "The Colonel" in a reference to Elvis Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker.

The Honky Tonk Man's first feud in the WWF was with Jake Roberts in early 1987. It began in "The Snake Pit" on Wrestling Challenge, where Honky struck Jake with the guitar after Jake said some bad things about Honky's singing talents. The feud reached its height at WrestleMania III, where Honky used the ropes to pin Roberts.

The Honky Tonk Man won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Ricky Steamboat in 1987. He would then go on to self-proclaim himself the "greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time" due to his record fifteen month title reign (478 Days); this claim was supported by a poll of fans conducted by the WWF.

One of his major feuds as champion was with Randy Savage. Honky disrespected Savage, who was trying to congratulate him for his win over his most hated enemy Steamboat. In the later weeks, Honky began to use his biggest catchphrase "the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time" and put down all who proceeded him, including Savage, who was coming off an impressive year-plus long reign of his own. The feud's peak came during a prime time special on NBC, when Honky shoved Miss Elizabeth down to the ground and smashed a guitar over Savage's head. Their feud would never reach a conclusion.

At WrestleMania IV, Honky Tonk Man defended his title against Brutus Beefcake. Honky was disqualified for knocking out the official of the match.

In correlation with an angle where Beefcake was "injured" by Ron Bass just prior to a rematch at Summerslam 1988, Honky lost the Intercontinental Championship at Summerslam to the Ultimate Warrior in a squash match when he made an open challenge to anyone in the backstage area to wrestle him. The WWF was grooming Warrior for an eventual main event push and felt that having him easily defeat the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion would give him massive credibility.

After losing the Intercontinental belt, Honky formed a short-lived tag team called Rhythm & Blues with Greg Valentine. The two performed at WrestleMania VI.

In 1994, he wrestled in World Championship Wrestling and was challenging Johnny B. Badd for the WCW World Television Championship when he left in a dispute with management.

Honky later resurfaced in the WWF as a manager for Billy Gunn, who had begun a singles run. Under Honky's tutelage, Gunn became known as "Rockabilly," which was a short-lived and unsuccessful gimmick. Honky made an appearance in the 2001 Royal Rumble where he entered the Rumble, but got nailed with his own guitar by Kane and was then quickly eliminated in a very memorable comical spot.

As of October 2005, the Honky Tonk Man is still wrestling for independent promotions around the world.

[edit]

Trivia

Honky was never actually scheduled to win the Intercontinental Title. Butch Reed, who was feuding with Steamboat at the time, no-showed a house event where he was supposed to win the title. But since Steamboat was already on his way out of the WWF at the time, the company had to have him drop the belt to someone. Honky, who was one of the few notable heels in the organization at the time, got the nod and took the title.

At Wrestlemania VI, Honky and Greg Valentine were driven to the ring for their "Rhythm and Blues" performance in a pink Cadillac. The driver was a then-unknown Diamond Dallas Page.

Farris is the cousin of professional wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler, though the two have a somewhat acrimonious relationship.

[edit]