Early career (1977–1984) Farris began his career in 1977 working in
Malden, Missouri and wrestled alongside his training partner
Koko B. Ware for
promoter Henry Rogers. in 1985 and 1986. He later teamed with
Cuban Assassin to win the International Tag Team Championship. On June 20, 1986, he defeated
Bad News Allen for the
Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship; the title was vacated when Honky left for
WWF in 1986. Honky made his televised debut on the August 30, 1986 episode of The Body Shop (the last Body Shop interview segment conducted by
Don Muraco), held on the final taping of
All-Star Wrestling. Taped several days later, he was introduced to fans at the
Mid-Hudson Civic Center by
Junkyard Dog in the final episode of
WWF Championship Wrestling, which also aired on August 30. The WWF's introduction of the new character continued apace on their new clutch of syndicated programs that debuted that fall. On September 6, 1986, on the first episode of
WWF Superstars, a promo aired from Honky where he declared that he would tap dance on the head of
Paul Orndorff. Similar promos aired on following episodes of Superstars that month, as well as the new
Wrestling Challenge syndicated program. Honky made his televised WWF debut on the September 28, 1986, episode of
Wrestling Challenge, defeating
Terry Gibbs. Honky's first major feud came against
Jake "The Snake" Roberts, who was in the midst of a fan favorite turn. The feud intensified when Honky attacked Roberts on his talk show set,
The Snake Pit. According to Roberts, Honky was supposed to hit him with a gimmicked
balsa wood guitar; he believes Farris accidentally grabbed a real, non-gimmicked guitar (made of fiberglass) and smashed it across Roberts' back,
legitimately injuring him. Yet Roberts continued to wrestle regularly following this angle bringing into question the alleged non-gimmicked guitar shot. Following WrestleMania his feud with Jake Roberts was temporarily sidelined, with the newly returned
Ken Patera substituting for the injured Roberts in multiple house show matches. For the first time since his WWF debut he was on the losing end of a feud, being pinned numerous times. On the May 18, 1987 episode of Prime Time Wrestling he suffered his first televised pinfall, losing again to Patera. On the June 8th episode of Prime Time he again loss by pinfall, this time to
Billy Jack Haynes. On May 30 he again lost to Patera on Prime Time.
Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion (1987–1988) On the June 13, 1987, episode of
Superstars, in Buffalo, New York, Honky defeated
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat for the
WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship; Honky reversed Steamboat's
inside cradle and grabbed onto the bottom ropes for extra leverage to get the
pinfall win. To preserve his title, which could only be taken by pinfall or
submission, Honky often got himself deliberately
counted out or
disqualified against challengers such as Steamboat,
Billy Jack Haynes,
Bruno Sammartino, and
George "The Animal" Steele. Also during this time, Honky began using a 50s-styled, themed entrance song performed by Farris (included on
Piledriver: The Wrestling Album II, the WWF's second album of
wrestling themes). By September 1987,
"Macho Man" Randy Savage was in the midst of a fan favorite turn and began challenging Honky for the title (after Honky had made comments about himself being "the greatest Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion of all time" and making disparaging comments about former champions, particularly Savage). Although they had several matches beforehand – they had also met in 1986, when the then-villain Savage was champion and challenged by the fan favorite Honky – the first Savage-Honky match to air on national television was on the October 3, 1987 ''
Saturday Night's Main Event XII'', which was taped on September 23 in
Hershey, Pennsylvania. During that match, Savage nearly defeated Honky until Honky's allies in Jimmy Hart's
stable,
The Hart Foundation (who had interfered throughout the match), ran into the ring and attacked Savage, getting Honky disqualified. Savage's manager,
Miss Elizabeth, attempted to stop the attack on Savage, but Honky shoved her down and she fled to the locker room; meanwhile, Honky completed his attempt to break his guitar over Savage's head. Shortly thereafter, Miss Elizabeth returned with Savage's former rival, Hulk Hogan, who aided Savage in running off the heels (leading to the formation of
The Mega Powers). Honky continued his bitter feud against Savage, as Honky would frequently make advances toward Miss Elizabeth – including one such incident at the 1987
Slammy Awards – to agitate his challenger. The last high-profile Savage-Honky match, aired as part of the undercard to Hulk Hogan vs.
Andre the Giant on the 1988
The Main Event I, saw Honky lose by countout after Savage rammed him into the ring post on the outside of the ring. and continued during the spring and summer of 1988 – Honky vowed not to let Beefcake cut his
ducktail hair, something Beefcake often said he would do in promos. In their matches, Honky was often seconded by a mysterious woman named Peggy Sue; while
WWF Women's Champion Sherri Martel played the role for television tapings, more often than not, "Peggy Sue" was Jimmy Hart dressed in drag. Beefcake countered with a "woman" of his own: "Georgina" (George "The Animal" Steele in drag). Honky and Beefcake were scheduled to square off at the
1988 SummerSlam in what was billed as Beefcake's last shot at the now renamed Intercontinental Championship. In a
storyline twist, Beefcake was thrust in a feud with
"Outlaw" Ron Bass after Bass committed a sneak attack on Beefcake; the incident was aired the weekend before SummerSlam. At the event, it was announced that a "mystery opponent" would face Honky for the title. When it came time for the match, Honky grabbed the microphone and proclaimed that he did not care who his opponent was.
The Ultimate Warrior then ran out and pinned his stunned opponent in just 31 seconds for the Intercontinental Championship, ending his reign at 454 days.
Rhythm and Blues and departure (1989–1991) tag team partner
Greg Valentine on 7 March 1989 at the El Paso Convention Center In 1989, Honky entered the
Royal Rumble, where he was eliminated by
Tito Santana and
Bushwhacker Butch. In late 1989 and 1990, he and
Greg Valentine, who was also managed by Jimmy Hart, aligned themselves as the tag team
Rhythm and Blues in which Valentine became a
Roy Orbison rip-off since Honky was an Elvis rip-off. and
The Legion of Doom, Rhythm & Blues were part of
Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Team along with his "mystery" partner, the debuting
Undertaker, against Rhodes' Dream Team of The Hart Foundation and Koko B. Ware at the 1990
Survivor Series, where they emerged victorious. Honky wrapped up his WWF career with a stint as a pro-villains color commentator alongside Vince McMahon and
Roddy Piper on
Superstars Independent circuit (1991–1994) After leaving the UWF, Honky went the
independent circuit. He wrestled his former partner Greg Valentine to a double disqualification for United Wrestling Alliance on February 19, 1991. He faced
USWA Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler at the
TWA Spring Spectacular 2 on May 18, 1991, losing via disqualification. Ferris next appeared for the TWA (
Tri-State Wrestling Alliance), where he faced Paul Orndorff. He lost to
Don Muraco at Century Toyota on June 28, 1992. Then he made a one night appearance on November 11, 1993, for
United States Wrestling Association as he lost to
Jeff Jarrett by disqualification.
World Championship Wrestling (1994) On August 5, 1994, Ferris resurfaced in the Big Two, joining
World Championship Wrestling and defeating
Terry Taylor on
WCW Worldwide. Promotional vignettes began airing for the former WWF star, and he next appeared on August 15, 1994, on
WCW Pro with a win over
Brad Armstrong. The
Clash of The Champions special on August 24, 1994, featured the debut of his new song "Honky Dog Baby". Honky Tonk Man remained undefeated in WCW, defeating Mike Winner and Sam Houston. He began appearing on WCW's renewed house show circuit in October, defeating
Brian Pillman in multiple encounters. On October 24, 1994, he appeared on his first WCW PPV, wrestling
WCW World Television Champion Johnny B. Badd on
Halloween Havoc in a match that went to a time limit draw. Honky Tonk suffered his first WCW defeat on October 28, 1994, losing to Johnny B Badd at a house show in Tampa, Florida. This presaged several further defeats to Badd on the house show circuit; in the meantime it was announced he would face the WCW World Television Champion in a rematch at
Starrcade. Honky Tonk remained undefeated on television, with his final match before the PPV coming on December 17 in a win over
Steve Collins on
WCW Worldwide. At Starrcade 94 he left the company due to a dispute with management. In his book
Controversy Creates Cash,
Eric Bischoff stated that his favorite firing was that of Honky. Honky has responded by saying that it was an honor, as Bischoff had fired a number of people while in WCW until he got himself fired.
Return to Independent Circuit (1995–1999) After an unsuccessful stint with WCW, Honky returned to the indies. In 1995 he wrestled for the
National Wrestling Conference having matches against former WWF stars
Virgil,
Ultimate Warrior, and
Jake Roberts. He worked with them until 1998. In 1996 he worked for
American Wrestling Federation where he feuded with
Koko B. Ware. In 1998 he worked for
Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) in British Columbia, Canada. On May 5, 1999, he wrestled
Michael Hayes in a losing effort for SSOW.
Return to the WWF (1996–1998, 2001) After a brief stint in the American Wrestling Federation, Honky resurfaced in the WWF on December 17, 1996, at a
Monday Night Raw taping in Tampa, Florida. In a show that aired on December 29, Honky Tonk told the fans that he could not sing for the fans and instead provided color commentary. This would expand to commentary work on
Raw Is War,
WWF Superstars, and
Shotgun Saturday Night, and then as the manager of
Billy Gunn, who had started a singles run.
Later independent career (2000–2019) Since 2000, Honky has worked
independent wrestling shows all over the world. Honky, along with Ryan Smith and a host of others, ran a series of controversial wrestling websites from 2000 to 2006. TheHonkyTonkMan.com featured frequent updates from Honky himself, a highly interactive message board community, extensive photo gallery, audio updates, and more. Notable online feuds began between The Honky Tonk Man and
Jerry Lawler, Roddy Piper, and others. These often intense online rivalries became a major drawing point for fans. The website unexpectedly closed without much explanation in December 2006. The site now forwards to various new ventures of former website manager Ryan Smith, who remains tight-lipped about the closing. Honky has wrestled for Southern Championship Wrestling in Castroville, Texas, and MSW in eastern Canada. On April 23, 2008, Honky was seen wrestling in Presque Isle, Maine for the North Atlantic American Wrestling Association promotion. He appeared on Heavy on Wrestling on June 14, 2008, in
Superior, Wisconsin. He wrestled as a fan favorite, defeating Big Brody Hoofer and hitting Cameron Steele with a guitar. He also appeared at PDX Wrestling (the new-age
Portland Wrestling, run by
Sandy Barr's son Josh) teaming with a local fan favorite against two villains. On April 26, 2008, Honky was inducted into the XWF Hall of Fame by its creator Jack Blaze at their 2008 XWF Superbrawl event. XWF was later renamed LPW (Legends Pro Wrestling) where Honky is still honored in their Hall of Fame. On June 28, 2008, in
Chicago Ridge, Illinois, he made a special guest appearance for
Ring of Honor with the storyline that "Sweet N' Sour"
Larry Sweeney had brought him on board with his Sweet N' Sour, Inc. faction. He praised the crowd and was about to sing and dance for them until Sweeney stepped in and told him he would not be doing either until their demands were met. On July 27, 2008, Honky almost had the index finger of his right hand severed during a public appearance in
Canada before an Ultimate Championship Wrestling show in
Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island. He was making an appearance at Boston Pizza in Charlottetown several hours before the show when someone wanted to take a photo with him with both men clashing guitars. When the guitars collided, the neck of Honky's guitar turned and sliced into Honky's finger, almost severing it. Honky was immediately taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where doctors stitched the finger and bandaged it. Honky made his appearance at the Ultimate Championship Wrestling show several hours later. He was unable to wrestle his scheduled match due to the injury and was replaced by Trash Canyon, whom he managed from ringside. Honky, although injured and in obvious pain, sang his theme song twice in the ring. In August 2008, Honky appeared at Wrestling Supershows across Canada. Honky also made appearances in SWCW in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On October 24, 2008, he wrestled for Big Time Wrestling (his first match in four months), beating L'Empereur. On January 7, 2009, he appeared in a World Pro Wrestling event in
Colusa, California, teaming with Doink The Clown (a new masked version) to face WPW World Tag Team Champions The First Class Express, Jerry Grey and Mighty Henrich. The match ended in a
no contest as Doink turned on Honky and the three triple-teamed him. On May 7, 2009, Honky and Bushwacker Luke defeated "Kowboy" Mike Hughes and "Wildman" Gary Williams for the UCW Tag Team Championship. On January 31, 2011, Honky made his Dynamic Wrestling Alliance debut defeating Col. Jonathan James at the "Golden Opportunity II" event in Middletown, Ohio. On June 5, 2016, Honky wrestled in
Impact Pro Wrestling in
New Zealand, at the
Armageddon Expo in
Wellington. He teamed up with Brook Duncan and Britenay to defeat the team of the
IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Champion Curt Chaos, Taylor Adams and Mr. Burns. Honky made a
cameo appearance in the first episode of season 3 of
Lucha Underground, appearing as a prison warden returning Dario Cueto's things upon his release.
Third return to WWE (2008–2019) Final matches (2008–2009) In 2008,
Santino Marella announced his intention to break Honky's record for longest Intercontinental Championship reign, usually displaying a special "Honk-a-meter" comparing Honky's 64-week record with the length of his own reign at the time. he did appear, winning the match by disqualification (thus failing to win the title). After the match had ended, Goldust and Piper came down to the ring and, along with Honky, attacked Marella. On the October 27 episode of
Raw, Honky appeared as a special guest commentator. After an impersonation of Marella's on-screen girlfriend,
Beth Phoenix,
Charlie Haas was knocked into the announcer table, and Marella attacked Honky, prompting Piper and Goldust to block Marella's escape from the ring. Upon Goldust's entry to the ring, Marella turned around to be smashed over the head by Honky's guitar. Honky inducted Koko B. Ware into the
WWE Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009.
Sporadic appearances (2010–2013) In 2010, WWE offered him a place in the WWE Hall of Fame, but he rejected it. == Professional wrestling persona ==