Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling

Pro wrestling's beloved "desperado" still hasn't finished his ride into the sunset.

Two years since his last high-profile appearance, Terry Funk is once again stepping inside the ring. He will be the guest referee for the Sabu-Homeless Jimmy vs. Raven-Johnny Webb match that headlines an Xtreme Pro Wrestling reunion show Saturday in Redondo Beach, Calif.

"I'm getting too old for it," Funk said in a telephone interview. "I really feel that way. I told everyone for years that I was middle-aged and crazy. Now, I'm old and sinister."

But not too old.

Funk, 63, is expected to get physically involved in the XPW main event even though one of his knees was replaced and the other needs the same procedure. Funk headlined two major shows for the now-defunct hard-core promotion earlier this decade.

Funk's legacy as a former world champion, Japanese superstar and hard-core icon already is cemented after 43 years in the profession. Some of those moments are captured in releases being sold through the funkudvd.com Web site.

Funk isn't making this XPW appearance for money or glory. Rather, he is genuinely looking forward to spending time with returning XPW alumni like Sabu, Raven and The Sandman. Funk considers all three performers as being of the same ilk -- colorful, violence-tinged renegades with independent streaks and/or lifestyle choices that sometimes didn't jive with major promotions.

"We were guys who would give 100 percent toward having a very physical match," Funk said. "We were trying to go beyond the limit ..."

Funk spent the past two decades working predominantly for the original Extreme Championship Wrestling and independent groups like XPW and in Japan. Funk only grappled sporadically for larger companies like World Wrestling Entertainment, which purchased ECW and World Championship Wrestling in 2001. Funk worked on a WWE/ECW pay-per-view show in June 2006 and never returned.

"I stepped away from those organizations and it wasn't hard to stay away," Funk said. "I loved the money, but they weren't my greatest love.

"I can't really say I'll ever be happy away from wrestling. But I desire to have a different place in this business at this time. It's more important that I'm with my family."

Now a grandfather, Funk teased retirement so many times since the early 1980s that even he admits it has become a running joke. One of his legendary rivals -- Ric Flair -- recently did step away after a 36-year career.

WWE's classy handling of the Flair retirement has drawn universal praise. But as the son of a wrestling promoter (the late Dory Funk), Terry Funk has a different view for why Flair was given such a ballyhooed sendoff.

"Vince McMahon knew there was money there for his company," Funk said of the WWE owner. "That is the same thing with the (WWE) Hall of Fame and who gets in. McMahon does an exceptionally good job of cashing in on the product he's created and utilizing people to the fullest extent he can."

While he isn't a McMahon fan, Funk would welcome a WWE Hall of Fame induction for him and a wrestling family that also includes his legendary brother, Dory Funk Jr. Because the Funks began their careers as regional stars in Texas, that distinction could be bestowed next year when the ceremony is held in Houston.

"If they put me in, I'd consider it an honor," said Funk, whose on-again, off-again WWE stints began in the mid-1980s. "If they didn't, I sure wouldn't lose a minute of sleep over it."

Funk isn't sleeping much anyway. Having sold his storied Double Cross Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, Funk and his family have moved into a smaller home nearby that he has spent 18 months renovating.

"Physically, I usually feel about 105," a laughing Funk said. "I used to work out to get in shape. Now, whenever I want to feel young, I just dye my hair."

For more information on XPW's reunion show and DVD products, visit www.thexpw.com.

(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro wrestling column for Scripps-Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marv(at)aol.com.)