Roy Wayne Farris (born January 25, 1953) 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 World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

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. In mid-1986 Farris also won the North American Heavyweight Title from Bad News Allen in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling as Honky Tonk Wayne.

The Honky Tonk Man debuted as a face in the WWF in late 1986. The fans rejected Honky Tonk Man as a face, however. The WWF turned him heel.

As a heel, he was managed by 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 his guitar after Jake made disparaging remarks about Honky's name and singing talent. (Both wrestlers tell differing stories about whether Jake was actually injured. Jake states in his DVD, that the Honky Tonk Man actually injured him, causing him to develop a painkiller addiction. Mick Foley also says this in his original autobiography. The Honky Tonk Man claims this is a lie and that Mick Foley actually apologized for not calling him earlier to verify the truthfulness of this before having it published.) The feud reached its height at WrestleMania III, in a match where Jake was accompanied to the ring by Alice Cooper (to counter the presence of Jimmy Hart). Honky Tonk Man won the match when he pinned Jake while holding the ring ropes (one of many ways heel wrestlers cheat).

The Honky Tonk Man (believed by some to have been a substitute for Butch Reed) won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Ricky Steamboat at the June 2, 1987, "Superstars of Wrestling" tapings in Buffalo, New York. He would go on to proclaim himself the "greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time" due to his record 15-month title reign (454 days).

One of his major feuds as champion was with Randy Savage. Honky disrespected Savage, who was trying to congratulate him for his win over Savage's most hated enemy, Steamboat. In the weeks that followed, Honky began to use his biggest catchphrase, "the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time," and put down all who preceded him, including Savage, who was coming off an impressive year-plus long reign of his own. The feud exploded during an October episode of "Saturday Night's Main Event" on NBC when Honky shoved Miss Elizabeth to the ground and smashed a guitar over Savage's head. The two captained opposing teams at the inaugural Survivor Series pay-per-view on Thanksgiving Day 1987, with Savage, Steamboat, and Roberts lasting as the "survivors" when Honky Tonk Man (the last remaining member of his team) deliberately took a countout. Honky and Savage met again on the Feb. 5, 1988, "Main Event" special live in prime time on NBC, with Savage winning by countout.

At WrestleMania IV, Honky Tonk Man defended his title against Brutus Beefcake. Honky was disqualified after Jimmy Hart knocked out the referee when it appeared Honky was about to lose to Beefcake's sleeper hold.

In correlation with an angle in which Beefcake was "injured" by Ron Bass just before a rematch at SummerSlam 1988, Honky lost the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam to the Ultimate Warrior in a 30-second squash match. At the event, Honky made an open challenge to anyone in the backstage area to wrestle him.

After losing the Intercontinental belt, Honky feuded briefly with Warrior, then teamed with Greg Valentine in a brief feud with the Hart Foundation in early 1989. He spent much of 1989 feuding with the returning "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka before reuniting with Valentine (with his normally blond hair dyed black) as Rhythm & Blues. They sang at WrestleMania VI but were interrupted by the Bushwhackers, with whom they feuded through the summer. Rhythm & Blues also repeatedly challenged the Hart Foundation for the tag team titles. Shortly after Survivor Series 1990, Honky briefly did color commentary while continuing to team with Valentine. He left the WWF shortly into 1991.

In 1994, the Honky Tonk Man was working for World Championship Wrestling and was challenging Johnny B. Badd for the WCW World Television Championship when he left due to a dispute with management.

After a brief stint in the American Wrestling Federation, 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 quickly eliminated.

Today, the Honky Tonk Man still works for various independent promotions around the world. Such as MainStream wrestling. He was featured in The 50 Greatest WWE Superstars Of All Time, a WWE magazine released in December 2003. The article calls for his future induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Trivia

• At WrestleMania VI, Honky Tonk and Greg Valentine were driven to the ring for their "Rhythm and Blues" performance in a pink Cadillac. The driver (and owner) of the car was a then-unknown Diamond Dallas Page.

• Farris is the cousin of professional wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler.

• Originally introduced to fans as a face, the fans quickly turned against Honky, and WWF management gave fans the opportunity to write in and vote for whether or not he should be a heel. Dubbed "A Vote of Confidence: Yay or Nay", this system was one of the few times fans were openly allowed to influence a booking decision.

• Honky has had four theme songs throughout his career; first, a song even unbeknownst to Wayne himself used through most of 1987 called "That's All Right, Honky Tonk Mama"; then, his self-titled theme, which begins with the lyrics: "I've got long side burns and my hair's slicked back", the tune he and Greg Valentine performed at WrestleMania VI entitled, "Hunka Hunka Hunka Honky Love;" and, finally, the theme used during his short-lived WCW run, "You're just a Honky Dog Baby."

• Throughout his career, Honky would carry an acoustic guitar to the ring, and often used it to attack other wrestlers (i.e. the guitar shot, now widely imitated in hardcore matches).

• Is a Minister with the Universal Life Church^[1].

• In his book Controversy Creates Cash,Eric Bischoff states that his favourite firing was the Honky Tonk Man. Honky Tonk has responded by saying that it was an honour as Bischoff had fired a number of people while in WCW.^[2]

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves

• Shake, Rattle and Roll (Swinging Neckbreaker with a hip-swiveling dance in the middle)
• Guitar shot

• Managers

• Danny Davis
• Jimmy Hart
• Judd the Studd
• Peggy Sue
• Judge Lawless

• Wrestlers managed

• Rockabilly

Championships and accomplishments

• All Pro Wrestling

• APW Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• American Wrestling Association

• AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Larry Latham (3) and Tojo Yamamoto (1)

• Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation

• MEWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• National Wrestling Alliance
• Regional

• NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Larry Latham
• NWA Southeast Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ron Starr
• NWA Southeast United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Northern States Wrestling Alliance

• NSWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Greg Valentine

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him # 263 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

• Stampede Wrestling

• Stampede International Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Ron Starr (2) and The Cuban Assassain (1)
• Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• World Wrestling Council

• WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• World Wrestling Federation

• WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)

References

• APW and MEWF title histories at the Wrestling Information Archive
• NWA Mid-America and Mid-Southern, Stampede, WWC and WWF title histories at Wrestling-Titles.com

External links

• Honky Tonk Man interview on WWE.com
• You Tube web site
• [3]
• [4]