The Honky Tonk Man

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Roy Wayne Farris

Statistics
Ring name(s)	Danny Condrey Wayne Farris Honky Tonk Wayne The Honky Tonk Man
Billed height	6 ft 1 in
Billed weight	271 lb
Born	January 25, 1953 Tennessee
Billed from	Memphis, Tennessee
Trained by	Herb Welch
Debut	1977

Roy Wayne Farris (born January 25, 1953 in Tennessee) 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). In an Internet poll, patrons of WWE.com named him "the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time."

1 Career
2 Trivia
3 In wrestling
4 Championships and accomplishments
5 References
6 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 WWF with promo endorsements from Hulk Hogan. The fans rejected Honky Tonk Man as a face, however. After conducting a poll in which an overwhelming majority of fans refused to give him a "Vote Of Confidence", 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. Oddly this feud turned Farris heel and Roberts face. It began in "The Snake Pit" on Wrestling Challenge, where Honky struck Jake with his guitar after Jake said some bad things about Honky's singing talent. 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 (454 days); many years later, this claim would be 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 30 second 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.^{[citation needed]}

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

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. His legendary status had him featured in The 50 Greatest WWE Superstars Of All Time, a WWE magazine released in December 2003. The article insists his future induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

[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. Hulk Hogan suggested Honky, who was one of the few notable heels in the organization at the time, and he got the nod and took the title.
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, though the two have a somewhat acrimonious relationship.
Originally introduced to fans as a face, the fans quickly turned against Honky, and WWE 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 most famous of all, which begins with the lyrics: "I've got long side burns and my hair's slicked back" (which is called "Cool, Cocky & Bad"), 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."
According to pro wrestling legend, Honky was directly responsible for several changes in the WWF's long term title plans in 1988. Randy Savage was originally scheduled to go over Honky for the Intercontinental Title; Honky threatened to jump to Jim Crockett Promotions if this occurred. Although the WWF acquiesced, Savage threatened to shoot on Honky. To placate him, he was booked to win the WWF title tournament at Wrestlemania IV instead of Ted DiBiase. DiBiase and Honky have allegedly had animosity towards each other since then.

[edit] 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

Wrestlers managed

Rockabilly

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

All Pro Wrestling

1-Time APW Universal Heavyweight Championship

Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation

1-Time MEWF Heavyweight Championship

Mid-Southern Wrestling

4-Time Mid-Southern Tag Team Championship – 3 with Larry Latham 1 with Tojo Yamamoto

National Wrestling Alliance

3-Time NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship – with Larry Latham
1-Time NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship
1-Time NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship – with Ron Starr
1-Time NWA Southeast Heavyweight Championship

Northern States Wrestling Alliance

1-time NSWA Tag Team Champion – with Greg Valentine

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

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

Stampede Wrestling

3-Time Stampede International Tag Team Championship – 2 with Ron Starr, 1 with The Cuban Assassin
1-Time Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship