He is best known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1986 to 1991, where he performed under the ring name The Honky Tonk Man.

Farris began his career in 1977 working in Malden, Missouri and wrestled alongside his training partner Koko B. Ware for promoter Henry Rogers.

He achieved greater success when he teamed with Larry Latham to form The Blond Bombers when they were put together by Jerry Brisco in Florida Championship Wrestling.

[5] The Blond Bombers were involved in heated feuds with several fan favorite teams across the two competing Tennessee promotions, appearing in both Nick Gulas's Nashville based territory, and Jerry Jarrett's Memphis area.

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.

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.

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.

[5] Originally pushed as a fan favorite wrestler with an Elvis impersonator gimmick,[1] he was endorsed via an inset promo by none other than WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan himself.

He made his debut on the house show circuit on October 8, 1986, defeating WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage via disqualification in a match in Warren, OH.

[9] In an interview for World Wrestling Insanity, Honky disputed Roberts' assertion saying, "That's not true and, in fact I attribute most of that to Mick Foley, who wrote about it in his book, and Jake, who lied about it".

[12] 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.

[1] At WrestleMania VI, they notably rode in a pink Cadillac,[17] with future WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page as the driver.

[19] Honky wrapped up his WWF career with a stint as a pro-villains color commentator alongside Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper on Superstars[4] before leaving in January 1991.

Appearing as The Honkytonk Man, Ferris did an in-ring segment with Captain Lou Albano where he was prevented from singing for the fans in attendance.

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.

He began appearing on WCW's renewed house show circuit in October, defeating Brian Pillman in multiple encounters.

Honky Tonk suffered his first WCW defeat on October 28, 1994, losing to Johnny B Badd at a house show in Tampa, FL.

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 continued to remained undefeated on television, with his final match before the PPV coming on December 17 in a win over Steve Collins on WCW Worldwide.

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, FL.

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.

[5] Honky returned to the WWF for a one-time appearance at the 2001 Royal Rumble, but was quickly eliminated by Kane after being hit on the head with his guitar.

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.

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.

[1] On the October 6 episode of Raw, Honky (now a fan favorite for the first time since 1986), along with Goldust and Roddy Piper, was named as one of the possible opponents for Marella's Intercontinental Championship at Cyber Sunday.

His most recent video game appearance is in WWE 2K24 as part of the “Post Malone & Friends” DLC[29] He was cast in John Wesley Norton's film Executive Ranks.

Honky also appeared in Insane Clown Posse's music video for "How Many Times" along with The Bushwhackers and his former tag team partner Greg Valentine.