Dory Funk Jr. Media Man Australia

Dory Funk Jr.

Dory Funk, Jr. (born February 3, 1941) is a retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. He is the son of Dory Funk Sr. and brother of Terry Funk. He is credited with the invention of the Texas cloverleaf submission hold, and runs the Funking Conservatory, a professional wrestling school. His students and friends participate in a wrestling show, local to Ocala, Florida, called !BANG!. To date, he was the second longest reiging NWA World Heavyweight Champion of all time, holding it for over 4 years.

Career

Dory Funk Jr.'s career in professional wrestling began in January of 1963 just after a college football career with West Texas State University culminating in a 15 to 14 victory over Ohio University in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

Dory Funk, Jr.'s first match was a victory over Don Fargo in Amarillo, Texas. West Texas State University All American Jerry Logan was in Funk's corner and Fargo's brother, Jim, was in his corner. Dory was also supported by the whole West Texas State University football team and the Tascosa High School amateur wrestling team. Dory was doing his student teaching as coach of the Tascosa High wrestling team under Coach James Kyle.

Dory Funk, Jr. came to the The NWA in 1968 and went on to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Gene Kiniski on February 11, 1969 in Tampa, Florida and remained NWA World Champion for the next four and a half years which is the second-longest uninterrupted reign of any NWA World Champion (Lou Thesz held the NWA world title from November 27, 1949, to March 15, 1956). Dory and his brother, Terry, are the only brothers in history to both hold the title.

Funk finally lost the NWA World Championship on May 24, 1973 after a hurried recovery from a pickup truck accident on his father's Flying Mare Ranch in West Texas. Dory was forced into the ring in Kansas City, losing the belt to Harley Race.

He performed regularly throughout the NWA, particularly in the Mid-Atlantic, Georgia, Florida and Central States regions, through the 1970s and early 1980s. In January 1986, Dory (given the nickname "Hoss") made his WWF debut in a team alongside his brother Terry. The brothers performed at WrestleMania 2 defeating the Junkyard Dog and Tito Santana. After Terry left the WWF shortly after WrestleMania, Dory remained, mostly tagging with "brother" Jimmy Jack Funk, who in truth had no relation to the Funk family. He made a single appearance with the WWF as "Dory Funk" as a participant in the 1996 Royal Rumble

Funk is now the Coach of the Funking Conservatory Professional Wrestling School and teaches the Dory Funk Method of Professional Wrestling. Dory's students include ]Christian Cage, Lita, Kurt Angle, Mickie James, Edge, and others.

WWE.com has stated that he was backstage and in fact can be seen behind the ECW Announce table in the beginning minutes of One Night Stand 2007. There were some rumors that he would become a trainer at WWE's new developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling.

On March 1, Funk and Nishimura defeated Genichiro Tenryu and Masanobu Fuchi in Funk's retirement match via spinning toehold. (Credit: Wikipedia).

Official website

Dory-Funk Jr. official website

Profiles

Terry Funk

World Championship Wrestling (Australian roster - 1964 to 1978)

Articles

The Most Competitive Business in the World, by Dory Funk Jr.

Wrestling In Japan, by Greg Tingle

What is indy wrestling? by Greg Tingle

Bang TV! Reports

BANG! TV Report - Throw Down - 2004