One of the most prominent figures in the history of the NWA and All Japan Pro Wrestling has died.
Dory Funk Jr., who held the NWA World Championship from 1969 until 1973, has passed away at 85; the news was first shared by Brian Blair.
It’s hard to find the right words to say goodbye to a man who became a mentor, a leader, and a dear friend, Dory Funk Jr. My love for him started all the way back as a kid at the Bayfront Center, booing him as the ultimate heel while he took on my hero Jack Brisco. He was an absolute legend who commanded respect just by being himself. My heart goes out to his wife, Marti, and his family. You will be deeply missed, Dory. I know God is welcoming you with open arms. Rest easy until we meet again.
Funk was the oldest son of Dory Sr. and was born on February 3, 1941. His full name was Dorrance Earnest Jr. Despite the connections to Amarillo, both Dory Jr. and Terry Funk were born in Hammond, Indiana, where Dory Sr. was raised.
He played basketball and football at Canyon High School and became one of many future wrestlers to play football at West Texas State. Funk Jr. was part of the team that won the Sun Bowl in 1963.
Dory Detton sold the Amarillo territory to Karl Sarpolis and convinced Dory Sr. to relocate to the territory and take a minority stake. Dory Sr. would assume full control of the territory after Sarpolis died in 1967 from a heart attack.
Dory Jr. joined the family business in 1963 after training by his father, with Terry to follow two years later.
The older brother would ascend to the top of the industry, beating Gene Kiniski on February 11, 1969, in Tampa, after a heavy push from his father to put the title on Dory. Funk Jr. and Jack Brisco would engage in state-of-the-art matches throughout the era and were constantly cited for their technical proficiency.
The debate has raged on regarding Funk Jr. and whether he had an aversion to dropping the belt to Brisco. Funk Jr. was injured in a vehicular accident on his ranch in February 1973, just days before he was to lose the title to Brisco. He was accused of avoiding dropping the title and became a source of contention for decades. Weeks later, Funk Jr. returned to the ring and pivoted to lose the title to Harley Race, who was the transitional champion to Brisco two months later.
The Funks were among the most important foreigners to ever go to Japan, beginning with the JWA (Japan Pro Wrestling Association) in the early ‘70s in their first interactions with Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki. Baba and Inoki would break away from the JWA and launch All Japan and New Japan, respectively. The Funks aligned with Baba and were key to Baba having an “in” with the NWA and keeping New Japan away from the U.S. entity of promoters.
The Funks became the foreign bookers for All Japan and trained several future stars, including Jumbo Tsuruta.
The brothers were thrust into the driver’s seat in Amarillo after the sudden death of their father from a heart attack in June 1973 at 54, a death that haunted Terry for years. The death of Dory occurred just days after Dory Jr. had dropped the NWA title to Race.
With Terry, the brothers were involved in some of the biggest matches of the era for All Japan, winning the Tag League tournament in 1977, 1979, and 1982. The brothers were champions together in Florida, Georgia, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Puerto Rico among the territories they worked together.
In 1986, he briefly went to the World Wrestling Federation as “Hoss Funk,” teaming with Terry and wrestling the Junkyard Dog & Tito Santana at WrestleMania 2 in Los Angeles. The pair also worked together against Hulk Hogan & JYD on the sixth installment of Saturday Night’s Main Event that year, generating a 9.3 rating on NBC.
Funk Jr. did a cameo appearance in the Royal Rumble in 1996, but his biggest contribution was the Funkin’ Dojo Camps he ran and working with aspiring talents Kurt Angle, The Hardys, Adam Copeland, Christian Cage, Lita, Test, and many others. He was based out of Ocala, Florida for years, running the Funkin’ Conservatory and his local BANG TV outfit with wife Marti.
Dory continued to wrestle as late as 2024 for a memorial show in honor of his brother, who died three years ago. In Kawasaki, he teamed with pupil Osamu Nishimura against Atsushi Onita & Raijin Yaguchi in a Double Hell Explosion Death Match.
Dory Jr. is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inaugural class of 1996), WWE Hall of Fame (2009), St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame (2008), Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1995), the NWA Hall of Fame (2006), International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame (2022), the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Hall of Fame (2011), and recipient of the Lou Thesz Award from the Cauliflower Alley Club (2019) among his many accolades.
We will have more in the days to follow on his legendary career.
