 Funk in 1973 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Dorrance Earnest Funk (1941-02-03)February 3, 1941 (age 84)[5][6][7] Hammond, Indiana, U.S. |
Spouses | |
| Children | 5 |
| Family | Dory Funk (father) Terry Funk (brother) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Dory Funk Jr.[1] Hoss Funk[1] The Long Tall Texan The Masked Outlaw |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 240 lb (109 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | The Double Cross Ranch[1] |
| Trained by | Dory Funk[1][2] Ricky Romero[3] Pedro Morales[3] |
| Debut | 1963 |
| Retired | August 24, 2024[4] |
Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941),[6][2] known professionally asDory Funk Jr., is an Americanprofessional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son ofDory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother ofTerry Funk, he was the promoter of theAmarillo, Texas-basedWestern States Sports promotion.
Funk held theNWA World Heavyweight Championship once. He is the second-longest reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion of all time afterLou Thesz. He held theWWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once and theCWA World Heavyweight Championship once. He is a 2009WWE Hall of Fame inductee.
Funk works forAll Japan Pro Wrestling as the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) chairman[8][9] and runs theFunking Conservatory, aprofessional wrestling school.
With a background inamateur wrestling andfootball, Funk's career in professional wrestling began in 1963 just after a college football career withWest Texas State University (now West Texas A&M University), culminating in a 15 to 14 victory overOhio University in theSun Bowl inEl Paso, Texas. Funk's first match was a victory over Don Fargo inAmarillo, Texas. West Texas State University All AmericanJerry Logan was in Funk's corner and Fargo's brother, Jim, was in his corner. Funk was supported by the whole West Texas State University football team and theTascosa High School amateur wrestling team. He was doing his student teaching as coach of the Tascosa High wrestling team under coach James Kyle.[citation needed]
Funk started in his father's Amarillo, Texas-basedWestern States Sports promotion and fought Harley Race, Iron Mike DiBiase and Wild Bull Curry. He demonstrated a rugged hard-hitting style that gained attention. He would eventually move on to Florida, Missouri and Japan where his skills improved as he used uppercut forearm smashes, a variety of suplexes and leglocks. Funk won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship fromGene Kiniski on February 11, 1969[10] inTampa, Florida with a spinning toe hold 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[1] (Lou Thesz held the NWA world title from November 27, 1949, to March 15, 1956).
Dory and Terry are the only brothers in history to each hold the title.[11] 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 inKansas City, losing the belt toHarley Race.[12] He performed regularly throughout the NWA, particularly in theMid-Atlantic and Ontario as a heel,Georgia,Florida and Central States regions, through the 1970s and early 1980s. In Toronto he fought Ric Flair for the NWA championship on October 17, 1982. Flair retained the title. In 1987 he feuded withMike Rotunda in Florida. Rotunda defeated Funk for the vacant Florida Heavyweight title on June 7. Later on a lot of the matches ended in draws.
In 1973, Funk made his debut forAll Japan Pro Wrestling which had just started the year before. Eventually he became a veteran of the company. He feuded withGiant Baba,The Destroyer,Jumbo Tsuruta,Abdullah The Butcher,The Sheik,Genichiro Tenryu, andHarley Race.Terry Funk and he worked frequently as a tag team in a series of matches against Abdullah the Butcher and The Sheik; and Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta. Funk won many World's Strongest Tag Determination League awards with both Terry and Baba. Together Terry and he won theWorld's Strongest Tag Determination League tournaments in1977,1979, and1982.
On December 11, 1980, the Funks wonMatch of the Year Award fromTokyo Sports in their match against Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta. His biggest achievement in All Japan was winning theNWA International Heavyweight Championship three times. He won a tournament for the vacant heavyweight title defeating Terry on April 30, 1981. He dropped the title toButch Reed that June. Later he defeated Reed in August. On October 9 he dropped the title toBruiser Brody in Tokyo. He regained the title form Brody on November 1. Eventually he lost the title to Brody on April 21, 1982, in Osaka. Later in his tenure he feuded with Brody,Stan Hansen andTiger Jeet Singh. The Funks feuded withRiki Choshu andYoshiaki Yatsu; and theYoungbloods.
In 1986, Dory (renamed "Hoss") made his WWF debut in a team alongside his brother Terry. The brothers performed atWrestleMania 2 defeating theJunkyard Dog andTito Santana. Terry left the WWF shortly after WrestleMania, but Dory remained, mostly tagging with storyline brotherJimmy Jack Funk, who in truth had no relation to the Funk family. They were managed byJimmy Hart. He would feud withJunkyard Dog. They feuded withThe British Bulldogs. Funk wrestled his last WWF match losing toPedro Morales at theSam Muchnick Memorial Tournament on August 29.
On September 20, 1987, he and Terry teamed up and lost toThe Road Warriors by disqualification at World Wrestling Council 14th Anversario inBayamón, Puerto Rico. On February 27, 1988, Funk participated inWorld Wrestling Council's La Copa Gillette tournament beatingBruiser Brody in the first round but later that day he lost toCarlos Colon in the quarter-finals. On April 11, 1988, he lost toJerry Lawler by count out atContinental Wrestling Association in Memphis, Tennessee. He reunited with Terry atWorld Wrestling Alliance defeatingDoug Somers and Gary Young on February 2, 1989, in Kansas City, Kansas.
In October 1990 both Terry and Dory returned to All Japan. They wrestled in tag team matches until Terry left the promotion in April 1991 and went back to North America. Dory found a new partner,Al Perez and they won World's Strongest Tag Determination League Teamwork Award later that year. They lost toAndre the Giant andGiant Baba on November 30, 1991, in Obihiro. At the end of the year Perez left Japan and returned to the United States. In 1992 he once again teamed up with Baba. Later on he teamed with numerous partners. From 1990 to 1996 he feuded withAbdullah the Butcher andGiant Kimala. He left Japan at the end of 1996.
In 1994 Funk made his debut forExtreme Championship Wrestling. He reunited with Terry for the first time in three years. Terry was a main star for the company. They feuded withThe Public Enemy during Dory's stay in ECW. On June 26 they teamed up withTommy Dreamer to defeatHack Meyers and Public Enemy onECW Hardcore TV. They lost to Public Enemy atHeatwave '94: the Battle for the Future in a No RopeBarbed Wire match. Dory returned to ECW on September 27, 1997, losing toECW World Heavyweight ChampionShane Douglas.
He made an appearance forWorld Championship Wrestling at theSlamboree 1993: A Legends Reunion Pay-Per-View, wrestlingNick Bockwinkel to a time limit draw in 15 minutes. Funk hadGene Kiniski in his corner and Bockwinkel hadVerne Gagne in his corner. He teamed up withDick Murdoch defeatingThe Heavenly Bodies at tribute show to Dory called Funk Free For All in Amarillo, Texas October 28, 1993. The Funks wrestledBruce Hart andBrian Pillman at theStu Hart 50th Anniversary Show on December 15, 1995, in Calgary, Canada. He made a return appearance with the WWF as a participant in the1996 Royal Rumble being eliminated bySavio Vega.[1] On June 6, 1997, he made another appearance in WCW atIlio DiPaolo Memorial Show teaming withGreg Valentine as they lost toTony Parsi andGino Brito by disqualification in Buffalo, New York. On September 11, 1997, Dory took part in Terry Funk Presents Wrestle Fest: 50 Years of Funk event. Terry was planning to retire from wrestling for the first time. That night, Dory defeatedRob Van Dam.[13] He won theNWA Florida Heavyweight Championship for the fourth time since 1981 defeatingSteve Keirn on November 7, 1997. Then he would hold the title until August 15, 2000, when the title was vacated. In 2001 he wrestled forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling teaming with Terry. He feuded withTatsumi Fujinami andBob Backlund. Funk and student,Adam Windsor wrestled in a dark match forNWA Total Non-stop Action defeatingHomicide andKory Chavis on November 27, 2002. On January 25, 2005, he teamed with Terry atWrestleReunion where they lost toNWA World Tag Team championsAmerica's Most Wanted.
Funk returned to Puerto Rico for WWC Friday Madness where he defeatedCarlos Colon on May 20, 2005. AtWrestleReunion 2 Dory, Terry andMick Foley lost toThe Midnight Express in a six-man tag team match on August 27, 2005. On March 5, 2006, he teamed withMike Graham to defeatDavid Flair andTully Blanchard at World Wrestling Legends. On the February 16, 2009 episode ofRaw, it was announced that Dory along with his brother Terry would be inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009 byDusty Rhodes. On the April 1, 2010 edition ofTNA Today, Funk appeared on the show to have an interview withJeremy Borash.[14] Since 2002 Dory been wrestling for his own promotionFunking Conservatory known as "BangTV!" in Ocala, Florida. On September 3, 2006, he lost toSamoa Joe in a Lumberjack match. From 2015 to 2018 Funk has wrestled forTokyo Gurentai. His last match was against another student of hisOsamu Nishimura which ended in a 10-minute draw on November 28, 2018. With the finals seconds left in the match, Funk pinned Nishimura which ended at the count of 2 when the bell rang as time was up. Funk wrestled multiple times during 2019 on the independent circuit.[citation needed]
OnLeap year 2020 Funk teamed withThe Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) to defeat the team of Blain Rage, Jake Logan, and Shane Chung at Funking Conservatory in Ocala, Florida.
On March 1, 2008, Funk andOsamu Nishimura defeatedGenichiro Tenryu andMasanobu Fuchi in Funk's retirement match viaspinning toe hold.[15]
On October 27, 2013, Funk returned toAll Japan Pro Wrestling, teaming with Terry in a tag team match, where they wrestledMasanobu Fuchi andOsamu Nishimura to a twenty-minute time limit draw.[16] Funk was then announced as the newPacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) chairman.[8][9] Funk returned to All Japan on July 27, 2014, teaming with Osamu Nishimura andYutaka Yoshie in a six-man tag team match, where they defeatedMasanobu Fuchi,Takao Omori andÚltimo Dragón, with Funk submitting Fuchi for the win.[17] On May 30, 2015, he teamed with old studentGenichiro Tenryu andNosawa Rongai forTenryu Project to beatKohei Suwama,Hikaru Sato andAtsushi Aoki. Funk's next match with All Japan took place on May 31, 2015, when he and Nishimura wrestled Fuchi andYoshiaki Fujiwara to a twenty-minute time limit draw.[18] He returned to All Japan the next month to team with Fuchi andUltimo Dragon to beat his student Nishimura,Masao Inoue and Soma Takao. His last match for All Japan was on November 28, 2017, teaming with Nishimura,The Great Kabuki and his student Dalton Drellich as they defeated Fuchi,Great Kojika,Atsushi Maruyama andDaisuke Sekimoto in Yokohama.
On December 31, 2017, Funk announced his retirement from wrestling. On January 27, 2024, Funk was backstage for theRoyal Rumble event.[19]
Funk wrestled in his final match in a Double Hell Current Explosion Death match on August 24, 2024, teaming withOsamu Nishimura, defeating the team ofAtsushi Onita & Raijin Yaguchi.[4]
On January 25, 2025, Funk appeared alongside other legends at WWESaturday Night's Main Event XXXVIII.[20]
Funk married his first wife, Jimmie, on June 8, 1960.[21] Together, they have three children: Dory III, Adam Dirk, and Penny. They also have five grandchildren.[22] They later separated and were officially divorced on July 6, 1983. Dory III went into medicine and now practices out of Colorado. Funk's grandson Dory IV is now training to be a wrestler under him. In 1980, Funk met his second and current wife, Marti; the couple married in 1989. They have two children.[22]
Funk is the coach of theFunking Conservatory Professional Wrestling School inOcala, Florida and teaches the Dory Funk Method of Professional Wrestling. It had a branch affiliated with the World Wrestling Federation called the "Funkin' Dojo. His students includedJeff Hardy,[1]Matt Hardy,[1]Christian Cage,Lita,Kurt Angle,Mansoor,Mickie James,[1]Adam Copeland,[1]Ted DiBiase, andTest. His wife Marti runs BANG TV in which Dory's matches are featured.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Personal: Married to Marti. Has three children, including Dr. Dory Funk, and five grandchildren.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
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