Dory Funk Jr. has passed away. He was 85-years-old.
The Cauliflower Alley Club announced on X:
“The CAC mourns the passing of one of professional wrestling’s true legends, Dory Funk Jr. A champion, a teacher, a gentleman, and an ambassador for our great sport, Dory Funk Jr. leaves behind a legacy that will forever be remembered by wrestlers and fans around the world.”
The Ocala Gazette’s Susan Smiley-Height reports that:
“Earlier this year, the Ocala Gazette wrote about Dory getting ready to celebrate his 85th birthday on Feb. 3 and learned from the couple how they met and more. According to Marti, he passed away under hospice care, today, Aug. 4. The two were “sweethearts” for 46 years and were married for 40.”
Dory Funk Jr. was the son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk.
Respected and known as a master technician, he ran the Texas-based Western States Sports promotion, competed in the ring, and also ran the Funking Conservatory, a professional wrestling school. He was inducted into the 2009 WWE Hall of Fame.
Most modern wrestling fans will remember him as Hoss Funk when he tagged with his brother Terry in the WWE. Their stint was famous for feuding with The Junkyard Dog and The British Bulldogs. They were managed by Jimmy Hart and later were joined by Jimmy Jack Funk, who in reality was Jesse Barr, no relation to the Funks at all.
Dory Funk Jr. had 48 championship reigns throughout his 60-year career. Most notably, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for 1,563 days (4 years and 103 days).
Back in 2003, as he readied to take on former student Christopher Daniels, the 65-year-old Dory Funk Jr. said of wrestling to Slam:
“It’s the absolute thrill of stepping into the ring, no matter the size of the crowd. There are some old things that I think about professional wrestling. I think it is the number one, absolute best aerobic exercise that you can, and that depends on your wrestling style. If you go through all the things that can tear your body apart, then it’s tough on you. The wrestling style that I’ve eveloped, it’s like I said to you, there’s no bigger thrill. As long as I can still have that thrill, I don’t know why I would quit,” he said.
He also stated:
“I doubt there’s ever been a time when I went in the ring and worked a match where I wasn’t having a good time. There’s not a time that I go in the ring that I don’t enjoy it. That’s what our business is about. The hard part is the politics and filtering your way through all the mechanics of the business, and the training and everything. But the actual matches, that’s what we’ve done all the hard work for. … I can’t say it’s easy, but it’s the most enjoyable.”
He also talked about what the Funking Conservatory stood for.
“When we do our training here, we try to feature three things: One is in-ring performance; the other is television; but the number one thing we try to do is have a strong safety program. We take care of our kids. We do not get them hurt. We try to help advance their skills. We’re not here to eliminate people or make people feel bad about what they’re doing.
We’re here to make them feel good about what they’re doing. We feel like everybody can achieve their goals in professional wrestling. Everybody is not going to be able to make it to the WWE or TNA, because there’s just too many, and too few spots. Everybody can be a success as a professional wrestler.”
In 2001, Slam held an open chat with the legend, taking questions from fans.
When asked what his biggest accomplishment was, it was:
It would have to be February 11, 1969 when I won the NWA world championship from Gene Kiniski. I remained champ for 4 1/2 years and there’s still never a day that someone doesn’t bring it up or it affects my life.
His advice for those aspiring to be wrestlers:
They said it on the first edition of Tough Enough — two words — Be Yourself. So many people try to develop a personality other than themselves and that’s why they fail. We recommend several different sports that kids learn and one is amateur wrestling, gymnastics, and drama and speech classes, martial arts. Those things are critical if you are young and want to become a pro wrestler. Probably the most critical. Follow your dreams.
There is another thing that we ask of all of our kids, we ask them to continue their education. It’s a fact that not everyone is going to make it. I had to finish college according to my father before I turned pro. It’s good advice to have another profession. Mathematically, not everyone can make it. Everyone can enjoy being in the indy promotions, however.
He was then asked if he could do it all over again, would he? He said:
Yeah, I sure would, including the last part which is having the opportunity to teach my trade on a professional level. I’ve kind of always been a teacher, but now I’m doing it professionally. I’ve got to say that it’s every bit as rewarding to watch the success of the kids that have coming through the program.
Geez, I’ve got lots of world champions out there — Lita, Angle, Rikishi, Christian, Edge. One guy who really did a great job who I didn’t mention yet is Val Venis. So many that I’ve enjoyed watching going on to huge success now. I hope that I will have many, many more.
