The 50 Greatest Wrestlers Of The Last 50 Years: Who Is #18?

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#18 Dory Funk Jr.

Ahead of Dusty? Really? The “lesser” of the two Funk brothers who American fans often heard about but never actually saw during Terry Funk’s run during the late 1980s and 1990s? Yes, Dory Funk Jr. is probably the best American wrestler to kind of slip through the cracks of history, at least from the last 50 years. He might not have the same name value as his brother, but Dory Funk Jr. was one of the biggest draws on two different continents for more than two decades. Funk began wrestling in 1963 after playing football at West Texas State University. Funk’s father, Dory Sr. was the promoter of the Amarillo territory in Western Texas and was a notable wrestler himself, so it was natural for his athletic son to follow in his footsteps. His first match was a victory over Don Fargo in Amarillo and he quickly became a popular wrestler in the territory. During this time period, and particularly in Texas and southern promotions, being the son of a popular wrestler meant a lot, to the point that promoters would often lie about a wrestlers’ family history to help get a young wrestler over with the audience; Ricky Steamboat being a perfect example of this. Being the son of a popular wrestler helped give Funk a great start to his career. Most wrestlers who broke into the industry end up jobbing and opening shows for several years before getting any form of a real opportunity to get over with the audience on a significant level. Even wrestlers who would go on to great success in the future, like Dusty Rhodes, started off their career slowly, waiting several years to really make a mark on the industry. Funk was very fortunate to be the son of a promoter (in addition to being a great individual talent and a fast learner) and didn’t have to deal with many of those hurdles early in his career, which set him up for tremendous success just a few years into his career. Already a star in Texas, Funk would begin to move into the other important National Wrestling Alliance territories and made a name for himself. In 1965, just two years into his career he already was wrestling big matches in the Missouri and Florida territories. Some of those early opponents included Wild Bill Curry, Iron Mike DiBiase (Ted DiBiase’s father) and a young Harley Race. Funk became a staple at the historic Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, which was the real capital of the National Wrestling Alliance. A key match in his career took place on October 22, 1965 when he teamed with Johnny Powers and John Paul Henning and defeated Bobby Graham, Gene Kiniski and Fritz Von Erich. Kiniski and Von Erich were arguably the two top heels in the NWA during that time period, and it was a sign that Funk could topple the top heels in any territory. Early in his career Funk was a straight banger in the ring, wrestling a physical, brawling style that was exciting in Texas. However, as he matured as a talent he also became one of the finest technical wrestlers in the world, combining his stiff strikes with various different holds, including his signature spinning toe hold. On February 11, 1969 Funk achieved the pinnacle of the wrestling world when he was just 28 years old, defeating Kiniski with a spinning toe hold for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at a show in Tampa. Funk would prove to be one of the most durable champions in wrestling history, holding the championship for four and a half years, the second longest single title reign in the championship’s history, only behind Lou Thesz’s first title reign.

Like many of the great champions of that era, Funk embodied what was believed a great babyface should be. He was an excellent technical wrestler, he had the reputation of being double-tough in the ring and could handle himself in potential risky situations. He was humble outside of the ring but showed great fire in his comebacks against various hated opponents. At the time the NWA World Heavyweight Champion wrestled the most hellacious schedule known to ever exist in the industry, making dates in all of the NWA territories, not only in North America but in Japan as well. The NWA Champion is determined by a board of directors who had to agree on a champion that they believe would be universally appealing in all of their territories. It is extremely difficult to find a talent that is representative of all the required qualities, but Funk was it. Funk also proved to be a successful enough draw that he remained a champion for longer than anybody else except the great Lou Thesz. I don’t want to weigh the number of world championships someone wins or the length of those reigns too …

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