My Take
Dory Funk Jr. is one of those wrestlers who quietly defined what technical excellence looks like in professional wrestling, and I think he deserves way more recognition than he typically gets. Born in Hammond, Indiana in 1941 and trained in the old-school Amarillo territory his family ran, Dory held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship — the most prestigious title of his era — and defended it for nearly five years, which tells you everything about how much the industry trusted him. His amateur wrestling background from West Texas A&M gave him a legitimacy in the ring that few could match, and his signature spinning toe hold was deceptively simple and brutally effective. Being enshrined in both the WWE Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is about as complete a legacy as you can have, and his continued work as a trainer shows he genuinely loves passing this craft on.
Overview
Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter of the Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion. Funk held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Dory Funk Jr.
- Name (Japanese)
- ドリー・ファンク・ジュニア
- Reading
- どりー・ふぁんく・じゅにあ
- Born
- February 3, 1941 (age 85)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Snake
- Origin
- Hammond, Indiana, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 188 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- professional wrestler
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- West Texas A&M University
Awards & achievements
- WWE Hall of Fame
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.