Key Takeaways
- Dory Funk Jr., a no-frills Texas technician who held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for 1,563 days and popularized the Texas Cloverleaf, has died at 85 after a seven-decade career spanning the U.S. and Japan.
- Born into wrestling under promoter Dory Funk Sr., he and his brother Terry became the only biological brothers to both win the NWA World Title, headlining All Japan Pro Wrestling and appearing in WWE, including a win at WrestleMania 2.
- Funk extended his legacy as a trainer at the Funking Conservatory in Florida, shaping future stars like Kurt Angle, Edge, the Hardy Boyz, Lita, Mark Henry, and Mickie James, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame alongside Terry in 2009 before wrestling a tribute match in Japan at 83.
Dory Funk Jr., the no-frills Texas grappler who ruled the NWA for more than four years before training some of WWE’s biggest stars, has died at 85.
WWE announced the Hall of Famer’s death on August 4, closing the book on a seven-decade career that took Funk from packed American arenas to blockbuster tours across Japan. His cause of death was not disclosed.
Funk was born into the business—and wasted little time making it his own. His father, wrestler and promoter Dory Funk Sr., raised him around the ring and pushed him to master every part of the industry.
“As a kid, I used to dream I could do all the things my father could do,” Funk told WWE in 2007. “I wanted to be just like him.”
He ultimately followed that blueprint as a wrestler, champion, promoter and trainer.
Dory Funk Jr. reached the top on February 11, 1969, defeating Gene Kiniski in Tampa for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He refused to let it go for 1,563 straight days. Funk’s reign ended against Harley Race on May 24, 1973, but it still stands as the second-longest uninterrupted run in the title’s history, trailing only Lou Thesz.
His hard-edged West Texas style relied on technical precision, relentless pressure and the Texas Cloverleaf submission hold he is credited with inventing.
Then there was the family business. Dory and his younger brother, Terry Funk, became the only biological brothers to each win the NWA world title. Together, the Funks were among the biggest foreign attractions in Japanese wrestling, headlining All Japan Pro Wrestling tours and tearing through brutal rivalries with Abdullah the Butcher, Stan Hansen and other international stars.
They also made their mark in WWE, defeating Tito Santana and Junkyard Dog at WrestleMania 2 in 1986.
Funk’s influence only grew after his full-time wrestling career slowed down. He and his wife, Marti, ran the Funking Conservatory in Florida, where Funk turned decades of ring knowledge into a pipeline for WWE talent.
His list of students reads like a Hall of Fame ballot: Kurt Angle, Edge, Christian, Matt and Jeff Hardy, Lita, Mark Henry and Mickie James.
Funk never completely walked away from the ring, either: in 2024, he wrestled a tribute match in Japan at 83, becoming one of the oldest performers ever to compete publicly.
Dusty Rhodes inducted Dory and Terry Funk into the WWE Hall of Fame together in 2009, honoring two brothers who left permanent marks on wrestling on multiple continents. Terry died in 2023 at 79.
