Learning to Love Dory

[JerryvonKramer]

goc have you seen Funks vs. Sheik / Abby '78? That is another occassion where Dory goes psycho.

[JerryvonKramer]

The Dory Funk Jr High Spots Shoot.

 

Dory makes it clear quite early that his memory is hazy on early Amarillo stuff but is crystal clear on his NWA title run. It's very obvious that he's still super proud of it. He claims he has had over 7,000 matches but can only remember specific dates of his world title run because it meant so much to him. Had three months of special intensive training in preparation to be champ.

 

He says he thought he had a great match with Kiniski for the switch. Says Kiniski helped him through a knee injury, and he likes him.Whenever there's a new champion, promoters are worried about how he'd draw. Says Eddie Graham, his father, and Jim Crockett Sr made sure that Dory was booked in loaded cards when he first became champ to ensure they were all good gates. Crockett Sr out Joe Luis in a boxing match in his first defense in Mid Atlantic. So it gave the appearance of him being a sellout wherever he went, so then he became a sellout wherever he went. Clever.

 

He was booked against heels initially, until he worked an hour against Rick Hunter ("the Gladiator") that did well, so Eddie got the idea to program him with Jack Brisco.

 

The world title meant credibility and Dory saw his job as being primarily to give the title that credibility. He runs through most of the champions ever from Eddie Strangler Lewis through Thesz, O'Connor and so on.

 

He says the world title schedule was 26 days out of 30 a month, wrestling a different opponent in a different place every night.

 

First trip to Japan in 69. Met him once in press conference, then in the ring, spoke no Japanese. They went an hour. They were a little concerned about Inoki shooting. Same with Johnny Valentine. Dory thought Inoki was a great performer, and he proved that that night, a year later in 1970. They were meant to have a match in 71, and word got out that Inoki was going to shoot. Inoki no showed. Instead he had a great match with Sakaguchi. THAT night Inoki started New Japan.

 

Dory Sr. Helped Baba with the application to join the NWA and booked the first tour of American talent for him. He said for the next thirty years there wasn't a tour of All Japan that didn't have Funk-booked talent on it. He gave Johnny Ace his first tour. He gave Stan Hansen his first tour. He trained Jumbo Tsuruta. So Dory stayed loyal to All Japan because of the association between Baba and his father.

 

Title defences:

 

Lord Alfred Hayes apparently had his shoulders down for three in Amarillo, and Dory has a big smile and kayfabes that he best Lord Al and he'd beat him today! Dory I have to say is a likable character.

 

Johnny Valentine. Tough guy, great worker. Known shooter. Draw in Charlotte, Texas and St. Louis. Box office wherever he went. No gimmicks. Did it by wrestling alone. He was also the stiffest of all wrestler as well as Wahoo. He was prepared to get chopped hard for a bigger payday.

 

Lonnie Maine in Portland, where he was a big attraction and Don Owen was the best pay off man in the business. 10% meant 10%. He was the straightest when it came to the world champ. Although Fritz, Sam Muchnick and Paul Boesch were all great payoff guys too.

 

He rattles off some more guys he defended against. Too many to type out. He seems to remember ALL of them. Says that Calgary drew very well. He had great matches with Billy Robinson there who was a terrific technical wrestler from whom he learned a lot. He said he learned elements of the British style from him and tried to incorporate it into his own style. You can see that.

 

Talks about Jack Brisco now. Interviewer says that their most famous match was from St. Louis in 1971. Dory disagrees and says Bayfront 1972. They once went 90 minutes in Jacksonville and sold out six weeks later. He says some of their Japanese matches were good too.

 

Why did Race get the title? He was on the cattle ranch with his father driving a pickup truck, and ran over a six foot embankment into the ice. Separated his shoulder, facial and head lacerations. Says it's the only match he missed in his career. He means the match with Brisco in Houston. He was being pressured by Fritz and Sam Muchnick and probably came back too soon from the injury. Dropped the title to Race in Kansas. He says it worked out well because Brisco had never beaten Dory for the title, so it made an ideal rematch scenario. He doesn't understand why Jack would complain about that.

 

After he lost the title he was back in Amarillo because he father and brother had been running it for four years and saw Dory coming back as a chance to go on vacation.

 

Loop

Thursday - Amarillo

Friday - Abilene

Saturday - a spot show in Hereford or Layfield, sometimes Colorado

Sunday - Albuquerque

Monday - El Paso

Tuesday - Odell

Wednesday - Lubbock

 

And then it starts all over again.

 

TV show happened in Saturday as well. Sometimes they did a double shot on Sundays. They lived wrestling.

 

More Brisco talk. Said he thought he was technically phenomenonal. Mentions that Brisco was one of the first to transition from Amateur to pro. Mentions here that Kurt Angle is another trainee of his. Says that Angle's work is a lot like Brisco's. Jack could do any move in wrestling. Dory thinks he threw the best ad drag on the business to this day. Great drop kick. Great fire man's carry takeover.

 

Mentions a match he had with Giant Baba now that went 58 minutes, says its famous in Japan. I can't find any record of this.

 

He says he doesn't really know where ole's comment that he was a great worker but not a great booker came from because he never worked for ole. Or where he got the idea. Says he was the booker for for a very successful Amarillo promotion for many years, Japan for many years, Florida for many years, and North Carolina. So he feels like he's a pretty good booker as well as a great wrestler. So take that Ole!

 

Dory gets into some ring psychology now where he says that in world title matches where the stakes are so high every little thing counts. Who has the first take down. Who gets on an arm lock first. Who gets the first cover. Is it a 1 count or a 2 count. Dory said he loved working like that.

 

Go through some territories now. LA: had a great match with Chavo Gurrero. Talk about Barry Windham and Black Jack Mulligan a bit now.

 

That's the end of part one. Change discs.

 

Talk about Charlie Cook in Florida now, he got the feud over when he slapped him in the face. They needed Cook to draw because Dusty had just left and all the angles were over.

 

Mentions Hulk Hogan came to him around that time wanting to work in Florida.

 

"How important was charisma during your reign as champion?" Oooooh a hard hitting question from this high spots interviewer.

 

Dory said he shot for credibility. He said many of his opponents were the charismatic side of it, and he was the credibility side.

 

Georgia - he wrestled Paul De Marco, Mr Wrestling II Johnny Walker, Bob Armstrong.

 

Detroit - 10-minute matches with The Sheik. They went to Joe Luis Arena and got a decent gate. He has mixed emotions about The Sheik. He was box office in Amarillo. And treated him and Terry very well in Detroit. So when him and Terry went there late 70s working for virtually nothing, it really was to help him out. After the Joe Luis Arena show, his son came running in saying all the money had been stolen. Dory said it didn't matter, he would have worked for him after that and probably did. In terms of greatest heels, he'd place him alongside Fritz and Mike DiBiase. As a draw and consistent sell out probably better than those. Fritz could draw a sell out but you couldn't run him three weeks through the territory and sellout every place with him. With sheik you could. He could sell out anywhere in the world.

 

Bobo Brazil, he had a match with him in Columbus, Georgia. The only time they ever wrestled that once.

 

Mid-Atlantic. First time he ever met Jim Crockett Sr, he said to him "remember you're a world champion and not a recruiter for your father in Texas" ha ha.

 

He said he once had a sell out in Greensboro in a six man with him, Terry and dory Sr but he can't recall the opponents. I'll look that up in a bit.

 

Says that later, when he was booking for Jim Crockett Jr and he was ready to quit the NWA over the title switch to Race. Dory says he talked him round and said thre was more money to be drawn with Flair in the chase. And the led to Starrcade. Dory says that after that Crockett made quite a gutsy move in using Flair exclusively.

 

St. Louis - Sam Muchnick was more strict than any other promoter for wrestler. Would tell his refs to legit DQ if anyone broke the rules.

 

Houston - like a carbon copy of St. Louis. There was friction between Houston, Dallas and San Antonio because different stars were over in each place.

 

Biggest crowd he ever wrestled in front of? He travelled to Nigeria. Eddie Einhorn ran against the NWA with bulldog Brower, Mighty Igor, and Ernie Ladd. He got his TV across the country by packaging it with the Chicago White Sox. He also got it to Africa. Through Carlos Colon they travelled to Lagos, Nigeria. Power Mike was the promoter, crowd was 80,000. He said they'd all snuck in. Was a good payday but not as great as he thought it would be.

 

WWF run - George Scott gave him the call. He said he never even met Bruno until 1983, because NWA and WWF were so separated. He left after nine months for an obligation with All Japan. He liked the pay offs.

 

Tag partners who weren't Terry: liked working with Ricky Romero. Had great timing.

 

WWC: can recall match with road warriors exactly. Describes it pretty well. Says Terry pissed off the fans and the roadies so much someone threw something and it hit him and Dory had to work the whole match alone. He then puts over his brother huge as a great worker. Also talks about the match vs. Carlos Colon where Marti Funk worked. Says his wife got tremendous heat.

 

Brody - liked him, nice guy, would seldom job. Doesn't really have much to add on death.

 

Sheik / Abby feud - one of the most violent matches he was ever in. Bloody. The intensity of that match is more than any other match he's been in of that type. He says of that type because there was one with Brisco one time when the fans came to the ring. But the Sheik / Abby match is one of the hottest he's ever been in (they are talking the 1977 one)

 

Match with Terry in 81: finals of a tournament for the international title. Says he was a bit frustrated in the ring because he felt like he was wrestling himself, they both know the same holds.

 

Baba: brilliant man and great handler of talent. He learned from baba, not just his psychology but his wrestling skills. Great wrestler.

 

Jumbo: learned quicker from him than anyone else that he's ever trained. Great worker.

 

Hansen: reason for the jump from New Japan was because Abdullah jumped the other way. They set it up for it to be overnight.

 

DiBiase: super athlete

 

Had a match with Dan Severn in 1995. Said he was a great wrestler but not a box office draw. They did a worked shoot.

 

Thesz: great wrestler. Have credibility to NWA championship before he got there.

 

Flair: flamboyant. What you see is what you get.

 

Dusty: charismatic. Drew a lot for Eddie Graham.

 

Mike DiBiase: good friend of his father. Tough guy. Out of the university of wrestling.

 

Whipper Billy Watson - got give the best bump in wrestling, but he didn't take a lot of them.

 

Andre - super friend of his. Travelled together. Wanted people to know that he was a human being. Made them watch the Princess Bride a lot.

 

Bruno - would have loved to wrestle him but both NWA and WWF were strong so it took away the need to have the match.

 

Dick Slater - good friend.

 

There is about thirty mins left, but I'll have to come back to it.

[goc]

I am inclined to agree with Dory's assessment of himself as a booker. Everyone associates Florida with Dusty Rhodes vs. Kevin Sullivan but I have really liked the bits and pieces I have seen of 1980-1982 Florida which I am pretty sure was all booked by Dory. The match between El Gran Apollo & Ciclon Negro vs. Dory Funk Jr. & David Von Erich has one of my favorite angles ever actually.

[SomethingSavage]

The Dory Funk Jr High Spots Shoot.

 

"How important was charisma during your reign as champion?" Oooooh a hard hitting question from this high spots interviewer.

 

Dory said he shot for credibility. He said many of his opponents were the charismatic side of it, and he was the credibility side.

Reliving a lot of the WWF stuff from Backlund's era alongside you guys on Titans, I wonder if this was the same philosophy Vince Sr. had in mind for Bob's reign. Say what you will about how plain & bland Backlund was on the personality scale... his challengers were almost always these larger than life creations. They were the kind of characters that could leap off the screen & looked like comic book villains come to life. Snuka and Slaughter especially stand out to me as being a little bit ahead of their time.

 

I don't mean to derail or redirect your thread here, Parv. That line just caught my attention, and that's what instantly sprang to mind first. I've never thought about seeking out a Dory Jr. shoot before, but I might scope this one out if I get the time.

[SomethingSavage]

Delete. Double post.

[JerryvonKramer]

Yeah, I've said it before in this thread and on Titans that even though Vince Sr said he was shooting for a Jack Brisco, what he got in Bob was more like Dory, especially in terms of how they worked. Which is on top and controlling a lot, whereas Brisco worked from underneath.

 

The Dory / Bob comparison is not unfounded. The main difference is that Dory worked more heelish during his run as champ, so his opponents were charismatic territorial aces, whereas Bob was facing charismatic travelling heels.

 

I've said before that I think Dory smokes Backlund in terms of GWE and as a worker, and I stand by that, but Backlund was definitely a guy in his mould and the closest thing we have to a true heir to Dory. Brisco's heirs were Martel and Steamboat.

[JerryvonKramer]

Last thirty-five mins or so of Dory shoot. They play the random name game. Slater, Murdoch.

 

What's he doing now with the Funking Conservatory. Says he has two guys nearing prime, Adam Windsor from England. Technically a great wrestler and works as his booker and video editor. Great office guy, but also a great worker.

 

Shills it a bit, but mentions it takes years of dedication to make it beyond indies.

 

Talks about his website, Marti got it built for a couple of thousand dollars. Jesus, it looks like shit! You got ripped Dory. Like the worst mid-90s geosites mypage ever.

 

He thanks the fans and it looks like they are wrapping up. This seems like it was recorded in 2004.

 

And that's it. What's the last 25 mins then? Oh Funks All Japan music. But what's the match?

 

If I had to guess this is the Abby / Sheik 77 match. Yip, sure enough it is.

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory Funk Jr and Terry Funk vs. Mil Mascaras and Jose Lothario (1/7/79)

 

Going in this has a strong potential to suck almost solely because of the presence of Mil Mascaras who is a human snooze fest that can bring any match down on his own. Hoping this isn't the case here.

 

First fall was quite dull as Mil and Jose work over Terry in an extended heel in peril sequence that consists mainly of a headlock by Lothario. This was there to eat up time. Things pick up when Dory gets the tag and nails Lothario with about six forearms.

 

Second fall continues in better vein as Lothario is face in peril and the Funks are always good game for a heat sequence. Lothario' comeback on Dory is a highlight as is his sweet Russian leg sweep. Very rare for Dory to eat a pinfall!

 

Third fall and we get a mini FIP sequence featuring Mil but Lothario still works the lion's portion. Terry works the Texas jabs. Jose has some sweet punches. This punch exchange has been sweet. Dory comes in and eats some Lothario punches too and sells them pretty well. Bit of flash from Mascaras here. Dumps him for a piledriver outside. This looks like a count out. Oh no. Piledriver in the ring by Dory. Two! Double teaming by the Funks. Mil reverses a sunset flip to get the three on Terry, wow. You don't see the Funks losing clean like hardly ever!!!

 

I enjoyed this. It took a while to get going, about ten minutes, but after Dory tagged in to the finishing stretch it was real solid. Punch exchanges by Terry and Jose were fun and Dory was on fine form. Even Mil didn't suck too much.

 

***3/4

[Loss]

I will be diving into a lot of Dory watching soon, and I really want to love him as much as you do, if only so you don't have to fight the battle in support of him alone. I respect you for being unwavered by your detractors.

[shoe]

Funks vs Lothario/Mascaras 1/7/79

 

 

I enjoyed this bout. The 1 st fall wasn't much. Though we see Dory look really aggressive throwing some nasty European Forearms that woke the crowd up. Other than that it was basic tag team wrestling with the faces controlling the action. They'd tag in and out. They cut the ring in 1/2. We'd see blocking. In the end the Funks would steal a fall.

 

The 2nd fall the Funks get heat on Lothario was really well done. When Lothario made his comeback the Funks gave everything back and pinballed their asses off for Lothario's punches and Russian leg sweep. The 2nd fall was really great.

 

The 3rd fall was fun as well. The punches between Jose and Terry were tremendous. We see Mil shine by incorporating his highspots. Plus the finish was good stuff. I enjoyed this match. 3*

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[JerryvonKramer]

Dory Funk Jr and Terry Funk vs. Wahoo McDaniel and Ivan Putski (1/23/81)

 

This is from Houston courtesy of NWA Classics. One thing I will say about Paul Boesch is that I like the little mini bios he gives of guys.

 

First fall was a lot of control work by the faces, and when one of them is Ivan Putski, that tells you more or less everything you need to know. Putski did look better here though than he tends to in WWF.

 

When this started it wasn't quite clear Funks were heels, so I did love how they ramped up the heeling and cheating gradually as the match progressed. Dory jogging and stalling after the first fall I found pretty funny.

 

Second fall and heat sequence were better, but overall finish felt like it came a bit too soon to me. Funks were solid here and I liked exchanges with Wahoo, but I think there was way too much Putski and way too much headlock here.

 

Awesome to see this, naturally, but not the best Funks tag you'll ever see. I did dig portions though.

 

**1/2

[Karl]

I need to set aside some time to check some of this stuff out...I have decided to watch all the AJPW I can get my hands on in chronological order from the beginning to at least the 2000 breakaway, so there will certainly be a lot of Dory in my life.

[JerryvonKramer]

Tonight, I'm going to be reviewing matches till I pass out as our buddy Matt D has stumbled onto a goldmine of footage I didn't even know existed. Strap in, it's going to be a long night.

 

Dory Funk Jr. And Terry Funk vs. Nick Bockwinkel and Harley Race (12/12/84)

 

Talk about a DREAM match. Race and Bock are a ridiculously kick ass team. This is a pure southern tag, with Terry as FIP. Race and Bock unload offense targeting his neck, including a piledriver and swinging neck breaker. Then Dory comes in, but eventually loses advantage too so they work double heat. Terry does an insane Airplane spin on Bock.

 

This is a 30 min time limit draw and I think it is JIP, missing first ten mins. Absolutely awesome to see this. Dory looked a bit off the pace here, and was doddery, but I loved seeing these four guys in the same match. Race and Bock could not be cooler as a team.

 

About ***3/4 based on what we saw.

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory Funk Jr. And Terry Funk vs. Harley Race and Genichiro Tenryu (4/28/83)

 

Harley has a massive beard here. Funks are very over as babyfaces. They've gone for red and blue jackets, Terry in red, Dory in blue: fire and ice.

 

Wow! Massive shoulderbreaker by Tenryu on Terry to start. That was a spot and a half. Terry is like the perfect Harley Race opponent to take his bombs. Dory in, he's more at the races today. Race really hits his knee drops here. Tenryu looks really good here too. Dory is our FIP. The work is crisp here, every elbow drop looks meaty, every suplex well executed. Terry comes in and Tenryu unloads in him, flurry of strikes. Suplex on the concrete by Race in Terry. Piledriver by Tenryu. Neckbreaker by Race. Yes! Yes! Yes! Terry is on easy street now, but jabs and weaves. Dory in. Slam. Uppercut. Spinning toe hold! But then he eats a suplex by Tenryu, who misses a Randy Savage elbow! Terry in, suplex by Race. And we get a double count out.

 

This shit is awesome, massive sprint bomb and spot fest from 1983 featuring all my fave legends. Mana. From. Heaven.

 

****

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Jack Brisco and Killer Tim Brooks (4/23/81)

 

This is one of several Brisco matches to show up in this footage that are not on my comp, so this stuff has not been in wide circulation to my knowledge.

 

This is clipped down from 22 minutes to ten, so I think we lose first half. As we join, Brooks tags out and Brisco applies figure four to Terry. Crowd is hot. Dory in with spinning toe hold. Jack is so great at selling. Brisco with figure four on Dory now.

 

Abby shows up! He attacks Terry, who gushes. Oh he's cut open deep. Going Nutella breaks a leg off a chair. Brisco and Brooks celebrate in the ring, but Dory is having none of it and attacks. Slam by Jack, knee into Dory's face. Suplex by Brooks. Butterfly suplex by Jack! A second butterfly suplex by Jack! Dory kicks out at two. Knee drop. Dory the stoical hero is hanging in there, but this is two on one. Spinning toehold! Jack breaks it. Brooks bites Dory. Terry comes back from the locker room with his arm bandaged up. Bloodied. Brooks ambushes him. He's a house of fire. Dumps Jack. The ten punch. Brooks is bust open now. Texas jabs. Spinning toehold. Brooks taps.

 

This was awesome stuff with two of the Funks all-time nemeses, Jack Brisco and Abdullah the Butcher, forming an unholy alliance. Jack was in full on heel mode here, and Brooks was a sufficiently scuzz bucket partner. Told a fantastic story, Dory going two on one, as Terry was cut open, but he rides back as the sallying Calvary for the heroic win. Simple stuff, but really effective. Lots of blood. If we had the whole thing, I reckon this would be a high rating. As it is, I can't rate a match we only have half of.

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Genichiro Tenryu and Rocky Hata (2/12/77)

So often, we Get the RWTL final and don't get to see the early rounds. I believe this is the full match. It looks like this was shown on G+ at some point but I couldn't find it before now. I love the way the commentator just says "Da Funks!" every once in a while. They are over here in 1977. I'm interested to see them against midcarders. I love the purity of 70s AJPW. Pure!

Tenryu has his usual unimpressed expression, even as young as he is here. Starts out with Dory. A lot of amateur style stuff early. Natives work over Terry with a headlock, Terry struggles a lot, punching to the side and things like that. Hata keeps it applied despite various escape attempts. Too much headlock for my tastes. Eventually
Terry hits a huge back suplex on Tenryu and tags out. Dory dominant with slams. Works the arm. Armdrag take over. Terry back in. Stays on arm. Tags in and out now. Neat side Russian leg sweep by Dory after a full arm drag and twist and a reverse knife edge. Hata vs Terry now and it's a slug fest, and an awkward struggly suplex. Dory in and another suplex and an elbow drop. Action is ramping up now. Forearm smash. Indian deathlock. Double Indian deathlock! Funks are cool as fuck.

Terry stays in it now, drops back. Almost a Texas Cloverleaf. You know suicidal dragon guy on YouTube? He reckons he couldn't find Dory doing that move, I've seen him do it. He didn't look hard enough. Dory in now, piledriver. Abdominal stretch. Terry in. Huge atomic drop on Hata. Airplane spin by Dory! I'm not sure I've seen him do the airplane spin that often. Drop kick by Hata buys him enough time to tag out. Side salto by Tenryu. Terry in with a gut wrench suplex. Great elbow smash. Terry in, swinging neck breaker. Dory in, butterfly suplex. Terry in, spinning toehold! That's all she wrote.

Loving it, loving it, loving it. This was a great competitive match that built perfectly from early technical work through strikes and a progressive escalation of violence to a cascade of bombs at the end. Great exhibit for why Funks were such a brilliant team.

****

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Tor Kamata (12/5/80)

 

Fans of Titans of Wrestling, will know that Kamata is a legend on that show. I had a few of the Funks' other matches from the 1980 RWTL, but not this one. Abby and Sheik had been split up here, with Sheik tagging with Great Mephisto and Abby getting Tor. Kinda makes sense as Mephisto is like a poor man's Sheik and Tor is like a poor man's Abby.

 

Any time it's Funks vs. either Abby or Sheik, it's cause for me to get excited. VQ is great as always from AJPW, Baba kept his tapes in pristine condition didn't he. We're getting the whole thing here by the looks of things, introductions and all. Dory and Kamata start out. Terry in. Kamata is fat but not Abby fat, seeing them together you can see that Abby is the bigger man. Funks work a headlock on Tor to start keeping Abby stretching for a tag. This goes on for a very long time. Too much headlock.

 

Eventually things get moving and Terry gives Kamata a piledriver, which I'm surprised he can take! Ring is completely cut off and they've had Kamata isolated for a long time now. Dory gives Kamata an effortless backdrop. Kamata is pretty agile for a guy his size. Have to give it to him. Finally Abby tags in. Terry's selling is pretty phenomenal during this little offensive stretch by Abby. Inexplicably, Abby tags Kamata back in which gives Terry time to hurt him and tag out. Why would Abby tag his exhausted partner back in?

 

Spinning toehold! But Abby has his fork, and suckers the Funks. Stabs Terry in the eyes and he's blinded! Dory knocked out of the ring. Enormous back suplex by Abby. Dory is bleeding outside. Elbow drop from the second rope by Abby. Another elbow. His elbow drops are cool, even if that's all he can do. Dory has a chair and Rams it into Abby. Suplex by Dory on Kamata. Dory is kicking some ass here. Abby and Dory brawl to the back for a double count out. Abby slams Dory's head into the back wall. Brawl all over the crowd now. Fans and chairs everywhere. Young boys everywhere.

 

This was a well worked match around the limitations of the opponents. Kamata was basically there to soak up offense as the weak link. The headlock sequence went on for far too long but once Abby got involved the match picked up. Post match was fun as always.

 

***

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Harley Race and Larry Hennig (12/9/81)

 

I've been looking for this match for ages. Race and Hennig were a legendary team in the 60s of course, and no footage exists of them outside of this 81 run in the RWTL. I knew this was out there but wasn't able to find it.

 

Hennig has a big beard. Harley has his classic mustache and looks totally bad ass. Dory was in good form for most of 81, so some hopes for this one. I believe we are missing a bit as time on video is shorter than recorded length in results. Even though we get all the intros and flowers here, there a clip right in the middle of the match. It's weird that the Japanese editors think we need to see long ass intros but not body of the match. Ha ha.

 

Anyway we pick up action with Race working a heat sequence on Terry. Hennig in. To be fair to Jesse, he does have a big neck. Harley vs. Dory now and these guys are working stiff tonight. Great strike exchanges. After three attempts, Dory hits the big butterfly but Race dumps him. Race and Hennig work dirty outside. Funks regain control after Terry reverses a piledriver into a backdrop. I love Harley's exchanges with the Funks, he's a great opponent for them. Hits a back suplex on Terry. Hennig in. Misses an elbow and Terry goes for spinning toehold. Race breaks. Dory in. Terry dives in from outside for a three count on Hennig out of nowhere! I'm not sure about that finish.

 

I can't rate this because too much of match missing, but what we saw was really good. I like Race vs. both Funks as a match up.

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen and Jimmy Snuka (4/16/82)

 

I knew about Funks vs Brody / Snuka, but not Hansen / Snuka! This looks mostly complete. Lou Thesz is the ref.

 

Rope running to start, Dory nails Hansen with his elbow smash. Snuka in. He has the big afro here. Hansen in with an elbow on Dory. Uppercuts by him. Gut shot by Hansen. Proceeds to put pressure on his midsection now. Snuka in. Snapmare. Comes of second rope. Snuka looks cool here. Knee drop. Hansen in. Dory has been FIP for some time now. Hansen still going after the gut. Strange body part to target. Snuka in with knees to the gut. This is a sustained sequence targeted the stomach. Gut buster by Snuka (like a backbreaker landing stomach on knee). But now Terry tags in and gets in the Texas jabs. Goes after Hansen outside. Brawling and chair shots soon ensue. Terry suplexes Snuka back in. Hansen vs. Terry now. Hip toss. Collision and both men down.

 

Dory in. Snuka in. Dory hits a back suplex on Snuka. The big butterfly suplex. Backdrop over the top rope. Hansen in. Lariato!! Terry charges the ring.

 

Ummmm, WHAT THE FUCK, Snuka pins Dory. Holy shit. I haven't seen Dory eat a pin, like ever ever. And this means that the results, which have Funks winning this match are wrong! Thesz clearly raises Snuka and Hansen's arms. Wow, Dory eats a pin, I've seen everything now.

 

This was really well worked and very good action.

 

***3/4

[JerryvonKramer]

Last four matches before I do pass out.

 

Dory Funk Jr vs. Blackjack Lanza (12/13/78)

 

Believe we miss the first couple of minute of this, but get most of it. Lanza is a more spry figure than Mulligan, tall, but same sort of weight class as Dory. Presently, Dory has a leg lock on him. Moves over to a headlock. Leans his weight on this headlock. Lanza struggles and grunts. Tries to get Dory into a pinning predicament. We get a clip. Dory is setting up for spinning toehold, elbow to groin, hamstring snap. But Lanza applies the claw! The claw! With the gloved hand. This I've always thought it a pretty lame move. Things look bleak for Dory. He's already got his head plastered because this is not long after the Sheik / Abby encounter days earlier. But Dory manages to get free and applies the spinning toe hold and Lanza submits.

 

This was a short one, we only lost about two minutes through clipping, but it was still short. Dory out wrestling Lanza as his finishing move comes out on top.

 

**

 

Dory Funk Jr vs. Abdullah the Butcher (6/29/80)

 

This is actually from Toronto, but has Japanese commentary. Ernie Ladd and The Sheik are both there too. Ladd is wagging a finger at Dory which allows Abby a sneak ambush.

 

Not long before Abby is bleeding here just from kicks to his cut up forehead. Dory in with nasty shots. Wow, he suplexes the big man! Elbow drop. And again, and again. This is your spirited brawling Dory. Forearm smash. And again. Sleeper. Abby is bleeding badly from the forehead. There are Canadian sailors in the front row. Abby breaks with a palm to the throat. Headbutt. Dumps him onto the ramp. Big ramp in Toronto. Uppercuts and forearm smashes from Dory. As they brawl in the ramp, the ref calls a no contest. Dory is intent to beat on Abby as the ref stops him and Abby just leaves.

 

Not bad at all, but a bit too short to go much higher than ...

 

**1/2

 

Dory Funk Jr vs. Abdullah the Butcher (4/27/81)

 

Another new one. Looks like it will be as shot as the last one. Dory is spirited once again. Abby in his black trousers here. This was the semi final match for the NWA International Title, which of course Dory would go on to win in the final against his brother.

 

Dory gives Abby four straight elbow drops at one point and seems really up for this. Terry comes down to ringside to ward off Brody who has come as backup for

Abby. Brody knees Dory in the back as well as the ref, which results in an instant DQ. Dory progresses to the final, but he's been hurt by Brody. His back took Brody's full weight on the knee, so it seemed to be very inured, Terry is on hand to check on him. Didn't care for that finish, but some neat stuff before hand. About the same as last match.

 

**1/2

 

Dory Funk Jr vs. Bruiser Brody (10/26/82)

 

Uploader has this slightly mislabelled as being from November. Brody is one of Dory's best singles opponents, believe it or not, their 81 brawl is really good. So high hopes for this. Brody comes in with the huss huss taunts. He's international champ here.

 

Dory badly needs a haircut here, and so looks more dorky than normal. Stupid test of strength spot, why would chessmaster Dory accept that challenge with such a big man? Brody dumps him. Outside and he mashes about six chairs on him. Dory posts him. Brody has colour now from that. Dory goes for a suplex. Blocked. Gut wrench suplex. Hits. Boot to the face by Brody. Snap are by Dory. Uppercuts. Boot by Brody. Standing powerslam. Elbow drop. Cover gets two. Uppercut by Dory. Goes for a piledriver, no dice. Bites by Brody. Double ax-handle from the top. Decent heat sequence for Brody this. Splash. Dory gets foot to the ropes. That's what four years of being NWA champ teaches you.

 

Spinning toe hold! Rolling cradle. Two only. Action goes outside and of course it's the crushing inevitability of the double count out. Brody attacks with chairs. Chair duel now. Brody attacks young boys. Brawling over the arena now. Dory gets colour.

 

This was not up to their 81 match, but Brody always sold for Dory because he respected him. Some good stuff.

 

***

[JerryvonKramer]

Dates for remaining Dory matches from new uploads (for my own reference)

Dory Funk Jr and Masanori Toguchi vs. Abdullah The Butcher and Roger Kirby (7/26/79)
Dory Funk Jr. vs. The Sheik (12/1/79)
Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody and Alexis Smirnoff (10/24/81)
Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh and Umanosuke Ueda (11/27/81)
Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/8/81)
Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh and Mike Shaw (11/25/84)
Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu (11/28/84)
Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura (12/4/84)
Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody and Jimmy Snuka (2/12/87)
Dory Funk Jr., Giant Baba and Andre the Giant vs. Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (2/29/92)

[JerryvonKramer]

For the next hour and a half I'm going to complete the Funks vs. Baba and Jumbo series. For my money one of the best tag match ups in wrestling history. They kind of met each other every year in the RWTL, so always a special occasion.

For fans of snow flakes, just a reminder of my ratings for the other matches in this series:


Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Tomomi Tsuruta (10/09/73) ***3/4
Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (03/13/75) ****3/4
Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/15/78) ****1/2
Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (11/30/79) ****1/2

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/11/80) ***

I'd been putting the 77 match off for some time, but with the emergence of the 81 one, I want to complete the set. Reviewing forthcoming.

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/14/77)

 

Funks work over Jumbo's arm to start. Greco-Roman knuckle locks by both Funks. They aren't just working his arm, but on his shoulder joint, trying to separate it. Double chicken wing by Terry. Dory's uppercuts are really connecting here, which is always nice to see. Hammerlock by Terry. Double forearm smash, a Funk special. Several more minutes of arm work, Jumbo is getting frustrated. Terry nails a side salto. Jumbo reverses a gut wrench suplex for a hope spot. Cut off with a headlock. Dory comes in busting out strikes and uppercuts, Irish whip into Baba's big boot by Jumbo and there's our transition.

 

Dory is Funk in Peril for a while -- match lags a bit here -- but he gets a tag and Terry comes in raging on Baba. Ever wily, he hits a slam, wriggles out of the spinning toe hold attempt and rolls over to tag in Jumbo. Terry goes for the big butterfly, but Jumbo powers out of it with a back drop, that was great struggle. He works Terry's arm some now. We're around the twenty minute mark and this is some fierce arm work. Baba goes to the top and hits a double ax-handle. Then Jumbo hits an elbow on the top. Massive chest smacking chops from Terry now and three headbutts to come back. But Jumbo goes back to the arm. Baba comes in and dives on the arm with an arm take down. Must hurt. Natives have cut this ring off now. Terry is already the third person to be "in peril" in this match, but this stretch is extended. This is all fun stuff, with Terry trying various escape attempts but cut off every time.

 

Dory comes in now though and gets Jumbo in his weird high Boston crab before turning it into a half crab. Indian deathlock now. Funks have switched focus to the leg. Terry back in. Takes over the Indian deathlock. What's amazing is that The Funks have near identical move sets but are two totally different workers. Dory comes in to block an escape attempt. Tags in and out now. Double Indian deathlock! Elbow drops into the groin by Dory, that's one of the setups for ... Spinning toehold! Baba comes in to break.

 

Another type of leg lock from Dory now. As the ref's back is turned Terry sneaks in and drags Jumbo back to the middle. Hamstring snap by Dory, another set up for ... No, back to the Indian deathlock. STF. As Dory transitions into a headlock Jumbo sells the leg some more, good long term selling.

 

He manages to get the tag, and Baba hits swinging neck breakers on both Funks. Drop kick in Dory, two count only. Terry grabs Baba and slams him on the table. He's getting angry. Baba into a headlock on Dory now. But Terry comes in and they hit a double suplex on the giant. Abdominal stretch for the fifth "in peril" sequence of this match (one on each Funk, two on Jumbo and now one on Baba). Side Russian leg sweep by Baba gets him the chance to tag out.

 

Belly to belly suplex by Jumbo! Two count. Wow that was cool, don't see Jumbo do that one too much. Side salto. Another two. Turns Dory over for the Boston crab. Terry in to punch him in the face. Big vertical suplex by Dory into the ring. Terry in. Piledriver! Goes for another but gets backdropped out of the ring. Dory across to protect. Neck breaker by Jumbo. Piledriver. Body slam. Baba from the top with a stomp. Terry sells this like death. Big uppercut by Jumbo. Cool spot now as Jumbo goes for a second piledriver, Terry half reverses but carries him over to Dory who gives him a back suplex. Side salto. Slam. Knee drop from top. Awesome offensive sequence from Dory, that side salto was hit with tremendous velocity.

 

Back slide by Jumbo gets a cheeky two, Dory misses an elbow and Baba is in with the big boot. Announcer gives the five minute call. Side salto by Dory again. That's such a cool move. Baba with chops now. Terry in and he wants to do the Texan jabs. Gets kicked over the top rope. Comedy selling by Terry back in the ring now. Cover gets two. Double big boot. Terry is in trouble here. High drop kick by Jumbo. Very close near fall. Dory in. Tiger knee by Jumbo. Piledriver by Dory on Baba. Uppercuts. Terry in. Slug fest. Snapmare by Baba, but the time expires.

 

This was a long match during which there was never really any sense that either team would lose. What we got was a whole loads on "in peril" stretches and an escalation to the big bombs towards the end. It's very very solid work but was a bit to your turn, my turn and a meandering for me. Didn't tell any story beyond "here are two great teams". Then again, when the work is this good, it's almost enough to compensate.

 

****

 

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta (12/8/81)

 

VQ is not crystal for this, but I'm not complaining. I'm grateful to however many traders copied it from tape to tape in order for me to be sitting in front of it right now. Might even be a handheld. Seem to be some school girls in the crowd. First fifteen mins or so involve natives working over Dory. He manages to escape eventually with a shin breaker. Terry comes in with a sleeper on Jumbo. Then an abdominal stretch. This early portion of the match hasn't been the most engaging. Dory gets Jumbo into a pinning predicament that has him doing head stands. Hip toss by Jumbo. Backslide by Dory. Terry back in. Chop soey now. Dory wants to clam Terry down. Jumbo hits a tiger knee to tag out. Big boot and neck breaker by Baba. Roly poly around the ring now. And that results in the first fall.

 

Piledriver by Jumbo on Terry. Back suplex by Jumbo. Cover gets two only. Some more offense by Jumbo now. Backbreaker and holds Terry across the knee. Long Funk in

Peril stretch this, double suplex by natives. And I believe that's 1-1.

 

Jumbo with a butterfly suplex now. He's worked a lot of this match by himself. Dory in. Uppercuts. Big butterfly. Match seems to hit some down time now as both teams regroup. Baba vs Dory as we restart. Dory catches the big boot and goes straight into a spinning toehold, which Baba counters. Neat sequence.

 

Action spills outside and we go to a double count out. Actually, no we don't, ref restarts the match for some reason. Jumbo gets a Boston Crab on Dory. Baba in and eats the double forearm smash. Terry knocks himself out in a comedy spot with a headbutt. These 1981 Japanese fans with the camcorder found that really funny. Dory in with an Indian deathlock. Baba lands on top of him going for a slam. Jumbo in. Crazy strength now as he gives Dory three dead lift backbreakers in the Steve Williams fashion. Terry in with a leg drop. A lot of rope running now. No idea where Baba has gone, he appears to be missing from the apron. Atomic drop by Jumbo sends Terry packing outside. Now Baba reappears. Piledriver. Cover gets two. Dory in. Double suplex on Baba gets two. Slug fest now as Jumbo come in vs. Terry. Series of nearfalls as the bell goes for a time limit draw.

 

This match match is closer to the disappointing 1980 match than to their 70s classics. It felt a bit too stop, start for me. Although there were some cool moments, and the ten minutes after the restart were better than the forty odd minutes that preceded them. Better than 1980 match but not quite as good as 73, so all in, about ...

 

***1/2

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory Funk Jr. vs. The Sheik (12/1/79)

 

This comes directly after the Terry / Jumbo vs. Abby / Oki tag on the video, but didn't take place on the same day, even though the video makes it seem like they did. Abby is there and him and sheik ambush Dory on the way to the ring. So he's bleeding even before the match begins. This pisses Dory off, so he comes in fighting. Back and forth uppercuts and punches, before Sheik dumps Dory. Abby sneaks in an elbow drop on the floor, and I think the ref ejects him for that. Abby leaves escorted by a lot of young boys. But ... Sheik pins Dory!

 

Oh my gosh. A SECOND Dory pinfall finish on this footage. You never see Dory getting pinned ever and now I've seen it twice in two days. He really is busted open heavily here. Oh right, it's 1-0, they are working two out of three falls. Sheik is just stabbing this cut with the pencil. Dory is bleeding a lot here. Sheik is cheating so openly I wonder if the ref is blind or if this is no DQ. Fans are throwing trash into the ring. Terry who has his head bandaged has come out. Jumbo and others try to prevent him getting in the ring. Abby strolls back to ringside, the bell has gone and ... Has Dory somehow won the second fall?

 

Either way, Sheik alternately kicks Terry while stabbing Dory.

 

And oh .... Wow. Sheik takes a pinfall!! It's 2-1 Dory wins. How often did Sheik ever take a pin?

 

Jumbo is in the ring now two and he and Funks battle Abby and Sheik.

 

Well, well, Dory and Sheik both taking pins in the same match. Sheik didn't even take a pin from Andre in Detroit.

 

Seen it all now, I'm half expecting the uploader to find a match where we finally see Mil Mascaras take a pin. This was your usual Sheik / Abby style chaos, but Dory's blade job here looks like he's had a bullet in the head. After the match, the fans surround the ring and reach towards the Funks and Jumbo, they shake hands with as many of them as they can.

 

Awesomely cool to see this.

 

***

[JerryvonKramer]

Dory vs. Bock from 1980, 30 mins:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQIJkX0KUjE

 

From "the man".