[1974-01-27-AJPW] Jack Brisco vs Dory Funk Jr

[paul sosnowski]

Jack Brisco defends the NWA World Title in a 2/3 falls match.   Many places list this as 1/29, but that was the TV airdate.    Talk about it here

[Jetlag]

This is legendary match for... some reason... to certain crowds... aaaaaanyways. It's not a bad match at all, and it is fascinating that this kind of seemed to set the stage for the elaborate epics of the 90s, as this is basically a series of control segments with increasingly complex cut offs, even though the body of the match doesn't have a great arc. Some of the matwork holds up and some doesn't. I've used Dory Funk, Jr. as a dartboard before and this match... will never convince me to change my opinion on him as he was full swing in his dullness. There was a huge difference in the depth and gravity that Brisco was able to convey with his selling compared to his robotlike opponent. There is also some armwork even though both guys focus on leg based submissions. I won't call this a snoozefest but it's striking how much below the british style this is. If anyone brought the NWA titlematch style wrestling to it's peak it was Terry Funk.