The following was transcribed by Andy J of www.wrestlingweekly.com:
On August 7th, Wrestling Weekly host Doc Young and Les Thatcher were joined this week by featured guest former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Dory Funk Jr..
Wrestling Weekly airs every Tuesday at 8pm Eastern at
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Doc and Les discussed the following with Dory Funk Jr.:
– Travelling to and from different territories
– NWA The Untold Story book, in which the author refers to Dory Funk Jr. as ‘Dunk‘. Dory says he was called this nickname through his high school days and was called it by his brother Terry and his dad.
– Les says he misses his and Dory’s era of wrestling, concluding that it was fun. Funk agrees and also spoke in some detail about the money wrestlers earnt saying, “there were some people making good money back in those days…you had top guys in territories making a good living…â€
– Les and Dory spoke again about travelling, with Funk highlighting, “…the first time I got in the business my father told me you ride with somebody and pay them trans…everybody always paid their trans…â€
– Doc spoke about Terry Funk’s autobiography and noted that Dory’s father was born in Hammond, Indiana – a place where Doc says he grew up in. Dory Funk continues by saying his father was on the Amateur wrestling team along with Roy Shire.
– Doc noted that Dory moved to Texas when he was six and became an All-Star college football player at West Texas State and said a lot of wrestlers came out of this college. He asks what was the reason(s) why the team/college produced pro-wrestlers. Dory says, “I think it was the influence of my father in the area…†and noted it wasn’t easy to break into pro-wrestling back then. Funk names the wrestlers from West Texas State “Tully Blanchard, Tito Santana, Bobby Duncum, Dick Murdoch, Ted DiBiaseâ€
– Dory then spoke about who trained at his father’s ranch with some of the wrestlers named were Bob Geigel and AWA owner/promoter Verne Gagne. Funk continues by saying he got the opportunity to work against great workers like Sonny Myers, Pat O‘Connor, Verne Gagne, Fritz Von Erich and Mike DiBiase. He also spoke about Lou Thesz wrestling in Amarillo.
– Dory Funk noted he wrestled ’broadways’ more than 3 or 4 times a week as NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
– Dory highlights that pro-wrestling gave him “a healthy life, a fun life…one I enjoyed very muchâ€
– First question from the Wrestling Weekly listeners in the chat room is how does Dory rate his matches against Johnny Weaver. Funk replies talking about him being beaten in a match in Tampa and himself and Johnny selling out all over North Carolina in 1971.
– Dory is asked is what lead to Dory’s appearance at the 1996 Royal Rumble. Dory Funk says that JJ Dillon asked him to be a part of the event. Funk says he has enjoyed every time he’s worked for Vince McMahon and he had a good time at the Rumble.
– A question from the chat room asked is, “what does he think of TNA and will it ever be more competitive with WWE?” Dory said he trained Kurt Angle, Christian, Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin and that anything can happen in the wrestling business and highlights TNA’s strengths as a company. Les asks if Dory would go in a different direction to WWE in terms of storylines.
Dory Funk replies noting “I’d probably go with my own direction, it would be different to what either one are doing and would try and make my matches more about what’s happening between the wrestlers…â€.
– Dory speaks about his training school, “The Funkin’ Dojo†in some detail and that he “absolutely loves training†and notes that wrestlers who have come through the program have done well with WWE & TNA. Dory Funk says that his promotion’s matches are available to watch online at: http://www.dory-funk.com/
Dory is then thanked for being a guest and you can find out more about Dory at his official website: http://www.dory-funk.com/
Pitbull #1 Gary Wolf will be next week’s featured guest.
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