To long time fans of professional wrestling, Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk were one of the greatest teams of brothers of all-time. Together, they held 13 tag team championships, defeating some of the most legendary tag teams of their day to win and retain their championships. They were also the first ever winners of the Real World Tag League tournament held annually by All Japan pro Wrestling. After winning the tournament the first year it was held, the Funk Brothers went on to win it two additional times, a feat which has been equalled only by the team of Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa, but never exceeded.
Not only an outstanding team, both men have also held numerous singles championships as well. Dory and Terry Funk, to date, are the only brothers to each hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, each holding the title for a prolonged period of time back when it was the most prestigious title in wrestling.
The Funks were also instrumental in building the sport of professional wrestling in Japan. In the early days of Japanese pro wrestling, American wrestlers were always cast as the villains and their Japanese opponents the heroes. However, the Funks were so popular in japan, they eventually earned the respect and admiration of the fans, and they were the earliest of the American wrestlers to be cheered by Japanese fans. In fact, the Funks were so well respected in Japan, they eventually became bookers for Giant Baba’s All Japan Pro Wrestling.
During the time the Funk brothers were booking matches, there was a heated feud between All Japan and New Japan. Both promotions were in their infancy and each was attempting to become the premiere wrestling company in the country. All Japan’s Giant Baba and New Japan’s Antonio Inoki were at war with each other, each trying to outdo the other. If one company had a hot star, the other would attempt to steal him away with offers of big paychecks.
In the early 1980s, New Japan was gaining an edge over All Japan. Terry Funk knew they had to do something unprecedented to gain an edge and he would do that in a singles match he had against Abdullah the Butcher. At the end of the match, Abby took out a fork and severely gashed Terry’s arm, causing him to bleed profusely. Fans had never seen such a graphic display of violence in a wrestling match at that time, and it became a huge story. Many people point to that moment as the birth of “hardcore” wrestling. Naturally, New Japan couldn’t let this go unanswered, and answer they did, by offering Abdullah the Butcher a huge contract to jump ship to their company.
All Japan and the Funks decided to fight back. They gave a big salary to one of New Japan’s rising stars, an American wrestler named Stan Hansen. Hansen was becoming a big star for Inoki, but would achieve his greatest fame in All Japan. Not content to stop with Brody, All Japan also brought in another American who would become a super star in Japan, Bruiser Brody.
The Funk brothers, in their roles as bookers, had big plans for Brody. The NWA had recently reclaimed the NWA international Championship, a title that was mostly defended in japan, and were looking for a new champion. As All Japan was in charge of the tournament, it was up to the Funk brothers to book the tournament. Brody was the man they chose to win the belt, booking him to defeat Dory Funk, Jr. in the finals of the tournament. Unfortunately, their plans were halted when Brody suffered an injury and was unable to compete. As a result, Dory won the title by forfeit.
Because fans were so excited to see the confrontation between Dory Funk, Jr. and Bruiser Brody, their was a huge sense of disappointment when the match didn’t happen. Dory and Terry knew they would have to do something special for Dory’s first title defense to make up for the lack of a match with Brody. With very little other options to make a match that fans would consider a big deal, the Funks booked a match nobody thought would ever happen: Dory Funk, Jr. vs Terry Funk.
For the vast majority of their careers at this point, the Funks had not only been brothers, but close allies. When Dory was NWA World Champion, potential challengers would often have to wrestle Terry before getting their title shot, with Terry’s role being to “soften up” the opponent for his brother. When not setting opponents up for Dory, Terry was teaming with Dory instead, the two men making a formidable and successful tag team. The thought that they would compete against each other after all this time was almost impossible to believe, so closely had the two men’s careers been intertwined. It was a match most thought would never happen, and if not for the necessity of coming up with a big match to compete with rival New Japan, it never would have.
The two brothers and partners only competed against each other in one match ever, for Dory’s NWA international Championship, on April 30th, 1980. As it was the only time this match would ever take place, neither man held anything back, as both men wrestled their hearts out for almost an hour. It was a back and forth match, each man punishing the other with a series of grinding holds and submission moves. Terry even used psychology on his brother, at one point faking an injury. Dory, concerned for his little brother’s well being, was suckered in and caught in Terry’s trademark spinning toe hold.
Sadly, the emotion of the match didn’t turn out to be as intense in reality as it appeared in theory. Yes, it was a great wrestling match and both men gave it their all in the ring. It was hard hitting, intense and punishing. Terry Funk would go on to call it the hardest match of his career. however, the fans didn’t quite buy into it. During the match, fans realized they respected and loved both men so much, they didn’t want to see either man lose. They also didn’t completely accept the idea that terry would challenge Dory for a title, when terry had happily spent so many times helping to keep previous championships around Dory’s waist.
If the fans in attendance didn’t get behind the match quite as much as expected, nobody told the Funks, as they tore into each other for almost an hour of action. After each man had punished the other repeatedly, Dory finally got the win, pinning Terry after reversing a sunset flip attempt and gaining the victory in his first ever defense of the NWA International title.
Dory Funk, Jr. vs Terry Funk is a match that has gained in popularity as time went on. With the passing of years, fans have been able to distance themselves from the implausibility of the match ever happening. At the time, it seemed somewhat unrealistic and the Funks were so popular together, nobody really wanted to see them compete as rivals. However, after 30 years, fans can now look back and appreciate the match for it’s in ring action and the performances of two of the all-time greats of professional wrestling.
Because of a fluke injury, the question “What would happen if Dory Funk, Jr. ever wrestled Terry Funk?” is not just a hypothetical situation to be debated by fans and students of wrestling. It is one of the greatest “what if?” situations that actually occurred and the answer is, fans would be treated to a terrific match up.