Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling

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By ALEX MARVEZ
Scripps Howard News Service
Thursday, June 21, 2007

World Wrestling Entertainment's new DVD release "The Most Powerful Families in Wrestling'' wouldn't be complete without a segment showcasing the Funks.

Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk remain the only brother tandem to have become world heavyweight champions, with each holding the National Wrestling Alliance title at different times during the 1960s and 1970s. The Funks followed in the footsteps of their late father Dory, another successful headliner who segued into running an NWA territory in Amarillo, Texas.

Other promotion owners like Vince McMahon, Fritz von Erich and Stu Hart have showcased their children as top talent. But Dory Funk Jr. said being the son of a prominent grappler wasn't easy.

"There was extreme pressure," said Funk Jr., who debuted in 1963 shortly after graduating from West Texas State University. "I was in the unusual position of being the child of a legend coming into the business. Not a lot of kids have to go through that.

"My father had a certain way of bringing me through that. In front of the other wrestlers I didn't receive compliments. If I came out of the ring and he said nothing, I knew I did a heck of job. If he corrected me, it would come right in front of the other wrestlers and it would come strong. By doing that psychologically, he would jump on me so hard that the guys in the dressing room would get behind me and say, 'Hey kid, you're not that bad,' and support me. It was never a case of, 'Look at my kid and see how good he's doing.'

"With my personality and my brother's personality, it worked out well. It may not work with all kids but it did with us."

Dory Funk Jr. was quickly promoted to the top in Amarillo, even winning a regional version of a "world" title just months after his debut. But Funk Jr. quickly proved worthy of the push before capturing the then-prestigious NWA crown from Gene Kiniski in 1969.

Funk Jr. held the strap for almost four-and-a-half years before losing it to Harley Race, ending the second-longest title reign in the NWA's 59-year history.

"I absolutely loved the time I had as NWA champion," said Funk Jr., who did allow the only major drawback was the strain constant travel placed upon his family life. "I traveled to all the different territories and worked with the very best (wrestlers). What an opportunity to learn the wrestling business!"

Now, the 65-year-old Funk is teaching that business through the Funking Conservatory he formed with wife Marti in Ocala, Fla. Funk Jr. has helped train the current world champions for WWE Smackdown (Adam "Edge" Copeland) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (Kurt Angle) as well as other stars like Christian Cage, Mickie James and Amy "Lita" Dumas.

"At our school, you get a perspective on all the major companies here and in Japan and the independent promotions," said Funk Jr., who still even wrestles on a sporadic basis. "It's a tough road for them, but if you make it to the big time, there are huge rewards."

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Funk Jr. hasn't grown bitter about the direction of today's wrestling product compared to his heyday. Following his NWA title run, Funk Jr. continued to wrestle while also becoming a matchmaker and even a promotion owner when he and brother Terry took control of the Amarillo territory upon their father's death in 1973.

Funk Jr. grappled in numerous regional territories and WWE, including a bout at Wrestlemania II in 1986, before winding down his in-ring career in the late 1980s working in Japan, where he and Terry hold legendary status from numerous overseas tours. Such experience helps gives Funk Jr. a different perspective toward WWE's national expansion in the mid-1980s that ran almost every other promotion out of business.

"Wrestling in this country is built on free enterprise just like anything else," Funk Jr. said. "With the territories in the old days, promoters were protected and looked after each other. They fought opposition _ hard.

"Then the business changed, and when it did, it changed for the better for sure for some people. There are fewer places to work right now and make a living than before. But the people that are working are making much more money, are fabulous athletes and are doing a great job."

For more information on the Funking Conservatory, visit www.dory-funk.com. For information on The Most Powerful Families in Wrestling DVD, visit www.wwe.com/shop.

KONNAN, KILLINGS QUIT: Carlos "Konnan" Ashenoff and Ron Killings quit TNA Wrestling just before Tuesday night's television taping and will now work for the AAA promotion in Mexico, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported.

Ashenoff had recently expressed his frustration about backstage "politics" in TNA holding back the LAX tag-team he managed as well as the promotion's refusal to help pay for his pending kidney transplant. Killings, an original TNA member when the promotion launched in 2002, had faded from a prominent role as other former WWE grapplers were hired to fill top spots.

Q&A

-- Q: What is your take on the (new) Vince McMahon storyline? _ Bob Watters, Littleton, Colorado.

-- A: WWE already was pushing the envelope when pretending that McMahon was killed when his limousine was "intentionally" blown up on last week's Monday Night Raw. The promotion even held a 10-bell salute formerly reserved for the real-life deaths of its performers on Smackdown.

But the angle became even more tasteless after renowned valet and WWE Hall of Fame inductee "Sensational" Sherri Martel (real name Sherri Schrull) died last Friday from unknown causes at the age of 49 in McCalla, Ala. Rather than scrap the storyline, WWE's telecasts and internet site have actually portrayed the deaths of both McMahon and Martel as legitimate. Ugh.

More of the Dory Funk Jr. interview can be found at www.wrestlingobserver.com. Questions can be sent to Alex Marvez c/o the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33301, or e-mailed to amarvez@sun-sentinel.com. Please include your full name and city of residence. Because of volume, no phone calls will be accepted and letters will not receive a written reply.