Pro wrestling legend Dory Funk Jr. dead at 85

Wrestling great Dory Funk Jr.died at the age of 85, the WWE announced on Tuesday. Dory Funk Jr.

had a decades-long career wrestling after following in the footsteps of his father Dory Funk Sr.and was the brother of the legendary Terry Funk. No cause of death was announced and WWE said that it was “saddened” by the loss of the wrestling icon. Dory Funk Jr.

was born in Hammond, Ind., and he and his brother became stars in the wrestling world in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, wrestling across the globe, including regularly in Japan. He won the NWA World Heavy Championship in Feb 1969, when it was the most prestigious title in the industry, and held it for four-plus years for the second-longest uninterrupted reign in the belt’s history“From the Double Cross Ranch to the @WWE Hall of Fame, Dory’s style inspired countless performers in our industry,” WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said in a post on X.“Whether it was at WrestleMania 2, WCW, ECW, or the dozens of NWA-affiliated promotions, his travels across North America and Asia were a part of the early blueprint that helped build this business into a global phenomena.

A hard-nosed and fierce competitor, his rugged in-ring style was only eclipsed by the decades he spent training athletes to perform in the squared circle he loved so much.  “My thoughts and those of the entire [WWE] Universe are with his loved ones during this difficult time.”Dory Funk Jr.was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2006 and WWE inducted him, and his brother, into its Hall of Fame in 2009. He went on to open up the Funking Conservatory wrestling school with his wife, Marti, which would go on to train WWE superstars like Kurt Angle, Edge, Christian, The Hardy Boyz, Mark Henry and Mickie James.Wrestler Nattie Niedhart wrote in a post on X that Dory Funk Jr.’s legacy “will live on forever” and that her grandfather, legendary Canadian wrestler and promoter Stu Hart, had said that he was “hi...