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Funk-Brisco was a wrestling rivalry for the ages

Posted: Apr 6th 2020 By: Mike Mooneyham

Few would argue that Dory Funk Jr. and Jack Brisco were two of the greatest wrestlers to ever step into a ring.

Dory Jr. boasted one of professional wrestling’s most celebrated NWA world heavyweight title reigns from 1969-73.

Funk, 79, is still active in the business, running a successful wrestling school called The Funking Conservatory in Ocala, Fla., where he has trained wrestlers for three decades. Among those who have sat under his learning tree include the likes of Kurt Angle, Edge (Adam Copeland), Christian (Jay Reso), Mark Henry, Matt and Jeff Hardy, and Lita.

Funk and brother Terry, who were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, hold the distinction of being the only brother duo to ever hold the NWA world heavyweight title.

Jack Brisco, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 68, also boasted stellar credentials:

• A three-time state high school champion in wrestling-rich Oklahoma.

• An All-American and NCAA heavyweight champ at Oklahoma State where he lost only one match during his career.

• A two-time NWA world heavyweight champion in the professional ranks who was regarded as one of the greatest technical wrestlers of our time.
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Jack Brisco (left) and Dory Funk Jr. square off. Provided photo/Chris Swisher Collection

With his brother Jerry, the two garnered a number of titles from Texas to Florida to the Carolinas.

But Dory Funk Jr. and Jack Brisco were bookends in one of the greatest programs in wrestling history. The near-mythical Funk-Brisco matches will go down in wrestling lore as among the greatest ever, only sharing the rarified air with the Ric Flair-Ricky Steamboat classics during the 1970s and ’80s.

“He was one of the greatest workers and the greatest champions of all time. I sincerely mean that,” Brisco once said of Funk. “All the promoters loved him, all the boys thought a lot of him. He was always 100 percent business and did it with great dignity.”

“I must have wrestled Jack 300 times and they were all a pleasure to work,” said Funk. “He was the smoothest worker I’ve ever been in the ring with. He could do anything that was asked of him. He could accomplish anything that you wanted him to accomplish. He had that fabulous background, along with the people behind him. I never had a bad match with Jack, as a heel or a babyface. He was just a terrific worker.”

A recent vintage photo of the two in action elicited tremendous response from readers of this column. Two longtime wrestling pundits weighed in on the conversation, and agreed to offer their insightful analysis of the Funk-Brisco rivalry by answering five questions.

Larry Hamel is a veteran of 48 years in the newspaper business, working for the Orlando Sentinel, New York Daily News and the Chicago Sun-Times. He has followed the business since 1967; his first paid gig as a writer was penning features for the weekly “Milo’s Mat” program in Orlando, Fla.

Chris Smith is a professional guitarist in Myrtle Beach with the award-winning Chocolate Chip and Company Band. A fan since 1973, Smith wrestled and managed from 1996-98.

What do you think contributed to the great success of that series?

Larry Hamel: ”‘First and foremost, Dory Funk Jr. and Jack Brisco were superb technical wrestlers. The end of Brisco’s reign as NWA champion in 1975 pretty much signaled the finish for what I call the ‘Grappling Era’ of professional wrestling, the style which featured predominantly worked holds spiced with flurries of strikes that had been the norm in the business since the time of Jim Londos, who had ratcheted up the theatrics in the presentation of wrestling during the Great Depression.

“The matches between Funk and Brisco did not have the same ‘babyface vs. heel’ dynamic that was the norm at the time. The feel going in was more along the lines of a boxing match in which the established credible champion was challenged by the worthy No. 1 contender. Their actual matches weren’t what Good Ole J.R. would call ‘slobberknockers’ in that neither was the out-and-out cheating heel, so the overriding emphasis was wrestling.

“They were more likely to grab a hold rather than punch or kick, and both were masters of that art. Both had legitimate athletic credentials. Funk had been a decorated lineman during his college football career at West Texas State. Brisco had been an all-state running back during his high school days in Oklahoma, good enough to be offered a scholarship by Coach Bud Wilkinson’s powerhouse Sooner program. Jack also was the NCAA wrestling champion at 191 pounds in 1965, his senior year at Oklahoma. When their intense rivalry began in earnest in 1970, both men were in their athletic primes, with Funk at 30 years old and Brisco 29.

“They were well-matched in size: Funk at 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds and Brisco at 6-0, 235. But while both men were excellent athletes, they were a study in contrast in terms of body language and facial demeanor. Funk was longer and leaner with, frankly, almost no muscular definition. His face almost never changed expression. No matter how frantic the action might become, Funk always was the picture of composure.

“A perfect example of Dory Jr.’s unflappable nature can be seen in a photo Mike Mooneyham posted on Facebook that prompted this discussion. Dory is being flung violently by Jack in an arm-drag takedown, yet from the look on his face, one would think he was out on a Sunday drive. Brisco, on the other hand, had far better optics. While Funk’s hairline was receding, Jack had a full head of wavy black hair topping an expressive face with near-matinee idol looks. Jack’s physique was more chiseled, with bulging pecs and legs like oak trees. When he made his ring entrance, the teen-aged girls in the crowd squealed with delight as if they had seen John, Paul, George or Ringo. I’ll never forget the reaction of my middle-aged mom the first time she saw Jack Brisco. ‘My goodness,’ she exclaimed, ‘What a handsome man!’”

Chris Smith: “Complementary styles. Jack was a brilliant collegiate wrestler, an NCAA champion who was not even taken down once during his senior year. Ric Flair has often talked about Jack’s uncanny sense of balance and coordination. Dory Jr., while not possessing Jack’s amateur accolades, was trained and polished by his father to a high degree of consistent excellence.

“Together they created magic. Just as Lennon and McCartney together made 10+10=50, Jack and Dory had a synergy that brought out the best in both men. They trusted each other implicitly. Each knew exactly where he was supposed to be in the ring at exactly the right moment, this came not only from their skills but from the experienced garnered in the many, many times they faced each other. The boys didn’t all come from the back to watch the matches just to see the flawless execution, they came to watch the perfect timing Jack and Dory Jr. had together. It was a rare sight indeed.”

Where does that series rank among the greatest series of all time?

Larry Hamel: “I am biased, having grown up watching Jack Brisco wrestle in Florida (his home base), where his quest for Funk’s NWA title was the overriding storyline of 1970 through ’73, but I rate this series as the best. It was presented as legitimate athletic competition between the two most-believable wrestlers of that time frame.

“Their matches were incredible and Jack and Dory Jr. worked against each other regularly through Funk’s title reign, 1969-73, and Brisco’s time as belt-holder, 1973-75. Memorable rivalries that I witnessed that might be in the conversation were Eddie Graham vs. The Great Malenko in the 1960s and Dusty Rhodes vs. Terry Funk in the 1970s through the early ’80s. But those were babyface vs. heel ‘blood feuds,’ not a grappling-centric series featuring technical skill and athleticism.”

Chris Smith: “It’s the greatest pure wrestling rivalry ever from a technical standpoint. I have the utmost respect for both Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat, their matches together are true greatness. I give the nod to Jack and Dory Jr. because Steamboat (although a tremendous wrestler) was using a lot of martial arts based moves and not so much technical wrestling.

“What is not as well known is that Mike Graham and Dory Jr. had matches just as strong as Jack and Dory Jr.’s, including the best single match I’ve ever seen. I give the nod again to Jack and Dory Jr. only because they wrestled each other all of the world while Mike and Dory Jr. worked almost exclusively in Florida.”

How did that series differ from the big rivalries of today?

Larry Hamel: “The obvious difference is that the style of wrestling used by Dory Funk Jr. and Jack Brisco required far less obvious cooperation than the show of acrobatics we see today. Funk was not a high flier. Brisco had a great drop kick, but was not by any means an acrobat.

“I do not watch a whole lot of modern wrestling, but a match I saw in the TNA promotion between Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe had the same grappling-centric excellence that typified Funk vs. Brisco.”

Chris Smith: “There is not a rivalry today that approaches theirs, nor could there be without drastic change to the business. At the time of their rivalry, matches were much slower paced. The NWA champion was required to be able to work a one-hour draw and Jack and Dory Jr. wrestled many such matches.

“They were more concerned with telling a story in the ring than executing some high-flying twisting insane maneuver. Sometimes it takes time for a good story to unfold. That kind of time would not be afforded them in today’s wrestling world, the fans would get impatient and yell ‘Boring!’ seeing Jr. try for 10 minutes to escape a Brisco headlock. Their matches required pacing and timing to make changes as to who was on offense and who was on defense. The demise of kayfabe has ruined such an approach.”

Dory Funk Jr.’s four-and-a-half-year NWA world title run was one of the greatest in history. Just what kind of energy and devotion did Dory have to pull off such a title reign?

Larry Hamel: “All of the NWA champions who toured from territory to territory faced a set of challenges that taxed the body and the mind. The constant travel was a grind. The champions of that era might go to a territory and work five nights in a row, facing a new opponent in each defense. Here’s how legitimate Funk Jr. was viewed as the champion.

“I was a comic-book reader at the time and much to my surprise, in an issue of The Incredible Hulk (No. 153, July 1972), The Thing (Ben Grimm) made a reference to Funk – ‘This is the way Dory Funk Jr. always starts rasslin’ matches … and if it’s good enough for the champ … it’s good enough for ol’ Benjamin Grimm!’

“Keep in mind that Marvel Comics were published in New York, so referencing Dory over longtime and hugely popular WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino was noteworthy.”

Chris Smith: “There aren’t enough superlatives to describe Dory Jr.’s commitment to excellence. To say he was singularly focused on being the NWA champ is an understatement of vast proportions. The travel alone was grueling. Different territories all over the country as well as Japan and Australia, having to adjust his style to whoever he was wrestling that particular night.

“He didn’t have the luxury of an extended program in a relatively confined area such as the Memphis circuit. He could be wrestling Jack in Florida and within the next few of days wrestle Flair in Charlotte, Harley Race in St. Louis and Bobo Brazil in Detroit. Then to Japan to face Inoki and Baba or Canada vs. Gene Kiniski. To do that for a year is amazing. To do it for four is almost superhuman.”

Who do you consider the greatest of all time?

Larry Hamel: “I am a Florida guy at heart, so my answer is Jack Brisco. I’ve watched wrestling for more than 50 years and Brisco was the most believable wrestler I’ve seen.”

Chris Smith: “For me the greatest wrestler I have ever seen would be Harley Race. He did not have quite the technical brilliance both Jack and Dory Jr. possessed (but not too far behind), but he made up for it both with his brawling and toughness.

“Funny story, the first time I saw Harley I was maybe 11 years old. I was home watching wrestling on a Saturday afternoon and all was right with the world. The show opened with a Polynesian/Samoan/Islanders kind of team in a squash match and that was just fine with me. Then a guy with a Beautiful/Loverboy/Gorgeous type gimmick (might have been Bruce Swayze, not sure) and that was alright too. Then Harley came to the ring. I took one look and thought, ‘That man is a professional asskicker and he is very, very good at what he does.’

“At 11 years old, I knew the bar had just been raised. I made it my business from then on to make sure I was in front of the TV every time Harley came on (along with Les Thornton and Mike Graham). Met him years later and told him his match with Jack at a house show in Jacksonville, Fla., for Harley’s NWA title was one of the best I had ever seen.

“Let me close with this. If you were a promoter, there were six guys you could put together in any combination and be assured you would have an excellent match. That would be the Briscos, the Funks, Race and Mike Graham. Didn’t matter if it was Jerry vs. Race, Mike vs. Dory Jr., or Jack vs. Terry … I saw them all against each other at one time or another (except for Jack vs. Jerry) and they never failed to deliver a superb match.”