First thing’s first, Dory needed to get over in every single major market. The fans needed to buy into the idea of him as champion. And to do that he needed to beat well known people in each of those markets. I have edited these results just to pick out those of note and to comment on them briefly.
02/22 St. Louis, MO Dory Funk, Jr. beat Waldo von Erich in a Texas death match
Waldo was a big name in the mid-west and a major time heel as a goose-stepping Nazi.
02/26 Cartersville, GA Dory Funk, Jr. beat Bob Armstrong
Bob Armstrong was a legend in Georgia, and even today is remembered by many fans in that area as a hero.
03/03 Orlando, FL Dory Funk, Jr. beat Hans Schmidt
Like Waldo, a Nazi gimmick, Schmidt was one of the big-time heels of his day.
03/10 St. Louis, MO(TV) Dory Funk, Jr. beat Dick Murdoch
03/30 Topeka, KS Dory Funk, Jr. beat Dick Murdoch
Murdoch was then an up-and-comer, but still over in St. Louis at that time.
04/11 St. Louis, MO Dory Funk, Jr. beat Blackjack Lanza
Lanza was another big-time name of the period, who had had national exposure on Chicago TV managed by Bobby Heenan.
04/14 El Paso, TX Dory Funk, Jr. beat Gorgeous George, Jr.(30:00) by submission
This was Charles Phelps, not the real Gorgeous George, but nonetheless the “Toast of the Coast” was a big name in the Gulf region during the late 1960s.
04/16 Lubbock, TX Dory Funk, Jr. beat Harley Race in a 2 of 3 falls match
Harley was not yet the legend he would become, but still a significant scalp.
04/17 Amarillo, TX Dory Funk, Jr. beat Buddy Colt in a 2 of 3 falls match
Colt was a regional star.
04/22 Tampa, FL Dory Funk, Jr. beat Joe Scarpa
Scapa would go onto be Chief Jay Strongbow.
04/24 Jacksonville, FL Dory Funk, Jr. beat Great Malenko
This was Boris Malenko, Dean and Joe’s father, and a decent heel in his time.
05/02 St. Joseph, MO Dory Funk, Jr. draw Don Kent
Don Kent was a TV star and a draw with him would have meant something.
05/04 Albuquerque, NM Dory Funk, Jr. vs. Fred Blassie
Whether this was a win or draw, Blassie was a star around the country.
05/18 Toronto, Ontario Dory Funk, Jr. beat Ivan Koloff
At that time, Koloff would have been one of the biggest heels in Canada and a top draw.
05/25 St. Louis, MO(TV) Dory Funk, Jr. beat Tor Kamata
Tor Kamata was an international heel who was over in a lot of places. Think Abdullah the Butcher.
05/30 St. Joseph, MO Dory Funk, Jr. beat Pat O’Connor
O’Connor had been both the NWA and the AWA world champion a decade previously and was still a hugely respected name.
06/06 Calgary, Alberta Dory Funk, Jr. no contest with Archie Gouldie
The recently departed (RIP) Mongolian Stomper was one of the all-time big heels in Calgary, and Bret Hart put him over as the greatest of all time once on WWE Legends of Wrestling.
06/20 Atlanta, GA Dory Funk, Jr. beat Lou Thesz
Thesz had been the NWA champion for over a decade. This was probably at the Omni. This would be the equivalent of Reigns between The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin. Imagine that.
06/25 Miami, FL Dory Funk, Jr. beat Cyclon Negro with Lou Thesz as special referee
Cyclon Negro was a reasonably big star in Florida.
07/07 Calgary, Alberta Dory Funk, Jr. draw Billy Robinson
Billy Robinson was respected around the world as one of the best wrestlers in the world.
07/18 Los Angeles, CA Dory Funk, Jr. beat Fred Blassie by countout
Blassie in LA. Again, this would be like Reigns beating Mick Foley or someone like that.
08/?? Honolulu, HI Dory Funk, Jr. beat Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens was a legend, even in Honolulu. Another huge win for Dory.
08/15 Houston, TX Dory Funk, Jr. draw Johnny Valentine(60:00) in a 2 of 3 falls match
Johnny Valentine was one of the big draws of his day. Nothing says “legit” like going 60 minutes with him, let alone beating him.
08/20 Lubbock, TX Dory Funk, Jr. beat Rufus R. Jones
If you want to spend half an hour under the learning tree, just ask Dylan Hales about Rufus one day. He was over everywhere he went.
08/25 Memphis, TN Dory Funk, Jr. beat Lou Thesz
Another win over Thesz in a major market.
08/27 Honolulu, HI Dory Funk, Jr. draw Curtis Iaukea
King Curtis was a huge star in Hawaii.
09/01 Greenville, SC Dory Funk, Jr. beat Lars Anderson
09/02 Raleigh, NC Dory Funk, Jr. beat Lars Anderson
Lars had already been tagging with Gene as one half of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew for three years. This would have been around the point that Ole came in. But the Andersons were HUGE stars in the Carolinas.
09/04 Winston-Salem, NC Dory Funk, Jr. beat Rip Hawk
Rip Hawk was another big star in Crockett country. Bona-fide legend of the area.
09/05 Los Angeles, CA Dory Funk, Jr. beat Buddy Austin
Long-time regional champ in that area. Austin had previously feuded with the likes of Pedro Morales, Bobo Brazil and Fred Blassie.
09/08 Fort Worth, TX Dory Funk, Jr. draw Johnny Valentine
Another long match with Valentine. Credibility.
09/09 Dallas, TX Dory Funk, Jr. draw Wahoo McDaniel(60:00)
Wahoo McDaniel in Texas, are you kidding me? I imagine the gate was good for this one. This must have been a gruelling match-up. The fact Dory survived 60 minutes with Wahoo would have meant a lot.
09/12 Atlanta, GA Dory Funk, Sr. & Jr. draw The Assasins
Another major-time act, the Assassins.
09/19 Houston, TX Dory Funk, Jr. draw Johnny Valentine(90:00) in a 2 of 3 falls match
90-minutes with Valentine this time!
09/21 San Juan, Puerto Rico Dory Funk, Jr. beat Hiro Matsuda
Matsuda was a decent-sized star. Intrigued as to why this was in Puerto Rico though.
10/03 Los Angeles, CA Dory Funk, Jr. draw The Sheik in a 2 of 3 falls match
Another big name, The Sheik! Again, he survived in there with a legend.
10/09 Amarillo, TX Dory Funk, Jr. beat Lou Thesz by countout with Joe Louis as special referee
Another win over Thesz.
10/17 St. Louis, MO Dory Funk, Jr. beat Gene Kiniski
Another win over the former champ.
11/15 San Francisco, CA Dory Funk, Jr. beat Kinji Shibuya
Shibuya was a big-time heel for the Roy Shires promotion.
11/21 Los Angeles, CA Dory Funk, Jr. draw Mil Mascaras
Well, of course, Mil ain’t gonna job. But another big-name match up.
12/02 Osaka, Japan Dory Funk, Jr. draw Antonio Inoki(60:00) in a 2 of 3 falls match
He’s now gone 60 minutes with the best in Japan.
12/03 Tokyo, Japan Dory Funk, Jr. draw Giant Baba(60:00) in a 2 of 3 falls match
And 60 minutes with the second best in Japan.
Let’s stop here. You can see the point: anyone who was ever anyone at that time locked up with Dory Funk Jr. and not a single one of them was able to beat him. Now the fans might have HATED it, but Sam Muchnick had faith in Dory and stuck with him. Night after night after night, he stuck with him, and booked him to go over, or at worst draw. And after a year of this, what is the cumulative effect? Fans have no choice but to buy into the idea of Dory as champ. Like it or lump it, he was the man to beat. And he drew wherever he went. He was over. He wasn’t over because of any smart storytelling, or any swerves, or anything like that. He was over because he won. He was over because he beat stars whose names meant something to the fans. “Wow, he beat Johnny Valentine AND Lou Thesz AND Pat O’Connor AND Ray Stevens?!” Imagine if we could say that Roman Reigns had beaten Steve Austin AND The Rock AND Brock Lesnar AND Mick Foley. “But in the modern era, wins and losses don’t mean anything”. My arse they don’t.
