45 Years Ago: Funk Wins NWA World Title in One of Seven Title Matches

From John Cannon: As the wrestling world gears up for this year’s WrestleMania and the handful or less of championship matches tha...

From John Cannon:

As the wrestling world gears up for this year’s WrestleMania and the handful or less of championship matches that are shaping up, it’s hard for the younger generation to imagine a bigger card of title matches. More than likely this year’s event will feature a WWF championship match, possibly Tag Team title match, maybe a Diva championship match, and then chances are a handful of built up grudge matches to end storylines and begin new ones.

Hardly the biggest event ever, especially considering the current state of WWE storylines and the many classic huge wrestling events over the years. Out of the eleven matches at the second Starrcade in 1984, seven were title bouts – a large amount even for such a huge event. Regular weekly cards and house shows are usually lucky to host a title match or two and those are usually just transitional bouts leading up to bigger championship matches.

Even in the days before super cards and pay-per-views, cards with a ton of matches filled with a large amount of title matches were rare. So imagine on a Tuesday evening turning up at an Armory and watching an event where every one of the seven matches is a championship match.

Gene Kiniski

On February 11, 1969, in front of 7,000 fans at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida, some of wrestling’s greatest names came together to battle for five singles titles and a pair of tag titles. In 1969 this could easily be that era’s Starrcade or WrestleMania, for an intimate audience of 7,000 instead of millions.

In the tag matches, the Masked Infernos (Bobby and Lee Fields) defeated the Infernos (Frankie Cain and Rocky Smith) to become the new – and last – holders of Florida’s version of the World Tag Team Championship belts. In contrast to the title, which was about to be abandoned after its eight-year history, the Florida Tag Team Title was just starting to rev up for what would be an initial run of twenty-two solid years. Since winning the belts in a December 1968 tournament to crown the inaugural champs, the Medics (Billy Garrett & Jim Starr) had pretty much controlled the title and on this day were set to defend against the Gladiator and Joe Scarpa. The Medics would come out on top in this contest, but would see their run as champions end on April 29 against Lester Welch and the Gladiator, and would never again wear the Florida Tag belts.

Of the five singles championship matches, three ended with the current champions retaining gold and included the Fabulous Moolah defeating Sherri Lee in a Women’s World Championship match, Hans Mortier beating Tarzan Tyler to retain the Florida Heavyweight Title, and the Great Malenko topping Nick Kozak to hold on to the Florida Brass Knuckles Title.

Dory Funk, Jr.

Continuing a successfully growing career that started in 1965, Jack Brisco landed in Florida, beating the Missouri Mauler (Larry Hamilton) for perhaps his biggest win to date, winning Florida’s version of the Southern Heavyweight Championship. Brisco and the Mauler would swap the titles until July when Brisco would regain the title and hold it until he left the area in November.

While Brisco would eventually become Dory Funk, Jr.’s biggest rival, this night Funk had his eyes solely on ending Gene Kiniski’s three-year run with the NWA World Heavyweight Title. When all was said and done Funk used a spinning toe hold to end Kiniski’s one and only title reign. Funk’s run – his first and only – would last over four years, ultimately losing the belt to Harley Race in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 24, 1973.

Now just imagine the paltry sum a fan would have had to pay to attend this house show filled with championship bouts, and then consider the worth of tickets to this year’s WrestleMania. Doesn’t quite make those tickets to this April’s wrestling extravaganza seem that great of a deal now does it?