What’s the story?
Wrestling legend Dory Funk Jr. gave a rare interview to pro wrestling journalist Bill Apter recently for the latter’s Is Wrestling Fixed? podcast. During the interview, Dory was asked by Apter whether he felt there was anyone from the modern era who would have been considered Championship material by Sam Muchnick and the NWA.
Funk Jr. wasted no time and said that the 14-time champion of the world, Triple H would.
Apter was quick to agree before Dory went on to refer to Hunter’s WrestleMania XXVII match with The Undertaker as ’one of the better matches I’ve ever seen’. He also spoke highly of Triple H’s D-Generation X partner Shawn Michaels.
In case you didn’t know...
Better known by its acronym NWA, the National Wrestling Alliance is the world’s largest league of independent wrestling promotions in the world. It came into being in 1948 and prior to the 1960s was the sole governing body for the majority of the North American professional wrestling world.
As a result, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was arguably the most prestigious championship in all of wrestling.
The Championship has been held by some of the most iconic names in pro wrestling history, such as Lou Thesz, Ric Flair, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes and Dory Funk Jr. himself. The title lost a lot of prestige when WCW withdrew from the NWA in 1993 in order to forge its own path.
However, since then, the title has been held by modern stars such as AJ Styles, Colt Cabana and Christian. The current champion is Tim Storm.
The heart of the matter
Whilst the cynical will look at this as an attempt by the brother of Terry Funk to gain favour with one of the most important individuals in WWE, there is no denying that Triple H is an old school type of competitor in a new school world and thus would have been a good fit for NWA Champion back in the territory days.
What’s next?
The impact of Dory Funk Jr.’s words is likely to be borderline non-existent. The NWA World Heavyweight Championship is just another title in the pro wrestling world in 2017, and it is unlikely that WWE is going to look to bring it back to mainstream wrestling TV anytime soon.
Sportskeeda’s take
The legacy of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship is a complex one. On the one hand, it is the iconic championship in pro wrestling, fought over by some of the biggest names in the history of our sport, but it has little value in the modern age.
Triple H probably would have made a great NWA World Heavyweight Champion, but that means little in the modern age.
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