La Zona Muerta

Just a quickie for a Friday afternoon… legend has it that, on a tour of All Japan circa 1996, Dory Funk Jr. and his wife Marti went out to dinner with Giant Baba and HIS wife, the (in)famous Matoko Baba. Legend further has it that Marti was said to opine, during this dinner, that maybe Baba should be paying Dory better.

So on the last night of the tour, ALLEGEDLY, Mrs. Baba told Giant Baba that Dory should receive a farewell gift. Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama were called on to perform a “hit,” in wrestling terms, to maybe stiff somebody in a match, in this case, the venerable Funk.

Mrs. Convoy, upon reading about this said to me “Hey, that match is on YouTube! Want to watch?”

I did indeed, and so can you:

So, about two minutes in, Dory locks up with Akiyama. Dory puts him in an arm wringer…

and BIG BOSS JUN BLASTS HIM IN THE FACE WITH AN ELBOW.

Dory staggers to the neutral corner, probably more surprised than hurt. I did this quick sketch to catch his chagrin:

and, after a few seconds, goes back to it. Dory, to his credit, doesn’t retaliate or shoot on Akiyama or pull his eye out or anything; he just retreats to the corner and shakes it off.

Then Jun walks calmly backwards and tags in THE EMERALD EMPEROR.

So, about two and a half minutes in, Dory locks up with Misawa. Dory puts him in a headlock and then puts him in an arm wringer…

and MR. TRIPLE CROWN BLASTS HIM IN THE FACE WITH AN ELBOW.

Dory again looks more surprised than hurt, puts his arms up, rolls out and walks it off outside.

It’s mostly smooth sailing after that; I’d probably say that anything that looks especially snug or stiff after those two specific exchanges are just what happens when you walk THE ROYAL ROAD, but apparently this was Dory’s last All Japan tour for many years, so take that as you will. The match itself is nothing to write home about other than the spirited exchanges noted above, but it’s a perfectly fun mid 1990s All Japan six man, so you can’t go far wrong in giving it a quick watch.

Just be careful when asking for a raise at dinner, okay?