[citation needed] Funk started in his father's Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion and fought Harley Race, Iron Mike DiBiase and Wild Bull Curry.

He would eventually move on to Florida, Missouri and Japan where his skills improved as he used uppercut forearm smashes, a variety of suplexes and leglocks.

[11] Funk finally lost the NWA World Championship on May 24, 1973, after a hurried recovery from a pickup truck accident on his father's Flying Mare Ranch in West Texas.

[12] He performed regularly throughout the NWA, particularly in the Mid-Atlantic and Ontario as a heel, Georgia, Florida and Central States regions, through the 1970s and early 1980s.

He feuded with Giant Baba, The Destroyer, Jumbo Tsuruta, Abdullah The Butcher, The Sheik, Genichiro Tenryu, and Harley Race.

Terry Funk and he worked frequently as a tag team in a series of matches against Abdullah the Butcher and The Sheik; and Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta.

Funk wrestled his last WWF match to Pedro Morales at the Sam Muchnick Memorial Tournament on August 29.

On September 20, 1987, he and Terry teamed up and lost to The Road Warriors by disqualification at World Wrestling Council 14th Anversario in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

On February 27, 1988, Funk participated in World Wrestling Council's La Copa Gillette tournament beating Bruiser Brody in the first round but later that day he lost to Carlos Colon in the quarter-finals.

They wrestled in tag team matches until Terry left the promotion in April 1991 and went back to North America.

Dory found a new partner, Al Perez and they won World's Strongest Tag Determination League Teamwork Award later that year.

On June 26 they teamed up with Tommy Dreamer to defeat Hack Meyers and Public Enemy on ECW Hardcore TV.

He teamed up with Dick Murdoch defeating The Heavenly Bodies at tribute show to Dory called Funk Free For All in Amarillo, Texas October 28, 1993.

[4] On June 6, 1997, he made another appearance in WCW at Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Show teaming with Greg Valentine as they lost to Tony Parsi and Gino Brito by disqualification in Buffalo, New York.

[13] He won the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship for the fourth time since 1981 defeating Steve Keirn on November 7, 1997.

Funk and student, Adam Windsor wrestled in a dark match for NWA Total Non-stop Action defeating Homicide and Kory Chavis on November 27, 2002.

At WrestleReunion 2 Dory, Terry and Mick Foley lost to The Midnight Express in a six-man tag team match on August 27, 2005.

On March 5, 2006, he teamed with Mike Graham to defeat David Flair and Tully Blanchard at World Wrestling Legends.

On the February 16, 2009 episode of Raw, it was announced that Dory along with his brother Terry would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009 by Dusty Rhodes.

With the finals seconds left in the match, Funk pinned Nishimura which ended at the count of 2 when the bell rang as time was up.

[8][9] Funk returned to All Japan on July 27, 2014, teaming with Osamu Nishimura and Yutaka Yoshie in a six-man tag team match, where they defeated Masanobu Fuchi, Takao Omori and Último Dragón, with Funk submitting Fuchi for the win.

Funk's next match with All Japan took place on May 31, 2015, when he and Nishimura wrestled Fuchi and Yoshiaki Fujiwara to a twenty-minute time limit draw.

[18] He returned to All Japan the next month to team with Fuchi and Ultimo Dragon to beat his student Nishimura, Masao Inoue and Soma Takao.

[7] On January 25, 2025, Funk appeared alongside other legends at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event XXXVIII.