Founded | 1991 |
---|---|
Style | American professional wrestling |
Headquarters | Ocala, Florida [1] |
Founder(s) | Dory Funk Jr. |
Owner(s) | Dory Funk Jr. |
Sister | !Bang! Funkin' Dojo |
The Funking Conservatory is a professional wrestling school owned by Dory Funk Jr. and established in 1991. [1] It started as a six-day camp, but it later expanded to a three-week program. In 2001, it began running a professional wrestling promotion called "!Bang!" Members of the school and promotion had a chance to appear on its television show !Bang! TV.
In 1999, while he was in semi-retirement, Dory Funk Jr. decided to open a professional wrestling camp to train professional wrestlers. [1] It had a branch affiliated with the World Wrestling Federation called the "Funkin' Dojo." [1]
The Funking Conservatory began as a six-day camp, and it teaches wrestlers how to perform promos, conditioning, and weight training. [1] They also train professional wrestling referees. [2] The school accepts students starting at 14 years old. [3] It also trains wrestlers in hardcore wrestling—focusing on safety—and includes a hardcore match in every show.
It later expanded to a three-week program. [3] In 2001, it began running a professional wrestling promotion called !Bang!. Members of the school and promotion had a chance to appear on its television show, !Bang! TV. Funk's wife Marti is a producer on the show in addition to acting as the photographer, videographer, and social media director for the school. [4] [2]
In 2004, the school moved to the Dory Funk Arena in Ocala, Florida. [2] It consists of a ring, sound stage, and locker rooms. [2]
The promotion's !BANG! TV television tapings are held in the Dory Funk Arena on Saturday nights. [2] Billed as "the most exciting pro-wrestling show on the air" and hosted by Dory Funk Jr., !Bang! TV transmitted weekly on WOGX TV-51, and also My65. A special one-off edition of !BANG! TV was shown on The Wrestling Channel to viewers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The show also transmits online via their website.
Terrance Dee "Terry" Funk was an American professional wrestler. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – and the influential hardcore wrestling style he pioneered in the latter part of his career.
Guadalupe Robledo was a Mexican professional wrestler, best known by the ring name of José Lothario. He performed for such promotions as the NWA and the WWF.
Jonathan Hugger is an American professional wrestler and author. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Johnny the Bull, for World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Johnny Stamboli, and for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA World Wide and Lucha Libre USA under the ring name Rellik.
Harley Leland Race was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer.
Dorrance Earnest Funk, known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter of the Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion.
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as Florida Championship Wrestling. When Mike Graham tried a return to promoting, the rights to the name had been acquired by an outside party, forcing him to use another name, Florida Championship Wrestling.
Dorrance Wilhelm Funk was an American professional wrestler. He is the father of wrestlers Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk, and was a promoter of the Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion.
Matthew Knowles is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name H. C. Loc. He is perhaps best known for his tenure in Ring of Honor, where he is a one-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with Tony DeVito as one-half of the Carnage Crew.
Ray Canty, better known by the ring name Ray Candy, was an American professional wrestler who worked for a variety of different wrestling promotions in the United States, Japan and Puerto Rico such as Jim Crockett Promotions, All Japan Pro Wrestling, World Wrestling Council and others. He also competed as Blackstud Williams, Super Mario Man, Commando Ray, Masked Superfly and Kareem Muhammad.
Osamu Nishimura is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer. Nishimura formerly worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and MUGA World Pro Wrestling (MUGA). Outside of pro wrestling, he is also a politician, as he's a member of the Tokyo Bunkyo Ward Assembly as a food education instructor.
Anthony David Magliaro was an American professional wrestler and manager, known by the ring name Boston Bad Boy Tony Rumble. He competed on the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic independent circuit during the 1980s and 90s. A longtime veteran of Angelo Savoldi's International World Class Championship Wrestling, he also was the owner of the New England–based Century Wrestling Alliance and an independent wrestling promoter until his death in 1999.
Leslie Culton better known by her ring name Vanessa Harding, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and manager who has competed in North American independent promotions throughout the early 2000s including Full Impact Pro, Future of Wrestling, the Heartland Wrestling Association, Ohio Valley Wrestling and NWA Florida. She has also had short stints in Ring of Honor, World League Wrestling and Women's Extreme Wrestling. She is also known as Elle Cee, where she has appeared in several adult films, such as on the bangbus.com website.
Neil Andrew Horsfall, better known by the ring name Neil Faith, is an English professional wrestler.
Jonathan Davis is an American professional wrestler, working for independent promotions including Dragon Gate USA, Full Impact Pro, and Evolve. Davis is a two-time former NWA World Tag Team Champion and a former NWA Florida Tag Team Champion as part of The Dark City Fight Club with Kory Chavis.
Chris Raaber is an Austrian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bambikiller. He runs his own promotion European Wrestling Association.
Cory James Weston is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he works as a producer on the NXT brand and coach at the WWE Performance Center. He is best known for his time in WWE as an active wrestler, where he performed under the ring name Wesley Blake.
Western States Sports was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its greatest success in the 1960s and 1970s under the management of Dory Funk and, later, his sons Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk, with its top performers including the Funks themselves and Ricky Romero. Western States Sports promoted professional wrestling events in multiple cities across West Texas including Amarillo, Abilene, El Paso, Lubbock, Odessa, and San Angelo, along with Albuquerque in New Mexico, Colorado Springs and Pueblo in Colorado, and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Sold by the Funks in 1980, the promotion closed in 1981.
Heatwave '94: the Battle for the Future was the first Heat Wave professional wrestling event produced by Eastern Championship Wrestling. It took place on July 16, 1994 in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States.
Hardcore Heaven (1994) was the first Hardcore Heaven event. It was promoted by Eastern Championship Wrestling on August 13, 1994 in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States.
Adam Bryniarski was an English professional wrestler, known by his ring name Adam Windsor, who worked in Dory Funk Jr's Funking Conservatory in Florida, World Xtreme Wrestling, and American independent promotions.