Funk’s Corner
Do Your Best and Don’t Quit
In the spring of 1998, I was working for then WWF as head Coach of the Funking Dojo wrestling training camp in Stamford Connecticut. I received the list of trainees for the third wrestling training camp. On the list was Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle. “Hey what a thrill to coach an Olympic Gold Medalist!”
I had trained Jumbo Tsuruta, a Silver Medalist, Anton Geesink a Judo Gold Medalist, Mark Henry Olympic Weight Lifter and Giant Silva an Olympic Basketball Player. I believed that real wrestlers and real athletes are important to the credibility of professional wrestling. My father was an amateur wrestler from Indiana University and he had insisted that I compete in amateur athletics before turning pro.