RIP American Dream

[Chin Diesel]

Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. aka Dusty Rhodes the American Dream. Back when pro wrestling was real.

Well, of course wrestling wasn't real then either, but it was fun.

 

[Towney007]

Absolutely one of those guys that if you're not a fan of what they do, you still had to watch them to their thing. Absolutely amazing interview guy in wrestling and a legit all-time great character.

 

[traitor71]

"Harley Race, it's goin down at the OMNI, in ATLANTA,GA!" God I loved that stuff when I was a kid.

 

[Scot-e]

I was worried for you Chin. I was getting ready to start aac collection for ya- did not connect the dots till I saw the Pic.

 

[UCweCONN]

I was a big wrestling fan as a kid and the idea of being man-booobed and sweated on by Dusty Rhodes was more terrifying to me than a Paul Orndorf pile driver.

 

[Dove]

Those interviews watching a stoice Vince McMahon and all those Saturday morning characters were great!

I was an Adrian Adonis guy. Macho Man and Snuka, too.

 

[August_West]

One of the best ever.
He created a whole genre.
There is no Ric Flair (who when his career first started he begged Dusty to book his character as Dusty's little brother "ramblin' Ricky Rhodes.... Dusty told Ric to find his own character and the rest is history....) there would be no Superstar Graham, No Hulk Hogan, no Macho Man, no Stone Cold. Dusty blazed that trail. Simply probably the most charismatic man to ever lace up a pair of boots. One of the best promo cutters ever. And he also had an incredible mind for the "bidness" or pro wrasslin'. He was often the 'booker" of the territories he worked in and came up with all the story lines for the roster. Dusty knew how to build a feud and "draw money" as well as anyone in the history of wrestling.

I was hoping that after the death announcement someone was going to come out and announced that "on a technicality, Dusty is still alive"
It would have been the ultimate "Dusty Finish"
For those who dont know what a Dusty finish is:
http://prowrestling.wikia.com/wiki/Dusty_Finish

This is the legendary "hard times" match promo interview. Dusty will go down as one of the greatest talkers in history.


RIP to one of the greatest ever.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

"Harley Race, it's goin down at the OMNI, in ATLANTA,GA!" God I loved that stuff when I was a kid.

Seemed to say that every week, and every week it was cool. "The OMM-NI"

 

[huskyharry]

I remember seeing him up close, in person, that his forehead was covered with scars from self-inflicted wounds from a razor blade that he kept in the tape on his wrists so that when he was hit in the head it would appear that it made him bleed. He was definitely all-in.

 

[noeynox]

"Harley Race, it's goin down at the OMNI, in ATLANTA,GA!" God I loved that stuff when I was a kid.

I always thought this line was original to Ric Flair. He stole it from Dusty? Nature boy was my favorite, but Dusty Rhodes was a great showman.

 

[traitor71]

Fake Dusty Rhodes with one final appearance on the Dan Lebetard show.

 

[Waquoit]

I saw the Dream once in the Civic Center when Backlund was the champ. I remember being surprised because he wasn't promoted in the ads for the card, or even in the WWF at the time. Anyway, he squares off with the Masked Executioner and the guys in front of us were going nuts. They definitely thought wrestling was real and it was driving my buddy crazy. So the Dusty toys with the Executioner for a bit before he drops the elbow and it's over in 4 minutes. The Dusty fans were hooting and hollering and one turns to us and asks, "Do you know why Dusty is so good?" My buddy says, "Because it's fixed?" He says, "No man, it's because he uses his brain!" and taps his temple. My friend just lost it, he couldn't stop laughing the rest of the night.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I saw the Dream once in the Civic Center when Backlund was the champ. I remember being surprised because he wasn't promoted in the ads for the card, or even in the WWF at the time. Anyway, he squares off with the Masked Executioner and the guys in front of us were going nuts. They definitely thought wrestling was real and it was driving my buddy crazy. So the Dusty toys with the Executioner for a bit before he drops the elbow and it's over in 4 minutes. The Dusty fans were hooting and hollering and one turns to us and asks, "Do you know why Dusty is so good?" My buddy says, "Because it's fixed?" He says, "No man, it's because he uses his brain!" and taps his temple. My friend just lost it, he couldn't stop laughing the rest of the night.

When I was young (<10 years old) my dad took me to a few shows up at Springfield Civic Center. We'd sit with the men's church group way up in the rafters. I didn't realize it at the time but I'm pretty sure it was my first exposure to second hand weed smoke. There was a guy in the group who was pushing 90 years old and he'd go bananas screaming, hooting and hollering. My dad used to say that he thought for sure the old guy was going to die every time we went to an event.