Dusty Rhodes

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Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. United StatesUnited States
Dusty Rhodes at a WWE event in 2014.

Dusty Rhodes at a WWE event in 2014.
Data
Ring name Dusty Rhodes
Additions to names The American Dream
height 185 cm
Fighting weight 131 kg
birth Austin , Texas October 12, 1945
death June 11, 2015
Orlando , Florida
Trained by Joe Blanchard
debut 1968
retirement 2007

Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. , (born October 12, 1945 in Austin , Texas , † June 11, 2015 in Orlando , Florida ), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes , was an American wrestler, wrestling promoter and booker . He held the highest title of the wrestling umbrella association NWA and was a member of the WCW Hall of Fame and the WWE Hall of Fame .

Wrestling career

Beginnings

After Runnels had played American football in his youth at West Texas University, he began wrestling training in 1966, with "Joltin" Joe Blanchard. Two years later he made his debut as "Dirty" Dusty Rhodes, a name he had borrowed from a baseball player, and on December 13, 1968 he was allowed to strap on the Central States Heavyweight title. Early in his career he played a feared rule breaker and formed a team with Dick Murdoch called the Texas Outlaws . Together they won titles in Florida , Detroit and even Australia . They parted ways in the early 1970s and Runnels became a crowd favorite in 1974 after a match with Pak Song against Eddie and Mike Graham.

National Wrestling Alliance Territories (1974–1984)

Runnels was America's most popular wrestler at the time, alongside André the Giant , winning regional titles non-stop. Three matches against the then WWF champion Billy Graham also made him known to the New York audience, especially since Madison Square Garden was sold out. The feud ended with a Texas bullrope match, which Graham won. At the same time he became booker of the local NWA branch in Florida , later he expanded this position and became the creative head of the NWA.

As a wrestler he was allowed to defeat the Harley Race on August 21, 1979 and win the NWA World Heavyweight Title . Race got the title back after just five days. Two years later, Runnels Race defeated again and a feud with "Nature Boy" Ric Flair began that lasted for several years.

Jim Crockett Promotions (1985-1989)

In the 1980s, Rhodes created the NWA Great American Bash as a booker , in which he competed in a barbed wire match against the then NWA TV champion Tully Blanchard for the title and $ 100,000 in 1987 and won both.

World Wrestling Federation (1989-1991)

In 1989, Runnels lost his position as booker after he was responsible for a story in which the Road Warriors were supposed to try to gouge out his eyes with their spiked shoulder pads. Runnels then moved to the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) . Here he feuded with Ted DiBiase , Big Boss Man, Honky Tonk Man and Randy Savage and brought in his son Dustin .

Return to the WCW (1991-2001)

After the Runnels switched back to WCW in 1991 , he stepped down as a wrestler and concentrated on his job behind the scenes. He became a member of nWo in front of the camera and managed the Outsiders ( Scott Hall and Kevin Nash ).

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003-2005)

Runnels also had its own league between 2000 and 2003 (Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling) and worked for WWE and TNA . In 2001, shortly before its closure, he was signed up to the ECW , where he fought brutal barbed wire matches with Steve Corino.

Return to WWE (2005-2015)

On March 31, 2007, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame by his sons Cody and Dustin . Most recently, Runnels was booker and interim general manager for the WWE youth league WWE NXT .

Virgil Runnels died of kidney failure on June 11, 2015 at the age of 69 in a hospital in Orlando, Florida .

Wrestling successes

Dusty Rhodes on her induction into the Hall of Fame in 2007.
Dusty Rhodes as NWA World Heavyweight Champion .
World Wrestling Entertainment
Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling
National Wrestling Alliance
  • Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)
  • NWA Legends Hall of Heroes (Class of 2011)
Georgia Championship Wrestling
Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)
  • NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida Version) (10 ×)
  • NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (12 ×)
  • NWA Florida Television Championship (2 ×)
  • NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Florida Version) (2 ×)
  • NWA Florida Bahamian Championship (1 ×)
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida Version) (1 × with Bugsy McGraw, 1 × with Blackjack Mulligan )
  • NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 × with Dick Murdoch , 1 × with Dick Slater , 1 × with Bobo Brazil , 1 × with André the Giant )
  • NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship (1 × with Magnum TA )
NWA Tri-State
  • NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Tri-State Version) (1 ×)
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State Version) (1 × with André the Giant )
NWA San Francisco
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco Version) (1 ×)
NWA Big Time Wrestling
  • NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas Version) (3 ×)
  • NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 × with Baron von Raschke , 1 × with Dick Murdoch )
50th State Big Time Wrestling
  • NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii Version) (1 ×)
Big time wrestling
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit Version) (1 × with Dick Murdoch )
Central States Wrestling
  • NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)
  • NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Central States Version) (1 × with Dick Murdoch )
George Tragos / Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2017
International Wrestling Alliance (Australia)
National Wrestling Federation
Pro Wrestling Federation (Florida)
  • PWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • Class of 2010
  • World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
  • IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 × with Dick Murdoch )

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

For the first time in late summer 2015, a tag team tournament named Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in honor of Rhodes was held, which was won by Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe . The second edition followed in autumn 2016 and the third in late winter 2018. So far, the following teams have emerged from the tournaments as winners:

winner date event arena place annotation
Finn Bálor & Samoa Joe October 7, 2015 NXT TakeOver: Respect Winter Park , Florida Full Sail University Defeated Baron Corbin & Rhyno in the tournament finals.
The Authors of Pain
(Akam & Rezar) 		19th November 2016 NXT TakeOver: Toronto Toronto , Ontario , Canada Air Canada Center Defeated TM-61 (Nick Miller & Shane Thorne) in the tournament finals.
The Undisputed Era
( Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly ) 		April 7, 2018 NXT TakeOver: New Orleans New Orleans , Louisiana Smoothie King Center Defeated The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) and Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong in the NXT TakeOver: New Orleans tournament finals. Although The Undisputed Era were n't official contestants, they were added to the tournament finals as the storyline progressed, including their NXT Tag Team Championship .
Aleister Black & Ricochet March 13, 2019
(broadcast on March 27, 2019) 		NXT Winter Park , Florida Full Sail University Defeated The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake) in the tournament finals.
The Broserweights
Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle 		January 29, 2020 NXT Winter Park , Florida Full Sail University Defeated The Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) in the tournament finals.

Web links

Commons : Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steve Corino in Ringside. Issue 1/2008, pp. 36-38.
  2. ↑ theguardian.com Dusty Rhodes, charismatic wrestling star, dies at age of 69
personal data
SURNAME Rhodes, Dusty
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Runnels, Virgil Riley Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Austin , Texas
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 2015
Place of death Orlando , Florida