Dusty Rhodes

"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (born Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. on October 12, 1945) is an American professional wrestler. Rhodes currently works with World Wrestling Entertainment.

Career
Rhodes started his career as a rule-breaking heel, tagging with fellow Texan Dick Murdoch to form the tag team The Texas Outlaws in the American Wrestling Association. Many wrestling fans do not know that the beloved "American Dream" was once the hated "'Dirty' Dusty Rhodes". In 1974, Rhodes turned face after turning on tag team partner Pak Song and manager Gary Hart during a match in Florida against Eddie and Mike Graham, leading him to break out as a solo babyface superstar, primarily in Florida, referring to himself as "Stardust", the "White Soul King", and the "American Dream", a working class hero. Rhodes ascended to the top of several National Wrestling Alliance promotions in Florida (where he also wrestled wearing a mask as The Midnight Rider), Georgia, and eventually with Jim Crockett Promotions in the Mid-Atlantic, which was the forerunner of World Championship Wrestling. Here, he formed teams with Manny Fernandez, Magnum T.A. as "America's Team" and Nikita Koloff as The Super Powers. Rhodes was a World 6-Man Tag Team Champion with the Road Warriors. Currently, Rhodes is working as a booker for World Wrestling Entertainment.

Feuds
Rhodes had legendary feuds with stars such as Abdullah The Butcher, Pak Song, Terry Funk,Kevin Sullivan, Blackjack Mulligan, Nikita Koloff, Harley Race, "Superstar" Billy Graham, "Crippler" Ray Stevens and most notably, The Four Horsemen (especially Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard). Rhodes, Flair, and Race each fought each other many times over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Rhodes won the NWA World Title three times; twice by defeating Race (in 1979 and 1981) and once by defeating Flair (1986).

Booking
Rhodes was also a booker for WCW (which was then known as Jim Crockett Promotions) while they were competing with the World Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment) after he won the Television Title in 1985. He is credited with inventing many of the WCW pay-per-view names and gimmicks, such as War Games, BattleBowl, and Lethal Lottery.

The term Dusty Finish refers to one of Rhodes' favorite techniques, ending a match in controversy after the referee is knocked unconscious.

Dismissal from JCP
He was fired from Jim Crockett Promotions because of a taboo on-screen bloodletting during an altercation with The Road Warriors. Rhodes bladed himself while Road Warrior Hawk took a spike from his outfit and "jammed" it in Dusty's eye. It looked very vivid at the time (even though it was planned out), and it infuriated then-owner of WCW, Ted Turner. Rhodes was then fired from WCW. Following this, Rhodes returned to Florida to compete in Florida Championship Wrestling, where he captured the PWF Heavyweight title, and also returned to the AWA for a few appearances.

World Wrestling Federation
Rhodes came to the WWF as the yellow polka-dotted "Common Man" Dusty Rhodes, a gimmick some felt was intended to humiliate him. He was managed by Sapphire. During his time in the WWF, Rhodes was embroiled in a heated feud with Randy Savage and his manager/partner Sensational Queen Sherri who in turn found a rival in Sapphire. After a particularly intense confrontation between the two couples, Savage's girlfriend Miss Elizabeth allied herself with Rhodes and Sapphire and was instrumental in helping them win the WWF's first mixed tag-team match during WrestleMania VI. However, Sapphire left Rhodes during SummerSlam 1990 for The Million-Dollar Man's money, which resulted in a feud with the latter, which also resulted in the national debut of his son Dustin. Both would depart the WWF in January of 1991, marking the end of Dusty Rhodes' career as a full-time in-ring competitor.

Return to WCW and ECW
Rhodes returned to WCW shortly afterwards as a member of WCW's booking committee and later joined the broadcast team, usually working with Tony Schiavone on WCW Saturday Night. He would be paired with Schiavone and Bobby Heenan on pay-per-views.

In 1994, Rhodes would return to the ring to team up with his son Dustin along with The Nasty Boys versus Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck, Terry Funk and Col. Rob Parker. The angle occurred after Anderson turned on Dustin during a tag team match at Bash At The Beach '94 and Dusty, admitting to being an absentee parent who should have been at his son's side instead of Anderson, put on the trunks one more time in order to help his son gain his revenge.

Rhodes was originally on the side of WCW in its battle with the nWo began in 1996. At Souled Out 1998, Larry Zbyszko asked Rhodes, who was working the PPV broadcast, to accompany him to the ring for his match against Scott Hall. Zbyszko won the match by disqualification due to interference by the nWo, but in the postmatch melee Rhodes turned on Zbyszko and joined the nWo in a shocking moment that actually forced Schiavone off the broadcast in shock; he would later return, ripping Rhodes for his actions for most of the rest of the night (kayfabe).

He eventually left WCW and went to ECW where he put over former ECW Champion, "King of Old School" Steve Corino. Rhodes returned once more to WCW, re-igniting his feud with Ric Flair.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
He appeared on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling shows, becoming the Director of Authority at their November 7 pay-per-view, TNA Victory Road 2004. At the same time, Rhodes became a true powerhouse behind the scenes of TNA, acting as head booker and writer. In May 2005, TNA President Dixie Carter asked Rhodes to move onto a creative team, which would have included several other names, including Jeremy Borash, Bill Banks and Scott D'Amore. Rhodes balked and resigned as booker, waiting out the rest of his contract with TNA, which expired soon after.

Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling
For several years, Rhodes operated Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, a small Georgia-based promotion. Rhodes' son, Virgil Runnels III, known in wrestling as Dustin Rhodes, followed his father into the business.

WWE Legends and Hall of Fame
In late 2005, Rhodes signed a WWE Legends deal and was brought onto the Creative Team as a "creative consultant", starting on September 8, 2005. He made an appearance on WWE Homecoming in which he, along with other legends, beat up the young and cocky Rob Conway, to whom Rhodes delivered a Bionic elbow.

He made sporadic televised appearances after Homecoming, including one on June 19, 2006 to promote his recently released DVD teasing him becoming General Manager of RAW. On October 23, 2006 he returned to television to be in the corner of Ric Flair during Flair's match with Kenny of The Spirit Squad.

He was among the three choices of tag team partners for Ric Flair in his match at Cyber Sunday against the Spirit Squad for the World Tag Team Championship. In the end Roddy Piper was picked and won the title with Flair.

On the November 20, 2006 episode of "RAW," Rhodes defeated Spirit Squad member Nicky with an elbow drop in a short bout.

At Survivor Series 2006, he participated in a 4 on 4 Survivor Series match which pitted himself along with Ron Simmons, Sgt. Slaughter, and Ric Flair, against the Spirit Squad. Rhodes team was victorious.

On the February 12, 2007 taping of RAW it was announced that Dusty Rhodes will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2007.

Dusty Rhodes was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 31, 2007 by his two sons, Virgil and Cody. The same night he was "inducted" into the Four Horsemen with Harley Race by Ric Flair and Arn Anderson.

New Merchandising
A three-DVD collection titled The American Dream: The Dusty Rhodes Story was released by WWE Home Video on June 6, 2006. It features a retrospective of Rhodes' life, 25 matches (not all full matches) spanning his entire career, and over 40 of his interviews.

Jakks Pacific released two WWE Classic Superstars action figures of Rhodes in 2006. The first was attired in black trunks reminiscent of his 1980s appearance in the NWA. This figure was a part of the WWE Classic Superstars Series 10. The second figure was attired in his yellow and black polka dot outfit from his 1989-1991 WWF run and included a removable headband, tanktop, and nightstick. This figure was released boxed as an internet store exclusive.

A third Dusty Rhodes figure in the WWE Classic Superstars line is slated for release in 2007 as part of the lines 13th series. The figure will be clad in red tights and its appearance (including hair style) will be based on Rhodes' look in the 1970s.

Finishing and signature moves

 * Bionic elbow
 * American Elbow (Elbow drop with theatrics)
 * Bulldog
 * Elbow drop
 * Sleeper hold
 * Figure four leg lock

Championships and accomplishments

 * National Wrestling Alliance
 * World
 * NWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
 * NWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Dick Slater (1) and Manny Fernandez (1)


 * National
 * NWA National Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version) (1 time)
 * NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Tri-State version) (1 time)
 * NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Fransisco version) (1 time)


 * Regional
 * NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dick Murdoch
 * NWA Florida Bahamian Championship (1 time)
 * NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)
 * NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Terry Allen
 * NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (10 times)
 * NWA Florida PWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship (7 times)
 * NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Dick Murdoch (1), Dick Slater (1), Bobo Brazil (1), and André the Giant (1)
 * NWA Florida Television Championship (2 times)
 * NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship (2 times) with –with Bugsy McGraw (1) and Blackjack Mulligan (1)
 * NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Buff Bagwell
 * NWA Television Championship (1 time)
 * NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with The Road Warriors
 * NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit Version) (1 time) – with Dick Murdoch
 * NWA World Television Championship (2 times)


 * Other Titles
 * Winner of 1985 NWA Bunkhouse Stampede
 * Winner of 1986 NWA Bunkhouse Stampede
 * Winner of 1987 NWA Bunkhouse Stampede
 * Winner of 1987 NWA Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament – with Nikita Koloff


 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * PWI Wrestler of the Year award in 1977.
 * PWI Wrestler of the Year award in 1978
 * PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year award in 1978.
 * PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year award in 1979.
 * PWI Match of the Year award – vs. Harley Race in 1979.
 * PWI Match of the Year award – vs. Ric Flair in 1986.
 * PWI Feud of the Year award – with Nikita Koloff and The Road Warriors vs. The Four Horsemen in 1997.
 * PWI ranked him # 11 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
 * PWI ranked him # 76 in the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Magnum T.A..
 * PWI ranked him # 88 in the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Manny Fernandez.


 * World Championship Wrestling
 * WCW Hall of Fame (Class of 1995)


 * World Class Championship Wrestling
 * WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Championship (2 times)


 * World Wrestling Entertainment
 * WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)


 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 * Best Babyface in 1980
 * Most Charismatic Wrestler (1 time) – tied with Ric Flair in 1982
 * Most Overrated Wrestler in 1987
 * Most Overrated Wrestler in 1988
 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
 * Worst Television Announcer in 1997.

Books
Autobiography: Dusty: Reflections of an American Dream 2005 ISBN 1-58261-907-7

Trivia

 * Mike Jones's Virgil character in the World Wrestling Federation was named, at the suggestion of Bobby Heenan, as an inside joke on Dusty's real name. When Jones jumped to World Championship Wrestling, Heenan continued the joke by suggesting Jones's WCW character's name be made "Vincent", in reference to WWF owner Vince McMahon. The joke continued later in WCW when Jones changed his name again, this time to Shane, the same as Vince's son's, Shane McMahon.
 * When Ric Flair left for WWE in 1991, taking the WCW Title with him, Dusty's old Florida Heavyweight Championship belt was used as a replacement at The Great American Bash for the title match between Lex Luger and Barry Windham until a replacement could be made.
 * In storylines featured in the WWE video game SmackDown! vs RAW 2006, an obscure stipulation on a World Heavyweight Championship match that forces the title to not change hands is named "The Virgil Runnels Amendment", a reference to the Dusty finish.
 * During an interview on WWE's The American Dream DVD set, Rhodes claims that his most popular promo of all time was his "Hard Times" interview during his feud with Ric Flair. The promo -- which references out-of-work steel workers, factory runners and other blue collar individuals -- apparently resonated so strongly with wrestling fans that people came to him in arenas in tears to thank him for honoring their plight.
 * Outkast's Andre 3000 makes a reference to Dusty Rhodes and his signature Bionic Elbow on the title track off their 1994 debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.
 * He has two sons that are professional wrestlers, Virgil Runnels III (best known as Goldust or Dustin Rhodes) and Cody Runnels.