Rhodes revered beyond the ring
Austin-born wrestling legend was a fan favorite and mentor.
Many of us lost a piece of our childhood when Dusty Rhodes died Thursday.
Back in the 1980s, the Atlanta-based TBS Superstat ion was its most super from the hours of 5:05 p.m. to 7:05 p.m. on Saturdays due to the exploits of the man Ric Flair called “Big Dust.”
Rhodes, the Austin-born American Dream, died in Orlando, Fla., at age 69, ending a nearly 50-year association with the profession that made him a household name. The father of four — two daughters plus sons Dustin and Cody, who wrestle under the monikers of Stardust and Goldust in the WWE — was an iconic figure in sports enter tainment. He was a fat guy with electric moves in the ring — the bionic elbow being his signature move — and his Common Man persona made him a natural fan favorite.
“He was the Muhammad Ali of professional wrestling, and he was the best talker ever,” WWE star Mark Henry told me Friday. “He was loved by everybody. He would walk up to you, give you a hug and and say, ‘Sit down and talk to the American Dream so I can see where your head is at.’”
Wrestling wasn’t always about what you could do in the squared circle, but what you could do on a promo. Their matches in the 1980s were the stuff of legend, but their abilit y to talk smack set them apar t from the others. Rhodes famously quipped, “I’ve wined and dined with kings and queens, but I’ve slept in alleys and dined on pork n’ beans.”
“He mentored me and taught me how to be a star,” Flair posted on his Facebook page Thursday. “Dusty used to say, “If you are going to pass by ... why not in a Cadillac?”
To the people who knew him before his Hall of Fame career, he was Virgil Runnels Jr., a fun-loving youngster who grew up on the East Side with a gigantic love of sports, especially football where he played on the offensive and defensive lines at Johnston High (now Eastside Memorial).
Travis County bailiff Art Guerrero, who attended Johnston with Runnels, described him as “a proud Johnstonite.”
“His dad was a Little League baseball coach who would always help out the neighborhood kids,” Guerrero said. “My brother would bring him over to the house all the time and Dusty loved Mexican food, especially mom’s homemade flour tortillas.”
Runnels played football at West Texas State, then debuted in Vern Gagne’s American Wrestling Association as a heel in 1968 before finding his stroke as a fan favorite in the National Wrestling Alliance and other organizations. He became one of the most respected creative minds in the business, helping house- hold names like Hulk Hogan, the Rock and Steve Austin achieve superstardom with his work behind the scenes as a writer and booker.
He was also a mentor to thousands. Henry credits Rhodes with saving his career in 2007. Henry was dealing with a knee injury and was in a dark place because Chris Benoit, one of his closest friends in the business, had killed his family and committed suicide the same summer.
“My knee was torn up and my dude was gone,” Henry said. “I was ready to quit the game. Dusty was like, ‘Mark, everybody has to live their own life. Hang in there.’ Dusty was the wrestling whisperer, man. You have no idea how much I miss that guy already.”
So do we.