The American Dream is dead; long live the American Dream
June 11, 2015 11:16 AM   Subscribe

The hard-working son of a plumber, who dined with kings and queens and slept in alleys and ate pork n' beans, the man of the hour, the man with the power, the hit-maker, the record-breaker, who had style and grace, a pretty face, made backs crack and livers quiver, the "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, a multiple time world champion of professional wrestling, father of two sons who themselves have become talented wrestlers, has gone to his final ten-bell count.
posted by mightygodking (39 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
Hard times, daddy.

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posted by sporkwort at 11:19 AM on June 11, 2015 [3 favorites]


Fuck, really?

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posted by frimble at 11:28 AM on June 11, 2015


Dusty hasn't looked particularly good the last few times I've seen him on TV, but this was unexpected. My earliest wrestling memories are of NWA and Crockett on cable. It's what got me hooked, and Dusty has always been a part of that. Even his ridiculous run in the WWF was something to behold.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:32 AM on June 11, 2015


What a day. Lee, Coleman, Moody, Rhodes.

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posted by Gelatin at 11:32 AM on June 11, 2015


Sometimes when a wrestler dies I tend to suspect that in remembrance the wrestler's talents and significance to the industry get somewhat elevated in death. With Dusty Rhodes, however, I don't feel like I'm being at all hyperbolic when I state that he was by far the best babyface interview the business has ever seen. Seriously, his "The View Never Changes" promo (the "father" link in the OP) is Oscar worthy.
posted by The Gooch at 11:33 AM on June 11, 2015 [4 favorites]


He wasn't the tallest, he wasn't the strongest, he sure wasn't the prettiest or the skinniest, but boy could that man TALK.

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posted by delfin at 11:33 AM on June 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


After watching the polished glitz of the WWF in the early 80's, suddenly coming across Dusty Rhodes on WWW and Stampede Wrestling deeply weird. He had a huge gut, little baggy shorts and peroxide hair. It was definitely one of those Coke/Pepsi Big Mac/Whopper moments so common in the 80's.
posted by Nevin at 11:34 AM on June 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


Don't worry. He'll be ruled alive tomorrow when it is determined that today's coroner was not the legal coroner.

(via.)
posted by themanwho at 11:35 AM on June 11, 2015 [15 favorites]


Wow, we were just talking about him the other day. Grew up watching him on Georgia Championship Wrestling in the 1970s, announced by the wonderfully deadpan Gordon Solie.

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posted by TedW at 11:40 AM on June 11, 2015 [3 favorites]


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One of the best ever.
posted by griffey at 11:41 AM on June 11, 2015


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posted by deezil at 11:46 AM on June 11, 2015


What a fucker of a day.
posted by penduluum at 11:51 AM on June 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


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posted by Burgoo at 12:00 PM on June 11, 2015


Polka

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posted by vbfg at 12:18 PM on June 11, 2015 [2 favorites]




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posted by Iridic at 12:24 PM on June 11, 2015


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posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:33 PM on June 11, 2015


Dusty Rhodes is sort of like the Christopher Walken of the professional wrestling business, in that everyone from the top of the card down to the guys who set up the ring will at some point in their careers do an impression of him. Even when the impression is done badly, you can always tell who they're impersonating; when they're done well, it's transcendent.

The Dusty Rhodes style of speaking was so distinctive and unique, and the content of his promos was so perfectly put together to reach his working-class audience. I doubt I'll ever see his like again.

Much love to Dustin and Cody, each of whom is in his own way as talented as their father was.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 12:44 PM on June 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


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Heartbreaking stuff. His promos were golden.

I won't hold it together when they ring the bell for him at Money in the Bank Sunday or RAW on Monday.
posted by kimberussell at 12:50 PM on June 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


Dusty Rhodes is sort of like the Christopher Walken of the professional wrestling business, in that everyone from the top of the card down to the guys who set up the ring will at some point in their careers do an impression of him.

Case in point: Maria Menounos recreates Dusty Rhodes legendary "Hard Times" interview (the "My belly's just a little big, my hiney's just a little big" part doesn't quite have the same effect coming from someone who looks like they weigh about 95 pounds)
posted by The Gooch at 12:52 PM on June 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


softly pats the hood of a car

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posted by jquinby at 1:01 PM on June 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


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posted by lord_wolf at 2:29 PM on June 11, 2015


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posted by Spatch at 2:35 PM on June 11, 2015


.

I really hope they let Cody and Dustin drop character and talk about their dad tonight.
posted by vrakatar at 3:48 PM on June 11, 2015


vrakatar, sadly the Smackdown tonight was taped on Tuesday. You may see something tonight, but the in-ring tribute will likely wait for next RAW.
posted by persona at 4:06 PM on June 11, 2015


I went to bed having just heard about Christopher Lee, and I just woke up to find out about Dusty Rhodes. It's pretty rare that I get worked up about people passing away whom I've never met, but Dusty Rhodes has been there for years, slowly transitioning from the badass son of a plumber to seeming like the nicest possible man in the world. The tributes from Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are worth reading, and you can tell how many lives he's touched. Hard times. Hard fucking times.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:05 PM on June 11, 2015


Almost 20 years ago, I worked in the indies. A few years later, I worked on a (then-) WWF online game. I got to meet several big-name talent. I never met Dusty, but I did meet Kurt Angle, Al Snow, Mick Foley, and a few others of the 2000-2002 era of WWF.

Every wrestler I ever met that had met Dust in person had two things in common: their impression of his unique word choices and vocal in-flect-ions (if you wheel), and their near-universal praise for him as a wrestler and as a person.

The phrase "WWE Legend" gets used a lot more than it should. If there was a professional wrestling Mt. Rushmore, his common-man face would absolutely be there.

One. Of. The. Best.

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posted by andreaazure at 6:41 PM on June 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


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Most fitting, the main event of the last pay-per-view (or whatever they're calling the WWE Network special events these days) of his life was a Dusty finish.
posted by Etrigan at 7:28 PM on June 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔

god dammit
posted by bonje at 9:26 PM on June 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


also, hopefully he took his mufflers
posted by bonje at 9:40 PM on June 11, 2015


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posted by pt68 at 10:06 PM on June 11, 2015


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posted by Ms. Moonlight at 1:54 AM on June 12, 2015


From Sami Zayn:
Another thing he did that would make me laugh a lot is he would call people by the wrong name. I still don’t know if he did it on purpose or not, but it was just hilarious. For example, Enzo Amore, one of his star students in promo class and arguably the best talker on a week to week basis in promo class for the last three years…and Dream would still call him “Enzio”. This would make me laugh, every single time, without exception. I’m laughing right now just thinking about it.

My favorite of his wrong names though is undoubtedly when Kevin Owens first showed up at the Performance Center. Kevin came into WWE as Kevin Steen. Usually when a new talent arrives to the PC, his/her first week is only observation, and sometimes just a quick getting to know you. However, on one particular night when many important guests were in attendance (“Luminaries”, as Dream would call them), Dusty decided to surprise everyone and put Kevin on the spot by calling up “Kip Stern” to cut a promo. Kevin just stared blankly because his name was Kevin Steen, not Kip Stern. This awkward silence filled the room for a good 10 seconds until William Regal, who was sitting next to Kevin, nudged him with his elbow and said, “You should probably go up there.” Good God, I still laugh about that one all the time. There’s a road here in Orlando called Stern Street and every single time I drive by it, I do my best Dream impression and say, “Let’s see Kip Stern”. Then I laugh.
Kevin Owens changed his Twitter name to "Kip Stern" yesterday.
posted by Etrigan at 4:35 PM on June 12, 2015 [5 favorites]


At With Spandex they have a ton of people writing about it, from all over. They're all amazing, but the last two are by Danielle Matheson and Brandon Stroud. They are both great pieces, but I'd caution against reading Stroud's on public transportation if you're not good with crying in public.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:28 PM on June 12, 2015 [4 favorites]


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posted by joedan at 11:34 AM on June 13, 2015


Damn, I missed this post and just spent an hour writing my own FPP before I thought to do a search for Dusty's name. Seconding Ghidorah that the last two entries of that With Spandex post are supremely well written and would have been my lead link for the FPP.

RIP, Dusty. Hard Times indeed.
posted by misskaz at 12:03 PM on June 16, 2015


My childhood friend just posted Dustin's eulogy for his father on Twitter.

"Friends, family, colleagues, passers-by; tonight... When you lay your head against the pillow, don't just have a dream.

Have an American Dream."
posted by infinitewindow at 7:30 PM on June 17, 2015


The formal ten-bell salute from this past Sunday's show.
posted by mightygodking at 12:13 PM on June 18, 2015


Triple H and the NXT roster did their own ten bell salute. Seeing HHH need to pause to compose himself while giving the speech is a little heartbreaking.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:49 AM on June 20, 2015


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