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WWE NETWORK SPECIAL REPORT 7/6: Dusty Rhodes tribute from Chicago Raw - Flair, Lawler, Hayes, Dillon, Double A reminiscence & share stories on Dusty Rhodes

Jul 7, 2015 - 3:25:13 PM
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WWE Network Special
Legendary Stories of Dusty Rhodes
July 6, 2015
Aired on WWE Network from Chicago, Ill.
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor


After Monday's Raw went off the air, the Network picked up with a Dusty Rhodes special from Chicago, where Raw took place. First, a video package, then Jerry Lawler was shown sitting down in a mini-stage opposite Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, J.J. Dillon, and Michael Hayes. The four panelists were crowded sitting next to each other as opposed to the spacious "Legends of Wrestling" Roundtable setting.

Lawler introduced the panel from left to right - Hayes, Dillon, Anderson, and Flair. Lawler said the goal is to take viewers behind-the-scenes on Dusty Rhodes. Hayes interrupted to wonder if Lawler ever beat Dusty in Memphis.

Lawler got back on-track asking Flair about Dusty Rhodes memories. Flair talked about getting his start in Minneapolis and he wanted to be "Ramblin' Ricky Rhodes," but Verne Gagne said that will never work. Dusty told him just to be himself. Flair then talked about going to Japan with Dusty two months into the business, where he had to carry around Dusty's bags.

Dillon talked next about wrestling early Dusty Rhodes matches, going back 45 years ago. Dillon said Dusty was trimmed down at the time, but there was something magical about Dusty and Dick Murdoch, the Texas Outlaws.

Anderson talked about mid-1980s memories of Dusty as the booker. He said he was three years into the business and afraid of Dusty, who was like Elvis at the time. Anderson said Dusty made him wait 30 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour. Dusty sat down in front of him, leaned back, looked at Arn, and told him to "go get ovah." Arn said he waited for more. So, he got up, walked out of the office, and ran with it. He said Dusty was bigger than life.

Dillon recalled working with Dusty in Florida before Dusty booked Jim Crockett Promotions in the '80s. James J. described Dusty as bigger than life. Hayes said he was like "our business's Elvis." Dillon said Flair is Nature Boy 24 hours per day, and Dusty was also "American Dream" 24 hours per day. He said Dusty had the ability to make fun of himself, and the people in the audience could relate to him because he was like one of them.

Hayes said Dusty loved this business, and the business loved him back. And, Dusty loved Dusty, too. Hayes went back to St. Louis Wrestling at the Checkerdome. He recalled Dusty thanking him for the advance ticket sales. Hayes was really proud. But, Dusty said, it wasn't quite as good as when he and Flair were on top. Hayes laughed about Dusty putting you over, then putting himself over.

Hayes continued with a story about when they were booking Smackdown. He said all of the attention went to Raw, then Smackdown was like "the lightning round" and Dusty gave him the look of "we just need to get on that plane." Hayes recalled Dusty's eyes lighting up every time he shared old wrestling stories.

Dillon said Dusty was an extension of his true personality because he came from humble beginnings. Hayes noted Dusty was a great baseball player before he was a wrestler. Hayes then went back to St. Louis for Dusty vs. Flair, the rivalry. Not just in the ring, but gift-buying. Anderson said he will chime in as an observer of this. Anderson said business was good in mid-1980s and everyone started buying cars, then bigger watches, then bigger houses. He said it got ridiculous when Dusty tried to squeeze into a tiny sports car. Then, fur coats were purchased. And they all show up in 110-degree Las Vegas in fur coats. "They thought they were cool," Anderson said.

Flair gave his side of the events. He said he was NWA World champion and their families met up at the Las Vegas convention hotel. He said he and Dusty were drinking and they walked into a fur-coat shop. He said Dusty walked out with a fur-coat, so Flair bought one, too. And his second wife also bought one. And they never wore them again.

Hayes went back to Flair vs. Dusty in the ring. He said a lot of people were jealous of Dusty's success. He said Flair would sometimes be jealous. Flair spoke up about how they battled over match order and match type when he was NWA World champion. Arn said Dusty was not a body guy, but he could go in the ring and he could talk people into the building. And that's how he backed it up, going an hour with Flair. Anderson said he would have to run in at 45:00, get whipped, and get pinned when he wasn't even in the match!

Anderson said one day he walked into the babyface locker room. He said there was Dusty Rhodes sitting around in his cap and t-shirt, and he was naked. He said he was talking business with him and trying not to look too much. He said it turned him off from babyfaces forever. "But, he thought that was normal!" Arn said. Arn said Cody Rhodes might not have heard this story before.

Dillon talked next about War Games. He said Anderson had to be in there the entire length of the match as the first heel in the match. Anderson said The Naked Guy booked that. But, Dillon said Dusty was also in there in the beginning. And, Dillon came in there to get killed at the end. Anderson said there was one time he finally got to come in fourth, so he hit DDTs around the horn. Then, Dusty pulled him aside afterward and told him he would be starting again tomorrow night.

Lawler spoke next about Mid-South Coliseum with Terry Funk and Dusty. He said Dory Funk wanted to bring their match down to Florida. And Dusty demanded he got on last. So, Lawler went on semi-final and backstage after the match, there was an autographed program on his chair with a note from Dusty apologizing for having to go on before him. And King still has the program.

Hayes spoke next about pay-offs going to Dusty. He noted that he recently told Hunter that when WWE breaks the attendance record in Dallas with WM32 after they broke the record in New Orleans with WM30, they can thank the Freebirds. But, Dusty spoke up in the office that he got the pay-off.

Next, Lawler asked what Dusty did after shows. Flair said he drank, but he went back to the hotel. Or, he would watch the top country music performers from the 1970s if they were in the town the wrestling show was. That was his link to former Texas Longhorns football coach Darrell Royal, who hung out with the country crooners of the day.

Lawler then recalled Dusty's ability to talk people right into the building while dancing around the topic of selling a wrestling match. Dillon said the beauty of that promo was Lawler could remember it almost word-for-word because he captivated the audience. Dillon said people still remember then put up the four fingers, but people wanted to see someone lead the catalyst opposite the Four Horsemen. And that person was Dusty Rhodes. Dillon hyped Dusty's classic comebacks. And Arn just shook his head.

Anderson said there are a few moments in his career where he got big goosebumps. He said they broke Dusty's leg in the Omni Arena. And just as the cage door opened, there were 25 people wide and 25 people wide until 10 Atlanta cops created a gap for them to get out of the cage. Arn said you never forget that. Then, they broke his leg in Philadelphia. And Philly fans like their scraps. He said he never felt anything as intense as when they opened the cage door.

Dillon recalled the famous TV segment where the Horsemen ambushed Dusty outside of the office, gang-rushed Dusty, then tied him up, and Ole Anderson put a pipe to him. Dillon said people thought Dusty's ego was coming out producing the bit wanting it to look good for his comeback. But, Dillon said Dusty was a big movie fan and he took a chapter from a Marlon Brando movie for that line about "making it look good" to set up his comeback a year later.

Hayes shared a classic, side-splitting story about Dusty supposed to ride with Hayes, Tommy Rich, and Terry Gordy, but they all intentionally were late. So, they got to the town and promoter Jim Barnett wanted to know why Dusty was so late. So, Dusty explained that Hayes was in the pool, Tommy was looking for Terry, and Terry wanted a cocktail.

Anderson talked next about people being jealous of Dusty, but Dusty was above all of them in the industry. Flair said the gimmick was so easy because they got all the heat on TV, but they were 0-for-everything in the arena. Hayes asked Flair about the Hard Times promo. Flair noted they were getting ready for Starrcade and they were sold out at the Greensboro Coliseum. And his story about Hard Times got cut off by time restraints.

Lawler asked Flair for final reflections on Dusty's charisma. Flair said Dusty was the most charismatic of his time. He referenced Kevin Owens being the same size as Dusty, defying the "body type" perception of WWE's top stars. Flair said Owens came from NXT and is over like crazy now, proving Dusty's point that you don't have to have a body to get over, even in WWE. Flair said Dusty was charismatic, a great guy, and gave the rub to more good guys than anyone else in the business. He said Dusty would sell all night long and make it look good before he won, of course.

Hayes said Dusty created a lot of different things, like Great American Bash, War Games, Magnum T.A., and other people/things. Flair said Hunter is an historian of the business and Dusty actually handed Hunter one of the books. So, Hunter put it in a glass case. Flair said Hunter grew up on that era, so it was a huge deal to him.

Lawler said they're out of time. Dillon said they talked for an hour, did not cry, and had lots of laughs. Flair joked that Dusty would have wanted them to drink during this. Arn talked next that some people come through the business for a blink of the eye, some become part of the business, and others transcend it. And Dusty was that person. Arn said he would not have a Hall of Fame ring and there would be no Horsemen without Dusty Rhodes. Dillon said it was a great honor for Dusty Rhodes to induct the Horsemen into the WWE Hall of Fame. Lawler signed off to end the 45-minute special. All five men applauded to conclude the special.

OVERALL: A fun trip down memory lane for five wrestling legends talking about Dusty Rhodes. You're not going to get the in-depth "evaluation of Dusty's strengths and weaknesses" on this Network special, as, like most Network programming, it was for entertainment purposes mainly, but there were some hilarious stories and unique insight on what made Dusty a huge wrestling star.


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