The American Dream is dead.... Virgil Runnels aka Dusty Rhodes passed away today at age 69...

[Ghost in the Machine]

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SPORTS

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Open discussion of sports is permitted during very high-profile news events which are heavily covered across all newsmedia.

It has been covered by major networks, newspapers, local news stations and websites across the globe. Here's a link to see how many networks, magazines, etc. have covered it: https://www.facebook.com/topic/Dusty-Rhodes/108530592504256?source=whfrt&position=2&trqid=6159199788465586166

I don't know how many wrestling fans there are here, but I have seen quite a few in the past. I grew up watching Dusty Rhodes, Tully Blanchard, Arn & Ollie Anderson and a host more, like Harley Race, Jack & Jerry Brisco, The von Erich family, etc.

We know that the "fighting" is choreographed, but those are some amazing athletes if you watch some of the stunts they pull. I watch it for what it is: Sports Entertainment! I call it "Extreme Tumbling and Gymnastics", myself.

I tease my son all the time because of his first and middle names... I tell him that he was named after Dusty Rhodes & Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Condolences to his family and friends... R.I.P. Dusty Rhodes

Peace,

Ghost

[underpants]

1. One of my favorites

We watched Mid Atlantic wrestling back in the day.

[Ghost in the Machine]

3. I used to see him in Chattanooga a lot in the late 70's until I moved back to Florida in '81...

I had an uncle who used to take me almost every weekend when they had matches at the War Memorial Auditorium. I also met a lot of the wrestlers because a girl I went to school with had an older sister who dated "Dirty Dutch Mantel". I always got a kick out of seeing them "beat" the hell out of each other, then 4 or 5 of them would pile up into the same car after the show was over and ride off together to the next match. He was with the NWA then (National Wrestling Alliance).

Ahh, the good old days! I think it was sometime around '83 or '84 that I saw him and Ric Flair in a title match in Homestead, Fla. It was a bloody match! Back then, they used to use little razor blades to cut their foreheads with just to have those bloody matches. If you ever looked closely at Dusty's head, you could see the actual scars.

Dutch Mantel told us that a lot of it was fake, but sometimes one would hit the other too hard or something and the other would get mad and they really started fighting. Then there were some who just naturally didn't like each other. He told us that any time a steel chair or other foreign object was brought into the ring, it was a for real fight, not scripted.

I used to help set up rings for the matches down in Florida at one time, too. I could tell you stories for hours... but will just cut it off here..

Peace,

Ghost

[dhill926]

2. I remember him as…

Dirty Dusty Rhodes. Was a bad guy at the start I think.

[Ghost in the Machine]

5. "Dirty Rhodes" was a nickname given to him, but never an official ring name. Yes, he started as a

"Heel" with his tag-team partner Dick Murdoch, but later turned into a "face" and that was when "The American Dream" was born. A common man, the son of a plumber, making it into the "big time".

My dad saw him at a bar in Miami one night, "Big Daddy's" on Tamiami Trail, lighting cigars with $100 bills....

Peace,

Ghost

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. “I’ve dined with Kings and Queens, and slept in alleys and eaten Pork ‘n’ Beans.” nt

[Liberal_Dog]

6. K & R

Those were fun days with blue collar Dusty vs. aristocratic Ric Flair. A feud for the ages.

We will miss you Dusty.