When a man reaches for the stars, some times he grasps them. More often than not he falls flat on his face. In Dusty Rhodes life he did both, many times, and with great joy and success while trying. Virgil Runnels was the kind of guy that everyone has a kind word for, seemingly so. Even his disastrous booking ideas, like The Shockmaster and 1991’s Halloween Havoc Chamber of Horrors match are mocked lovingly.
Awful as they may be they were adventurous and an attempt at something unique. There are also the great ideas like War Games and The Great American Bash, the later of which he felt the WWE owed him residuals for when they used the name for their PPV. The legitimacy of that complain can be argued as WWE had purchased all of WCW lock stock and barrel prior to using the name.
The Four Horseman, easily my favorite stable in all of wrestling, and arguably the best ever, can be linked specifically to Rhodes and his feud with Ric Flair during the early 1980’s. If it wasn’t for Dusty’s charm in the ring and out, and his ability to turn fans into devotees, then there wouldn’t have been the need to turn Flair into a character the fans could dislike. Flair and Dusty were both fan favorites in the early days of their feud and demonstrated respect for each other. It was only after his cousins, Ole and Arn joined the fray, that the crowd felt welcome to boo Flair.
The bit that people focus on most noticeably, and rightfully so, was Rhodes’ ability to get over despite his lack of an “athlete’s body”. While Rhodes was an athlete, playing both baseball and American football he was apparently not what would be considered a jock.
Gordon Solie once remarking that Dusty didn’t take to the team concept of those sports, and drifted towards pro wrestling because he enjoyed the individual aspect of the sport. It was mano y mono at its most dramatic.
Dusty wasn’t frankly the best professional wrestler from a tactical perspective either. He limited a lot of his offense to headlocks, punches, kicks and the ‘bionic elbow’. None of that mattered because for a period of two decades (or more) he was arguably the most over baby face in all the wrestling world. That is the true test of a great wrestler isn’t it, longevity and success despite obvious flaws. A true talent knows their limits and works around them, and Dusty did that to great effect.
While Dusty influenced, directly and indirectly, countless talents in and out of the ring, there is none so obvious at this time then Kevin Owens. I call him by his NXT/WWE name because this is where Steen is proving to all doubters, that a man who doesn’t have an ‘athlete’s body’ can be over. From his facial expressions and ability to cut a money promo to his in-ring talent Kevin Owens is proving doubters wrong. I once said Kevin Steen would never make it on to WWE tv because of his body. Mind, it was because of Vince McMahon’s absurd fetish for adonis-like talentless ex-body builders, but never the less. I couldn’t be more happy to be proven wrong.
While Kevin Steen’s success should be greatly attributed to his own hard work and dedication, surely some credit should go where it is due. That credit goes to a man that came before him, and proved despite our obvious flaws, we can grasp the stars with both hands. That credit goes to Dusty Rhodes, The American Dream.
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