10 Unbelievable Origins Of Wrestler Names
3. Dusty Rhodes
There aren't many iconic names in wrestling that evoke an emotional outpouring on the level of Dusty Rhodes. The man is a true legend of the industry; with NXT's tag team tournament being named after him, and his son attempting to trademark his name late last year.
Wrestling apocrypha will have you believe that the man born as Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. got his ring name from a New York Giants baseball player in the 50s, but it actually came from 'The American Dream's father.
The Runnels family were based in Austin, Texas, and unsurprisingly the area in which the Hall Of Famer grew up contained a great deal of disheveled and dusty roads. This became a nickname given to 'The Son of a Plumber' by his dad, and the handle stuck with Dusty Rhodes for the entirity of his storied career.