WWE And TNA: 7 Worst Moments Of The Week (June 14)

7. Goodbye Dusty

The American Dream is gone. Dusty Rhodes was 69, and one of the most influential men to ever lace up the boots. He was a huge draw throughout the late 70s and 80s, and a successful booker who had one of the best minds in the business. He also proudly fathered two sons who make a living in the world of wrestling. He built a legacy that few other wrestlers could possibly compete with. The man was big enough competition to Vince McMahon that his company based not one, not two, but three different characters off of him. First was Virgil, The Million Dollar Man€™s bodyguard (Virgil was Dusty€™s birth name), then Akeem the African Dream, and later Reo Rogers played by Brother Love. But Dusty€™s polka dot infused WWF run, and the bizarre caricatures based off of him are merely footnotes in his towering work in the business that he loved. Dusty was a larger than life personality. He starred in Mello Yello commercials, and he partied with Andy Warhol at Studio 54. He cut brilliant promos that struck a chord with the average working men and women of his generation. He knew €œhard times€ and he knew how to pack arenas. For younger fans who missed out on his epic run, they still got to see him in WCW as part of the NWO, in TNA as an on-air authority figure, in WWE as a part of one of the best storylines in recent memory in the Rhodes boys getting their jobs back, and in NXT as a proud father-like figure to the next generations€™ superstars. So long Dusty, may the wrestling world find another as unique and talented as you. Now, on with the nonsense that we came here for...