Bios
Dusty Rhodes
Nickname: Dirty; The American Dream; The Human Tank
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 302 lbs
From: Austin, TX
Birthday: Oct 11th
Pro Debut: 1968
Aliases: Dusty Runnels, The Midnight Rider, Frank James, Uvalde Slim, Mr. Ichiban
Feds Worked For: TSW, UWF, NWA-OK, IZW, NWA, WWWF, WWF, WWE, ECW, WCW, NWA-TNA, SCW, AWA, Florida, Carolina Championship Wrestling (NC/SC), Major League Wrestling, Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling (FL), Hawaii
Finisher: The Bionic Elbow
Signature Moves: Figure-Four Leglock, Elbow Drop, Sleeper Hold
Career Highlights: -FCW Champion
-NWA Bahamas Champion
-NWA Brass Knuckles Champion
-NWA Central States Champion
-NWA (Detroit) World Tag Team Champion (w/ Dick Murdoch)
-NWA Florida Brass Knucks Champion (2x)
-NWA Florida Champion (10x)
-NWA Florida TV Champion (2x)
-NWA Florida Tag Team Champion (5x; 1 each w/ Dick Murdoch, Dick Slater, Blackjack Mulligan, Bobo Brazil & Andre the Giant)
-NWA Georgia Champion
-NWA (Hawaii) North American Champion
-NWA Heart of America Champion
-NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champion (w/ Buff Bagwell)
-NWA (Mid-Atlantic) World Tag Team Champion (w/ Dick Slater)
-NWA National Champion
-NWA North American Tag Team Champion (w/ Dick Murdoch)
-NWA (San Francisco) United States Champion
-NWA Southern Champion (7x)
-NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Champion (2x)
-NWA United States Champion
-NWA United States Tag Team Champion (2x; 1 each w/ Bugsy McGraw & Blackjack Mulligan)
-NWA World Champion (3x)
-NWA World 6 Man Tag Team Champion (2x; both w/ The Road Warriors)
-NWA World Television Champion (3x)
-NWA World Tag Team Champion (w/ Manny Fernandez)
-PWF Champion
-TSW Brass Knucks Champion
-TSW North American Champion
-TSW United States Tag Team Champion (2x; 1 each w/ Andre The Giant & Spoiler # 1)
Affiliates: Dick Murdoch, Andre the Giant, Spoiler # 1, Magnum TA, Nikita Koloff, Baby Doll, Dustin Rhodes, Sapphire, nWo, Traci Brooks, Trinity, Buck Robley
Notable Feuds: The Andersons, Billy Graham, Ivan Koloff, Tully Blanchard, Ric Flair, Dick Slater, Bunkhouse Buck, Arn Anderson, Terry Funk, Ted DiBiase, Vince Russo
Other Facts: -Real name was Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr.
-Father of pro wrestlers Dustin Rhodes (AKA Goldust) and Cody Rhodes
-Father-in-law of pro wrestler Brandi Rhodes
-Former husband of pro wrestler Donna Lemke
-Former Father-in-law of wrestling valet Terri Runnels
-Brother-in-law of pro wrestlers Jerry Sags and Fred Ottman
-Grandfather of pro wrestlers Wyatt Rhodes and Wayne Rhodes
-Uncle of pro wrestler Austin Rhodes
-Billed as the cousin of Dirty Rhodes
-His nephew Berkley Ottman (Fred Ottman's son) is the timekeeper for the WWE.
-Billed as the Father-in-law of pro wrestler Aksana in a storyline where Goldust married her to allow her to legally stay in the United States.
-Was the godfather of "Superstar" Billy Graham's son Joey
-Attended high school with Beverly Williams, mother of Steve Austin
-Began his career in Boston using the name Dusty Runnels after giving up on semi-pro baseball. He then began using the name Dusty Rhodes from James Rhodes, who was nicknamed "Dusty".
-Appeared in the movie "The Wrestler" in 1974, playing himself
-Wrestled Terry Funk in the earliest recorded barbed-wire match sometime in the late 1970s.
-Lost a Loser Leaves Town match in Florida in the late 1970s and returned as Uvalde Slim (Ulvade is a town in Texas and “Slim” obviously describes Rhodes). He would repeat this story much more famously as The Midnight Rider. As the Midnight Rider, he would be billed from Diablo, CO
-Wrestled on NWA's 1st pay-per-view event "Starrcade '87" on November 26, 1987 and WCW's last pay-per-view event "Greed" on March 18, 2001
-Has worked as booker, producer, or creative team member of wrestling shows for WCW, WWF, TNA, and WWE
-His run as booker in the NWA ended in 1989 due to him booking an angle where the Road Warriors stabbed him in the eye with a metal spike on Television. According to reports, Rhodes was burnt out as booker and also unappreciative of the restrictions that Ted Turner put in place upon acquiring the World Championship Wrestling television show on TBS. He wanted to test those boundaries, especially the one that said there was to be no blood whatsoever and got fired for it immediately.
-Was owner and operator of Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling based in Florida
-Was featured in the WWE DVD "The Greatest Wrestling Stars of the '80's"
-Released his autobiography "Dusty: Reflections of an American Dream" in 2005
-In 2006, WWE released a 3 disc DVD set entitled "The American Dream: The Dusty Rhodes Story"
-Former commissioner of Florida Championship Wrestling and NXT
-Former member of the nWo
-Voted Wrestler of the Year by the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 1977 and 1978
-Voted Most Popular Wrestler by the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 1978, 1979, and 1987
-Won the Match of Year Award as voted by the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 1979 (vs. Harley Race) and 1986 (vs. Ric Flair)
-Won the Feud of the Year Award as voted by the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 1987 (w/ Nikita Koloff & The Road Warriors vs. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, & Lex Luger)
-Ranked # 210 in the 2000 PWI 500
-Ranked # 193 in the 2001 PWI 500
-Inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1995
-Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007
-Inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2010
-Inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2011
-Passed away June 11, 2015 at the age of 69 due to an infection of the liver.
-Posthumously inducted into the NWA Hall of Heroes in 2016
-Posthumously inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2017
Supplemental Information
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Spotlight in History
- 1957 Don Leo Jonathan def. Pepper Gomez for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
- 1987 Bubba Rogers def. One Man Gang for the UWF Heavyweight Champion
- 2008 New Canada (The Canadian Luchadore & The Canadian Red Devil) def. La M (El Choppo & Jesus Rodriguez) for the ComPro Tag Team Champions
- 2008 The New Age Syndicate (Scott Sanders & Shawn Sanders) def. Nathan Sensation for the IZW Tag Team Champions
- 2013 Bree Ann def. Barbi Hayden for the NWA-TXO Rose Champion
- 2014 Aaron Anders def. Michael Wolf for the OWA Junior Heavyweight Champion
- 2014 Jake O'Brien def. Brian Breaker for the OWA Heavyweight Champion
- 2014 Tim Rockwell def. Jon Cross for the UWE Heavyweight Champion
- 2014 Randy Price def. Drake Gallows for the IZW Impact Division Champion
- 2014 Miss Diss Lexia def. Paige Turner for the IZW Queens Champion
- 2014 Erica def. Miss Diss Lexia for the IZW Queens Champion
- 2014 Brandon Groom def. Warhammer for the BPPW Heavyweight Champion
Week of Sun 04-14 to Sat: 04-20
- 04-14 1959 Frankie Kovacs & Gino Angelo became the TSW Louisiana Tag Team Champion
- 04-14 1980 Toru Tanaka def. Bruiser Brody for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
- 04-14 1989 Jerry Lawler def. Kerry Von Erich for the WCCW World Champion
- 04-14 2006 Al Farat became the AACW Heavyweight Champion
- 04-14 2006 Trailer Park Trash (J. C. & K. C.) became the AACW Tag Team Champions
- 04-14 2007 Slam Shady became the NWA-U Oklahoma Heavyweight Champion
- 04-14 2007 Justin Lee def. Shane Morbid for the NWA-U X Division Champion
- 04-14 2018 Spyder def. Ray Martinez for the BPW Oklahoma Champion
- 04-14 2018 Blue Thunder & The Unknown def. Big Smooth & Zakk Sinizter for the NAW Tag Team Champions
- 04-14 2019 Marti Belle became the WCR Diamond Division Champion
- 04-14 2023 Roll Modelz (Malik Mayfield & Olivier Vegos) def. Urban Dominance (Drake Gallows & Skylar Slice) for the CPW Tag Team Champions
- 04-15 1955 Mike Clancy became the TSW Oklahoma Junior Heavyweight Champion
- 04-15 1958 Fritz Von Erich def. Bull Curry for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
- 04-15 1977 Bruiser Brody & Mike York def. Jose Lothario & Cien Caras for the WCCW Texas Tag Team Champion
- 04-15 2005 Dirty Harry Sanchez def. Luc Lapointe for the SRPW Heavyweight Champion
- 04-15 2012 Jerry Bostic def. Javi Hernandez for the UWF06 Heavyweight Champion
- 04-15 2012 K-Ro became the UWF06 Texhoma Champion
- 04-15 2016 Revolution (Seth Allen & Dane Griffin) def. The Sons of Texas (Moonshine Mantell & Killer McKenzie) for the NWA-TXO Tag Team Champions
- 04-15 2016 Killista def. Skylar Slice for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Champion
- 04-15 2016 Nathan Estrada def. Killista for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Champion
- 04-15 2017 Poder Oriental became the BMLL Heavyweight Champion
- 04-15 2022 Derek James def. Tommy Dean for the BPW Lion Heart Champion
- 04-15 2022 Revolution (Seth Allen & Dane Griffin) def. Doz Camachos (Onyx Camacho & Zarek Camacho) for the TexPro Tag Team Champions
- 04-15 2022 Johnny Bedlam def. Adam Asher for the TexPro Heavyweight Champion
- 04-15 2023 Olivier Vegos def. Evelyn Carter for the NCWO Women's Champion
- 04-15 2023 Luke Richmond def. Jamie Holley for the NCWO United States Champion
- 04-16 1983 Junkyard Dog became the MSW North American Heavyweight Champion
- 04-16 2004 Brian Lakewood def. AWOL for the TPW Oklahoma Heavyweight Champion
- 04-16 2005 John O'Malley became the NWA-U Oklahoma Heavyweight Champion
- 04-16 2005 Dexter Hardaway became the NWA-U X Division Champion
- 04-16 2005 Gary Gram became the NWA-U X Division Champion
- 04-16 2005 Kevin Northcutt def. Tejas for the NWA Texas Champion
- 04-16 2005 Tribal Force (Tim Warcloud & Tejas) def. The New Orleans Fight Club (Kevin Northcutt & John Saxon) for the NWA North American Tag Team Champion
- 04-16 2021 Father Padge def. Shadow Gemini for the EPW Internet Television Champion
- 04-17 1959 Dory Funk became the TSW Oklahoma Junior Heavyweight Champion
- 04-17 2009 Texas, Inc. (Tim Rockwell & Bernard Funk) def. The Innovators (Anarchy [2nd] & Fuel) for the TAP Tag Team Champions
- 04-17 2009 Seth Allen def. Carnage for the GPCW Heavyweight Champion
- 04-17 2011 Double D became the MSWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion
- 04-17 2021 Space Age Cowboys (Jason Jones & Paul Puertorico) def. The Real Dirty Brawlers (Brawler Morrison & Thrash) for the WFC Tag Team Champions
- 04-17 2021 Tommy Dean became the WFC Prime Champion
- 04-18 1974 Fritz Von Erich def. The Texan for the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
- 04-18 1981 The Grappler & The Super Destroyer became the MSW Mid-South Tag Team Champion
- 04-18 1998 The Texas Outlaws (Bobby Burns & Dan Wilder) def. Generation X (Ian St. James & Zane Morris) for the OPW Oklahoma Tag Team Champion
- 04-18 2004 Ty Magnus def. Bernie Donderwitz for the ACW Hardcore Champion
- 04-18 2004 Li'l Joe def. Ty Magnus for the ACW Hardcore Champion
- 04-18 2009 Sage became the OECW Cruiserweight Champion
- 04-18 2021 Blade [2nd] def. Drake Gallows for the AIWF National Champion
- 04-18 2021 Los Loco Moscas/Rejecs LM (Elijah Sparks & El Greengo Loco/Doctor Corvus) def. DNR (Drake Gallows & Revan) for the EPW Tag Team Champions
- 04-18 2021 Kevin James Sanchez def. Double D for the EPW Heavyweight Champion
- 04-19 1957 Don Leo Jonathan def. Pepper Gomez for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
- 04-19 1987 Bubba Rogers def. One Man Gang for the UWF Heavyweight Champion
- 04-19 2008 New Canada (The Canadian Luchadore & The Canadian Red Devil) def. La M (El Choppo & Jesus Rodriguez) for the ComPro Tag Team Champions
- 04-19 2008 The New Age Syndicate (Scott Sanders & Shawn Sanders) def. Nathan Sensation for the IZW Tag Team Champions
- 04-19 2013 Bree Ann def. Barbi Hayden for the NWA-TXO Rose Champion
- 04-19 2014 Aaron Anders def. Michael Wolf for the OWA Junior Heavyweight Champion
- 04-19 2014 Jake O'Brien def. Brian Breaker for the OWA Heavyweight Champion
- 04-19 2014 Tim Rockwell def. Jon Cross for the UWE Heavyweight Champion
- 04-19 2014 Randy Price def. Drake Gallows for the IZW Impact Division Champion
- 04-19 2014 Miss Diss Lexia def. Paige Turner for the IZW Queens Champion
- 04-19 2014 Erica def. Miss Diss Lexia for the IZW Queens Champion
- 04-19 2014 Brandon Groom def. Warhammer for the BPPW Heavyweight Champion
- 04-20 1980 Toru Tanaka def. Kevin Von Erich for the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
- 04-20 2013 The Canadian Red Devil became the OWA Heavyweight Champion
- 04-20 2013 Daemon Storm def. Justin Dynamic for the UWE United States Champion
- 04-20 2018 Jack Swagger def. MVP for the IWR Heavyweight Champion
- 04-20 2019 B. M. F. (Kareem Sadat & Maniac Mike) became the EmpCW Tag Team Champions
- 04-20 2019 Double D became the EmpCW Heavyweight Champion
- Seth Allen Apr 19th Today!
- Ox Baker Apr 19th Today!
- Bubba Sutton Apr 19th Today!
- Jeff Starchild Apr 19th Today!
- Jesse White Apr 19th Today!
- John E. Stone Apr 19th Today!
- Berto Del Rayo Apr 19th Today!
- Hillbilly Apr 19th Today!
- Colt Storm Apr 20th
- Guy Sterling Apr 20th
- Jay Hollywood Apr 21st
- Angelo Savoldi Apr 21st
- Vicki Williams Apr 21st
- Tony Atlas Apr 23rd
- Blade [2nd] Apr 23rd
- Terry Gordy Apr 23rd
- Ethan Price Apr 24th
- Lance Von Erich Apr 24th
- Lou Thesz Apr 24th
- Brett Stopp Apr 25th
- Crash Davis Apr 25th
- Zack Zilla Apr 25th
- Carl Fergie Apr 25th
- Bobby Joe Bristow Apr 25th
- Eric Roberts Apr 25th
- Walker Stewart Apr 25th
- Havoc Apr 26th
- Justin Dynamic Apr 26th
- Karl Kox Apr 26th
- Yasu Fuji Apr 27th
- Chance Snodgrass Apr 28th
- Siva Afi Apr 28th
- Ichiban [2nd] Apr 28th
- Sunshine Apr 29th
- Joe McCarthy Apr 30th
- Anarchy [2nd] Apr 30th
- El Gallardo Apr 30th
- Dustin Tibbs Apr 30th
- Billie the Kiid Apr 30th
- Prince Maivia May 1st
- Barrett Brown May 2nd
- Americos May 2nd
- Don Fields May 2nd
- Nightmare [1st] May 2nd
- Big Bossman May 2nd
Current Champions
All Star Pro
Tag Team Champions
Wrestlers of Mass Destruction
- Heavyweight Champion: Tino Valentino
- Women's Champion: Olivier Vegos
- Mid-American Champion: Johnny Kove
- Livestream Champion: Malik Mayfield
- 5-Star Champion: Gatekeeper