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Dusty Rhodes: The gripping grappler talks 'Legends of WrestleMania'

Posted: Mar 25th 2009 By: mikeiles

Legendary wrestler Dusty Rhodes? son, Cody, might be making waves in the WWE these days, but in the new ?Legends of WrestleMania? video game, it?s the elder Rhodes who is in the spotlight.

?It?s a great honor,? the senior Rhodes says. ?It?s really cool to be one of the legendary figures of the industry, to leave some legacy, some history.?

Rhodes, 63, started wrestling in 1968 and worked in many of the major federations, from NWA to WCD to the WWE. A tall and burly man with a shock of blond hair, Rhodes, aka The American Dream, dropped the Bionic Elbow on everyone from Ric Flair to Randy Savage.

In ?Legends of ?WrestleMania? (THQ, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, $59.99), Rhodes is alongside all the greats ? from Hulk Hogan to Andre the Giant to The Rock ? and you can re-create many of his memorable matches, or forge a new story line.

You can even try your hand at the Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker match from the upcoming WrestleMania XXV, airing on pay-per-view on April 5.

With 40 grapplers to choose from, the game offers up several options for the wrestling fan and gamer alike.

One of the best features is the game play. It has been pared down to a simpler combo fighting system, which allows you to pummel your opponent into submission while easily re-enacting key moments in some of the famous matches.

?This is a great game,? Rhodes says. ?It?s so cool because you get ... to rewrite history.?

As an added bonus for online readers, amNewYork asked Dusty Rhodes about "The Wrestler." Here's what he had to say:

How do you think ?The Wrestler? did at portraying the pro-wrestling industry?
It has nothing at all to do with what our industry is now. There are things like that that go on in this country. There are places like that. I enjoyed [Micky Rourke?s] performance. Everybody was raving it was great ? I?ve been there. I don?t buy the thing that, ?It?s great and it?s really what it?s like.? It?s not like that. It?s not seedy.

You can play in the minor league baseball, ride a bus, drink a beer, get a sandwich from Subway ? which is a good sandwich, I?m not saying that ? or you can play in the major leagues and wine and dine with kings and queens. But you have to earn that. That?s what our industry is like. But the wrestling aspect is almost out the door of it. Athletics yes, entertainment first. That?s what it is.

Do you think you could take The Ram?
The Ram? Oh, I love Mickey Rourke. I ain?t going to say nothing bad about Mickey Rourke. I liked him before this. Mickey Rourke?s a great actor.

Tags: Dusty Rhodes, WWE, NWA, Ric Flair, Andre the Giant