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Dusty Rhodes Still Living The American Dream

Posted: Jul 31st 2010 By: CMBurnham

His "bionic elbow" feels a bit rusty these days, but wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes still jumps into the ring from time to time.

He just feels sore afterward.

Rhodes tag-teamed with his two WWE-wrestling sons recently, and - while he says he had a great time - he found himself slower and creakier than his heyday in the '70s and '80s.

He's 64 years old, after all.

That elbow doesn't do quite as much damage anymore.

"I got in the ring, and I somehow got my elbow up high enough to hit someone in the head," Rhodes says and chuckles. "I can't get 'funky like a monkey' as much as I used to do."

Rhodes won't wrestle today when he appears at a Florida Championship Wrestling event in Punta Gorda. But he will sign autographs, pose for photos and hand out "American Dream" bobbleheads.

Instead of wrestling, the Florida resident spends his time mentoring young wrestlers at FCW's Tampa headquarters. He teaches the art of wrestling as high theater - an art he practically invented alongside Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan and a handful of other wrestling greats.

"Back in my day, it was just wrestling," Rhodes says in his famous, unmistakable lisp. "We didn't know marketing, hardly. I was one of the first ones to do that.

Rhodes - otherwise known as "The American Dream" - quickly became a household name, competing for the FCW and winning three world titles with the National Wrestling Alliance.

Fans loved his rotund body, snappy delivery and catchphrases such as "getting funky like a monkey."

"It was a good time," he says. "It really was."

Many of those fans will likely show up today at Charlotte Harbor Event and Conference Center, where Rhodes will meet and greet people before the FCW match. The Punta Gorda event features up-and-coming FCW wrestlers and World Wrestling Entertainment star R-Truth.

It's one of two wrestling events this weekend.

On Sunday, WWE wrestlers will headlock and piledrive each other at Germain Arena. The WWE "Raw World Tour" features stars Randy Orton, Sheamus, John Cena and more.

Rhodes has met and worked with many of the wrestlers at both events. The FCW is a training ground for the WWE, and through that organization, he teaches up-and-coming wrestlers how to develop a personae and present it to an audience.

"You have to connect with the audience," Rhodes says. "You're a product. You have to sell that product."

Wrestler Ted DiBiase, Jr. - who appears Sunday at Germain - has fought alongside Rhodes' son, Cody, and once met his legendary father.

He came away suitably starstruck.

"Dusty Rhodes was the greatest sports athlete the industry has ever seen," DiBiase says. "He was just electrifying. You couldn't take your eyes off him.

"He really is one of the greats."

Rhodes' Punta Gorda appearance ends a month-long tour that included his July 9 tag-team match in Kissimmee. It was his first match in about three years - and it showed.

"I was not up to it, speed-wise," he says. "It takes a lot out of you, when you get to be my age."

The 6-foot, 2-inch, 302-pound Rhodes isn't built like the sleeker wrestlers in today's WWE. But that rotund physique was part of what made him a star.

He wasn't Superman.

He was Everyman.

"I was this round guy," he says and laughs. "I looked like the guy next door."

The self-described "son of a plumber" is still basking in that fame. In 2007, Rhodes' sons- WWE wrestlers Cody and Dustin (aka "Goldust") - inducted him into the WWE Hall of Fame.

"That was such an unbelievable moment," he says. "It was very emotional."

His hardcore wrestling days may be over, but Rhodes still has a soft spot for the sport.

There's nothing in the world quite like it.

"I look at it as entertainment," Rhodes says. "It's athletes doing great things. It's good and evil. It's a sitcom

Tags: Dusty Rhodes, WWE