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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 and AEW photographer Dakota Runnels
-Uncle of pro wrestler Austin Rhodes
-Distantly related to Scorpio Sky (Dusty's son Cody is a cousin by marriage of Scorpio)
-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. He also appeared in an episode of "Burke's Law"
-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
-Pioneered the idea of supercards run on Close-Circuit TV which would eventually lead to PPV/PLE extravaganzas.
-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