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Wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes dies at age 69

Posted: Jun 12th 2015 By: Paul Guzzo

Virgil Runnels Jr., who performed in Tampa and around the world as charismatic professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes, died Thursday at 69.

Runnels entertained fans for more than three decades, won dozens of titles for a number of wrestling promoters and ultimately was inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2007.

A native of Austin, Texas, he was living in Marietta, Georgia, at the time of his death.

But it was in Tampa, performing in the statewide Championship Wrestling From Florida promotion in weekly shows at the Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory, that he first achieved celebrity status.

Billing himself as ?The American Dream,? he rose to fame here by playing the ?son of a plumber,? a wrestler with a blue-collar work ethic who fought for fans with similar backgrounds.

With his Texas drawl and preacherlike cadence, he sold his rags-to-riches story with famous lines such as, ?I have wined and dined with kings and queens, and I?ve slept in alleys and dined on pork and beans.?

?During his reign in Tampa in the 1970s and 1980s, he was the most magical performer in the entire city, regardless of the industry,? said local radio personality Tedd Webb, a friend of Runnels. ?This is a very sad day for Tampa.?

During the 1970s, Tampa was the southern epicenter of professional wrestling.

Runnels referred to the Tampa armory as the ?Madison Square Garden of the South.?

WWE Hall of Famer and Tampa resident Gerald Brisco calls the armory the ?Taj Mahal of wrestling.?

?If you main-evented there, you had done something with your career,? Brisco said.

The rise of the Tampa wrestling scene had a lot to do with Rhodes, said Barry Rose, an archivist of Florida professional wrestling history.

?He was arguably the biggest star produced out of Tampa,? Rose said. ?There was a time when he was the biggest celebrity in all of Tampa. And that transcended Tampa and Florida. The eyes of wrestling fans around the country were on Tampa because they wanted to know what Rhodes was doing.?

He also performed for the American Wrestling Association, World Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, Extreme Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action.

Among the greatest rivals of Rhodes over the years were Superstar Billy Graham, Tully Blanchard, Harley Race and Kevin Sullivan.

But his most legendary scripted battles were with Ric Flair, whose rich playboy character performed by Richard Fliehr was the perfect foil for the everyman Rhodes.

?Today, I lost one of my greatest opponents and greatest friends,? Fliehr said in a prepared statement. ?He was the definition of heart and soul and I?m honored to have shared the ring with him countless times.

?He became the ?American Dream? because wrestling needed a hero they could respect, and he was the man for the job. Dusty Rhodes, I will miss you my mentor and friend.?

Among Runnels? survivors are his wrestling sons Cody and Dustin Runnels, who each have used the Rhodes name at times during their careers with the WWE.

Championship Wrestling From Florida operated under the umbrella of the National Wrestling Alliance, a national promoter then on par with the WWE.

On three occasions, Rhodes won the NWA heavyweight title, the first time on Aug. 21, 1979, when he defeated Harley Race in Tampa at the armory.

?He was the people?s champ,? said friend Webb. ?Everybody loved Dusty. He was our guy, and when he won, Tampa won.?

But when he first arrived in Tampa in the 1970s, archivist Rose said, he did so as a ?heel? ? the term for bad-guy wrestlers.

It became quickly apparent that Rhodes had so much charisma that no one wanted to root against him, Rose said.

?He turned good because the people demanded it,? Rose said. ?They could not boo him.?

Fellow wrestler Brisco was there the night Rhodes became a ?good guy.?

?When he finished that first interview as a good guy, the boys in the back were high-fiving and doing cartwheels,? Brisco said with a laugh. ?Dusty could sell tickets as a bad guy, but we immediately knew that as a good guy he?d be one of the biggest stars in the world. That day I think sports entertainment as we know it today was born.?

Runnels was a bold in-ring performer, his contemporaries said ? willing to brutalize his body for the art form in an era when the blood often was real ? but he connected with audiences mostly with his talking ability.

In its statement, the WWE said, ?Runnels became a hero to fans around the world thanks to his work ethic, his impassioned interviews and his indomitable spirit.?

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Mike McCord, a Tampa native who wrestled as ?Austin Idol? and performed in a tag team with Runnels in Florida, said his magnetism ?took professional wrestling to the next level. Not an easy feat. Big Dust was one of a kind, and we had a blast together.?

Rhodes had an enormous influence on the late Randy Poffo, the ?Macho Man? Randy Savage, said Poffo?s brother, former wrestler Lanny Poffo.

?He recognized Dusty as one of the most entertaining wrestlers he had ever seen and said I want to be like him,? Poffo said. ?Dusty was the total package, the consummate performer. You put him on a wrestling card, and he would sell out the show and give the fans their money?s worth and then some.

?The biggest stars are the ones the fans connect with, and the fans connected with Dusty Rhodes.?

In the 1970s, the top nightclub in Tampa was Robiconti?s on Fowler Avenue.

In November, owner Jim Robiconti reminisced with the Tribune on the popularity of Rhodes.

?Dusty came in all the time and would complain about disco music. He was a country guy,? Robiconti said. ?So one night he says, ?If I don?t get some Chuck Berry soon, I?m gonna start body slamming some people.? He was joking, of course, but he was such a good customer I decided to accommodate him just once.?

Midway through a Donna Summer song, the band switched to ?Johnny B. Goode.? When a few patrons complained, Robiconti pointed to Runnels and told them to take it up with him.

?No one yelled at Dusty,? Robiconti said. ?Instead, I think they bought him drinks.?

During the 1970s, the image of Rhodes was plastered across billboards, and the Tribune reported on his matches as real sport.

Friend Webb noted that Runnels? heyday in Tampa was a time before the Buccaneers, Rays or Lightning.

Professional wrestling, still posing as legitimate competition, was the biggest sport in town, and Rhodes was its star.

Rhodes once said his popularity was due to his willingness to live his wrestling persona 24/7.

Everything from the car he drove to the clothes he wore reflected ?The American Dream,? he told the Tribune in October 2013.

?When I was hurting, they were hurting,? he said. ?When I was making a big comeback and doing great, they were doing great. When I lost, they lost. And when I won, they won.?

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Rhodes? death came on the same day as a big event for Tampa?s wrestling community: a fundraiser at the Maureen & Douglas Cohn Jewish Community Campus for a memorial at the armory building to pay tribute to Florida?s rich wrestling history.

The evening celebration also became a somber tribute to Runnels, who epitomized why nearly 7,000 fans crammed into the center, autograph books, pictures and replica championship belts in tow.

The festivities came to a halt as organizer Jody Simon called for silence for the traditional 10-ring bell salute in honor of a fallen wrestler. ?This is why we?re here,? Simon said.

Nearly all of the wrestlers who attended had a personal connection with Runnels.

?I just had so much respect for him,? said Terry Funk, a classmate of Runnels at West Texas State University in the late 1960s and partner in a long-running wrestling ?feud.?

?When I wrestled Dusty, we packed arenas. It didn?t matter where we wrestled, when I got in the ring with Dusty, there was always a huge crowd.?

Brian Blair, a longtime Tampa resident who got his wrestling start at the armory, said Rhodes? impact here extends far beyond the ring.

?He divided all color barriers, race and religion,? Blair said of Rhodes. ?He was ?The American Dream,? the son of a plumber. He?ll be missed. He will never be forgotten.?