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Paul Orndorff, who was one of professional wrestling’s most talented performers and biggest box-office attractions during the decade of the Eighties, passed away at his son’s home in Fayetteville, Georgia, at the age of 71. According to his wife Ronda, the cause of Orndorff’s death was dementia.
Orndorff, later known worldwide as “Mr. Wonderful,” originally began his athletic career in football. As a standout high school athlete, he went on to attend the University of Tampa, where he excelled as a running back. After graduating in 1972, Orndorff was a 12th round NFL draft choice for the New Orleans Saints in 1973. However, instead of pursuing a career in football, Orndorff made the decision to become a professional wrestler.
After completing his training in Florida and making his professional wrestling debut in 1976 with Jerry Jarrett’s Memphis promotion, the muscular and athletic Orndorff became a major star almost immediately. He won his first championship, the prestigious Southern Heavyweight title, by defeating Jerry Lawler on June 7, 1977. From there, the young Orndorff went on to wrestle for several regional groups, including Bob Geigel’s Central States, Leroy McGuirk’s Tri-State promotion, and Jim Crockett’s Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, where he won the NWA World Tag Team championship with partner Jimmy Snuka in December of 1978.
In terms of championships, Orndorff was a prolific titleholder; in addition to his NWA Southern and World Tag Team titles, he wore the NWA National Heavyweight title on three occasions, the Mid-South North American Heavyweight title five times, as well as the Mid-South Tag Team championship, with partner Ted Dibiase. Later, he would go on to capture the WCW World TV title, holding the championship for 5 months before losing to Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat on August 18, 1993. He also wore the WCW World Tag Team championship belts twice, with partner Paul Roma.
Despite his many NWA championship accomplishments, Orndorff achieved his greatest level of fame, as well as his “Mr. Wonderful” notoriety, while competing for the World Wrestling Federation. Between 1983-1988, Orndorff was undoubtedly one of the WWF’s top performers. In addition to headlining the first WrestleMania with partner Roddy Piper against Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, Orndorff was also one-half of the WWF’s most profitable run of house show matches in the promotion’s history, facing Hulk Hogan. The Hogan-Orndorff series drew capacity crowds throughout the United States and Canada, culminating in their legendary “The Big Event” showdown in Toronto, which drew over 61,000 fans to the “Queen’s City” Exhibition Stadium.
Ironically, at the height of his fame, the massively-muscled Orndorff faced what was, ultimately, the beginning of the end of his storied career. A spinal injury, which he ignored due to the enormous financial success he was experiencing against Hogan during the boom of wrestling in the Eighties, eventually led to Orndorff’s premature exit from the WWF, as well as his first retirement. The injury caused a very noticeable atrophy of his right arm, and Mr. Wonderful disappeared from the wrestling scene. Several years later, though, Orndorff would return to professional wrestling, first as a top performer for Smoky Mountain Wrestling and then, later, World Championship Wrestling.
After several successful years in WCW during the Nineties, Orndorff again retired from active competition in 2000 and took a position with the WCW Power Plant training facility, where he had a major part in grooming several future superstars.
In 2005, following an in-ring career that lasted nearly 25 years, Orndorff was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
“Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff is survived by his wife, Ronda, a brother, Terry, a sister, Patricia, two sons, Travis and Paul III, eight grandchildren, and thirteen great-grandchildren.
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by Stephen Von Slagle
Over the decades, professional wrestling has been the chosen vocation of some of the toughest, meanest, nastiest Texans that the Lone Star State has ever produced. In years past, Texas wrestling fans have, generally speaking, liked their grapplers to be big, rough & tough. And, if he’s got a short fuse, all the better. That description certainly applies to many of Texas’ most popular wrestling stars from the past & present, but perhaps none more so than the gigantic and unpredictable tobacco-dripping Texas bulldozer, Stan “The Lariat” Hansen. For nearly three decades, the 6’4″ 320 pound Hansen was unquestionably a main-event attraction (and champion) in top promotions throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. He became legendary during the early portion of his career as the man who legitimately broke “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino’s neck, a unique “bragging right” that he carried throughout the entirety of his career. As one of the NWA’s primary territorial attractions, Hansen was a main-event performer and champion in high-profile promotions across the country, most notably Georgia, Texas, Memphis, Mid-South, and Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. In 1985, Hansen forever placed his name in professional wrestling’s history book when he became the AWA World Heavyweight champion, dominating Verne Gagne’s still-strong (at that time) league while drawing the attention of wrestling fans and striking fear in the hearts of his opponents. Yet, despite all of his success in North America, the unpredictable, pulverizing scientific brawler undoubtedly made his biggest mark overseas in Japan. In the Land of the Rising Sun, Stan “The Lariat” Hansen became, arguably, the most successful “gaijin” (i.e. non-Japanese wrestler) in the history of professional wrestling in that country and he established himself as a legitimate legend in both the New Japan (Inoki) and All Japan (Baba) promotions.
Although he was nicknamed “The Bad Man from Borger, Texas,” John Stanley Hansen was actually born in Knox City, Texas on August 29, 1949. A standout in football for Las Cruces High School in New Mexico, Hansen attended West Texas State University and played linebacker throughout his entire collegiate career. Following graduation, Hansen was signed as a free agent with both the Baltimore Colts and the San Diego Chargers, while also enjoying a stint in the short-lived World Football League. A set of circumstances eventually resulted in the legendary Funk brothers training the youthful powerhouse for a career in professional wrestling and the rest, as they say, is history.
“Bruiser” Frank Brody & Hansen
Stan Hansen began his career as a professional wrestler in 1973, competing in the Funk family’s Amarillo promotion before moving on, in rapid succession, to Fritz Von Erich’s Dallas and Leroy McGuirk’s Tri-State territories. It was in McGuirk’s Tri-State promotion that Hansen was reunited with fellow West Texas State alum Frank Goodish, who, at that time, had just recently broken into the wrestling business as “Bruiser” Frank Brody. Hansen’s first championship victory came less than a year after his debut when he and Brody paired up to win the Tri-State United States Tag Team title in October of 1974. Together, the youthful duo of Hansen & Brody created a genuinely formidable team despite their lack of experience in the profession.
The brash, rugged young team managed to hold the Tri-State belts for over seven months before they were dethroned by the team of Danny Hodge & Jay Clayton. It was during this time period that Hansen also made his first trip overseas to Japan, where he made a very good first impression with both the Japanese fans and, more importantly, the promoters, namely Shohei “Giant” Baba. Yet, despite his impressive achievements for such a new performer, no title reign or successful international tour could compare to the lift Hansen’s short career would receive in 1976 when he was brought to the World Wide Wrestling Federation by Vince McMahon, Sr. to serve as the latest monster heel for the reigning WWWF champion, “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino.
It was at New York’s Madison Square Garden on April 26, 1976, during his legendary encounter with Bruno that Hansen, under the managerial tutelage of “Classy” Fred Blassie, gained the victory of a lifetime and joined a mere handful of wrestlers who can claim a win over Sammartino. The rough Texan not only defeated The Living Legend (via countout) in his home arena, he also gained worldwide notoriety by literally breaking the undefeatable champion’s neck. In the storyline, the life-threatening injury was caused by Hansen’s brutally stiff clothesline, known as The Lariat. In reality, it was a mis-performed bodyslam by the relatively inexperienced Hansen that crushed the vertebrae in Sammartino’s neck. Fully understanding that the botched move had been an accident, Bruno carried no hard feelings towards the young man who had injured him so severely…at least away from the cameras. In front of the fans, however, Bruno slowly made his recovery and was eventually shown undergoing intense physical therapy, enduring great pain while focusing on a singular goal: to extract revenge on the man who had broken his neck.
Nearly six months later, The Living Legend would do just that, inside of a steel cage, before some 30,000 fans at New York’s Shea Stadium. Hansen was thoroughly manhandled during their return encounter, and after being battered & bloodied by the ‘enraged’ Sammartino, Hansen fled the ring in humiliating, unquestioned defeat. However, despite having been dominated so completely by Sammartino following his return, Hansen was still one of a select few to have defeated, not to mention injured, the mighty Sammartino, a fact that the big man (and various territorial-era TV announcers) never allowed wrestling fans to forget. Furthermore, his unique (at the time) finishing maneuver, The Lariat, suddenly acquired an aura of legitimacy and danger that was virtually unparalleled in the sport.
While there was no doubt that Hansen was one of the best young up-and-comers in the game at that time, his ring performance was greatly enhanced by the fact that the brawler seemed intent on developing his basic wrestling skills. While he would never have been confused with a technician such as Dory Funk, Jr. or Jack Brisco, it was still fairly obvious that there was more to Hansen’s offense than traditional ‘big man brawling.’ Indeed, while Hansen was highly proficient at that style of mayhem, it was also not unusual to see the 300-pounder take to the air with a hard-hitting drop kick, or to catch an unsuspecting foe in a flying armdrag. When this nod to wrestling science was combined with Hansen’s natural brawling ability and high impact style, as well as his overwhelming size (and the ever-present aura gained from his victory over Bruno) the result was soon obvious for Hansen, who suddenly found himself in demand by promoters from all over the world.
Hansen vs. Andre
After impressing AJPW management and its fanbase during his first Japanese tour, Hansen returned to the Land of the Rising Sun later that same year. However, by virtue of his affiliation with Vince McMahon, Sr. and the WWWF at that time, the wild Texan ran roughshod through the rings of Antonio Inoki’s New Japan Pro Wrestling. Whether he was battling top NJPW stars such as Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami or posing a genuinely formidable challenge to Andre the Giant, the bulldozing young brawler quickly established himself as a main-event attraction in Japan, just as he had done in the United States. From 1977 through 1981, Hansen’s Japanese stock was raised significantly during his increasingly frequent tours there, ultimately leading to him capturing the promotion’s top prize, the National Wrestling Federation Heavyweight title. On February 8, 1980, Hansen cemented his lofty status in Japan when he became one of a very select group of men to have cleanly defeated Antonio Inoki, ending Inoki’s five-year run as the NWF champion.
Following his legendary grudge match with Bruno at Shea Stadium, Hansen would leave the WWWF and return to travelling between various NWA territories, primarily in the South and Southeast. On May 2, 1977, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hansen defeated Dick Murdoch to win the Tri-State territory’s premier title, the NWA North American Heavyweight championship. As was common among regional champions of the day, Hansen did not hold the North American belt for a considerable length of time, as he was defeated by perennial North American champion Bill Watts less than two months after gaining the championship. Still, as had been the case with his victory over Sammartino, Hansen’s North American title win further added to his lofty stature in the eyes of wrestling fans. Hansen’s next major career move came later in 1977, when he left the Tri-State/Mid-South territory and entered the red-hot ring wars of the NWA’s Georgia promotion.
Georgia Heavyweight Champion
Almost immediately, Hansen’s status as a main-event attraction was once again confirmed when he gained the area’s top championship, the Georgia Heavyweight title, by defeating the beloved Mr. Wrestling II on November 16, 1977. Hansen and the legendary masked man engaged in a heated six-month feud, which saw “The Bad Man from Borger, Texas” lose his Georgia Heavyweight title back to Mr. Wrestling II on January 25, 1978, but then regain it two weeks later on February 6, 1978. From there, Hansen went on to maintain his tight grasp on the Georgia title belt for several more months before he was stripped of the championship on May 20, 1978, after attacking a referee following a wild bout with the popular masked man.
Soon after being stripped of the Georgia title, Hansen began taking bookings in the Tri-State/Mid South territory once again, regaining the NWA North American title by defeating a young Paul Orndorff in July of 1978. Meanwhile, back in Georgia, he captured the Tag Team championship with Ole Anderson after defeating Tommy Rich & Rick Martel on October 20, 1978. The wild, unpredictable big man certainly created his share of excitement (not to mention great matches) in Georgia, and, eventually, he gained the fans’ admiration and cheers, even going so far as mending his differences with Georgia’s top babyfaces, Mr. Wrestling II and “Wildfire” Tommy Rich, with whom he’d had many battles over the past year or so. The team of Hansen & Rich then captured the Georgia Tag Team title on July 2, 1979 when they defeated the formidable duo of Hansen’s former teammate Ole Anderson and “The Russian Bear” Ivan Koloff. The highly popular team of Hansen & Rich gelled well together and they held the Georgia tag titles for nearly two months before being defeated by Anderson & Koloff.
As the Eighties began, Stan Hansen continued splitting his time between Japan and the U.S. He eventually returned to the World Wrestling Federation in 1981, reuniting with former manager Freddie Blassie and rekindling his feud with Bruno Sammartino. He also engaged in a lengthy, intense feud with reigning WWF Heavyweight champion Bob Backlund that culminated in a bloody Steel Cage match at Madison Square Garden. Following his program with Backlund, Hansen formed a bulldozing tag team with fellow Blassie stablemate, “The Incredible” Hulk Hogan. While the massive duo did not have a run as WWF tag team champions, they turned many heads both in America and in New Japan, where they also teamed frequently.
After his second run with the WWF ended, Hansen made his way to Jim Crockett’s Mid-Atlantic territory and, in addition to competing as a singles performer, he once again began teaming with Ole Anderson, with whom he’d won the Georgia Tag Team championship in 1978. On June 26, 1982, the rugged duo of Hansen & Anderson captured the NWA World Tag Team title by winning a tournament to crown new titleholders. Meanwhile, at the same time in Giant Baba’s AJPW, Hansen was a primary component of numerous championship duos, teams that are still legendary years after his retirement.
Hansen won All-Japan’s version of the World Tag Team title on no less than eight occasions; three with Tenryu, two with Terry Gordy, and one run with Dan Spivey, Ted Dibiase and Gary Albright, respectively. Additionally, “The Lariat” captured the PWF Tag Team championship four different times, with partners such as Bruiser Brody, Ted Dibiase, and “The Universal Heartthrob” Austin Idol. In the years between 1983-1989, Hansen also won the prestigious All-Japan Pro Wrestling Real World Tag Team tournament four times, with partners Brody, Dibiase, Gordy and Tenryu.
When Stan Hansen made the unexpected jump from New Japan to All Japan in 1981, it sent shockwaves through the island nation and, ultimately, let to a professional partnership with Shohei Baba that lasted for nearly twenty years. During his lengthy, historic run in All-Japan Pro Wrestling, Stan “The Lariat” Hansen was a main-event, championship competitor like few others and, arguably, the most successful gaijin in the history of Japanese professional wrestling.
In addition to his four reigns as the PWF World Heavyweight champion between 1983-1987, he also captured the prestigious United National Heavyweight title as well as the International Heavyweight championship. As the reigning PWF and International champion, Hansen stepped into the ring on April 18, 1989, to face his AJPW archrival Jumbo Tsuruta, the United National champion, in a title unification match to determine the first-ever Triple Crown champion, a title that would go on to become what many fans during that era considered to be the true World championship. Hansen lost to Tsuruta that night, however, he would rebound and defeat former tag team partner Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy on June 8, 1990, to win his first Triple Crown championship. Along the way, Hansen, a dominant Triple Crown titleholder from 1990 through 1995, would defeat the formidable likes of Gordy, Mitsuharu Misawa, Jumbo Tsuruta, and Toshiaki Kawada to enjoy four different Triple Crown championships and forever etch his name into AJPW history. All total, Stan Hansen would enjoy 505 days as the AJPW Triple Crown champion.
Although he was an undeniable pro wrestling superstar everywhere he wrestled, by this point in his career, Stan Hansen was primarily a force in Japan. However, whenever he would takes dates in America, his success as a top-tier attraction followed. This was certainly the case in 1985, when Hansen agreed to enter Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association.
At the time, there was a full-scale wrestling war taking placing between the WWF and the NWA, with the once-mighty AWA doing its best to hold on to its ever-diminishing share of the pro wrestling marketplace. Acquiring a talent the likes of Stan Hansen was a major feather in its cap and a way for the no-frills AWA to further distinguish itself from its competitors. Just a few months after entering the promotion, Hansen met and defeated AWA World Heavyweight champion Rick Martel on December 29, 1985, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. “The Lariat” ended Martel’s 595-day title reign not with his famous, devastating clothesline finisher but, rather, with a punishing Boston Crab.
The wild Texan then went on to dominate the promotion for the next six months, feuding with the former champion Martel, as well as top AWA stars like Crusher Blackwell, Curt Hennig, and Nick Bockwinkel. Hansen defended his championship not only in the AWA but also All-Japan, adding credibility to the title and providing some exciting, hard-hitting matches for the AWA’s fanbase.
However, Hansen and AWA owner Gagne eventually began butting heads on the champion’s creative direction, with Hansen feeling that Gagne’s booking style was not fully taking advantage of his unique talents and drawing power at the box-office. By the Summer of 1986, the promoter and his champion had come to an impasse and on June 28, 1986, at a house show in Denver, Hansen was informed that he would be dropping the title that night to Nick Bockwinkel. Feeling that the match had not been given a proper build-up, particularly for one that would feature a title switch, Hansen had words with Gagne and then left the arena, with the championship belt still in his possession. Bockwinkel was then declared champion in front of the live crowd, while Hansen soon returned to Japan and continued “defending” the AWA belt on AJPW cards. Legal action was threatened, though, and Hansen eventually returned the title to Gagne…but not before famously running it over with his pickup truck several times. Years later, he remarked during an interview, with a sly grin on his face, “Well, you know, all I got to say about that is…the belt got a little beat up.” He then added, “It was beat up before I got it, but it was beat up a little bit more when they got it back!”
Lex Luger vs. Hansen, Bullrope Match
From 1986-1990, Hansen wrestled exclusively for Baba, but, after a four-year absence the free-spirited Hansen finally returned to the United States, landing in WCW where he was immediately positioned at the top of the card. While maintaining a schedule in Japan at the same time, Hansen quickly made an impact in WCW by destroying several lower and mid-card wrestlers before engaging in a fairly lengthy feud with one of the promotion’s biggest attractions, the reigning United States champion Lex Luger. On October 27, 1990, Hansen ended a record setting 523-day-long reign for “The Total Package” by defeating him in Chicago, Illinois during the semi-main event of Halloween Havoc. The highly physical Hansen-Luger feud then continued on, with Luger absorbing the lion’s share of abuse, before the two met in a Bullrope Match at Starrcade ’90: Collision Course. On December 16, 1990, Luger regained his U.S. title in St. Louis, Missouri, ending Hansen’s reign after slightly less than two months.
Following his run with Luger, Hansen wrestled several matches against Sting, as well as rekindling his ultra-violent series from All-Japan with Big Van Vader. On February 24, 1991, the two behemoths battled each other to a double-disqualification at the WrestleWar ’91 pay-per-view, with both wrestlers throwing the referee out of the ring and then continuing their wild brawl. But, soon after his mini-feud with Vader ended, Hansen’s lofty stature in the promotion began to steadily decline. Whether is was caused by his high-impact, punishing style of wrestling or perhaps his status as a part-time WCW employee due to his commitments in Japan, it was clearly noticeable that Hansen’s place on the card was being diminished. When presented with the idea that he would become the leader of The Desperados, a mid-level comedy trio, Hansen decided that his run in WCW was over and he returned to AJPW full-time during the Summer of 1991.
After leaving the United States and returning to Japan, Hansen would go on to spend the next ten years there and, ultimately, he ended his stellar career with All-Japan Pro Wrestling. But, as the Nineties ended, many dramatic changes swept over AJPW, not the least of which was the death of the promotion’s founder Shohei “Giant” Baba on January 31, 1999, which was then followed by the retirement of Baba’s premier American performer, Stan Hansen, two years later. Decades of rugged competition had finally begun to take their toll on Hansen, and, rather than diminish his accomplishments and legacy, the proud Texan — with nothing left to prove or accomplish — stepped away from active competition while he was still at the top of his game.
Hansen’s final match as a singles competitor occurred on October 21, 2000, where he participated in a tournament to fill the vacant AJPW Triple Crown championship, losing in the semi-finals to former partner Genichiro Tenryu. Hansen’s final match ever took place on October 28, 2000, when he took part in a six-man tag team match, partnering with Steve “Dr. Death” Williams and Wolf Hawkfield in a losing effort against Johnny Smith, Masanobu Fuchi & Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Three months later, on January 21, 2001, the legendary big man officially announced his retirement and ended his 28-year-long career in front of more than 30,000 fans at the joint AJPW/NJPW Giant Baba Memorial Spectacular.
The readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated voted Hansen’s steel cage showdown at Shea Stadium against Bruno Sammartino as the Match of the Year and he also earned the Most Hated Wrestler Award, both in 1976. Meanwhile, Tokyo Sports honored him with its Popularity Award (1980), Best Foreigner Award (1982), Match of the Year Award (1982, 1988, 1992), Best Tag Team Award (1998, with Vader) and the Lifetime Achievement Award (2000). Stan “The Lariat” Hansen is also a member of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum (2010), the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (1996), the WWE Hall of Fame (2016), and the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (2017).
Jim Crockett, Jr., a longtime promoter in the Carolinas and a former President of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), passed away on March 4, 2021 at the age of 76 from complications of liver and kidney failure.
Crockett, Jr. became the owner of the Charlotte O’s AA minor league baseball team in 1976, but in 1977, he took over the reins of Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) which had been founded by his father, Jim Crockett, Sr. in 1931 and had become the premier wrestling territory in the southeastern United States. Crockett, Jr. hired George Scott as the booker of JCP and put the weight of the promotion on the shoulders of young stars such as Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Magnum TA and the Road Warriors while bringing in veteran talent such as Dusty Rhodes and Gene and Ole Anderson. This combination showcased some of the best wrestling action and storylines in years. Promoting in the Mid-Atlantic territory which ran through North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, Crockett was able to sell out coliseums throughout the region.
He eventually expanded throughout the southeast (Tennessee, West Virginia and Georgia), and eventually into parts of Ohio. As wrestling’s territorial system began breaking down under the pressure of Vince K. McMahon’s national expansion of the WWF, Crockett in turn began buying out or merging with numerous wrestling promotions across the United States. With the increased roster of talent and a national market for fans, he was able to put on his first supercard on Thanksgiving day in 1983, with “Starrcade : A Flair for the Gold” which was broadcast on closed-circuit television from the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina.
In 1984, Crockett bought out McMahon’s time slot on Ted Turner’s Superstation cable broadcast channel and later bought out two more hours on Turner’s Saturday night 6:05 time slot. The popularity of his television broadcasts, roster of stars and influence within the NWA allowed him to challenge the WWF for the spot as the number one wrestling company in the world. In April 1986, Crockett put on the inaugural Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament from the New Orleans Superdome. He later acquired a controlling interest in the St. Louis Wrestling Club, Championship Wrestling from Georgia, Bob Geigel’s Central States brand, Championship Wrestling from Florida, and Bill Watts’ Mid-South Sports/Universal Wrestling Federation promotions. But just as he was able to present a real challenge to the WWF, Crockett’s fortunes turned.
In October 1986, Magnum TA, one of the promotion’s biggest stars and the wrestler being groomed to become the next NWA champion, suffered career ending injuries in an automobile accident. In November of 1987, the promotion scheduled Starrcade ’87 as it’s first pay-per-view event, but the WWF scheduled its first Survivors Series pay per view event to compete head to head on the same day. McMahon further sought to dominate the night by threatening PPV outlets, warning that if they broadcast Starrcade ’87, they would be shut out from broadcasting the next year’s Wrestlemania event. According to Dave Meltzer, 250 of the 255 outlets decided not to broadcast Crockett’s event. The next January, WWF gave away the first Royal Rumble special on basic cable on the same day that Crockett staged the Bunkhouse Stampede event on pay-per-view, thus diminishing the buyrate for JCP. Poor booking decisions, increased costs for travel, lavish spending on hotels and a private jet and poor marketing left Jim Crockett Promotions on the verge of bankruptcy. In November 1988, Turner Broadcasting System purchased a majority interest in the promotion and renamed it World Championship Wrestling.
After a few brief attempts to get back into the professional wrestling business, Crockett moved to Texas to work in the real estate industry until his retirement.
by Stephen Von Slagle
While there have been a few exceptions over the years, traditionally when a pro wrestler is referred to as a “two-sports” athlete, that 2nd sport is invariably professional football. Throughout the long history of wrestling, there have been numerous examples of athletes from the gridiron who left pro football and later excelled as professional wrestlers. However, in the early 1990s, Dan “The Beast” Severn (as well as his longtime professional rival, Ken Shamrock) literally paved the way for a future generation of two-sport athletes who crossed-over between the worlds of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts, from “Tank” Abbott, Mark Coleman, Bobby Lashley, Jake Hager, Bob Sapp, Tom Lawler, Cain Velasquez, and, of course, Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey. In the case of Severn, the list of his athletic achievements is as lengthy as it is impressive. As an amateur, he was a two-time All-American at Arizona State University, a two-time Pac-10 champion, and he captured a total of 13 AAU championships. Additionally, he was an alternate on no less than three Olympic wrestling teams and an assistant wrestling coach at both Michigan State and Arizona State universities. After making the switch to MMA, his success continued and in 1995 Severn won UFC 5, then followed that up by winning the UFC Ultimate Ultimate tournament, and eventually the UFC Superfight (open weight) title in 1996, making him the first and only UFC Triple Crown champion. Meanwhile, as a professional wrestler, Severn is the only man in history to hold an MMA (UFC) and professional wrestling (NWA) championship simultaneously. A two-time NWA World Heavyweight champion, “The Beast” also owns the distinction of having the third-longest reign in National Wrestling Alliance history.
Daniel DeWayne Severn was born on June 8, 1958 in Coldwater, Michigan. A superior natural athlete from the start, the young Severn excelled at both Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling while in high school, winning national championships in each discipline and placing in Olympic trials before even reaching the age of 18. Later, while attending Arizona State University, Severn won two Pac-10 championships and became a two-time Division 1 All-American while amassing a very impressive record of 127-11-1. Equally impressive is the fact that 73 of Severn’s 127 victories at ASU came via pin, which is a school record that still stands more than three decades after his graduation. Also noteworthy is that the single draw during his collegiate career took place against future two-time Olympic gold medalist Bruce Baumgartner.
Following his collegiate career, Dan Severn continued on with his goal of becoming the best amateur wrestler in the world, a challenging quest to be sure, even for a grappler as talented as the rugged 6′ 2″ 250-pound Severn. In addition to earning a spot as an alternate on the 1980, 1984 and 1988 Olympic freestyle squads, Severn won numerous tournaments and medals internationally during the early-mid 1980s, including the 1985 Canadian Cup gold medal and no less than 13 AAU championships. Severn was also a successful coach during these years, maintaining his amateur status while serving as an instructor for the wrestling programs at both Arizona State and Michigan State.
As his lengthy, highly-decorated tenure as an amateur competitor inevitably began to wind down during the early 1990s, Severn looked to the unique challenge of professional wrestling as a new, viable career option. He began his training for the pro ranks in 1991, under the instruction of Al Snow. At the time, Snow was still several years away from achieving fame in both ECW and WWE, however, he was nevertheless a highly-skilled pro wrestler, a top independent attraction throughout the Midwest, and an ideal trainer for an athlete with Severn’s background. Soon after his debut, Severn would become aligned with the UWF-i, an influential Japanese “worked shoot” promotion. Both in Japan and at home in America, Severn quickly began amassing an impressive record while growing his reputation among informed wrestling fans, despite his lack of mainstream exposure domestically.
On February 24, 1995, less than four years after making his professional wrestling debut, Dan Severn defeated Chris Candido in Erlanger, Kentucky to win the NWA World Heavyweight championship. At the time, the National Wrestling Alliance was still reeling from the crippling effects of losing its affiliation with WCW, only to be followed by a very public, very embarrassing betrayal by ECW’s Todd Gordon and Paul Heyman. While Chris Candido was a fine wrestler, at the time he held the NWA title, he lacked the experience, name value, and overall gravitas that the free-falling, beleaguered Alliance was in such desperate need of. A respected, believable World champion who could not only carry the title belt but also the promotion itself was what was required. And, luckily, the NWA was able to find both of those key qualities in Dan Severn.
Dating back to when he was still competing in the collegiate ranks, Severn began training in other forms of martial arts, eventually earning a 5th degree black belt in Judo, a 2nd degree black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, and becoming a decorated champion in the art of Russian sombo wrestling.
Excelling at each of these varied fighting disciplines, he combined them with his extensive knowledge of freestyle, catch, and Greco-Roman wrestling, thus allowing a 36-year-old Severn to successfully make his entry into the deleterious world of no-holds-barred professional cage fighting. A genuine UFC pioneer, Severn made his Ultimate Fighting debut on December 16, 1994 at UFC 4, losing in the finals to the soon-to-be-legendary Royce Gracie.
Dan “The Beast” Severn received his identifiable (and accurate) nickname during his second UFC appearance, UFC 5, on April 7, 1995. Former NFL legend and Ultimate Fighting color commentator Jim Brown, having witnessed the rugged Severn methodically earn three successive victories over formidable competition, dubbed him “The Beast” and the apt moniker remained for the rest of Severn’s MMA and pro wrestling careers.
At the time of UFC 5, Severn was also the reigning NWA World Heavyweight champion and he proudly wore the iconic pro wrestling title belt into the octagon, where he then proceeded to defeat Joe Charles, Oleg Taktarov, and Dave Beneteau to win the tournament. Regarding his legendary performance, Severn had this to say, “Well ahead of that fight, I had my first of only two ever training camps. I took thirty-two days out of my life to become something. I became something, and I achieved my goal. I dedicated myself and worked towards something and I succeeded. So it was well worth it.” Severn continued, “By the same token, during those thirty-two days, I moved away from my home. I could not be a husband nor a father. I had to leave my family behind. It was something I explained to my wife and it was something I had to do. I stayed by myself and had a very Spartan-like existence. I had an old black and white TV sitting on a crate and two old VHS tapes. People nowadays can’t even fathom what I did. All I did was eat, sleep, and train. And on paper I came up with what my best strengths and attributes were because back then, you did not know who your opponents were going to be.”
One of the winningest and most recognized athletes in the fledgling UFC’s early history, Dan “The Beast” Severn undoubtedly helped establish the new promotion and, indeed, the sport itself. In addition to his UFC 5 tournament victory, Severn also won the 1995 Ultimate Ultimate event and the Superfight Championship. Yet, while he is legendary for his ground-breaking accomplishments in the UFC, Severn was also a champion and main-attraction in World Extreme Cagefighting, Elite-1, and the Continental Freefighting Alliance, among other Mixed Martial Arts promotions. All total, his MMA/cage fighting record was an impressive 101-19-7.
As the travelling NWA World Heavyweight champion during the mid-Nineties, Severn took on the same role as his predecessors, albeit on far more modest scale. While the glory days of the NWA’s territorial system were clearly a thing of the past, the respected titleholder was nevertheless in high demand among the resilient collection of regional promoters that comprised the “new” National Wrestling Alliance. This included, among others, strong independent groups such as Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Dennis Corraluzo’s NWA Championship Wrestling America, Bert Prentice’s Music City Wrestling, and Howard Brody’s NWA Florida, as well as international member promotions in Japan, Great Britain, Puerto Rico, and New Zealand.
On June 23, 1997, more than two years into his reign as the NWA World champion, Severn, with the NWA title belt in tow, made an unexpected appearance on WWF television, serving as a guest color commentator during former UFC rival Ken Shamrock’s match against Billy Gunn. Following Shamrock’s victory, there was a brief stare down, followed by a handshake, planting the seeds for further interaction between the two sometime in the future.
Several months later, Severn reappeared in the World Wrestling Federation, this time as part of the NWA “invasion” of the WWF. The storyline once again saw Severn being recognized on WWF programming as the reigning NWA World champion while being allowed to simultaneously fulfil his championship obligations within the NWA, an unthinkable scenario just a few years earlier. The lethal but soft-spoken Severn was initially paired with the loquacious Jim Cornette and the two made an entertaining duo. However, the ill-fated “NWA invasion” storyline was seemingly doomed to failure from the start and it faded from the WWF’s airwaves not long after debuting. “The Beast” remained a prominent part of the WWF’s mid-card, however, and Severn would eventually engage in feuds with D-Lo Brown, Owen Hart, Steve Blackman, and, of course, former MMA rival Ken Shamrock.
Severn competed in the Brawl for All tournament, which, of course, was the WWF’s infamous and ill-advised shoot-fighting competition from 1998. With a $75,000 prize going to the winner, sixteen professional wrestlers put on bulky 20 oz. boxing gloves and, in legitimate contests, slugged it out inside of a squared circle. On the July 13, 1998 episode of Monday Night Raw, Dan Severn faced and defeated The Godfather in the first round of the Brawl for All tournament. However, he withdrew immediately prior to the quarterfinals, allowing his previously defeated opponent to advance by default. At the time, Severn’s official reason for withdrawing was that he “had nothing to prove.” Although, in interviews that took place years later, Severn claimed that he was actually asked by WWF management to drop out of the tournament. Meanwhile, some who were close to the situation believe that Severn pulled out following his first-round victory because he was unhappy with the point system, the nonsensical rules for the tournament (which changed from week to week) and was not comfortable risking his well-earned reputation by competing in a shortsighted, makeshift toughman competition.
Ultimately, there were several missed opportunities during Severn’s year-long WWF tenure. While his understated personality and interview style was certainly not custom-made for the WWF’s over-the-top brand of professional wrestling, the fact remained that Severn was a superior athlete with a bounty of legitimate credentials, he was a nationally/globally known sports celebrity, and the reigning World champion for Vince McMahon’s one-time biggest rival. Instead of using these unique nuances for its own benefit, the WWF chose to keep Severn firmly entrenched in the middle of the card. Eventually, the promotion’s management requested that he stop bringing his NWA and UFC belts to television tapings. Additionally, the promotion failed to mention any of the over half-dozen MMA contests that Severn competed in (and won) during his WWF run. In recorded interviews that took place after he’d left the company, Severn stated that WWF management was uncomfortable with the lack of control they had over him and that many of the top stars were scared to wrestle him, for fear of potentially being made to look incompetent.
Although his WWF tenure concluded after slightly more than a year, Severn’s lengthy reign as the NWA champion continued on until he was finally defeated by Naoya Ogawa on March 12, 1999 in Yokohama, Japan. His 1,479 consecutive days as NWA World Heavyweight champion marks the 3rd longest uninterrupted title reign in National Wrestling Alliance history, behind Dory Funk, Jr. (1,563 days) and Lou Thesz (1,941 days). As its champion and standard bearer for more than 4 years, Dan Severn brought much-needed respect and legitimacy to the beleaguered NWA, and its World championship, during a time when the ragtag collection of independent promoters desperately needed it.
Following the loss to Ogawa, Severn continued wrestling and fighting in promotions across the globe. Then, three years later, nearly to the day, “The Beast” regained the NWA World championship in Tokyo, Japan when he defeated Shinya Hashimoto on March 9, 2002. However, a mere ten weeks later, he was stripped of his newly-won title by the National Wrestling Alliance. Just days before the inaugural NWA: Total Nonstop Action pay-per-view, the NWA announced that the championship was being vacated because Severn had a prior MMA engagement, King of the Cage, that took place on same night as TNA’s debut.
In a press release, the NWA stated that, “Dan Severn represented the NWA well during his two reigns as champion and proved with his difficult decision that he is truly a man of his word who could not honorably cancel a previous booking even if it meant losing the NWA World Heavyweight title. We look forward to having a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion crowned in Huntsville on 6/19/02.”
The decision raised eyebrows, as Severn’s TNA appearance could have easily been moved to the following week. However, TNA seemed intent on a battle royal to crown the new NWA champion, which was dubbed “The Gauntlet for the Gold.” Ironically, Severn’s longtime rival Ken Shamrock was the man who came out of the first TNA pay-per-view wearing the NWA World championship belt.
In addition to his careers as a wrestler and cage fighter, Severn also carved out a respectable career as an actor, landing parts in nearly a dozen feature films between 1993-2016. At the age of 54, Severn fought in his final MMA contest, defeating Alex Rozman on April 28, 2012, and then retired from the sport soon thereafter. However, he continued taking dates as a professional wrestler for several more years, eventually retiring from the squared circle in 2019. His autobiography, The Realest Guy in the Room: The Life and Times of Dan Severn featured a forward written by Jim Cornette and was released in July of 2016.
On April 16, 2005, Dan “The Beast” Severn was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, the third man in history to receive that honor. Additionally, he is a member of the Arizona State University Sports Hall of Fame (1984). In 2010, Severn received the Cauliflower Alley Club’s prestigious Lou Thesz Award and that same year he also became a member of the NWA Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame as well as receiving that organization’s Frank Gotch Award (2002) and George Tragos Award (2012).
by Stephen Von Slagle
Dusty Rhodes is without a doubt one of the most charismatic, entertaining, and famous wrestlers of all time. During his 1970s and early-1980s prime, he was second only to Andre The Giant (and some would argue that Andre was second only to Dusty Rhodes) in terms of world wide fame and fan support. Dusty was arguably the most popular wrestler in the sport from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, consistently drawing exceptionally large crowds wherever he wrestled, be it the NWA (and later, WCW), the WWWF, the AWA, Japan, or anywhere else the nomadic grappler roamed during his four decades as a wrestler. There was something different about the fast talking, down-to-earth “son of a plumber” that endeared him to wrestling fans everywhere and his non-stop traveling between promotions helped him become one of the top five drawing cards in the entire sport during his years in the ring. Additionally, outside of the ring, he proved himself to be a unique and influential booker on several occasions in the NWA/WCW and, later, he was a creative force in TNA and during the early years of WWE’s NXT.
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. was born on October 12, 1945, in Austin, Texas. Upon his graduation from high school, where he excelled in both baseball and football, Runnels first attended Sul Ross State University, followed by Tarleton State University and he eventually finished his education at West Texas State University. After leaving West Texas State, he briefly pursued a career as a professional football player, practicing with AFL franchises such as the Boston Patriots and New York Giants before landing a spot on the Continental Football League’s Hartford Charter Oaks. But, as fate would have it, an inspired serious of circumstances soon led him away from football and into a career as a professional wrestler.
After receiving his formal training by Joe Blanchard, he made his pro wrestling debut in 1967 and, following a short run in San Antonio, Runnels travelled to his first real territory, Kansas City, home of Central States Wrestling. It was in Central States that Runnels (now using the ring name Dusty Rhodes) first met the man he would go on to achieve great success (and a lifelong friendship) with Dick Murdoch. Although they were both still technically rookies in the sport, Rhodes and Murdoch, The Texas Outlaws, became immediate stars for Central States, winning the promotion’s tag team championship on November 7, 1968. Five weeks later, on December 13, 1968, Rhodes added an even more prestigious belt to his collection when he captured the Central States Heavyweight title in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Having conquered the Central States territory, by late 1969 The Outlaws had moved on to Verne Gagne’s neighboring American Wrestling Association, where the brash young rule breaking duo once again quickly rose to the top. In the AWA, The Texas Outlaws most notably engaged in a lengthy, bloody and, ultimately, highly profitable feud with the region’s premier tag team, The Bruiser & The Crusher. Against the legendary barroom brawlers, The Outlaws did not fare particularly well in terms of wins/losses. However, more importantly, throughout major AWA strongholds such as Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Denver and, of course, Chicago, the Bruiser & Crusher vs. The Outlaws matches drew capacity crowds whenever their brutal encounters took place. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end…
After several years as one of pro wrestling’s most successful tag team attractions, Rhodes made the reluctant but inevitable decision to dissolve his partnership with Murdoch, although certainly not their friendship, which remained intact despite the end of the Texas Outlaws. As a solo performer, he continued to travel from territory to territory and found success wherever he roamed. On March 21, 1971, he defeated “Cowboy” Bill Watts in Shreveport, Louisiana to capture the prestigious North American Heavyweight championship and later, on November 15, 1972, Rhodes won the Hawaiian version of the North American title by defeating Sam Steamboat in Honolulu. His next major stop was the NWA’s red-hot Florida territory, where, under the tutelage of CWF owner Eddie Graham, Rhodes underwent a wrestling education that would change the trajectory of his career forever. Graham was universally respected by his peers as being the best finish man in the business and an innovative, forward-looking promoter who truly saw the big picture when it came to his territory. Away from the fans and TV cameras, Graham took Rhodes under his wing, teaching his young pupil concepts, philosophies and promotional strategies that would help Rhodes to eventually become one of professional wrestling’s most successful creative forces. Eddie Graham was also the key factor in perhaps the most fundamentally important event in Rhodes’ entire career; turning babyface.
Prior to entering the Florida territory, Dusty Rhodes had intentionally positioned himself to be the object of fans’ hatred during the entirety of his short career. And, after arriving in Florida, his heelish persona remained, as Rhodes aligned himself with the devious Gary Hart and was matched against the area’s most popular “good guys.” However, Graham saw that, even as a villain, Rhodes was making a genuine connection with the Florida fanbase and decided that the time was right to make a change in his character. Thus, in May of 1974, at the Fort Homer Hesterly armory in Tampa, Florida during a tag team match that pitted Rhodes and the Korean giant Pak Song against Eddie Graham and his young son Mike, “The American Dream” was born. After being inadvertently chopped down by his own partner, Rhodes retaliated against the reviled Hart and Pak Song, to the surprised delight of those in attendance. In the weeks to come, with respected TV announcer Gordon Solie serving as a conduit between Rhodes and the viewing audience, his fabled story of rising from humble beginnings as the “son of a plumber” to wrestling riches was a tale that immediately appealed to the fans. When combined with his abundant natural charisma and exemplary speaking ability, Rhodes’ newfound admiration spread like wildfire across the Sunshine State, taking him to levels of popularity never before experienced by a wrestler in the prestigious territory.
With Florida serving as his primary base of operations, “Stardust” went on to become one of wrestling’s most-traveled competitors. Indeed, for most of 1977 and into 1978, Dusty Rhodes was ranked in the Top 10 of the National Wrestling Alliance, the American Wrestling Association, and the World Wide Wrestling Federation simultaneously. It truly was a different time and climate in the sport and “The American Dream” was on top of the world, receiving high-profile title matches against Harley Race (NWA), Billy Graham (WWWF) and Nick Bockwinkel (AWA) all in the same year. Meanwhile, back “home” in Florida, he would go on to rule the territory like no one before or since, amassing a championship resume unrivaled in the state, including no less than ten reigns as the Florida Heavyweight champion, seven as the Southern Heavyweight titleholder, as well as four runs with the Florida Tag Team championship and two as Florida TV champion. However, despite his unparalleled success within the territory, Rhodes craved “the big one,” the NWA World Heavyweight championship. And, while it did takes him quite some time to achieve his goal, when he finally did, it was in Florida with the backing of Eddie Graham.
Rhodes’ first NWA World title reign was a true heartbreaker. After three years of wrestling Harley Race all across the country and losing each time due to count-outs, disqualifications, and “cheating” by the rugged titleholder, on August 21, 1979, in Tampa, Florida, Dusty Rhodes finally became NWA World champion. The victory sent shockwaves throughout the wrestling world, but Dusty’s long-awaited reign was not to be. After making three successful title defenses (a rematch with Race, plus defenses against Terry Funk and Don Muraco) Rhodes was set to engage in another rematch with former champion Harley Race on August 26, 1979. But, before the match could start, a crazed Terry Funk stormed the ring and, in one of his many famous sneak attacks, Funk “broke” Dusty’s arm with a knee drop from the top rope. A disgusted Race nailed Funk with a right to the jaw and even offered to reschedule the match, however, Dusty refused, ostensibly not wanting to disappoint the fans in attendance. However, disappointed they were when the “injured” Rhodes went on to lose the NWA championship back to Race that summer night in Orlando, ending Dusty’s first World title reign after just five days.
At the time he was setting the Florida territory afire, Rhodes was also doing the same thing one state north, in Georgia. Along with Tommy Rich and Mr. Wrestling II, Dusty Rhodes was one of the early stars on TBS, entertaining a nationwide audience on cable TV’s first “superstation” and drawing sold-out crowds in arenas across the Peachtree State. His legendary, long-running feud with Ole Anderson in Georgia was one of the most nuanced and complex series of any era, lasting for over two years, with multiple layers of detailed storyline development involved. It was also in Georgia where Rhodes would capture his second World title when he again defeated Race for the NWA championship on June 21, 1981, at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. This time around, the NWA championship committee allowed Rhodes to carry the ten pounds of gold, at least for a time. As NWA World champion, Rhodes defended his championship in the Florida, Georgia, Central States, St. Louis and Mid Atlantic territories, putting his title on the line against top challengers each night as the travelling World champion. However, after being “injured” by The Assassins in Florida the night before, Dusty entered a Kansas City ring on September 17, 1981, to face the young and talented “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, who overwhelmed the vulnerable champion and defeated Rhodes for the World title.
After losing the NWA championship, Rhodes continued to travel the nation while maintaining Florida, where he was the promotion’s booker, as his base of operations. Feuding primarily with Kevin Sullivan, the territory continued to prosper under Rhodes’ leadership, however, by 1983 a series of circumstances led Rhodes to rethink his status in Florida. After receiving an offer from Jim Crockett to relocate to Charlotte and take over the booking duties for the Mid Atlantic territory, Rhodes made the decision to leave Eddie Graham and the Florida promotion. While not an easy thing to do, in retrospect, it was the right decision to make and with Dusty Rhodes at the helm, Mid Atlantic wrestling experienced a notable increase in business and product quality. As Crocket’s group acquired timeslots on TBS and transformed Mid Atlantic into the NWA, Rhodes was leading the charge, assembling a talent roster on par with Vince McMahon’s WWF, developing the gritty, reality-based style of the NWA and creating a genuine alternative for wrestling fans of the day. In addition to creating Starrcade, Rhodes was the force behind unique NWA events such as the Great American Bash tour and the Bunkhouse Stampede series, as well as popular pay-per-views like Halloween Havoc, Superbrawl and others.
Although he was later accused of pushing himself at the expense of others, there is no doubt that Rhodes was one of the top three performers in wrestling at the time, an attraction who had millions of fans and drew large crowds at both live events and on television. His championship resume during this time period speaks for itself, as “The American Dream” captured one Mid Atlantic TV title, a National Heavyweight championship, two World Six-Man Tag Team titles, a U.S. Heavyweight title, and three World TV championships while competing in Crocket’s promotion. Additionally, Rhodes was able to even the score from a few years prior when, on July 25, 1986, he defeated Ric Flair for the NWA World championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, marking his third reign as the NWA kingpin. But Flair, and the constant interference of his Four Horsemen, would prove to be too much for Dusty. Less than a month later, “The Nature Boy” regained his title on August 7, 1986.
Following the sale of Jim Crockett Promotions to Turner Broadcasting in 1988, Rhodes was relieved of his duties as head booker and soon left his home of the previous five years. With co-owners Mike Graham and Gordon Solie, Rhodes then opened the Florida-based Professional Wrestling Federation and hoped to rekindle the territorial success of Championship Wrestling from Florida. Despite securing television coverage that featured himself as well as up-and-coming stars such as his debuting son Dustin, the Big Steel Man (Typhoon), Scott Hall and Dallas Page, the timing just wasn’t right and the P.W.F. never really caught on in Florida, going out of business after just a year of promoting cards.
After the closure of the PWF, Rhodes soon ended up in the World Wrestling Federation. Upon his entry into the Federation, several vignettes ran on WWF programming that introduced Dusty Rhodes to its audience. These video segments highlighted the “common man” aspects of Rhodes’ persona and despite the somewhat embarrassing “Plumber Man,” “Pizza Man,” and “Potty Man” vignettes, Rhodes, as always, made the best of the situation. While some insiders felt that the segments were designed to humiliate the former NWA icon, the exact opposite took place and Rhodes remained as popular with WWF fans as he had been with his legion of NWA supporters. Whether entering the ring in polka dot outfits or with his elderly African-American valet Sapphire, it seemed that each of the passive/aggressive obstacles that the WWF placed in front of him were simply embraced by Rhodes and turned to his advantage. Indeed, the ovations he received from WWF audiences were nearly as loud, if not louder, than those usually reserved for Hulk Hogan. No matter where he went, fans loved the entertaining blue-collar hero and Dusty became one of the WWF’s biggest attractions. His feud with the “Macho King” Randy Savage was a major program for the WWF, as was his series against Ted Dibiase. “The Million Dollar Man,” representing the complete antithesis of “The American Dream,” was Rhodes’ primary antagonist during his WWF tenure, “buying” his valet Sapphire and bloodying his talented young son Dustin during the course of their lengthy feud.
Rhodes vs. Steve Corino
Once his year-long run with the World Wrestling Federation came to an end, Rhodes (along with Dustin) returned “home” to WCW. Initially, Rhodes’ resumed his former role as booker, made occasional appearances as an in-ring performer, and served as a color commentator on WCW broadcasts. After an eight-year run with WCW, during which time the Atlanta-based group overtook the WWF as the top wrestling promotion, Dusty eventually parted ways with his longtime employer in the fall of ’99. Not long after his departure from WCW, Rhodes made news once again when he unexpectedly showed up in ECW and became involved in an entertaining feud with the “King of Old School” Steve Corino.
At the dawn of the 21st century, in the aftermath of both ECW and WCW shutting down, Rhodes once again tried his hand at promoting when he opened Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. TCW featured several well-known former WCW and ECW performers along with up-and-coming young independent stars and held cards throughout the southeastern portion of the United States, primarily in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. The upstart promotion did reasonably well, but without the security of a major well-funded backer, TCW, much like the PWF a decade earlier, fought a very tough uphill battle and its doors were eventually closed after less than three years. Following the demise of TCW, Rhodes struck a deal with Total Nonstop Action in 2003 and joined the promotion as both an on-air talent and its creative director. While in TNA, he was involved in several major storylines against the likes of Jeff Jarrett, A.J. Styles and the Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction. But, after two years with the promotion, Rhodes was asked by TNA President Dixie Carter to step down as head booker and join a creative committee, which he refused, instead choosing to sit out for the remainder of his contract.
Following his tenure in TNA, Rhodes returned to WWE, signing a “Legends” contract in September of 2005. Soon, he was assigned to the promotion’s creative team as a consultant and made occasional storyline appearances on WWE programming. In 2006, the promotion released a career retrospective entitled “The American Dream: The Dusty Rhodes Story” and the dvd proved to be very successful, ranking as one of the best selling video releases of the year. Finally, in the summer of 2007, a 61 year old Rhodes was involved in his last WWE storyline series when he faced “The Legend Killer” Randy Orton. Engaging in Rhodes’ specialty bout, a Texas Bullrope match, “The Dream” was defeated by his brash young foe at that year’s Great American Bash pay-per-view. Three years later, Dusty Rhodes wrestled the final match of his career on July 9, 2010, some 43 years after his pro debut, when he teamed with sons Dustin and Cody at a Florida Championship Wrestling event, defeating the team of Curt Hawkins, Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft. Away from the cameras, Rhodes was heavily involved with WWE’s developmental program, at various times serving as NXT’s creative director and the lead writer for the weekly NXT television show, as well as an instructor at the newly-created WWE Performance Center training facility. In August of 2015, NXT introduced the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, a popular annual tournament posthumously named in honor of Rhodes.
Dusty Rhodes is a member of the WCW Hall of Fame (1995), the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (1996), the WWE Hall of Fame (2007), the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (2010), the NWA Hall of Fame (2011), and the International Wrestling Institute & Museum’s George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (2017).
On June 11, 2015, Virgil “Dusty Rhodes” Runnels passed away due to kidney failure at the age of 69.