WWE paid tribute to the late Dusty Rhodes, who passed away at age 69 this week, at the NXT live event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Thursday night. Prior to the start of the show, William Regal came out and they did a ten-bell salute for “The American Dream.”
After the ten-bell salute, the rabid NXT fans broke out into a loud Dusty Rhodes chant. Triple H posted a clip of the crowd chanting for Dusty last night, which you can check out below.
Longtime WWE Superstar Goldust (Dustin Runnels) shared his thoughts on the passing of his father, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, on Friday.
Below is what Runnels wrote on his official Facebook page:
“Yesterday my father passed away with his four children, my daughter and his wife of 38 yrs. he was our hero and the greatest father in the world. He is the reason why I am who I am today. He taught me so so many lessons in life. He had 1 thing that he wanted to be and that was he wanted to be forever young. Now he is. Now he is dancing with angels in heaven. He was my mentor, my hero and a dad that I strive to be like. I love you dad. Thank you for all the overwhelmingly amount of love and support. He would have been on cloud 9 with this. Thank you all. Dustin Runnels”
NXT Champion Kevin Owens posted a heartfelt message on Twitter after the news of Dusty Rhodes’ untimely passing.
“Dusty…
These past few weeks, I kept telling myself that I had to find time to stop by the Performance Center and talk to Dusty. I wanted to thank him for all of his help in the last year and make sure he knew how grateful I was for the chance I got to work with him. But I’ve been very busy and just couldn’t find the time.
Well, today, I learned that Dusty Rhodes has passed away.
There are no words to express the sadness I feel, not only because I won’t get to see him or talk to him or laugh with him again, but because I didn’t get to tell him how special he was to me.
So today, I invite you all to make time to tell the people in your lives how much they mean to you…You never know what tomorrow will bring.
I can only hope that even though I didn’t get to tell him directly, Dusty knew how much I appreciated and valued his help, wisdom, support and friendship. He was unlike anybody I’ve ever met in this industry and to say that I will always remember him and be thankful for the honor of having known him is an understatement.
In the meantime, the entire NXT crew is on its way to Pittsburgh where we will do what we do best. And you can bet every single second of tonight and every other NXT show this week are dedicated to the memory of the legendary, one-and-only Dusty Rhodes.
My thoughts are with his family and friends at this time…especially his children. Your father was an incredible coach and an even better man. He will be greatly missed.
Dusty used to call us “his NXT kids”… Well, I think I speak for all of us at when I say that tonight and every other night from here on out, we will give it our all for you, Dusty.
We’ll make you proud, Dream.
Thank you for the memories…thank you for everything.
WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair, who idolized Dusty Rhodes as a young wrestler getting into the business, wrote the following on Facebook about the passing of “The American Dream.”
“All I wanted to be in 1972 was Rambling Ricky Rhodes. The Dream told me “you can make it on your own.” He mentored me and taught me how to be a star. Dusty used to say “If you are going to pass by… why not in a Cadillac??” He’s the man who invented A Flair for the Gold and was a genius way ahead of his time. Much love to your family and more respect than can ever be measured. Love you Dream.”
Flair also released the following statement on the passing of Rhodes:
“Today I lost one of my greatest opponents and greatest friends. 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.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official blog with his thoughts on the passing of “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. Below is an excerpt from the blog.
“Thursday wasn’t a good day. We lost a pop culture icon, a pro wrestling innovator and I lost a great friend. The Dream is dead.
As I was sitting in an office in Asheville, NC at Eblen Charities being interviewed by WWE for the upcoming Owen Hart DVD and discussing what May 23, 1999 meant to me my cell phone buzzed incessantly. It wouldn’t stop and interrupted our recording.
I needed to to take a break and collect my thoughts on a question that I knew was coming but that I still dreaded answering. I excused myself to the men’s room and eventually got around to checking my messages and to my horror I found out that my friend of over 30 years Dusty Rhodes had died at age 69 in Orlando, Florida.
The Dream and I talked about a week ago and he tried to convince me that he was “just fine.” I knew something was wrong when I saw him in San Jose at WrestleMania where I again questioned him about his health while sitting behind him at the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Again, he declared himself fit and we talked of his significant weight loss. Then down in Orlando at a NXT taping the night before Mick Foley taped his comedy special for the WWE Network Dusty and I talked and he insisted that he was fine.
He was like John Wayne in his final movie ‘The Shootist’ who wanted no empathy from anyone and who wanted to go out on his own terms his own way.”
WWE announced this afternoon that Virgil Runnels, aka “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, passed away today at the age of 69. Details have begun to surface regarding the cause of his death.
TMZ.com reports that emergency personnel responded to Rhodes’ home in Orlando, Florida at 5:56 a.m. Wednesday morning after he had taken a fall.
“Officials tell us … emergency personnel responded to Dusty’s home in Orlando, FL at 5:56 AM Wednesday morning after getting a call reporting a 69-year-old male had taken a fall.”
Rhodes was rushed to a nearby hospital where he passed away on Thursday morning. He suffered “numerous complications” due to the fall, which ultimately proved fatal.
Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer also reported on Rhodes having a fall, noting that his kidneys shut down and he became dehydrated.
As seen earlier this afternoon, longtime pro wrestling legend “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes has passed away.
While there aren’t a lot of specific details to report at this time, we can confirm that there are reports out that claim Rhodes suffered a fall at his house earlier today and his kidneys were shutting down as he started to get dehydrated.
We should have more information on this unfortunate story later today. Stay tuned.
We are saddened to report that wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes (Virgil Runnels) has passed away. He was 69.
Here is the official statement from WWE.com:
“WWE is deeply saddened that Virgil Runnels, aka “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes — WWE Hall of Famer, three-time NWA Champion and one of the most captivating and charismatic figures in sports entertainment history — passed away today at the age of 69.
Runnels became a hero to fans around the world thanks to his work ethic, his impassioned interviews and his indomitable spirit. Moreover, Runnels was a dedicated father to WWE Superstars Goldust (Dustin Runnels) and Stardust (Cody Runnels), a caring husband and a creative visionary who helped shape the landscape of WWE long after his in-ring career had ended.
WWE extends its sincerest condolences to Runnels’ family, friends and colleagues.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes recently appeared on The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast to talk about a number of subjects. Below are some highlights from the interview.
On the creation of the Florida Wrestling Wall of Fame at the JCC and Federation in Tampa, Florida: “It’s amazing. There are so many people that have unfortunately passed on that when you go back and look at in Florida, the wall may simply not be enough. This tribute may have to go all the way around the building. They have some great designs for it and it’s costing a lot of money. So we need the money, we need the backing, we need the focus, we need all these things to make this come true. For me it all started in Florida with The Great Malenko and Eddie Graham. It all started there. Entertainment, show business. Maybe this wall of memories can really stay up for a long time and I will be honored to be on it.”
On performing at the Fort Hesterly Armory in Tampa: “Whatever they were, the mood we were in changed the course of not only the whole state but you wanted to play The Garden, The Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis for (Sam) Muchnick, you wanted to go see Paul Boesch because he had the best pay-offs in the industry in addition to the Armory. Which actually wasn’t a great pay-off but they didn’t know it then, I would have done it for nothing.”
On becoming “The American Dream”: “When I became “The American Dream” they needed a hero down here. I had no money. I couldn’t buy a car without being tied under but I had to have a Cadillac with blue stars on the hood no matter what it cost because just driving in it will set how they look at me and perceive this guy, they’ll know. The first time a truck was ever driven into a building it wasn’t a beer truck. It was my truck, in the Fort Hesterly Armory through the side door with Willie Nelson blaring on the radio, making an entrance.”
On taking the job as booker for Eddie Graham: “I was called in one day in Tampa and Eddie (Graham) said go get an assistant (which ended up being Jerry Brisco) because we are going to make you the booker. What I learned about booking talent was with Eddie allowing me to have the open door to say I’m turning this over to you, take off with it. I used it as a motivation when I was booking. People always say, well Dusty always booked himself on top. I put myself on top because the seats are 17 1/2 inches apart and I’m selling out 12,000 seat arenas. That’s why I was on top. If you don’t have an ego and you don’t have a goal, you ain’t worth a damn.”
On what he teaches in NXT and his connection to his students: “Given the talent right now, I teach all my kids in my communications classes down in NXT that us giving them the opportunity to be free and do things on their own and what will fit their own body of work, it is the best thing they can do. In the last 2 ½ years you can see that in the kids that have made it up to RAW and Smackdown. These 70 or 80 kids that we have down here now in NXT look at me at 69 years old and say you are the coolest 69 year old guy they’ve ever met. It’s because I’ve changed with the times and I haven’t just stayed stuck in one hour Broadways with Bob Orton Sr. and Eddie Graham.”
On his matches with Ric Flair and the NWA title chase: “All of us together being able to make something really special. With “Naitch” it was easy because he had already crossed that threshold of the entertainment being brought into our industry. But we also could go 7 nights in a row. At the Great American Bash tour we went 7 in a row for one hour a night and made a story that you could understand and that made the people almost in a riot. My chase was the best. I learned from Eddie one night at the Armory that he didn’t even need to make me the NWA Champion because my chase is what’s best and eventually that became me getting short spurts with the title, but that’s all you needed. To walk out as the prestigious NWA Champion it was amazing.”
Back in August of 2014 it was reported that WWE was toying with the idea of hosting a fantasy camp for fans at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The idea was to run a regular package and a V.I.P. package with the V.I.P. package priced at $7,500 for a three night, two day experience.
The camps would have been limited to just 40 fans over the age of 18, with V.I.P. packages being split into two separate groups of ten to provide a more intimate experience. Both packages were loaded with perks for the fans.
Since then, WWE has issued another survey regarding potential WWE Performance Center Fantasy Camps, and it now appears that a lot of the details have been changed.
The camps would now run for just one day and would be limited to 20 fans instead of 40. Perks would now include the following:
– Participants signing a “training contract” with NXT coaches and “getting a welcome from Triple H himself.”
– Breakfast and lunch with NXT Champions
– Tour of the WWE Performance Center
– Observe a promo class being taught by WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes
– Watch NXT training session, “Skill Session” and watch talents create their own promos
– Create your own voice-overs
– Watch an NXT showcase show inside the WWE Performance Center
– Receive autographed photos of all participating NXT talents
The WWE Performance Center Fantasy Camps could be launched later this year, or in early 2016, and would likely be a way to make money off of the Performance Center.
Tyson Kidd recently spoke with The Ottawa Sun to promote this coming Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown television taping in Ottawa. Below are some highlights from the interview.
On making it to WWE: “It’s so bizarre, I can’t tell you why, but in my mind I never had a backup plan. I always knew I would make it to WWE. Maybe that was the mindset I needed to get here. I don’t know who the 15-year-old was that thought this could happen. But I know the 35-year-old is happy that it did.”
On his tag team with Cesaro: “I’m not comparing ourselves to them, but rewind the clock to the New Age Outlaws. It was Rockabilly (later, Bad Ass Billy Gunn) vs. the Real Double J (later, Road Dogg Jesse James) and the next thing you know everything clicks. We had a triple threat match with Dolph Ziggler. Go back and watch that match and you’ll see that foreshadowing and the chemistry developing.”
On getting help from Dusty Rhodes: “He’s been a huge influence. He helped me find my voice and he’d critique my body language. He has a very special eye. It’s a lot of little things together. The speaking part was obviously a huge part, but it was all the little things.”
– WWE is increasing their presence on the live streaming Periscope app. The company had hip-hop artist Flo Rida at the WWE studios in Stamford, Connecticut a few days ago doing a live Q&A with fans on the app.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes noted on social media that he won’t be attending this year’s Cauliflower Alley Club event. He also spoke about working with the new NXT rookies this week. Rhodes tweeted the following:
The new group set with eyes wide as they watch the best in the world in class last night . So very proud of NXT !!
– WWE edited a line out of Daniel Bryan’s 2015 WWE Hall Of Fame induction speech for Connor “The Crusher” Michalek. WWE removed the part where Bryan said, “what we do is fictional.”
– WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes indicated on social media this week that he will soon be launching his own official podcast.
– During WrestleMania 31 week, The Bella Twins spoke to Title Match Wrestling about the “#GiveDivasAChance” movement, the Divas in NXT and more. You can check out the video interview below.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes announced on social media that he will be attending tonight’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view, which features a battle of his sons as Goldust takes on Stardust. Rhodes tweeted the following:
– The following is the official synopsis for tonight’s edition of WWE Total Divas, which goes head-to-head with the Fastlane show.
“Mo’ Money, Mo’ Purses: Nattie renovates her mom’s house; Brie tries to help with Nicole’s out-of-control spending habits; and Eva Marie starts to fear the worse for her dad’s health, and so she comes up with a Vegas bucket list for him.”
– In addition to Dusty Rhodes, there is another special guest scheduled for tonight’s WWE RAW in Orlando, Florida. No word yet on who it is, other than someone besides Rhodes is also scheduled to appear.
– WWE SmackDown and WWE Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The entire crew, including John Cena, is scheduled for the show.
– NXT will be doing several weeks of television tapings on Wednesday, filming enough shows to carrry them through WrestleMania.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes recently gave the official creative booking book from the 1986 Great American Bash to Triple H as a present. Triple H tweeted the following photo of the two together with the historical book:
– Speaking of Rhodes, as noted earlier today, “The American Dream” is scheduled to appear on Monday’s RAW to join in on the ongoing Goldust-Stardust storyline. Dusty posted the following follow-up tweet on Twitter regarding the appearance.
It's hard times for the Rhodes family . This Monday on Raw I will settle things with both my Boys
– WWE Superstar David Otunga taped his second appearance on The Steve Harvey Show on Tuesday. He posted a clip of himself backstage at the show, which you can view at Instagram.com.
– ROH star Adam Cole is the guest on this week’s edition of the Jim Ross “Ross Report” podcast. The official description for the show reads as follows:
TRR – Ep52 – ROH’s Adam Cole
“Ring Of Honor rising star Adam Cole joins JR to talk about his wrestling start, the Stone Cold/Rock match at Wrestlemania 17 that inspired Adam to pursue pro-wrestling, his training, his in-ring technique, philosophy on selling, his thoughts on Kevin Steen, working for New Japan, and the effect social media has on storylines and character development. Plus, Adam reveals his top 7 fantasy matches!”
NXT star Enzo Amore was recently interviewed by Chad Dukes of CBS Radio Washington DC 106.7 The Fan and ChadDukesWrestling.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Developing At NXT:
“I never was in a wrestling ring before I stepped foot into a WWE ring, so I am a product of NXT. I trained under Bill DeMott. I did a lot of my promo work with Dusty Rhodes. Those two guys were so instrumental in my career, I feel like I never could just completely take that step out of NXT. I owe it to the fans, I owe it to the people around me, the trainers, the coaches. That’s what you see in our product, you see people who are hungry and those people who are coming back, pulling double duty, they’re hungry, they wanna compete. The NXT environment is so competitive.”
Triple H Giving Him Opportunity:
“He had started training with my strength coach. From the age of 14 I had been training with Joe DeFranco from DeFranco’s Training Systems out of New Jersey, they do a lot of combine training. I had played college football, I had always lifted and was a huge fan of the sports entertainmentbusiness, more particularly the WWE. Huge fan of DX- Shawn Michaels and Triple H. One day I was working out at DeFranco’s gym and Joe came up to me and said, ‘I got a phone call from a guy named Paul Levesque, who wants me to train him.’ My jaw just hit the ground.”
“After about a year of him training with Hunter, I made a YouTube video… I was always training so basically I gave Joe a link to a YouTube page that had a compilation of me lifting, running, boxing, and then I cut a promo at the end of it on the Hudson River around the time the Jersey Shore was popular. Came at the Jersey Shore people’s necks, a little disrespect, hit ‘em with a little 1-2 combo, the haymaker pancaker and badaboom, the realest guy in the room was born.”
“He showed it to Hunter and Hunter just gave me a tryout. He’s our boss and he’s very approachable out here at NXT. He gave me my first opportunity and I’ll never forget the words that he said to me when I met him, he simply said, ‘don’t screw this up.’ He probably wouldn’t remember it, but for me I hung onto those words, because that’s all he said.”
WWE Hall Of Famers Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and Pat Patterson are all in attendance at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida for tonight’s NXT Takeover: R Evolution special on the WWE Network.
Triple H posted the following photo of himself with the trio on his official Twitter account.
Make sure to check the website later tonight for complete NXT Takeover: R Evolution results.
– NXT Divas Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch are now referring to themselves as “Team B.A.E,” which stands for “Best at Everything.”
– On Monday night, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan will be participating in a “Midnight Madness” event for the WWE 2K15 next-gen release at Gameshop on East 14th Street in New York City.
– As noted, Hulk Hogan is scheduled to work on the new WWE Scooby-Doo film sequel, which is confirmed for the spring of 2016. Fellow WWE Hall Of Famer “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes is also rumored to participate.
– There is no new “Monday Night War” episode scheduled to air on the WWE Network this week.
– The new edition of “WWE Rivalries” drops on the WWE Network on Tuesday and will feature the Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes feud. The official description for that show reads as follows:
“Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair each possessed a unique pairing of charisma and bravado, fueling their competitive fire in and out of the ring.”
On Monday’s RAW, Cody Rhodes debuted a new character, Stardust, and teamed with his brother Goldust in a quick match against Ryback and Curtis Axel. Shortly after the match, Cody Rhodes, who has changed his Twitter handle to Stardust, tweeted:
It seemed as if the tag team division had been revitalized last year. However, almost as soon as fans started to become excited about the division again, half of the teams were broken up and it has been largely ignored.
The Usos are the current champions, and I think their pay-per-view exposure shows how confident the WWE is that the Uso brothers will draw. After all, they defended their tag titles on the pre-show at WrestleMania and did not appear in any capacity at Extreme Rules.
With that said, it would not take much effort to get the division back to where it was at the end of last year. Here are five current or potential tag teams that could help make the division relevant again (or at the very least, get it onto the pay-per-view card).
5. Rybaxel – At first, this team seemed like it would go nowhere. They had both just basically flopped while under the tutelage of Paul Heyman, so why would anyone believe that they would fare well without him? Surprisingly, both have improved since leaving Heyman, especially Ryback. He is hilarious on the microphone and can actually be pretty entertaining when he’s allowed to speak. I think the WWE still has plans to push both guys in the future, and a run with the Tag Team Championships could help elevate both superstars.
4. Damien Sandow and Dolph Ziggler – These guys have adopted similar personality traits in recent weeks, most notably because both guys seem disgruntled, annoyed, and displeased that their talents are not being properly utilized. Sandow and Ziggler would make a great team if paired together, as both are impressive in the ring and on the mic. There were rumors a while back of a possible stable of disgruntled superstars being formed, including Ziggler and the Miz, but a team of Sandow and Ziggler would work even better and could make the tag title picture exciting again.
3. Jack Swagger and Cody Rhodes – It is no secret that Zeb Colter has been trying to recruit a new member to the Real Americans since Cesaro betrayed him a few weeks back. With Cody being the son of the American Dream Dusty Rhodes, it would make sense for him to become a Real American. Cody and Goldust are definitely going to part ways soon, with Cody likely being the one to turn heel, so it would provide the perfect opportunity for Cody to align with Swagger and Colter afterward.