Mid 20th Century
158-637: Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as " The American Dream " Dusty Rhodes , was an American professional wrestler , booker, and trainer who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation , later known as WWE. Rhodes was considered a star wrestler and presented the persona of an American everyman, the American Dream personified. Rhodes
316-806: A ECW on TNN episode that was taped in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. On March 12, 2000, Dusty pinned Steve Corino in a singles match at the Living Dangerously PPV in Danbury, Connecticut. He continued to remain undefeated until he put over Corino at the CyberSlam event on April 22 at the ECW Arena . His final appearance came at an ECW TV taping in Toledo, Ohio, where he accompanied The Sandman to ringside in his match against Rhino , who
474-595: A Ladder match . On the August 13 NWATNA PPV, Rhodes and America's Most Wanted defeated Glenn Gilbertti and Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger the following week Rhodes lost a bullrope match to Glen Gilbertti after Christopher Daniels interfered. On the October 1 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes and Jarrett defeated A.J. Styles and Russo. The following week Rhodes got a shot at the NWA title against Styles but lost when he passed out during
632-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
790-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
948-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1106-614: A Texas Bullrope match for Big Time Wrestling. In September 2005, Rhodes signed a WWE Legends deal and was brought onto the Creative Team as a creative consultant. He made an appearance on the October 3, 2005 WWE Raw Homecoming in which he, along with other legends, beat down Rob Conway , to whom Rhodes delivered a signature Bionic Elbow . Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
1264-478: A Texas Bullrope match on November 23 in which Rhodes defeated Sullivan. Rhodes began appearing with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2003, returning to the ring to feud against the villainous Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction. on the January 15 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes, Road Warriors and Jeff Jarrett lost to Vince Russo and Triple X . on the January 22 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes called out Nikita Koloff to reform
1422-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1580-455: A backstage booker and producer in WWE's NXT developmental territory. Billed as "the son of a plumber", Rhodes did not have a typical wrestler's physique; his character was that of the " common man ", known for the personality exhibited in his interviews. WWE chairman Vince McMahon remarked that no wrestler "personified the essence of charisma quite like Dusty Rhodes". Virgil Riley Runnels Jr.
1738-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
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#17327807583801896-470: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2054-505: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2212-509: A confrontation between the two couples, Savage's ex-manager Miss Elizabeth allied herself with Rhodes and Sapphire and was instrumental in helping them win the WWF's first mixed tag-team match during WrestleMania VI . Rhodes suffered a foot injury a few weeks later, leading to his temporary removal from the house show circuit and replaced by Roddy Piper . He returned on May 12 and resumed his house show series against Savage. This time his dominance
2370-622: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . A Face in the Crowd (film) A Face in the Crowd is a 1957 American satirical drama film directed by Elia Kazan and starring Andy Griffith (in his film debut), Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau . The screenplay by Budd Schulberg
2528-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
2686-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2844-589: A heated storyline with "Macho King" Randy Savage and his manager/partner Sensational Queen Sherri , who in turn found a rival in Sapphire. Rhodes began facing the former WWF World Champion on the house show circuit. As with Boss Man he was victorious in every encounter, although each would come by countout. On the March 25, 1990 episode of WWF Superstars he finally faced Savage in a televised encounter; Rhodes won via disqualification after Queen Sherri interfered. After
3002-541: A house show on May 29 in Montreal, Quebec. Substituting for Jake Roberts , he defeated Ted DiBiase . Promotional vignettes began airing, the first coming on the June 3rd edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling with Rhodes appearing as the yellow polka-dotted " Common Man " Dusty Rhodes, a gimmick some felt was intended to humiliate him due to his synonymy with the rival JCP/WCW. Rhodes was introduced to WWF audiences through
3160-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
3318-744: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
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#17327807583803476-513: A match that featured Jimmy Valiant as the special guest referee, Jarrett retained the title after Terry Funk made a surprise appearance and interfered. This led to Rhodes challenging Funk to a Falls-Count-Anywhere Bunkhouse match, which Rhodes won. This would be Rhodes' final appearance with CCW until August, where he would team with his son Dustin against Phi Delta Slam . On July 15, 2005, Rhodes participated in Ballpark Brawl IV in
3634-523: A month and begin shooting the film. Kazan and Schulberg spent much of July and August in Memphis and in Arkansas. Patricia Neal's involvement was announced by early August. Griffith, Lee Remick, Charles Irving, Charles Nelson Reilly and uncredited actors Lois Nettleton and Rip Torn all made their film debuts in A Face in the Crowd . On the set, Griffith faced difficulty generating the intensity of
3792-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
3950-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
4108-409: A profit-sharing agreement after she reminds him of her role in his success. Mel, who loves Marcia, leaves to write an exposé on Rhodes. Joey has an affair with Rhodes's young wife, and Rhodes sends her back to Arkansas. However, he cannot extricate himself from the business arrangement with Joey, as Joey owns 51% of the company. Disgusted with Rhodes's behavior, Marcia activates a live microphone during
4266-563: A raft of current and future stars, including Terry Funk , Dick Slater , Bam Bam Bigelow , Al Perez , The Nasty Boys , Scott Hall , Dustin Rhodes , Mike Awesome , Dallas Page and The Big Steel Man (Fred Ottman, who would become Tugboat in the WWF). Dusty Rhodes made his debut for the company on March 4, 1989, at an event in Titusville, Florida, when he teamed with Steve Keirn to defeat
4424-679: A rule-breaking heel with Hart as his manager , teaming with Don Jardine , better known as The Spoiler. In 1968, Rhodes left Texas and entered the Kansas City territory, tagging with fellow Texan Dick Murdoch to form the tag team The Texas Outlaws . The team traveled both nationally and internationally, appearing in Big Time Wrestling (Texas), NWA Western States Sports (Texas), NWA Detroit, National Wrestling Federation (NWF), Championship Wrestling from Florida , World Championship Wrestling (Australia) , Tri-State Wrestling ,
4582-422: A segment at a rural Arkansas jail. She invites him to speak to the audience and sing while playing his guitar , and he becomes instantly popular. Marcia dubs him "Lonesome" Rhodes and fast-tracks him onto his own radio program . Marcia enlists the support of the show's writer Mel Miller and witnesses the charismatic Rhodes ad-lib his way to Memphis -area popularity, effectively criticizing local politicians along
4740-411: A series of vignettes in which he would gregariously and enthusiastically perform working class roles (including that of a plumber , butcher's apprentice , gas station attendant , taco cook, trash collector and pizza delivery man ), eventually being recognized by others at the end of the skit ("Hey! Aren't you...?"). Rhodes continued to wrestle DiBiase on house shows that month and was undefeated. He
4898-572: A shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championship on June 2 but they failed to win the titles. On the June 4 episode of Impact, Rhodes gave an interview with Mike Tenay but got punked out by NWA champ Jeff Jarrett. On the July 14 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes, Larry Zbyszko and 3Live Kru defeated Jarrett, Ken Shamrock , Hernandez , Chad Collyer and Onyx . On the August 25 NWATNA PPV, Russo suspended Rhodes from TNA and banned him from
Dusty Rhodes - Misplaced Pages Continue
5056-702: A solo wrestler, primarily in Florida , referring to himself as the "American Dream", a working class hero, and aligning himself with Eddie Graham. In 1977, Rhodes wrestled for Vince McMahon, Sr. 's World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on and off for lengthy periods of time until 1983. During that time, Rhodes main-evented twice in Madison Square Garden, both times challenging for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship against reigning champion Superstar Billy Graham . Rhodes won
5214-519: A television taping on July 25, 1994, in Macon, Georgia, he came to ringside and attacked Parker, before being overwhelmed by the manager and Bunkhouse Buck . After being rescued by Ricky Steamboat and Dustin, he made an appearance in Dustin's corner on the August 6th edition of WCW Saturday Night when his son faced Bunkhouse Buck. After delivering a bionic elbow to Buck when the referee was distracted, Dustin
5372-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
5530-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
5688-483: A victory over Kamala . Later in the month, he appeared for IWA Mid-South in a tag team match with Ian Rotten in a victory over Chris Candido and Steve Stone. Rhodes made three appearances for the Japanese promotion HUSTLE in 2004, the first being on January 4 in a six-man tag team match with Steve Corino and Tom Howard against Mil Mascaras , Dos Caras , and Sicodelico Jr. , which Rhodes' team lost. The second
5846-507: A victory over Kid Kash . Rhodes participated in the first WrestleReunion , competing in an eight-man tag team match with D'Lo Brown , The Blue Meanie , and Tom Prichard against Steve Corino, Andrew Martin , Evil Clown, and the Masked Superstar. Rhodes faced Tully Blanchard at a Starrcade Tribute Show on November 19, where he was managed by Magnum T. A. and where Blanchard was managed by J. J. Dillon . Rhodes ended up losing
6004-511: A wrestler. Before departing, Rhodes was defeated by The Big Steel Man on May 13, 1989, for the PWF title at an event in Sarasota, Florida. His final match with the company was on May 20, where he wrestled Steel Man at an event in Fort Lauderdale. During the spring Rhodes also returned to the AWA for a few appearances. Nine days after his final PWF match, Dusty Rhodes made his untelevised debut at
6162-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
6320-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
6478-499: Is based on his short story "Your Arkansas Traveler" from the 1953 collection Some Faces in the Crowd . The story centers on Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, a drifter who is discovered by the producer (Neal) of a small-market radio program in rural northeast Arkansas , and who rises to great fame and influence on national television. The character was inspired by Schulberg's acquaintance with Will Rogers Jr. The successes of Arthur Godfrey and Tennessee Ernie Ford were also acknowledged in
Dusty Rhodes - Misplaced Pages Continue
6636-490: Is enlisted to improve the appeal of a presidential hopeful, Senator Worthington Fuller of California, and rebrands Fuller as an everyman with the folksy nickname "Curly". In contrast to his friendly onscreen persona, Rhodes has become an egomaniac who berates his staff. Marcia's hopes of marrying Rhodes are dashed, first when a woman claims to be his legitimate wife, and again when he returns from Mexico married to 17-year-old drum majorette Betty Lou. Rhodes and Marcia enter into
6794-409: Is finished with his program (and is scorning his public) is inane. This type would either have become a harmless habit or the public would have been finished with him! Harrison's Reports wrote: "On a whole, however, it is a fascinating picture, superbly directed and finely acted. Much credit for the film's impact is due [to] Andy Griffith, a newcomer to the screen, for his exceptional performance in
6952-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
7110-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
7268-471: Is often considered to be one of the most innovative and creative bookers in the history of professional wrestling. As previously mentioned, his work in the development of "supercards" and gimmick matches did much to enhance the quality of entertainment and move the industry forward, as evident by other major promotions following with their own major cards and gimmicks. At the same time, however, he and JCP had an "old school" philosophy that did not bode well with
7426-469: Is one of seven men inducted into each of the WWE , WCW , Professional Wrestling , and Wrestling Observer Newsletter Halls of Fame. His sons, Dustin and Cody , both pursued careers in professional wrestling, currently performing for All Elite Wrestling and WWE , respectively. Following his retirement from wrestling, he made occasional on-air appearances on WWE television and pay-per-views and worked as
7584-477: Is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Rhodes was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion , and during his time in Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling , he was a United States Heavyweight Champion , and multi-time World Television , World Tag Team and World Six-Man Tag Team Champion . He also won many regional championships, and
7742-642: The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Far and away outstanding in their stellar performances are Griffith, Miss Neal and Matthau, with Franciosa also very capable. They are nearly all at their peaks in their interpretations, even though the actual reading of lines is not too easy to understand at times. Schulberg has, however, written a splendid screenplay, and the picture is by far one of Kazan's most penetrating and incidentally ironic." In his review for Cahiers du cinéma , critic François Truffaut called it "a great and beautiful work whose importance transcends
7900-559: The American Wrestling Association (AWA), and International Wrestling Enterprise (Japan). Rhodes did not have a typical wrestlers' physique, but he was well known for his personality, charisma and interviews. In 1974, Rhodes's character became a hero after tag team partner Pak Song and manager Gary Hart turned on him during a match in Florida against Eddie and Mike Graham . This led him to break out as
8058-830: The Four Horsemen and The Russian Team in 1985. They were one of the more dominant tag teams in the promotion until 1986, when Magnum's career was ended in a car accident. Subsequently, he teamed with Nikita Koloff as The Super Powers . Rhodes was also a two time World Six-Man Tag Team Champion with The Road Warriors . Rhodes had feuds with Abdullah the Butcher , Terry Funk , Kevin Sullivan , Blackjack Mulligan , Nikita Koloff, Harley Race , Superstar Billy Graham, "Crippler" Ray Stevens and, most notably, The Four Horsemen (especially Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard ). Rhodes, Flair and Race fought each other many times over
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#17327807583808216-874: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Rhodes won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times; twice by defeating Race and once by defeating Flair. During a taping which took place at The Omni on September 29, 1985, Rhodes would save Flair from a beatdown at hands of Ivan and Nikitia Koloff and Krusher Krushchev, only for Flair to then turn on Rhodes and have Ole and Arn Anderson assist him in breaking Rhodes' ankle; this also forced Rhodes to vacate his NWA Television Championship . In October 1985, during his feud with Flair, Rhodes gave an interview that became known as his "Hard Times" promo, arguably his most popular promo : First of all, I would like to thank
8374-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
8532-505: The Turner Broadcasting System following their purchase of the company) during a November 26 altercation with The Road Warriors . Furious with the interference, Rhodes booked a storyline in which Road Warrior Animal pulled a spike out of his shoulder pad and jammed it in Rhodes' eye, causing a severe laceration. Rhodes was then fired from WCW. Meanwhile, in late 1988 during the acquisition of Jim Crockett Promotions
8690-732: The United States Championship , and after the match Dusty came out to the ring to celebrate. That led to a slowly simmering feud with The Assassin ( Jody Hamilton ), who continually challenged Rhodes. On the June 12, 1993 edition of WCW Saturday Night the Assassin vowed to track down Dusty's mother if that is what it took to gain a response. On the October 30 edition of WCW Saturday Night the Assassin (now representing Paul Orndorff) again challenged Rhodes. A week later United States Champion Dustin Rhodes announced that his father would be in his corner in his upcoming defense against
8848-646: The WCW/New Japan Supershow II . Teaming with his son Dustin Rhodes once more, the duo defeated Kim Duk and Masa Saito in Tokyo, Japan. He began making house show appearances early in the year, usually in tag-team matches involving Dustin that saw Paul E. Dangerously tied to Dusty as part of the stipulation. On the May 16, 1992 episode of WCW Worldwide he seconded Nikita Koloff in his match with Big Van Vader ; he battled Vader's manager Harley Race to
9006-439: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF). When the WWF introduced Mike Jones as Ted DiBiase 's bodyguard, Bobby Heenan suggested naming the character Virgil as an inside joke on Dusty's real name. Also in the late 1980s, Rhodes became synonymous with what would become known as the " Dusty finish ", a trick ending in which a wrestler would win a match while the referee was knocked out, and the decision would be overturned. Rhodes
9164-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
9322-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
9480-564: The "I Quit Bunkhouse Riot" as a member of Homicide 's team. On December 12, Rhodes defeated Jerry Lawler at an International Wrestling Cartel show that also featured Mick Foley as the special guest referee. Rhodes returned to ROH on March 13, 2004, where he competed alongside The Carnage Crew in a Scramble Cage match against Special K, which the Carnage Crew won. On July 24, Rhodes returned to Full Impact Pro (FIP) and defeated Gangrel . In October, he appeared for Northeast Wrestling in
9638-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
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#17327807583809796-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
9954-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
10112-611: The April 29 episode of Impact, Rhodes announced that MMA fighter Tito Ortiz will referee the World title match at Hard Justice (2005) . In May 2005, TNA President Dixie Carter asked Rhodes to move onto a creative team, which included Jeremy Borash , Bill Banks, and Scott D'Amore . Rhodes resigned as booker, waiting out the rest of his contract with TNA, which expired soon after. Rhodes made his first indy circuit appearance on April 12, 2003, for Ring of Honor (ROH), when he participated in
10270-476: The Assassin's charge Paul Orndorff. Dustin successfully retained against Orndorff at Clash of the Champions XXV ; Dusty became involved after the match and attempted to unmask the Assassin. As 1994 progressed Dusty became involved in another angle with his son and The Stud Stable , offering commentary on the May 21, 1994, edition of WCW Saturday Night on Col. Robert Parker 's efforts against Dustin. At
10428-475: The Asylum a few days later on the August 27 episode of Impact, Rhodes showed up in the front row, and got attacked by Scott D'Amore and ejected again. On the September 1 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes under a mask billed as Midnight Rider teamed with Konnan and B.G. James to defeat Team Canada ( Eric Young and Bobby Roode and Johnny Devine ). On the September 8 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes defeated Scott D'Amore with Russo as
10586-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
10744-473: The Bronx , as well as some exteriors. The scene of the network headquarters switchboard was NBC at 30 Rockefeller Plaza . Schulberg remained involved throughout filming. He said, "I went on a trip in 1955 to scout a location in Arkansas, and I've been on the set every day since shooting started in August [1956]." In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Bosley Crowther called A Face in
10902-459: The Crowd a "sizzling and cynical exposure" and wrote: Lonesome Rhodes, the two-faced hero, is pretty much the whole show, and what he symbolizes in society is barely hinted—or discreetly overlooked. ... Everyone condescends to him—in the script of Mr. Schulberg, that is—instead of taking positive positions that would better represent reality. ... [A]ll play their roles capably, but they're forced to behave as awed observers, not as flexible factors in
11060-497: The July 22 edition of WWF Superstars; following a match between Big Boss Man and Jim McPherson he intervened to prevent Boss Man from using his nightstick against the defeated opponent. This transitioned Dusty into his first World Wrestling Federation feud. Rhodes made his in-ring debut on the August 13th edition of Wrestling Challenge when he pinned Greg Valentine after his opponent was distracted by Ronnie Garvin . That month he began his house show series against Big Boss Man and
11218-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
11376-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
11534-561: The November 30, 1998, episode of Monday Nitro , when Rhodes, who was guest refereeing a match between Barry Windham and Dean Malenko after being appointed by Eric Bischoff , defected back to WCW by disqualifying Windham and awarding the match to Malenko. Bischoff then fired Rhodes. On the December 28, 1998, edition of Monday Nitro , Ric Flair faced Eric Bischoff for control of the company for 30 days. After Flair submitted Bischoff, Dusty
11692-517: The October 19 edition of World Championship Wrestling, Rhodes was announced as being in the corner of Ron Simmons when the latter was scheduled to face Lex Luger for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Halloween Havoc 91. Rhodes would go on to be Simmons' cornerman that night, although Luger retained his championship. Dusty Rhodes made his return to the ring after nearly a one-year absence on January 4, 1992, at
11850-514: The PWF as a developmental territory and to bring Rhodes into the WWF. He refused, as his desire was to grow the territory into a national brand that could compete with WCW and the WWF. However the Professional Wrestling Federation's backers did not have a desire to fund the company at a level necessary to enhance the territory further. In May he decided to part ways with the PWF and join the World Wrestling Federation as
12008-532: The Superpowers, but Nikita turned on him. On the February 26 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes and Vader defeated Don and Ron Harris by disqualification. On the March 19 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes, Jeff Jarrett and D-Lo Brown defeated Erik Watts , Brian Lawler and David Flair in a six-man tag team match a week later Rhodes defeated David Flair in a Bunkhouse match. On the April 9 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes defeated Brian Lawler in
12166-452: The World's Heavyweight Champion. I don't have to say a whole lot more about the way I feel about Ric Flair; no respect, no honor. There is no honor amongst thieves in the first place. He put hard times on Dusty Rhodes and his family. You don't know what hard times are, daddy. Hard times are when the textile workers around this country are out of work, they got four or five kids and can't pay their wages, can't buy their food. Hard times are when
12324-511: The [t]elevision showmen. Dramatic scenes are all played at full blast, while the more intimate scenes are slurred over." In a 2015 interview, filmmaker Spike Lee credited the film with inspiring his Bamboozled (2000). Writing in The Washington Post in 2020, Ann Hornaday ranked it at number 14 of her list of the best political movies. A stage musical version of A Face in the Crowd directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah began
12482-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
12640-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
12798-458: The athlete of the day supposed to look. My belly's just a lil' big, my heiny's a lil' big, but brother, I am bad. And they know I'm bad. There were two bad people... One was John Wayne and he's dead brother, and the other's right here. Nature Boy Ric Flair, the World's Heavyweight title belongs to these people. I'mma reach out right now, I want you at home to know my hand is touchin' your hand for
12956-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
13114-442: The auto workers are out of work and they tell 'em to go home. And hard times are when a man has worked at a job for thirty years, thirty years, and they give him a watch, kick him in the butt and say "hey a computer took your place, daddy", that's hard times! That's hard times! And Ric Flair you put hard times on this country by takin' Dusty Rhodes out, that's hard times. And we all had hard times together, and I admit, I don't look like
13272-521: The backstage as the match began. Later that summer Dusty was again in the corner of Ron Simmons, this time on August 2, 1992, when he defeated Big Van Vader to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship . He later joined the broadcast team, usually working with Tony Schiavone on Saturday Night . He was paired with Schiavone and Bobby Heenan on pay-per-views. On February 25 his son Dustin defeated Paul Orndorff to win
13430-518: The behalf of DiBiase. That fall his son Dustin Rhodes began making televised appearances within the WWF; on the October 13 edition of WWF Superstars Dusty lost to Randy Savage by countout after being distracted by DiBiase attacking Dustin. Afterwards, Rhodes dropped the polka dot attire and adopted his traditional, Jim Crockett-esque attire. At the 1990 Survivor Series he led "The Dream Team" (himself, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart , and Koko B Ware ) against "The Million Dollar Team . Unlike last year's edition,
13588-551: The best-known members of the Midnight Express . He also briefly resurrected his feud with Tully Blanchard in CCW, earning two consecutive victories over him, the second being in a Bunkhouse Brawl . On April 9, 2005, Rhodes challenged Jeff Jarrett (who was still contracted to TNA, but due to TNA's then-affiliation with the NWA, he was allowed to appear for other affiliated promotions) for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. In
13746-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
13904-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
14062-408: The changes that were brought with fast moving media such as cable TV, etc. The long-standing storylines and the frequent use of the aforementioned "Dusty finish", techniques that had worked well during the NWA's territorial days, had now started to leave many fans dissatisfied with the promotion's booking. Rhodes was fired after Starrcade '88 , because of a taboo on-screen bloodletting (laid down by
14220-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
14378-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
14536-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
14694-528: The dimensions of a cinema review". Karel Reisz , reviewing the film in Sight & Sound , critiqued more harshly, writing, "If we are to accept its attack on the jungle values of American sponsored television then we must be able to sense a more decent, rational tone in the film which is attacking them. And this becomes more and more difficult as the film goes on. When it comes to the test Kazan and Schulberg seem to have little more respect for their audience than
14852-447: The duo of Mike Graham and Steve Keirn were attempting to revive the dormant CWF Championship Wrestling from Florida territory. Once Dusty departed from WCW they reached out to him, and ultimately partnered to launch the new Professional Wrestling Federation in February 1989. Rhodes had larger visions for the fledgling regional territory, which included a name change from FCW to the non-regional PWF. The new startup promotion featured
15010-540: The duo of The Big Steel Man and Dick Slater . A week later at the PWF Homecoming event in Tampa, Florida, he pinned Big Steel Man to become the first PWF Heavyweight Champion. Later that spring as the PWF began to grow Rhodes received a surprise backstage visit from Bobby Heenan , who inquired on the state of the company's business. Shortly thereafter Vince McMahon reached out to Rhodes and made an offer to acquire
15168-425: The empty room, with an applause machine replacing the people whose support that he has lost. Marcia tells Rhodes that she was responsible for the open-microphone incident and demands that he never call her again. Rhodes threatens suicide, but Marcia only goads him. Before they leave, Mel predicts Rhodes's future: his career is not completely over, and he will likely find further TV work soon, but will never again enjoy
15326-399: The end credits of Rhodes's television show, which reveals him contemptuously mocking Fuller and the station's "idiot" viewers. His popularity and the show's ratings plummet, and advertisers cancel their sponsorships. Having waited for Marcia to break free from Rhodes's spell, Mel insists that Marcia tell Rhodes that she exposed his rant. At Rhodes's home, Mel and Marcia find Rhodes speaking to
15484-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
15642-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
15800-580: The fair and baton-twirling competition scenes were filmed. The Poplar Bluff scenes involved 5,000 extras paid $ 1 per hour, 380 dogs and baton twirlers and musicians from six high school bands from Arkansas and Missouri. Remick spent two weeks in Piggott with a teenage baton twirler to improve her twirling skill and local accent, although a double was utilized for several baton-twirling scenes. Shooting in New York included 61 sets at Biograph Studios in
15958-406: The figure-4. On the October 15 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes and America's Most Wanted defeated Legend, Sonny Siaki and Ekmo Fatu. On the November 26 NWA-TNA PPV, Rhodes and Jarrett wrestled to a no contest in a Lumberjack Fan Strap match. After taking a few months off Rhodes returned on May 19, 2004, where he and James Storm defeated Dallas and Kid Kash in a " Bunkhouse Brawl " this led to the duo getting
16116-536: The first match on September 26 via countout, and lost the second, a Texas Death match , on October 24. Graham won after a mid-ring collision, falling on Rhodes for the three count. He eventually began working as a booker and wrestler with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in the Mid-Atlantic, which eventually purchased World Championship Wrestling (WCW), formerly Georgia Championship Wrestling. Rhodes also teamed with Magnum T. A. as "America's Team", who opposed
16274-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
16432-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
16590-429: The gathering of the biggest body of people in this country, in this universe, all over the world now, reachin' out because the love that was given me and this time I will repay you now. Because I will be the next World's Heavyweight Champion of this hard time blues. Dusty Rhodes tour, '85. And Ric Flair, Nature Boy... Let me leave you with this. One way to hurt Ric Flair, is to take what he cherishes more than anything in
16748-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
16906-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
17064-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
17222-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
17380-663: The latter's departure to the WWF and the Big Gold Belt controversy . Rhodes also served as the on-screen manager of Ron Simmons from 1991 to 1992, first forming a relationship with the former All-American during the summer of 1991. In a match that was advertised on World Championship Wrestling, on October 12, 1991, Dusty served as the special guest referee in a match at the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia, that saw Simmons and Barry Windham team up to defeat Mr. Hughes and Lex Luger . On
17538-459: The losses were under 1 minute as the WWF leveraged Rhodes departure. On December 28, 1990, he teamed with Jim Duggan to face Slaughter and General Adnan at Madison Square Garden. The match, which would be televised on Prime Time Wrestling on January 7, 1991, ended when Rhodes submitted to Slaughter. The conclusion to the feud with DiBiase came at 1991 Royal Rumble , where Dusty teamed with his son Dustin against Virgil and DiBiase. The Rhodes Family
17696-411: The many, many fans throughout this country that wrote cards and letters to Dusty Rhodes, The American Dream, while I was down. Secondly, I want to thank Jim Crockett Promotions for waitin' and takin' the time 'cause I know how important it was, Starrcade '85 it is to the wrestling fans, it is to Jim Crockett promotions, and Dusty Rhodes The American Dream. With that wait, I got what I wanted, Ric Flair
17854-417: The match. On December 3, 2005, Rhodes returned to Carolina Championship Wrestling for one night only to face Terry Funk in an "I Quit" match , which Rhodes won. Rhodes made his final major appearances on the independent circuit before returning full-time to WWE in mid-2006, defeating Jerry Lawler by disqualification at a Southern Championship Wrestling (SCW) show and also earning a victory over Steve Corino in
18012-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
18170-404: The overambitious assistant to the owner of the mattress company—to star in a new television show in New York; the rising star accepts the offer and signs a contract that allows Joey to manage him. Rhodes also becomes the national spokesman for the energy supplement firm that sponsors his show, and his buoyant charisma tremendously increases their sales. As his fame, influence and ego increase, Rhodes
18328-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
18486-605: The principal role. It is not a sympathetic part, but he plays it with explosive vigor and makes the characterization entirely believable. Worthy of special mention, too, is Patricia Neal for her fine portrayal" as Marcia Jeffries. Hy Hollinger of Variety praised the film as "provocative and hard-hitting", summarizing that "Kazan once again demonstrates his ability as a director and why major studios are willing to give him carte blanche in selecting his own story material and working under his own conditions". Edwin Schallert of
18644-494: The process. Hall then pointed to Rhodes as he revealed an nWo shirt. The three began to drop repeated elbows on Zbyszko before Rhodes announced, "That's tradition, WCW! Bite this!". Announcer Tony Schiavone left the broadcast booth in shock, but later returned ripping Rhodes for his actions for most of the rest of the night. As a member of the nWo, Rhodes served as the manager of The Outsiders , Hall and Kevin Nash . This lasted until
18802-761: The program. The duo would bicker throughout the show, which lasted throughout the summer of 2001 and represented the last "original" programming of the old WCW. After both WCW and ECW were bought by WWE (WWF), Rhodes went to compete in his own promotion, Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling with ex-WCW and ECW superstars in Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. During this time he feuded with Terry Funk and Steve Corino in other territories. In 2002, Rhodes competed in Pro Pain Pro Wrestling based in Philadelphia feuding with Kevin Sullivan . This would lead to
18960-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
19118-605: The results were far different. DiBiase was teaming with Rhythm & Blues and a mystery partner, the latter who turned out to be the newly arrived Undertaker . The future Hall of Famer would dispatch Ware and later pin Rhodes, with Ted DiBiase ultimately remaining as the sole survivor. Around this time in the fall Dusty Rhodes received an offer to return to World Championship Wrestling as its head booker. He now began to lose regularly, falling again in defeat to Ted DiBiase in house shows during December 1990 but also losing to Rick Martel, Virgil, and new top heel Sgt. Slaughter . Some of
19276-526: The ring for three more house show matches that fall, teaming with Dustin to defeat the Stud Stable. His last in-ring match for World Championship Wrestling in this run came on November 24, 1994, in Albany, Georgia, where Dusty and Dustin Rhodes defeated Arn Anderson and Bunkhouse Buck in a steel cage. Through 1995 he was exclusively on commentary for WCW and did not participate in any in-ring angles. Dusty
19434-414: The ring name "Dusty Rhodes". Upon meeting Rhodes, Gary Hart suggested that he change his ring name to "Lonesome Rhodes", a character Andy Griffith portrayed in the film A Face in the Crowd . Rhodes reportedly replied: "Well...I don't plan on being 'Lonesome'. I think I'll stick with Dusty." Hart took an immediate liking to Rhodes and convinced Von Erich of the young wrestler's potential. Rhodes became
19592-400: The same level of popularity and prestige. After leaving the building, Mel and Marcia hear Rhodes screaming from the penthouse for Marcia to return to him, but they ignore him as they depart. Marcia expresses guilt for having elevated Rhodes to power, and Mel replies that a faker such as Rhodes may fool people for a while, but "we get wise to him―that’s our strength". The film was produced under
19750-409: The scheme of things. As a consequence, the dominance of the hero and his monstrous momentum, driven home by a vast accumulation of TV detail and Mr. Kazan's staccato style, eventually become a bit monotonous when they are not truly opposed. Reality is proved by inadvertence. We finally get bored with Lonesome Rhodes. Thus the dubious device of having his girl friend switch him on the air when he thinks he
19908-599: The screenplay. The film launched Griffith into stardom, but it received mixed reviews on its release. Subsequent reappraisals have been kinder to the film. In 2008, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In late 1950s America, radio journalist Marcia Jeffries encounters drunken drifter Larry Rhodes while recording
20066-615: The special guest referee. On the October 29 episode of Impact, Rhodes started his campaign to replace Vince Russo as the Director of Authority. Later, he became the Director of Authority at their November 7, 2004 pay-per-view , Victory Road . At the same time, Rhodes acted as head booker and writer. On the April 8, 2005, episode of Impact, Rhodes made the on-air decision to make all matches at Lockdown PPV in Six Sides of Steel. Then on
20224-506: The stage and asked to have discarded chairs available to destroy in order to instigate his rage before filming. Big Jeff Bess, who portrayed the sheriff under his own name, was a country singer and bandleader in Nashville who led Big Jeff and his Radio Playboys. Cameo appearances in the film include those by Walter Winchell and Mike Wallace . Location shooting occurred in Memphis, Piggott, Arkansas and Poplar Bluff, Missouri , where
20382-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
20540-510: The team folded. In 1967, Rhodes saw an advertisement in the newspaper for Tony Santos' professional wrestling promotion Big Time Wrestling, based in Boston . Rhodes drove to Boston, and despite not having any wrestling experience, bluffed his way into working for the company by using his real life friendships with Bobby Duncum and the Funk brothers. Billed as Dusty Runnels, one of his first matches
20698-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
20856-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
21014-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
21172-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
21330-439: The way. When Rhodes pokes fun at his sponsor, a mattress company, it initially pulls its ads, but when his adoring audience revolts by burning mattresses in the street, the sponsor discovers that the issue actually increased sales. Rhodes returns to the air with a new awareness of his persuasive power. He begins an affair with Marcia and proposes marriage to her. Rhodes is offered a deal—put together without his knowledge by Joey,
21488-485: The woman to come in the ring and dance with her after a victory. She would become his manager and was named "Sapphire". As Dusty represented "The Common Man", she was intended to represent the "common woman". On November 23, 1989, at The Survivor Series he led a quartet dubbed The Dream Team composed of Brutus Beefcake , Tito Santana , and The Red Rooster to victory against The Enforcers (Big Boss Man, The Honky Tonk Man, Rick Martel , and Akeem ). Rhodes would finish
21646-466: The working title of The Arkansas Traveler , which was the name of Budd Schulberg 's source short story from his 1953 collection Some Faces in the Crowd . Schulberg had stated that a conversation with friend Will Rogers Jr. , son of Will Rogers —who was known for earthy anecdotes and folksy style—had inspired him to create the Lonesome Rhodes story. The younger Rogers stated that his "father
21804-840: The world and that's the World's Heavyweight title. I'm gon' take it, I been there twice. This time when I take it daddy, I'm gon' take it for you. Let's gather for it. Don't let me down now, 'cause I came back for you, for that man up there that died 10–12 years ago and never got the opportunity to see a real World's Champion. And I'm proud of you, thank God I have you, and I love you. Love ya! The promo apparently resonated with wrestling fans so much that people came to him in arenas in tears to thank him for "honoring their plight". In 2015, an ESPN article referred to "Hard Times" as Rhodes' best interview, writing, "In just over three minutes, Rhodes fully encapsulated every ounce of his charm by endearing himself to blue-collar mid-America". During his stint as booker, JCP were engulfed in aggressive competition with
21962-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
22120-495: The year dispatching Boss Man in house show matches around the country, sometimes in "ball and chain" encounters. Having finished the year with just one untelevised loss, Dusty entered 1990 as a dominant force within the World Wrestling Federation. He competed in the 1990 Royal Rumble and eliminated Bret Hart before in turn being thrown over the top rope by Earthquake . After dispatching the Boss Man, he next became embroiled in
22278-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
22436-504: Was able to gain the pinfall. This ultimately led to Dusty's second match since departing the WWF, where he would team with Dustin to defeated Terry Funk and Buckhouse Buck at Clash of the Champions XXVIII . After a vignette that saw Dusty travel to "The Scrap Bar" to recruit The Nasty Boys, he teamed with them and Dustin to defeat Buck, Arn Anderson, Terry Funk, and Rob Parker in a War Games match at Fall Brawl 94 . He returned to
22594-527: Was amongst those who came out to the ring to celebrate with The Nature Boy. He left WCW in 2000 and went to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), making an appearance at the Guilty As Charged PPV on January 8, 2000, where he was attacked by former ECW World Heavyweight Champion , "King of Old School" Steve Corino . On January 28, 2000, he wrestled his first match in over five years, teaming with Tommy Dreamer to defeat Corino and Raven at
22752-760: Was born on October 11, 1945, in Austin, Texas . After graduating from Albert Sidney Johnston High School in Austin, Rhodes played baseball and football at West Texas State (now known as West Texas A&M University ). Turning professional, Rhodes tried out for the American Football League 's Boston Patriots , but was cut. He then played for the Hartford Charter Oaks in the Continental Football League until
22910-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
23068-545: Was defeated in a match that saw Virgil turn face afterwards. This would mark the end of Dusty Rhodes' career as a full-time in-ring competitor. Rhodes returned to WCW in 1991 as a member of WCW's booking committee, making his first appearance only 11 days after his last WWF appearance at the Royal Rumble. On the May 25 edition of World Championship Wrestling he launched an interview segment called "The Bull Drop Inn". Booking disagreements between Rhodes and Ric Flair led to
23226-484: Was dominant, defeating the rulebreaker in every encounter. Rhodes scored his first televised win against Boss Man on the August 21 edition of Prime Time Wrestling . At SummerSlam 89 he appeared on his first-ever WWF PPV, defeating The Honky Tonk Man . Meanwhile, on the road his dominance continued as he remained undefeated against the Boss Man. In October a Rhodes fan, Sapphire , began to be featured at ringside during his televised matches. Rhodes would eventually invite
23384-590: Was for the BTW World Heavyweight title against champion Frank Scarpa in the Boston Arena . Having little money, Rhodes slept in his car and spent Thanksgiving with Rufus R. Jones in a Boston soup kitchen . Rhodes moved on to Fritz Von Erich 's Texas territory World Class Championship Wrestling in 1968, at that time also called Big Time Wrestling. It was in Texas where Rhodes first adopted
23542-621: Was more profound as he started to defeat The Macho Man by pinfall around the country. This continued until June 3, 1990, when Dusty's lengthy undefeated streak was finally ended by Savage in West Palm Beach, Florida. Rhodes began teaming with Sapphire to face Savage and Sherri on house shows, resuming his winning streak and remaining undefeated. Later that summer Sapphire began to receive gifts from an unnamed benefactor during Dusty's televised matches. At SummerSlam Sapphire no-showed her scheduled match with Queen Sherri. Later that night Dusty
23700-435: Was on March 7, where he teamed with his son Dustin against Shinjiro Otani and Satoshi Kojima , which he also lost. The third was on May 8, where he defeated Corino. Starting in December 2004, Rhodes made regular appearances for Carolina Championship Wrestling (CCW), where his first match for the promotion saw him team up with The Rock 'n' Roll Express to take on Dennis Condrey , Bobby Eaton , and Stan Lane , all three of
23858-649: Was originally on the side of WCW when its battle with the New World Order (nWo) began in 1996. At Souled Out 1998 , Larry Zbyszko asked Rhodes, who was working the PPV broadcast, to accompany him to the ring for his match against Scott Hall . Zbyszko won the match by disqualification due to interference by Louie Spicolli . Rhodes entered the ring, delivering his trademark elbow smashes to Spicolli as Zbyszko stood and grabbed Hall. Rhodes went to elbow Hall, but seemingly inadvertently hit Zbyszko instead turning heel in
24016-565: Was pinned however on June 6 in a dark match against DiBiase at a WWF Superstars taping in Madison, Wisconsin. Many years later, this match was included as part of the WWE Unreleased: 1986–1995 DVD set. It was said that Rhodes was asked to lose in this match to test his willingness to put over other talent. Aside from this defeat, "The American Dream" remained undefeated against the upper-level heel . Rhodes made his televised appearance on
24174-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
24332-465: Was scheduled to face Randy Savage in a one-on-one encounter; prior to the match Ted DiBiase announced that Sapphire had left Rhodes for The Million Dollar Man's money. Distracted and distraught, Rhodes was pinned by Savage. Dusty immediately transitioned to a feud with The Million Dollar Man. Unlike his previous series with Boss Man and Savage, this time Rhodes would come out on the losing end. He lost numerous house show matches after Virgil interfered on
24490-560: Was seconded by Steve Corino. Dusty then returned to WCW where he reignited the feud once more with long-time nemesis Ric Flair. On the WCW Greed PPV on March 18, 2001, he entered a WCW ring for the final time, teaming with Dustin Rhodes to defeat Ric Flair and Jeff Jarrett . Following the purchase of WCW, the World Wrestling Federation allowed Turner South to continue to air classic matches on their "WCW Classics Program". Much like Heenan and Monsoon, Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair hosted
24648-412: Was so full of shit, because he pretends he's just one of the people, just one of the guys". Director Elia Kazan and Schulberg based the character of Lonesome Rhodes on Arthur Godfrey , as well as on Billy Graham and Huey Long . In April 1956, columnist Walter Winchell wrote that Andy Griffith was due to leave the cast of his Broadway show No Time for Sergeants at the end of July, vacation for
24806-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
24964-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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