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Repost: RF Shoot Interview with Dusty Rhodes

The SmarK Rant for the RF Video Shoot Interview with Dusty Rhodes

This was taped late in 1999, from what I can tell. As a reminder, this and all other shoot interviews I talk about are available at www.rfvideo.com.

Footage from ECW opens things up.

We start in West Texas State, pre-wrestling era for Dusty, as he went there with the likes of the Funks and Tully Blanchard. He got a football scholarship under dubious circumstances, but wrestling was his true calling.

Dusty remembers himself booking shows as early as childhood in the backyard. I’m not sure about the rumors that he invited a young Ric Flair over to his house and then put himself over.

He was trained in wrestling by a local named Bill Graham (no relation to anyone else with that name) and got started from there. Graham’s only question: “Can you do a dropkick?” At that point, he COULD, of course. Joe Blanchard (Tully’s dad and AWA President in that promotion’s dying days) taught him the essentials.

Early on he went to Australia with Dick Murdoch and met Jim Barnett. Barnett switched things up a bit, making Dusty the talker on the team and paying him more money.

Back to the states, as Dusty tells the story about his dad dying on the same day as Dustin being born. Fritz Von Erich paid for the funeral. Talks a bit about the importance of Living the Gimmick.

Over to the AWA, and a feud with Crusher & Bruiser. Dusty was still a heel at this point, keep in mind. Went to Florida and did tons of hour-long draws with Jack Brisco, until the fans had apparently turned him babyface by default, which led to the angle with Pak Song where he turned for real.

Talks about Kevin Sullivan’s devil-worship stuff in the 70s and how much the crowds were into it, to the point where there would be organized devil-worshipping groupie sessions, who were opposed by redneck bikers. And you thought Vince Russo’s fans were weird.

Eddie Graham started grooming Dusty to book in 1974. Dusty then stops to reflect on how much power he really did have over the years and how some MIGHT see that as a knock on him.

He then takes credit for a shitload of stuff, including training Paul Heyman to book and making just about major star in the 80s. He then trashes Meltzer and thinks that if he started his own promotion, he’d just put himself on top. Hello, Kettle? This is the Pot. I just called to say that you’re black.

Onto Dory Funk, who was a great wrestler, but wasn’t so great as a booker. Dusty notes he always seemed to get the booking jobs to clean up Dory’s mess. Apparently everything Dory said or did was a work.

Starrcade ’83 came about because Jim Crockett came to Dusty one day looking for a “special” aura to his big show. Dusty rejected early name suggestions from Barry Windham like “Autumn Bomb” and settled for a play-on-words for “Decade” instead – Starrcade. Eddie Graham let him go from his Florida obligations so he could book the NWA. Jim Crockett offered Dusty crazy money to name his big shows and book. No word on whether Dusty actually set up the rings and sold all the tickets door-to-door by himself, too, but it wouldn’t shock me to hear about that from him one day.

His first experiment in sportz entertainment was the Boogie Woogie Man video that led to the Valiant-Jones haircut angle. He regrets not copyrighting his event names, because when Eric Bischoff came along he took all of Dusty’s and added some lame ones of his own. Dusty named all of WCW’s PPVs from 1983 until 1993. That actually makes sense, since Bischoff’s contributions were “Uncensored” and “World War III”.

Wargames was thought up on a car trip to a house show, and is his favorite gimmick match. He describes the party atmosphere of the 80s.

He continues to make friends, talking about what a shitty booker George Scott is. Dusty actually hates “the b word” and prefers “executive producer”. The buck always stopped with Dusty. Piper & Steamboat apparently couldn’t deal with that and left for the WWF in 1984. That’s a unique interpretation of their reasons for leaving.

He was ready to pass the torch to Magnum before he accident killed his career. Dusty claims Magnum had more charisma than Hogan, and that he got way more chicks. Magnum got 40,000 letters a day from fans after the car accident.

Talks about the Andersons cage match that turned Nikita babyface and we get a clip of that.

Barry Windham, who once had tons of potential as a wrestler and booker, just prefers to stay home these days. Barry was Dusty’s #1 guy backstage and a protégé.

Onto the Midnights/RnR stuff and how Dusty came up with videos to get them over. Says the RnR were like the Beatles in terms of crowds and money. Says they could go 30-60 with ease, but it wasn’t believable for Ricky Morton to get beat up that long, so he didn’t book them longer than 20.

A bit on managers, with Paul E & Jim Cornette being his favorites. Thinks Cornette had the edge in talent.

Knew Steve Austin would be a superstar right from the start. Yeah, that’s why he booked him to bump like a pinball for Dustin, because he knew he’d be a superstar.

Talks about warring with Vince in the 80s. Takes credit for selling out the building in a match against Bubba Rogers and thinks they’d still be around (presumably on the strength of those Bubba-Dusty matches) had Crockett not gotten greedy. Yeah, THAT’S why the NWA died, because Crockett got greedy. Dusty’s booking had NOTHING to do with it.

Thinks Hogan beat him because he had Hollywood Connections and Dusty didn’t.

Tully: Good worker, bit of a crybaby. Thinks he was a spinoff of Flair. Onto Flair, who’s the “ultimate flim-flam man” and doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. Dusty takes credit for creating the Ric Flair character, and naming him as such. See, Flair wanted to called “Ricky Rhodes”, and Dusty told him “Ricky, you gotta find your own way, if you will” and Flair was so inspired by these words from the Dream that he went on to draw millions of fans around the world, all for Dusty. Dusty doesn’t think Flair is God, but then he’s kinda biased.

Clip of Dusty calling out Flair on an episode of Worldwide, as David Crockett has heart failure.

Dusty Rhodes v. Ric Flair. Stalling to start. Hiptoss & elbow and Flair begs off. Rhodes wins a slugfest and Flair bails. Back in, Flair pounds him in the corner and drops the knee for two. Dusty comes back with a press slam and a lariat for two. Flair goes up and gets slammed off, cue the Horsemen run-in. 4-on-1 beatdown follows, and the usual suspects save. *1/2

On another episode, Dusty calls out Tully, resulting in another beatdown.

Back to the interview…

Talks about the early days of Ric Flair. Doesn’t think Ric’s a good booker, but notes he has a rabid following of people who don’t know anything about the business.

Onto the UWF and the wasted interpromotional war. Dusty actually ADMITS A MISTAKE, as he notes he was too focused on Vince and didn’t see the potential in the UWF guys.

The Bunkhouse Stampede: Well, he took a lot of heat from the boys on this one. It was a basically a throwaway PPV. When the boys questioned him going over in his own match, his response involved a naughty word. Ah, Dusty, truly a wrestler’s booker.

Onto Sting and his trials and tribulations, and Luger’s. Funny story about a Luger-Wahoo match in Florida gets thrown in, but he admits to not knowing the details on the Bruiser Brody incident.

The Turner buyout and Dusty’s departure come next, as Jim Herd fired him as booker and wanted to turn him heel. So he told Herd where to stick it and went back to Florida to book until Vince called him. Funny how he skipped over the whole Road Warrior incident there, where Herd specifically told him not to blade on TV anymore and he did a five-alarm bladejob on TBS shortly after and got fired.

Dusty wanted Pat Patterson’s job in the WWF and made no secret about it. The polka dots were NOT to humilate him, apparently, but rather a test to see if he could it over, which he did. His original choice for Sapphire was not Juanita, but rather a black hooker off the street. Vince wanted a family image, and by gum he was right in this case. This interview is becoming more surreal by the moment.

Went back to WCW in 1991 to finish unfinished business and try to forge the new WCW out of the dogshit given to him. He did his best for two years and fought kicking and screaming when Bischoff came in 1993, but finally gave way for Hulkamania.

Talks about Dustin and missing his childhood. He knows a bad father for not being there. Loved the Goldust gimmick and thinks they didn’t even scrape the surface of it.

On the WWF War: Thinks they could have won if three things happened. 1) They needed a PR company to promote the shit out of Magnum & Flair and get them on talk shows. They needed to make “NWA” the same kind of brand name that the WWF had. 2) Contracts suck, period, and guys needed to work for their money. 3) TBS had to change their image as a hick station. That’s actually the most astute thing Dusty’s said in this entire interview.

History pieces piss him off because they leave out the 70s and act like wrestling died in 1964 and reawakened in 1984 when the WWF went national.

The Dusty Finish? He liked it. Veers off onto the Shockmaster and how funny it was, and Jeff Jarrett’s guitarshot on Moolah in 1999. He’s proud to be associated with a finish forever, when most bookers aren’t even remembered.

On today’s product: Times dicate T&A and storylines, so Vince delivers. Thinks three hours of Nitro is way too much, and thinks that ECW kids should slow down all the highspots. Most astuteness from Dusty.

Talks about the origins of his name.

Thinks Jerry Lawler is a flim-flam man in the Flair mold. Big fan of JR, but knew from Day One that Ross wanted his job.

Talks about WCW’s big run. Doesn’t think it’ll happen again because Vince adapts so fast and wouldn’t let Turner beat him again.

Talks about his TCW and aspirations to write & direct a movie. Plus the Dusty Rhodes Fantasy Camp, where you get to book yourself to the World title whether or not you deserve it. Okay, just kidding. He wants a piece of the ECW action with Paul Heyman.

Dusty Rhodes & Tommy Dreamer v. Steve Corino & Jack Victory. Dreamer & Corino brawl into the crowd, and Tommy garbage cans Corino and tosses him into a ticket window. Back to ringside, Dusty beats on poor Steve. Dusty & Tommy double-team Victory, but Corino superkicks Dreamer. He refuses to use a ladder, and Tommy plays face-in-peril. Victory stomps away and Corino makes lewd gestures at Dusty. Corino goes up, but gets planted into a ladder facefirst. Hot tag Dusty, usual follows. Stereo DDTs on the heels and double bionic elbows finish at 8:40. Rhyno attacks, Sandman saves. *1/4

He talks a bit about Japan and how he wasn’t a big fan of Giant Baba (now there’s an understatement), and so he got caught up in the NJ-AJ wars when he worked a New Japan show and defended the NWA title there. Backstory: All Japan was an NWA member at the time, but Baba HATED Dusty, and in fact his booking of himself to the World title in 1986 caused a major PR problem between Crockett and Baba.

We wrap things up.

Classic footage time:

From 86, the Horsemen trail Dusty’s car with a video camera in an angle stolen nearly shot-for-shot in 1997 for an Outsiders/Steiners angle. They follow him to Jim Crockett’s office, then jump out of the car and tie Dusty to a glass repair truck and break his arm with a baseball bat. Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff.

From NWA TV: The James Boys, a pair of masked outlaws who just didn’t care about nothin’, attack the Midnight Express and kidnap Jim Cornette, then drag him outside and try to hang him from the back of a moving truck. The James Boys then cut a promo, sounding suspiciously like Magnum TA & Dusty Rhodes.

From 88, Magnum & Tully mouth off at each other about the “I Quit” match from 85, as Tully gripes that no matter where he goes all he hears from the fans is “I Quit”. Tully cuts an awesome heel promo running down Magnum, then when Magnum won’t back down Tully attacks the crippled TA. Dusty saves with a baseball bat and just brutalizes Tully, nailing Jim Crockett on the backswing. This leads to Dusty getting suspended for 120 days, and we see the “board meeting” where this occurs, where of course Dusty cuts a tough-guy promo to declare his forthcoming vengeance on JJ Dillon for orchestrating the whole thing.

The next week, the mysterious Midnight Rider comes into town and demolishes a jobber with a DDT and bionic elbow. The angle never ended up drawing a dime and was dropped very soon after.

Barry Windham explains his heel turn, but gets confronted by the Dream. The new Horsemen beat Dusty down until Luger saves him and takes his own licks.

Back in the dressing room, Dusty and pals head out to the ring and Dusty calls out Windham. Dusty kicks his ass as wrestlers surround the ring. Barry keeps running and the boys keeps throwing him in. Dusty DDTs him twice as the clip ends.

Dusty Rhodes & The Rock N Roll Express v. The Midnight Express & Bubba Rogers. Same match that I covered on the Cornette shoot tape.

From NWA TV: Ivan Koloff kills Dusty and goes after Nikita, but gets nailed. Vladimir Petrov gets Nikita, but Dusty comes back to clean house…and then gets killed again. Petrov & Nikita have a Bald Russian Staredown.

The Four Horsemen v. The Road Warriors & The Superpowers. This is from Worldwide in 1987, just prior to Ole’s forced departure from the group. Mega-brawl to start, faces clean house. The Horsemen sacrifice Ole and let him take the initial beating, until he bails. Flair tries with Hawk, who totally no-sells the chops. Flair regroups and tries again as we go to commercial and return with a bunch of Horsemen down from the Sickle. Nikita chokes Tully down, same for Ole. Flair wants a piece of Animal, so they go. Flair chops the shit out of him, no effect. Press slam for Flair and he bails. Back in, Animal gets caught in the Horsemen corner, but he shoulderblocks out and Hawk comes in. He slams everyone as TV time runs out at 6:26. No finish shown, so no point rating it.

The Bottom Line: Another interesting shoot interview from RF Video, as Dusty interprets history in his own unique manner. I was a little disappointed that stuff like the Midnight Rider flop and his later booking days for WCW weren’t addressed, and the Dusty Finish question was TOTALLY dodged, but the footage of Dusty getting his ass kicked is classic and Dusty certainly has the charisma to make for an interesting interview no matter what the subject.

Recommended, but with reservations. Check it out at RFVideo.com.

Comments

  1. I have is RoH Straight Shootin' series interview and that was good.

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  2. I hear your point...I agree with you, provided you're at an age when health costs go up, i.e., you're in your 50s - 60s...then it becomes worth it.

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  3. No, you don't have to wonder that. Can you use this really sad moment to whine about hypothetical WWE booking? Sure. But you don't have to.

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  4. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogJune 11, 2015 at 1:48 PM

    His charisma was great no matter what, but I particularly enjoyed his tag team stuff with other high-energy guys like Sting.

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  5. Gonna watch some Wargames matches tonight in Dusty's honor.

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  6. A lot of the stuff you called him out for in this rant (which I know was written many years ago) were later proven to be true -- Flair himself confirmed the Ramblin' Ricky Rhodes story and talked about how he idolized Dusty and it was Dusty who told him he needed to be his own man and come up with his own gimmick.

    Also most wrestlers/bookers agree Ric was a bad booker. Also, Heyman confirmed that Dusty did, in fact, train him in the business.

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  7. My new avatar has just heard the news.

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  8. I felt so crushed by this one. This one hurts the worst since Macho Man. Since current wrestling hasn't really stimulated me much (except the recent NXT which has Big Dust's fingerprints all over it) - I've been into shoot interviews, old shows, reading stories about wrestling and it's just amazing how much Dusty influenced EVERYONE and how much of the DNA of his ideas and character runs through every facet of pro wrestling. Everybody who ever straps on the boots owes him a debt of gratitude. They throw "wrestling legend" around a lot lately but Dusty was the real deal.

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  9. Great...now I've got Aidy Bryant (from the Chris Pratt SNL) in the "Couples Booty Rap" sketch in my head.

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  10. Damn, Christopher Lee died today, too. This day uniformly sucks.

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  11. "They're bringing Crystal Pepsi back? When is THAT going to happen?"

    RIGHT NOW...HEY!
    (It's your tomorrow.)

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  12. Sounds a lot like HBK with Undertaker at Elimination Chamber in 2010. He wanted the rematch and Taker wouldn't agree, then Michaels cost him the WHC to goad him into it.

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  13. I had taco bell for lunch. Maybe not the best idea.

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  14. A strong case could be made that he was the greatest promo man of all time.

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  15. Everyone has their Dusty Rhodes impression. One of, if not the most unique wrestler ever. R.I.P.

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  16. I'm not too sad. He died at an old age of seemingly natural causes surrounded by family. I'll miss him but he got to go out in a non-tragic way, respected by peers and fans. Not a lot of wrestlers get to do that.

    RIP BigDust

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  17. I feel he's definitely in the top echelon. Flair's promos made you hate him, Rock's promos made you laugh and Foley's promos made you think. My opinion is that Dusty had the best babyface promos in the biz as they got you on his side and made you want to cheer for him.

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  18. I was never what you would call a Dusty fan... but these days when I'm more interested in hearing shoot interviews with the old guys, and it's like you can't hear a single interview like that without there being a Dusty story. So this one hurts more than I would've expected it to.

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  19. It's true. He had a full, wonderful life.

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  20. Just shows the disconnect even a fan who regularly reads Observers et al can have from what actually is the reality. Nothing against Scott either, unless he was "inside" it would be really tough to know. I was about the post the same stuff you did.

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  21. I'm not sure you can make a case that he ISN'T.

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  22. Yeah this shoot paints you in a bad light when 90 percent of the stuff you're mocking him for where backed up by the very people he's talking about. As far as talking about Dusty putting himself over Flair and not deserving it that sounds like something you read scott say and you just went with it.

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  23. Ding, ding, ding. This would work perfectly. I thought that was where they were going after the first match, but Owens beating Cena twice would make it even better.


    Saying all that....Cena probably goes over clean and everyone farts all over the rubber match.

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  24. I think you have to re-calibrate your expectations for NXT.

    1) Do the storylines make sense?
    2) Do the matches serve the storylines?
    3) Are there interesting characters being developed?

    If so...then NXT is awesome...and enjoy it for what it is. A breezy hour of wrestling-based television.

    If you come looking for your weekly dose of "the best Indy wrestlers that Vince's checkbook can buy putting on 5-star matches every Wednesday"--I think you may have gotten spoiled and I think you will be regularly disappointed.

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  25. Yes, he can cheat to win (unless it's a god-damn distraction finish)...I just meant the match ends with Owens pinning Cena.

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  26. Did either of those even beat Cena once?

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  27. I forget who's shoot it was, but there was a story about a hammered drunk Dusty talking some other guy into driving like 6 hours for the sole purpose of stealing a Mule. They then drive 6 hours back so Dusty can ride the Mule into the bar just to get a pop from the boys.

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  28. I think this one needs a "Scott Sez" reboot :)

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  29. Best babyface promo ever. Flair was the yang to his ying, if you wheeellll

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  30. Everyone in the WrestleMania VI Mixed Tag Team Match is now dead. And Miss Elizabeth. And Gorilla Monsoon.


    Professional wrestling is depressing.

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  31. ...which is the point. To get people not to cheer for her.

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  32. An all-time great at babyface comebacks for sure.

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  33. At least one of the Hebners was reffing and not Joey Marella.

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  34. If WWE REALLY wanted to make Owens a mega-star, you could have him win Sunday, Cena goads him to a third match ala HBK/Taker, but Owens insists it be for the US title (since Cena cost him the NXT Championship). And then Owens wins AGAIN.

    You then can have Cena get the win back a short time later, maybe a title rematch at SummerSlam or in September. By then though, Owens is a made man.

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  35. Meh. The Hebners are dead to me after Montreal.

    #NeverForgetWhatHappenedToBret

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  36. I thought it was a little weird that Scott was hit so hard by Dusty's passing. This review is why.

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  37. Dusty Rhodes as a commentator might have said some bizarre things, but he was EXCITED for what he was watching! He got into things! Check out his reaction when Sting beats down the nWo at the end of Uncensored 1997. It's great.

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  38. People also thought that he mattered.
    --The cult leader with no cult members has diminished that thought.

    People also thought that he was a bad ass.
    --So, jobbing him out relentlessly is erasing that.

    Right now, he's an entrance. Granted, wrestlers have based entire careers on an entrance...but he coulda been somebody, a contender, instead of a bum which is what he is, Charlie...

    Charlie? What? Sorry, Mike...got my Brando on for a second there.

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  39. It would be really refreshing for somebody to FINALLY have Cena's number, and it drives him crazy as a result.

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  40. 69 really isn't old though.

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  41. As a kid Dusty promos made me believe we were in the fight together. Whether he truly cared about the common folk...the working man...or not, he made you believe he was on your side and he cared about the things you cared and he understood your struggle.

    He would have been an amazing politician. In the wrestling world he was an amazing on.

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  42. So I totally understand just making it to the conference championship game is a big deal, BUT, the colts putting up a AFC runner up banner is sooooooo pathetic.

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  43. I didn't have much of an emotional connection with Dusty like I do with others who have passed (Macho stung me pretty hard), but that's a me thing. He's a legend if there ever was one. 69 I'd still too young, but at least he got to enjoy a his life for a good amount of time.

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  44. Might have to go back to Sheamus's first reign for that. Or Mark Henry, I forget which happened first.

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  45. No way Owens goes over three in a row. Cena doing over decisively and retaining the U.S. Title in their third encounter (I would hold off on that match until Summerslam) would be perfectly acceptable, imo. Then Owens can move on to... well who knows, but at that point you have a more-than-servicable upper card threat who can be plugged in anywhere, really

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  46. I thought Verne gave Flair his name. Either way Ric got the right name from a bright, recently-passed booker.

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  47. He was on a WWE sanctioned show and gave people the impression that something is going to happen that isn't

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  48. Those people suck. The moves don't matter. It's getting people invested, and thousands of people paid to see Dusty beat that ass.

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  49. From time to time I like to kick around and all-time Texas vs. Minnesota dream card. Dusty is on that card feuding with the Bock. It's a shame that feud never really went down.

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  50. And last I heard we didn't know if he died from natural causes or if he was surrounded by family.

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  51. Seriously...all those came out after the arcades I went to went out of business... You'd only find those games in bowling alleys.

    Shit. Now I've got to explain what a bowling alley was...

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  52. Looking at the rare Attitude Era photos, and I've seen such gems as earl Daniel Bryan in blue long tights before 2002, and Kane wearing a cape.


    I don't ever remember Kane wearing a cape.

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  53. TBF, that *was* 25 years ago. A lot happens in 2 decades.

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  54. Yeah, me too. Keith was one of the main voices that complained about Dusty. Didn't think he was a good in-ring guy (even said so on the Flair DVD set when Flair said Dusty was his favourite opponent), and he ALWAYS complained about the Dusty Finish.

    However, I recall him saying once that Dusty was his favourite overall booker.

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  55. Kidney failure was the last reported cause which isn't completely out of the ordinary.

    Surrounded by family referred to being on good terms with them unlike a lot of guys from that era. If he didn't talk to Cody today I bet he did in the last two.

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  56. For a pro wrestler it really is. What's the average life expectancy for territory era guys? 55?

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  57. Dusty comes off as thinking VERY highly of himself- I think someone read his Autobiography and confirmed it on here. So even when he's right (and a lot of this has been confirmed), Dusty kind of goes on like people rag on Bret Hart for doing.

    I still remember the most annoying thing being Dusty giving a list of "the wrestlers that EVERYONE knows" when Macho Man died- listing Hogan, Macho Man, Ric Flair and HIMSELF. A friend of mine just LOL'd- "Dusty, no one knows you". No way is that guy a household name like the others.

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  58. Do Brock and Shelton make the Minnesota side for having been Golden Gophers?

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  59. As if this day isn't depressing enough, they just put the Conner video on the Network.

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  60. https://www.steroid.com/images/blog/ryanbraun2.jpg

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  61. Or if say your family goes through three miscarriages/stillbirths in 15 months. Shit starts to get expensive. It'd be great if all young-ish people were completely healthy, but that's not always the case.

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  62. Steve Austin on Erectile Dysfunction:

    “I take Viagra. I also take Cialis, but you never take those things at the same time. If you’re gonna take Viagra, you stick with the Viagra. If you’re gonna take Cialis, stick with the Cialis. You can’t flip-flop back-and-forth because it’s bad for you medically.”

    “Now, you say, ‘Steve, you can’t fuck without no Viagra?!’ I can fuck without Viagra or Cialis, but I fuck better with Viagra than if I don’t take Viagra. So, at 50 years of age, I’m into reality and the
    reality is at 50 I’ve got more years behind me than I do in front of me. So, I wanna enjoy these next few motherfucking years to the maximum enjoyment that I can enjoy. So, therefore, I choose to take a P.E.D. (performance-enhancing drug) called Viagra or Cialis, because it makes me fuck better, and when I fuck, I’m pretty goddamn happy.”


    Figured we all needed a good laugh today.

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  63. Is it wrong that I'm hoping Scott's eventual tribute is similarly full of historical inaccuracies?

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  64. TBF he did make it into Variety. That says something about his presence.

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  65. Flair told the story and Dick Murdoch was also with them. Apparently this bar was in Minneapolis so don't ask me how they got the mule in there.

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  66. Now I need Paul Heyman to do his Austin impression while delivering this word-for-word.

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  67. What makes this more heartbreaking is Christopher Lee also died, but he also live a FULL life at 93.

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  68. Pretty much the only place Americans use the Metric System is in their cans of beer. Maybe they could have achieved better penetration if they had concentrated on getting lawmakers drunk?

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  69. Define "full life". What makes it full? Time? Accomplishments? Some internal sense of fulfillment?

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  70. Told my mom about Dusty. "The polkadot guy? And his son was Goldust in the gold suit? Is Sapphire alive?"

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  71. This deaf chick on Curb is pretty cute

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  72. I think the gist of what he's getting after is that someone dies at 93, you think 'natural causes'. Someone dies at 69, and it's still in the range of 'Damn, was he sick?"

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  73. Although not one of my favorite workers, Dusty's impact isn't lost on me. RIP Dream.

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  74. I liked the line directly after that, when answering a question about beer, "Hell I love beer as much I love pussy!"

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  75. This. As opposed to the commentators today, who seem bored out of their mind all of the time. And who can blame them, but still... make people care like Dusty did, dammit!

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  76. Well that sucks

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  77. catching last nights NXt..why hasn't Ryder been in nxt up till now? he has fans...others say he isn't worth it in the ring...put him in nxt till he is or you cut him.

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  78. Except I guess the joke is on you because everywhere has huge pieces up on him. CNN, my local newspaper, Variety so yeah he kind of was a house hold name. Dale Earnhart Jr tweeted about it. Dusty was a big deal.

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  79. For real, he should've been down there for the last three years.

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  80. I hope Reigns wins and cashes in on Ambrose. They just did a nearly year long briefcase story. I'm kind of burned out on it at the moment.

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  81. Or just droning on and on about how untalented and unover he was and how he wasn't as good as he thought he was and wasn't as important as he thought he was. I actually think Scott doing an obit is borderline disrespectful to pretend like he gives a shit when for 20 years he's been disrespecting the guy.

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  82. Instead of Uploading this (i hope not in order to generate pageviews/Money due to him being googled very often After tonight for the next few days?) You should have waited until finishing your obit. Putting this up so hastily and unedited...dont like it!

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  83. Amazing how all of the times in this review it is implied that Dusty is lying, it turned out he was telling the complete truth.

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  84. Man if the world was Full Sail Blue Plants would put Vince back to being a Billionaire

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  85. She's alive in all our hearts.

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  86. Dusty Rhodes entertained me and my brothers for over 30 years. RIP Dream, and G-dspeed.

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  87. They could even try to ALL cash-in, making it a 3-on-1 handicap match.

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  88. Holy shit, Dusty made the ESPN Bottom Line ticker. There's probably five guys who would be popular enough who could crack that.

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  89. HARD TIMES AHEAD FOR YOU ON THE PORCELAIN MOTHASHIP DADDEH

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  90. Don't take this the wrong way has a zero percent success rate...god I hope Cass and Enzo can keep coming along in the ring because I love them on the mic.

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  91. Guaranteed loss in WWE world. I think the record for teams in those matches in putrid over the past year.

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  92. You're wrong. Dusty Rhodes is known by TONS of people, as evidenced by the outpouring today on Twitter (even outside the wrestling community) and major news outlets covering it.


    Also, good luck finding a top star in the history of wrestling that doesn't think highly of himself.

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  93. Sheamus first reign was from Cena falling through a table.

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  94. Yes. Bray had to use children to win and Rusev used a low blow.

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  95. Very New Age Outlaws-y. I love them on the stick.

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  96. It's funny that we got a 6 team Chamber match, but they couldn't do a stables match in there where each guy was in a pod.

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  97. Yeah, it's nothing against Scott. We all had different, probably crazy thoughts back then. It's what happens when you idolize certain guys and take their word as gospel over all others. Today we have access to so many different shoot interviews/books/etc. that it makes it easier to create realistic pictures of things rather than just "Flair is the man and everyone tried to hold him down." I fell into that thinking at the time, too.

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  98. Probably til my death, anytime I hear someone finish a sentence with, "if you will", I'll snap chime in with my Dusty, "iffff you weeeeeeeiilll"

    RIP Good Brother

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  99. I actually feel a little bad for how they are jobbing out Bull so hard but damn if the tyler wearing him out with cardio didn't make me laugh out loud.

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  100. Wow, you have your 'asshole' pants on extra tight today.

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  101. It's the only gimmick they're currently doing that might actually make it to the main show.


    Everyone else is a serious wrestler and that's never gonna fly on Raw.

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  102. Also reminds me of a story in one of the rants that Flair asked to drop the belt to Scott Steiner and Steiner refused because he knew Rick would be screwed. People actually believed that!

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  103. While Dusty may have gone crazy with his Dusty finishes, I thought he was a great booker.

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  104. So, yeah, if they keep presenting him exactly like he's being presented now, then I agree a face turn or anything else probably won't work. But look at Ambrose: he went from being the hottest thing going to jobbing to holograms and TV monitors, to basically being the top face in the company again (non-Cena division, since he's really his own division now). If they turn Bray face and make a serious effort to get behind him, it'll work. Because people like him.

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  105. Yet she'd never get a real shot despite connecting with a crowd. She's not vapid enough for Vince.

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  106. Bull. I guess Tyler too.

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  107. ok I just got to the candy bar i the tights..you are right..send that kid to the big leagues now..he's gold

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  108. This is probably our best shot at a War Games match. Come on, HHH pop up network special with WWE or the next NXT special.....get on that shit

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  109. I've told this story before, but I saw Brock wrestle in person when Minnesota visited Illinois. The then-Illinois wrestling coach, Mark Johnson is a good friend of my dad's and he told me when Brock still had a year of eligibility left that (knowing I was a huge WWF fan) the dude would be the biggest star in pro wrestling within a few years. He knew Brock wasn't going to pursue a post-collegiate amateur career. I kinda smirked at that, but all of three years later there he was winning the main event of WrestleMania. Never forgot that conversation.

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  110. He came up with a lot of great stuff..he wasn't always the best at finishing angles or getting his head around you can't book tv and ppvs like you are bouncing around the territory

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  111. Yes. As a wrestling fan that's up there. Other notables we the think:

    Someone says "tonight" (in this very ring)

    - bottom line (cause stone said so)

    - I can't take a toothpick out with doing doing the razor fling

    - spitting out gum and swatting it like hennig

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  112. So similar to every thing involved with the wrestling industry ever. The important thing here is the phrase "Gave the impression."

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  113. Vigo lived to 105, and he didn't die of old age. He was poisoned, shot, stabbed, hung, stretched, disemboweled, drawn and quartered .

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  114. And the great thing is, that you can have one guy that DOES have your number and it doesn't take anything away from you. The Bruins may be a good hockey team, but could do NOTHING against Montreal this last year.

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  115. I'm sure a lot of the stories came through Meltz via Flair himself.

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  116. You know, I'd love to see that.

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  117. Oh... not as hard as you'd think...

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  118. Holy Shit you guys Will Farrel and Kristen Wiig made a lifetime movie and it's on in 9 days

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  119. Oh man yeah. Flair is probably the absolute #1 of people on my list of people I had entirely wrong impressions of based on what I was thinking vs. what the eventual reality was.

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  120. True but all of those guys, save maybe Gorilla died quite a bit early in life.

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  121. I think the biggest eye opener for Flair with me was the Legends of the Round Tables. If it didn't involve him he gave no fucks about it. It was also embarrassing to watch everyone else fawn over him and just let him big time them. It was also sad to watch him discredit the successes WCW had without him. I'm sure its very frustrating that he had nothing to do in any capacity with their biggest successes as a company.

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  122. A lot of guys had an axe to grind against Dusty when he was booker too.

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  123. "Hello, Kettle? This is the Pot. I just called to say that you’re black." Without a trace of sarcasm, I got to say this is too soon.

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  124. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarJune 11, 2015 at 4:34 PM

    New York Daily News has a big ol' picture of Dusty up on the homepage. Everyone here has been talking about him since I came in today.

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  125. At the time this rant was written, I think most of us were guilty of equating workrate with how ethical people were. It probably took Benoit to break me of that for good.

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  126. Him talking over Taz and Foley and belittling their opinions was maddening to watch.

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  127. Reading the Dusty tweets on WWE.com has wrecked my shit.

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  128. Taz, Foley, and Flair is a whole lot of ego to sit at one table.

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  129. Most wrestlers seem to love him. Certainly more than Flair. It was the original smarks that got it all fucked up.

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  130. Bret was also a huge shot to that theory.

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  131. Gary Hart had a great Dusty quote from his shoot:

    "Now, Hart talks about Dusty Rhodes. He said that he never saw someone who could sell out arena’s like him and said that in Florida, he sold out 16 weeks in a row, running the same towns each week. He mentions how he was with The Spoiler in Dallas when they first discovered Dusty. He was reading a poetry book and wearing a pair of glasses. Hart said that Dusty had natural charisma and could draw people too him. He said that people bash Dusty but he made a lot of guys a lot of money as the booker for the NWA when they had nothing coming into the territory. Hart says that there would never be a Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, or Rock if not for Dusty, who created pandemonium in wrestling."

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  132. The young guys in NXT all love him, unlike Steamboat.

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  133. My mom and a bunch of people I know never heard of him. He was a huge star, but not on the Savage/Hogan/Warrior tier.

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  134. liiiivvvvvvviinnnnnnnn' on da end of ah lite-nin-bolt

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  135. Yeah, I've been a Bret apologist for years on here because of that. Shawn had the same thing. You need ego to be good. But I've heard people describe Dusty as above and beyond.

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  136. hours after the passing of The American Dream, WWE hires a mysterious masked man called The Midnight Rider to work backstage on their NXT program

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  137. Difference is Vince doesn't want to get beat up over something he didn't authorize. He done a lot of carny stuff but he's always taken the heat for it, Montreal etc.

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  138. Tully Blanchard is almost universally hated. Terry Taylor too.

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  139. I don't think thats any excuse for Scott's bullshit.

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  140. Internet outage at home has me working from a nearby McDonald's, right at the same time as the after-school rush. Teenagers are so weird. I almost forgot how being a teenage boy is basically a years-long quest to put your d*** in something warm.

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  141. So they want us to cheer for a loser. Brilliant.

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  142. Terry Taylor it seems strange would be hated since that guy has always had a job. Although Pritchard really hates him from what he said during his KFC Guest Booker I think it might have been. His explanation for the Red Rooster gimmick and justification of it was really annoying. He was damn near in orgasm talking about it.

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  143. We've been cheering for Ziggler, haven't we?

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  144. Yeah and I'm sure other people have described him as humble and gracious. Hearing people describe someone as "above and beyond" seems silly. Especially in this business. The more flamboyant, the more confident and arrogant you are the bigger business you do. Hell I'd argue Foley is "above and beyond" after reading his third autobiography. For me above and beyond is when you weigh what they contributed to something versus what they think of themselves. Dusty contributed so much and shaped modern day wrestling in so many different ways and influenced so many careers its hard to put into words just how significant he was.

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  145. He just burned out. Bill Watts thought bookers had about a 9-to-12 month shelf life and then he would switch to someone else--and that was for a territory and not a national promotion in the midst of a full-scale promotional war. He was terrific in '85 and '86, had some good ideas in '87, then around the time of the Starrcade disaster things started falling apart. He was never flawless, as his tendencies to not blow things off and to insert himself into hot angles were always there, but no booker is flawless.

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  146. I know, I was talking about guys whose first WHC-or-WWE reign didn't come from Money in the Bank.

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  147. I forget- which was Foley's third book? The "WWE doesn't consider Terry Fink and I the legends I think we are" one? I recall Mick coming off as a bit high on himself, but nothing in Bret "I remember every compliment I ever got-here's a list" Hart.

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  148. Lots of guys said Taylor was a backstabber and liar. Most guys, based off of shoots that I have seen (which are way too many) that are hated are Watts, Ole, Tully, Taylor, and HBK

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  149. Tully admits he and Dusty always hated each other. Dusty only worked with him cause they made so much money together.

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  150. One other thing Benoit did was made a lot of people (and I speak for myself) appreciate smart work as much as hard work. Granted, a truly "great" match should ideally have elements of both, but generally "smart" trumps "hard" every day.

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  151. I cant think of anyone who really liked Tully.

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  152. Flair and Arn. That's it.

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  153. No not on that level but he was horrified that Vince didn't want Terry Funk to take a bite out of his ass. He couldn't believe that they didn't want to do this huge program with Terry Funk. He also had the creepy Melina shit in there where he talks about her and other divas in a really uncomfortable way. Nowhere near Bret or Flair levels but it was just off putting to see someone so out of touch with not only themselves but with the business they supposedly had a great mind for.

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  154. Scott do you know the history behind the dusty- baba beef

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  155. We'll just agree to disagree on whether Vince will get more beat up over Austin saying he could whoop Brock Lesnar on a podcast than when Vince ordered the title be stripped from the champ without said person's knowledge on pay per view. :)

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  156. Could Kofi win then put up the briefcase vs Brock on 7/4? Dont ask the logic. I dont know the logic of even having that match but..

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  157. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 11, 2015 at 10:50 PM

    I hope someone knocks up your sister and makes you pay for the abortion.

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  158. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 11, 2015 at 11:07 PM

    Is there such a thing as a post-collegiate amateur career? I mean, I know you can go to the Olympics, but I've never heard of any professional league for legit wrestling, outside of UFC.

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  159. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 11, 2015 at 11:08 PM

    Earl is dead as far as the WWE is concerned.

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  160. I mean, yeah, basically that. Brock apparently never had any desire to compete internationally.

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  161. Agree. That really soured me on him.

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  162. Depends on the age of the person, but his death today was unquestionably as big if not a bigger mainstream story than Savage's passing.

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  163. Dusty was a MUCH bigger star than the fucking Ultimate Warrior

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  164. This is actually a great point. Comparative to people with similar egos, you'd be hard-pressed to find more than a couple who had as big of an influence as Dusty. Bret Hart just had good matches, Foley just DESTROYED his blubbery body kicks, etc. Outside of Flair and Hogan, name another guy who's considered an egomaniac that contributed more to the business? Nobody.

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  165. Foley is revered as this lovable Santa but when I met him he was a dicklord and that book just reinforced that.

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  166. def shoulda did a scott sez reboot before posting this, or given it a few days as you tear dream a big one in this rant bub...

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  167. Brock beats the shit out of Kofi and takes his spot in the match. wins the case and harrasses seth until SS when he does a planned cash in...

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  168. I dont think half of them can climb a ladder lol...

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  169. punk and christian cashed it in twice successfully right??

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  170. or the contract is missing from the briefcase. How come refs never open it to see if its in there signed and sealed?

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  171. If Zigglers counts, than The Rockers have one tag title reign I say.

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  172. and this is the reason I kind of wish it would go away. Or I would at least mandate the case holder has to defend the case every 30 days he doesnt cash in and face credible opponents to build him up instead of weaseling his way into a world championship regin.

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  173. Cena already made him a star, no need to job twice to him. schmozz finish and big 2 month build to Summerslam after Cena costs him the NXT title to Balor. Than Cena gets his win back at Summer Slam in another near 5 star match if not 5 stars.

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  174. Def more special than Bray, Rusev is debatable. They should have never done the 4th match with Rusev.

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  175. Than Cena gets his win back with 3xs more eyes on the match at Summer Slam.. Mitb Scmozz or Owens cheats his balls off. Cena def costs him NXT title on the 4th. Than epic build to US title match at Summer Slam in a hell in a fucking cell! DO IT WWE! and dont make it a pussy HIAC match like lately.

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  176. Not everyone. Never bought the hype. Good seller, no other desirable talents.

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  177. Sure, in the NWA. He was only an upper-midcarder up North. Rhodes didn't have as much of an international appeal, but was around for much longer- his career counts for more than the Warrior's, but I would easily say that the Warrior is more famous. I mean, just look at the fuckin' guy- he's memorable as hell. Even non-fans know who he is.

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  178. Sheamus almost certainly. Henry had the ECW title before if that counts.

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  179. Something like that would be great. Also not giving it to any old schlub in the hope it gets them over.

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  180. He reviewed that video almost fifteen years ago. Maybe he should have put a warning up, but Scott was very anti-Dusty in 2000. He hoped Hogan would die in a plane crash in 1997 after he won the title back at Road Wild. Scott isn't perfect, but I don't think he hates Hogan or Dusty that much anymore.

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  181. Flair tells more tall tales than Hogan sadly. Hogan comes off like a prankster and will get serious at times, Flair seemingly just claims to know everything and said he was there when Brody died - when I don't think he could have been.

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  182. Benoit was a great worker, but he never was Dusty or Hogan. Backland had more charisma than Beniot.

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  183. Actually his obit shows Scott isn't the same guy he was back then. The Scott who wrote this was going four years earlier that Hogan would die in plane crash. The Road Wild 1997 review from 1997 has that statement in there. But Scott has matured and I don't think he feels that way anymore.

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  184. I used to idolize Hogan. I won't preach here, but idolatry is bad. I seriously believed everything Hogan used to say. I remember meeting him and calling him "the god of wrestling" and he actually smirked at me like he was saying "I wasn't serious, brother." I respect Hogan today for being a master showman, but he isn't one I should worship and I worshipped Hogan. He could do no wrong.

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  185. Ken Patera's shoots. How bad are they?

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  186. But, who will nearly kill themselves going threw a ladder?

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  187. Wwe logic = #lolcenawins to set up the 3rd match at Summerslam

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  188. Only because being a painted up juice freak made him look like a cartoon character. In no quantifiable way was Warrior a bigger star than Dusty.

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  189. Neville or ZIggler, why else are they even in the match?!?

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