WWE has confirmed that Virgil Runnels, known to millions of wrestling fans as “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, died on Thursday, with multiple published reports saying the death was the result of complications from a fall in his home early Wednesday morning.
Rhodes, 69, was a three-time former NWA world heavyweight champion and one of the top draws in the business in the 1970s and 1980s. Even as he was a top performer in the ring, Rhodes was influential behind the scenes, as a key member of the creative and production teams at Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW during boom periods in the business in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Rhodes began his wrestling career in 1968 after starring in football at West Texas State (now known as West Texas A&M) and spending a year on the taxi squad with the AFL’s the Boston Patriots. He debuted as the partner of Dick Murdoch in a heel tag team known as the Texas Outlaws.
He spent the first six years of his career as a heel before turning face in 1974, taking on the “American Dream” persona. Rhodes, with his Bionic Elbow, would come to be the archrival of The Nature Boy, Ric Flair, defeating Flair for the Mid-Atlantic heavyweight title in a match in Richmond in 1976, for the first of the pair’s many memorable title matches in a series that would gain fan attention over the next decade.
In recent years, Rhodes, inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007, worked behind the scenes in WWE on its NXT product, a role that was highlighted in a recent ESPN documentary on how WWE uses the developmental territory to produce home-grown talent.
Rhodes himself helped produce two WWE talents – his sons Dustin, known to fans as Goldust, and Cody, known to fans as Stardust.
Rhodes also had two daughters, Teil and Kristin, and three grandchildren.
His sudden passing was met with a mix of sorrow and tributes from across the wrestling world.
“Runnels became a hero to fans around the world thanks to his work ethic, his impassioned interviews and his indomitable spirit,” WWE said Thursday in a statement. “Moreover, Runnels was a dedicated father to WWE Superstars Goldust (Dustin Runnels) and Stardust (Cody Runnels), a caring husband and a creative visionary who helped shape the landscape of WWE long after his in-ring career had ended.”
Flair, referring to Rhodes in a tweet as his “mentor,” offered “much love to your family and more respect than can ever be measured. Love you, Dream.”
Paul Levesque, known to wrestling fans as Triple H, broke the news of Rhodes’ death to the wrestling world earlier today, called Rhodes “legend, teacher, mentor, friend.”
“I’m crushed,” WWE legend Mick Foley tweeted. “He was a one-of-a-kind talent with an amazing mind.”
– Story by Chris Graham
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