Dust to Dust. . .

My morning started with the death of Christopher Lee, and it ended with the death of the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes.

I never was a fan of Dusty Rhodes, for mainly the same reasons the WWF never used him; he looked old, tired and out of shape. His Southern drawl, especially to a Canadian, was weird and annoying. In fact for many years, I used to get him confused with Adrian Adonis. But I learned as the years went by how much he contributed to wrestling, how many young stars he helped put over, how much knowledge he had about The Game. Dusty was a legendary wrestler, even if he wasn't "my type" of guy, or Vince McMahon's.

What I DO know is that Dusty's two sons, who wrestle under the names Golddust and Stardust, would not exist if not for the American Dream. Their gimmicks are certainly inspired by their father and I am sure he gave them a ton of direction over the years. In fact it was that match that got me interested in wrestling again; Fastlane 2015 was all new wrestlers and the Rhodes family were the only ones I recognized and I am glad that we got to see that battle between the Rhodes brothers with old Dusty on screen, one last time.

Now, watching his victory over the Honky Tonk Man at Meadowlands Arena back at Summerslam 1989, jiggling and dancing with a big smile on his face, I can see what a huge influence he was on that generation. Much like Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens, Dusty inspired people who might not ever think they weren't good looking enough or had the right physique to be a wrestler. Dusty had fun and he loved wrestling more than just about anyone. For that, I will salute and respect him and I wish I'd been a little more open-minded when I was child because I know now that men like Dusty Rhodes are far more inspirational than men like Hulk Hogan.

You can see Dusty in his polka dots face the Honky Tonk Man at the link below.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2dz68r_wwf-summerslam-1989-dusty-rhodes-vs-the-honky-tonk-man_sport

In tribute to Dusty, I am posting a couple of my favorite Goldust matches. Hopefully one day his youngest son, Cody Rhodes, AKA Stardust, will reach the same level of fame and success his father enjoyed.

Cheers to you, Dusty, and thank you.

A classic: 

Interesting side note: The term "Dusty Finish", which is mentioned in my blog partners post below, was just used to set up the current battle between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
The Dusty Finish is the nickname for a match ending where one man was named the winner, only to have the victory overturned on some small technicality (such as a second referee entering the match).