WWE - The American Dream - The Dusty Rhodes Story (2006)

Reported by Ernest Aguilar Zevallos

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Courtesy of <a href="http://www.wrestlemag.com">WrestleMag.com</a>:

Throughout the 1970's and 80's, Dusty Rhodes was the embodiment of everything that was working class America. Starting out as "The Son of a Plumber", the American Dream went from one of Florida's most hated heel wrestlers to becoming arguably the most loved wrestler in the World during his prime years.

This 3-Disc DVD release from World Wrestling Entertainment looks at the career of Dusty Rhodes, starting out with a 90-minute documentary style feature on the life and career of the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes. Starting out with his childhood and upbringing, Rhodes, and others, go on to tell stories about him and Dick Murdoch during their run as one of the toughest (and arguably most talented) tag teams in wrestling at that time.

We move on from there to Rhodes' time with Florida Championship Wrestling, where the 'American Dream' was born. After a relatively successful run in FCW as a heel, Rhodes' transformation into a immensely popular babyface is incredible, and Rhodes talks about the birth of the American Dream in detail, discussing how the "gimmick" came about right through to his awesome, awesome battles with "Superstar" Billy Graham at Madison Square Garden during his time with the then WWWF.

It's Rhodes' battles for the NWA heavyweight title that so many people remember him for. He took the title from the great Harley Race, then later from Ric Flair and became one of the most loved and respected wrestling champions of all time. Dusty discusses in detail his departure from the NWA and his surprising move to the World Wrestling Federation in late 1989. The most poignant section of this is the portion devoted to his on/off/on again relationship with his son Dustin aka: Goldust. Both Dusty and Dustin speak candidly about how their rapport broke down and the eventual coming together of a father and son. Dustin gets extremely emotional during this.

The documentary also talks about Dusty's unique interview style and charisma and how it influenced so many wrestlers that came afterward. It also answers the question as to whether the "polka dots" were a rib or not and how Rhodes got paired up with his valet/manager, Sapphire, during his WWF run under the "Common Man" gimmick - an extension of sort of Rhodes' American Dream but with Vince McMahon's added twist.

The extras on this disc include matches with the likes of Murdoch, Race, Don Muraco and Terry Funk from the mid-70s through to 1977 with a classic from Madison Square Garden against Billy Graham.

Discs 2 & 3 are an old school fans dream with nothing but classic matches from the remainder of his career. Disc 2 has matches from 1977 through to 1988 including memorable encounters against legends such as Stan Stasiak, Tully Blanchard, Ivan Koloff and his title victories over Ric Flair and Harley Race. There's also a special bonus classic against Harley Race from 1979 at Madison Square Garden which was rare as the NWA Title was rarely on the line in New York. Also on this disc are some of his most famous Tag Team matches, teaming with the likes of Sting and The Road Warriors they face off against various legendary combinations such as Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard and a special 6 man Tag Team match against The Powers of Pain & Ivan Koloff.

Disc 3 concentrates on his WWE career as we see Tag Team matches with manager Sapphire against "Macho King" Randy Savage and Queen Sherri, Dusty and Dustin squaring off against Ted Dibiase and Virgil (which as a kid I loved at the time and it still holds up as entertaining if nothing else). There's also Rhodes' debut match for the then WWF against the Honky Tonk Man. There is also the 1989 Survivor Series elimination match between "The Dream Team" and Big Boss Man's "Enforcers". In addition there's also Rhodes' ECW match against Steve Corino and a match from Rhodes' time with WCW shortly before WWE purchased the company pitting Dusty and Dustin against Flair and Jeff Jarrett.

Add some awesome promo's and bonus footage to the equation, and you've got yourself a must-buy triple-DVD set.