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We are here in Dallas, Texas, of course,
for WrestleMania weekend.

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And some breaking news while we're here.
Seth Rollins facing a mystery opponent

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of Mr. McMahon. His opponent is going to
be picked by Vince McMahon.

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Better be somebody good.

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Look at Cody Rhodes right here. Anything
can happen, but who knows? He may show

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up tonight. We have no idea. I think
this place would pop its ass off if he

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out tonight.

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We can only hope, man. We can only hope.
We can't get something that good at

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WrestleMania. To see him come back home
would be a whole other thing, man. I got

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to see the statue for his father last
night at the Superstore. It was

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I've always loved Dusty Rhodes, man, so
hopefully we see his son here tonight.

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Uh -oh.

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Big Mama.

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Hey. Up close and personal. Where are
you at?

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I'm sitting outside where the rehearsal
dinner is.

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Where are y 'all staying at?

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Right now we're staying on the bus. I'm
going to stay here until they drag me

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out of it because I have been
sequestered as a surprise for tomorrow.

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I know you're going to do great, Cody. I
know you're going to do great.

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I'm so proud of you, and I know Daddy
would have been so proud of you.

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And I know...

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watching you i just go away thanks mama
love you tell everyone i said hey all

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right bye i

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do

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get asked about dusty and everything
that i do and i have uh avoided the

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of dusty roads when he was living and
since he passed um because it's so big

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How could I ever do anything like he
did?

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But fate has it that I get this
opportunity to make the walk at

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front of Sports Entertainment's biggest
crowd.

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My dad would have loved that.

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And the winner of the crowd now is for
the American Dream. It is for Mr. Dusty

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Rose.

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Dusty could make people feel.

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He showed that.

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The average son of a plumber could rise
up.

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He could be your next -door neighbor. He
could be the guy you work in a factory

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with. But he could go out there and kick
ass.

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I came from nowhere, and it would take a
hell of a man to knock me off. He was a

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dreamer of epic proportion and the
architect of what we now see as a

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global empire.

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God, he was entertaining.

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Dusty looked at pro wrestling just like
a movie.

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You don't know what hard times are,
Denny.

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I've been hooked forever on Dusty Rosen
because what you got was real for me.

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To get to the top, you have to
sacrifice.

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In every aspect you can imagine.

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Definitely became hard times.

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Dev was a mentor.

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He was a hero.

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And the best downfall on the planet.

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That's funky.

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His real name was Virgil Riley Runnels
Jr.

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Never, ever heard anybody call him
Virgil. Not even my mom or pop.

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He got nicknamed Dusty because of the
street that he lived on.

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It was in...

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Dirt Road, Dusty Road.

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Dusty Roads is born into an America that
is coming out of the Great Depression,

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is coming out of World War II.

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A kid from Austin, Texas.

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Eastside. Black community, you know,
Mexican -American community.

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Lucky to be part of that community.

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I was running around just thinking I was
no different than anybody else.

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My dad was a hard -working plumber,
disciplinarian, and not a lot of

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just a hard -working guy.

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We were very poor financially, but I was
not aware of the financial problem.

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It was just life for us. It was the way
things were.

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We never really felt sorry for ourselves
or felt like we'd gotten a bad shake in

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life, a bad deal in life.

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Growing up in East Austin, coming from
nothing, my dad created things out of

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nothing. I've heard things about him
being teased as a child because he was

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bigger, but the adversity part of it was
just him overcoming obstacles in his

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life to get him to where he wanted to
be.

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My mom was the driving force behind the
American dream.

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Pursuing and reaching and trying to
obtain whatever you could. It was such a

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deal with her.

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My dad more or less was that if you're
going to do it, do it right.

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If you're going to reach for it, then be
the best at it.

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Friday night, my dad would catch a
check, we'd go to the restaurant.

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He would yell and scream and go crazy.

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I grew up really loving this industry.

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What an opportunity if you could make a
living with this.

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We'd come home and we'd wrestle. We made
fake masks.

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We could just get as rough as we wanted.

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With Dusty, one thing I would say about
him, you could not make things tough

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enough for him.

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My dad would tell you how great he was
at baseball, at football, and he truly

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was a multi -sport athlete.

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The New York Mets at that time had
scouted me. I played first base, and I

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a little bit.

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He also played for a semi -professional
football team in Connecticut called the

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Charter Oak Buffaloes.

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There's the athlete side of Dusty, and
then there's the thespian.

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side of Dusty, something else was
calling him.

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One of his greatest characteristics was
his ability to have a vision and know

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exactly what he wanted to do in his
life.

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He was always charismatic.

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Even when he was young, he had a stage
presence. He loved acting. He would tell

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me, I love it. And I'd say, no, man,
you're an athlete, not an actor.

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You know what I'm saying? And luckily he
found a profession where he could

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combine both of those passions.

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He wanted to pro -wrestle.

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He wanted pro -wrestling.

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I remember him coming into Dallas.

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He didn't have a place to stay. And he
wrestled Fritz von Erich that night.

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Fritz just had his way with him.

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I remember him kicking him right in the
teeth once. Looked like he actually had

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lost some teeth.

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And ended up putting a claw on him.

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But I remember him telling me, I love
this business.

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Someday I'm going to be the heavyweight
champion of the world.

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I think he saw something in wrestling.

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And there was a freedom in wrestling
that didn't exist in other spaces.

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You know, Muhammad Ali, if you'd asked
him who his hero was as an 18 -year

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he would have said Gorgeous George
Wagner. And what he loved about Gorgeous

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George. was that Gorgeous George brought
the showmanship of professional

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wrestling to a whole other level.

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I have to think that for Dusty Rhodes,
it was a very attractive thought for him

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to be able to be a character and develop
stories.

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When my mom and my dad met, they hit it
off. They had a great time.

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Sandy was gorgeous.

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He loved her.

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The war in Vietnam had began, and they
had a rule that they were not taking any

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married men.

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So even though he loved Cindy, and I
think they would have eventually gotten

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married, it was probably sooner than
anyone expected, including himself,

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all I could see was how important it was
for him to make a name in the business

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and become a champion.

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He had that vision of what he wanted to
do and where he wanted to be, and he

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started his life on the road.

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One of the discoveries of any wrestler
in terms of this job is it starts out

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real fun.

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It starts out, oh my gosh, I got paid
$300.

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I'm going to have fun. I'm going to
partner with Dick Murdoch and the Texas

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Outlaws. We're going to be the bad guys.
This is so much fun.

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Dick Murdoch was a character from
Waxahachie, Texas.

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Together, they were kind of of the same
mindset.

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Rhodes and Murdoch first came to Florida
when I was a kid, and they had crew

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cuts and big fat bellies hanging out,
and they were bad guys.

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We're just a couple of old country boys
drinking beer, wrestling, fighting.

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Dusty would say, we're not going to be
outraged.

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We're going to be outrageous.

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And they were.

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We were traveling 340 days a year from
one town to the next. You had 700 miles

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to go to get to the next town.

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Yeah, there was a bar we'd stop.

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And we had a good following, territorial
-wise.

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Did a movie called The Wrestler.

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That was not far -fetched by any stretch
of the imagination.

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Murdoch would get in a fight every
Friday night.

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It's fun.

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And then you realize the layer of work
that it takes to get to the next block.

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And that's where it goes from being just
this silly vocation to your life's

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work.

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A lot of people don't know that my
grandfather, dad's dad, died the day

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was born.

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I did not talk to him a lot about that.

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There's absolutely no way that I can
imagine that.

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For him to lose his father and then, oh,
my God, now I have a baby boy.

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That would send anybody into overload,
man.

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Dusty told me he was so excited about
having a grandchild, and Dusty

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took some cigars that said, it's a boy,
and he put them in his pocket, you

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know, in the coffin.

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You know, I mean, that's... That's hard.

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My dad never saw him wrestle.

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But when my dad passed away, one of the
belongings he had in his wallet was an

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old program for an event that my brother
had been in.

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It's hard for me not to get emotional.

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But Dusty was always able to kind of put
those things in perspective.

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He could have all of those kinds of
things going on in his life and seemed

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know, you know, what to do and how to do
it.

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I think Dusty had a knack for knowing
when it's time.

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Probably one of the hardest decisions he
made, and I think definitely the most

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important decision he made, was when it
was time to leave Dick.

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His tag team partner from Austin, Texas,
Blaine 200.

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80 pounds, dirty, dusty road.

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He loved the Texas Outlaws, and he loved
doing what they were doing, but I think

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in Dusty's mind, he was scratching the
surface.

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He felt like he had more tools.

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He had more in the tank.

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I don't think that the promoters
recognized the fact that I was a great

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worker or performer.

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They recognized that I had charisma.

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I had to find a way to grow it into
becoming the American Dream.

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I had that one element that you cannot
give anyone.

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Charisma. The greatest rap master, the
greatest wrestler, the greatest super

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heavyweight in the world. It's about
winning. You either have it or you

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This is the Iron Man. January the 1st is
the new year. It's new rap materials.

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It's new titles and such. You understand
what I'm saying? It's going to be

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dynamite. This lady is going to feel the
American dreams.

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I have studied all the tapes.

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I think this was at my Christmas party.
I figured out right away I can sell more

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tickets talking them in the building.

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than actually what they were seeing in
the building.

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Was it worth the damn pain? Was it worth
the pain?

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When I look back at characters that were
developing for The American Dream,

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Thunderbolt Patterson was one of my
guys. I like the finer things in life,

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know, like diamond rings and Cadillacs.

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Thank you. You following me? I dig it.

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It seemed to be like music. There was a
rhythm to it. When I was growing up, I

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sure didn't think 265 pounds of blue
-eyed soul would captivate a country

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hell. The people drive me. He's somebody
that gives off complete comfort around

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black people. I think he gets a bit
subversive in a way that I think brings

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comfort to certainly me and I think a
lot of his black fans.

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Dusty made everything about being Dusty
Rhodes cool.

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And if you was from the neighborhood,
Dusty was like the only black wrestler

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that we had to look up to.

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Because of Dusty Rhodes growing up in a
part of Boston that was multiracial, I

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see him as somebody in a line with an
Elvis Presley or a Jerry Lee Lewis.

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People who were white, who were greatly
influenced by the Southern Baptist black

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church. Everything I will be is up to

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you.

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He took a black experience and
translated it To a white audience. You

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up in this building in a matter of few
hours when it's full and you can see a

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black man and a white man eating out of
the same popcorn box.

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That's funky.

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Dusty's appeal was the fact that Dusty
was just like the audience.

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I'm just one of you, baby.

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I'm just like you.

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So come help me because I need you.

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And you felt when Dusty was in the ring
that you were right there with him.

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It's about winning for my people, baby.

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Until I heard him talk, I couldn't see
what the attraction was because, I mean,

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I saw this guy didn't look like an
athlete, but judging a book by the cover

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him would be a great mistake.

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You can't judge a book by looking at the
cover.

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Can't you see?

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I'm a lover.

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00:15:23,590 --> 00:15:29,350
You can't judge a book by looking at the
cover. The greatest athlete, the

229
00:15:29,350 --> 00:15:33,590
greatest rapper, the greatest singer,
the greatest sleeper. I can sleep cool,

230
00:15:33,670 --> 00:15:35,990
brother. Go and cheer on the new year,
1977.

231
00:15:36,710 --> 00:15:37,730
The Razzmatazz.

232
00:15:38,050 --> 00:15:39,970
287 pounds of sweet soul.

233
00:15:40,270 --> 00:15:44,150
You can't judge a book by looking at the
cover.

234
00:15:45,990 --> 00:15:47,710
That was kind of like Pied Piper.

235
00:15:48,350 --> 00:15:53,870
Dusty would just bring everybody and
they would follow him. Everything I am,

236
00:15:53,870 --> 00:15:55,270
owe to the American way of life.

237
00:15:55,790 --> 00:16:01,930
What is more of an American dream than
being able to make it on your own terms?

238
00:16:02,610 --> 00:16:08,250
So you have a lisp, you're overweight,
your clothes are ill -fitting. You get

239
00:16:08,250 --> 00:16:10,950
be you and you still get to make it.

240
00:16:11,850 --> 00:16:16,470
There was a lot of patriotism and rah
-rah USA at the time and he's...

241
00:16:16,810 --> 00:16:20,430
He is wrestling against, at that point,
the evil Korean, Pak Song.

242
00:16:20,750 --> 00:16:25,190
Pak Song with one single purpose in
mind, to rid the wrestling world of the

243
00:16:25,190 --> 00:16:26,190
American dream.

244
00:16:26,210 --> 00:16:32,670
The Korean assassin versus the American
dream,

245
00:16:32,990 --> 00:16:34,270
Dusty Rhodes.

246
00:16:35,650 --> 00:16:42,350
And somehow, the son of a plumber
overcomes.

247
00:16:44,110 --> 00:16:45,370
There's only one dream.

248
00:16:45,870 --> 00:16:46,870
I am the man.

249
00:16:46,990 --> 00:16:48,330
Go on with it, baby.

250
00:16:48,850 --> 00:16:55,490
It's that rivalry between his self and
Pac Song that really branded him and

251
00:16:55,490 --> 00:16:58,150
created the American dream.

252
00:16:59,710 --> 00:17:01,930
I've been hooked forever on Dusty
Rhodes.

253
00:17:02,150 --> 00:17:03,590
Mimicked him all through high school.

254
00:17:03,990 --> 00:17:07,290
And then when I first had a little bit
of a breakup in Memphis.

255
00:17:08,670 --> 00:17:11,430
You can hear in my promos. I'm going,
let me tell you something, baby.

256
00:17:11,650 --> 00:17:14,230
Terry Boulder. I was trying to be Dusty
Rhodes.

257
00:17:14,550 --> 00:17:16,730
I'm going to put the super southern
squeeze on you, daddy.

258
00:17:16,930 --> 00:17:19,369
And I'm going to turn you over to these
people in Memphis and let them whip on

259
00:17:19,369 --> 00:17:22,349
you a little bit after you're down and
out. And it was just such a poor

260
00:17:22,349 --> 00:17:24,810
imitation of Dusty Rhodes. It's
embarrassing now.

261
00:17:25,369 --> 00:17:28,050
Dusty Rhodes must have thought, oh, my
God, this guy is just.

262
00:17:40,650 --> 00:17:42,450
This industry is very tough.

263
00:17:44,710 --> 00:17:46,030
You have to sacrifice.

264
00:17:47,630 --> 00:17:51,410
You have to sacrifice your body. You
have to sacrifice your mind. You

265
00:17:51,410 --> 00:17:52,710
those that you love.

266
00:17:53,650 --> 00:17:58,750
When I'm looking back at everything,
people would be like, oh, my gosh, I

267
00:17:58,750 --> 00:18:01,490
believe your father is the American
Dream Dusty Rhodes. That's the coolest

268
00:18:01,490 --> 00:18:02,490
ever.

269
00:18:02,710 --> 00:18:04,210
Yeah, it's pretty cool.

270
00:18:05,710 --> 00:18:09,470
But at the same time, you know, he was
just.

271
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,660
Our dad, we're having to share him with
the world.

272
00:18:13,220 --> 00:18:16,520
Sometimes I thought about that, and I
just thought that was just kind of

273
00:18:16,740 --> 00:18:20,980
But back in the day when he was first
starting out, I didn't see it that way.

274
00:18:20,980 --> 00:18:21,980
was so young.

275
00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:26,500
We saw our dad a couple times a year,
and when we did, it was the greatest

276
00:18:26,500 --> 00:18:27,500
of our life.

277
00:18:28,020 --> 00:18:34,240
But Justin and I have a completely
different perspective on when my father

278
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:35,240
first starting out.

279
00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,740
Honestly, man, it just hurt, and I
wanted him.

280
00:18:39,130 --> 00:18:43,970
And I wanted to be with him. And I
wanted it so bad, desperate, desperate

281
00:18:43,970 --> 00:18:44,889
it.

282
00:18:44,890 --> 00:18:47,390
My dad just had that vision and he went
after it.

283
00:18:47,870 --> 00:18:54,570
And yes, he wasn't home a lot. Yes, he
was gone a lot. But there was no lack of

284
00:18:54,570 --> 00:18:57,110
love there. My father was our father.

285
00:18:57,950 --> 00:19:00,550
At the same time, my mom lost her
husband.

286
00:19:02,550 --> 00:19:05,770
They divorced when Kristen was two years
old.

287
00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:12,440
That was the way it was. If you wanted
to make a living, you had to go to the

288
00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:14,620
different territories. You had to work.

289
00:19:15,820 --> 00:19:20,280
I was young, and I didn't understand
what kind of a star he was becoming.

290
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:22,500
A boy needs his dad.

291
00:19:27,020 --> 00:19:29,760
In 1977, he was in Florida.

292
00:19:30,500 --> 00:19:34,820
The Imperial Lounge was where you could
go to listen to country music.

293
00:19:35,310 --> 00:19:39,270
That was his favorite place to hang out,
and that's where I met him.

294
00:19:40,270 --> 00:19:44,810
He was the American dream at that point,
very popular there.

295
00:19:45,590 --> 00:19:51,630
I had asked Dusty for an autograph for
my little brothers and sisters, and he

296
00:19:51,630 --> 00:19:56,450
said, well, if you come next week, I
have some photos. I'll bring you those.

297
00:19:56,450 --> 00:20:03,150
I went next week, and I started
thinking, yeah, you know, I

298
00:20:03,150 --> 00:20:04,150
like this guy.

299
00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:10,760
So it wasn't love at first sight, but I
fell in love with him very quickly.

300
00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:17,200
Just absolute madness comes with the
American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, and she

301
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:18,200
game.

302
00:20:22,990 --> 00:20:26,230
A man who has figuratively set the
wrestling world on fire.

303
00:20:26,590 --> 00:20:27,590
Mr. Soul.

304
00:20:27,810 --> 00:20:28,930
Mr. Charisma.

305
00:20:29,190 --> 00:20:30,430
Mr. Dusty Rhodes.

306
00:20:31,450 --> 00:20:36,710
287 pounds of sweet soap. I have wined
and dined with kings and queens.

307
00:20:37,390 --> 00:20:41,190
But I slept in alley and dined on pork
and beans. And everybody here has dined

308
00:20:41,190 --> 00:20:42,870
on pork and beans one time in their
life.

309
00:20:43,530 --> 00:20:47,550
I reached for a star. I reached for a
dream. Talk about the American dream.

310
00:20:48,690 --> 00:20:49,850
Superstar Billy Graham.

311
00:20:50,830 --> 00:20:53,870
The gold around your waist will be mine.

312
00:20:56,350 --> 00:21:03,150
In the late 70s, Dusty had proven
himself as an attraction, and all

313
00:21:03,150 --> 00:21:06,010
wanted to be able to bring that draw to
their town.

314
00:21:06,610 --> 00:21:12,570
Dusty worked primarily in Florida, but
he had started doing different shows

315
00:21:12,570 --> 00:21:13,810
around the country.

316
00:21:14,250 --> 00:21:19,950
Do we have another capacity crowd from
22 ,000 people jamming Madison Square

317
00:21:19,950 --> 00:21:23,180
Garden? You want to headline Madison
Square Garden.

318
00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:29,500
Madison Square Garden is the map. Here
comes Superstar Billy Graham, the

319
00:21:29,500 --> 00:21:32,380
reigning worldwide wrestling federation
heavyweight champion.

320
00:21:33,180 --> 00:21:39,300
And the ruler of ground now is for the
American dream, and it's for Mr. Dusty

321
00:21:39,300 --> 00:21:40,300
Rhodes.

322
00:21:45,140 --> 00:21:47,240
Superstar Billy Graham and Dusty Rhodes.

323
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:51,680
Two of the most charismatic individuals
clashing for the first time in Madison

324
00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:53,100
Square Garden. That was magic.

325
00:21:57,100 --> 00:21:59,600
Grab has never seen moves like that
before.

326
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:08,460
The American dream, Dusty Rhodes, could
have a roly -poly time statue as

327
00:22:08,460 --> 00:22:09,900
compared to Superstar Grab.

328
00:22:10,780 --> 00:22:11,780
Oh, baby!

329
00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:17,150
Physically and aesthetically, Couldn't
be more opposite.

330
00:22:17,670 --> 00:22:23,150
However, they both played an integral
part in just the evolution of the

331
00:22:23,150 --> 00:22:25,390
business, where it went to a little more
entertainment.

332
00:22:29,010 --> 00:22:32,650
Dusty Rhodes was my only reason at the
time to want to be a wrestler.

333
00:22:33,270 --> 00:22:36,950
But then when superstar Billy Graham
climbed on the second rope and hit that

334
00:22:36,950 --> 00:22:41,090
double bicep, I went, whoa, I want to be
just like that guy.

335
00:22:42,670 --> 00:22:45,850
I said, man, I wondered what the
possibilities would be to end up.

336
00:22:46,110 --> 00:22:49,310
Looking like that, but wrestling with
Dusty Rhodes' charisma.

337
00:22:49,750 --> 00:22:50,750
Hmm.

338
00:22:50,910 --> 00:22:52,430
I wonder if that could be possible.

339
00:22:53,610 --> 00:22:54,890
Hmm, it is possible.

340
00:22:56,050 --> 00:22:58,970
The three matches with him there, so
special.

341
00:22:59,430 --> 00:23:00,810
The matches were amazing.

342
00:23:01,230 --> 00:23:08,070
Randy Warhol, Steinbrenner, Hoffman,
Cheryl Teague,

343
00:23:08,150 --> 00:23:12,890
Peter Baird, all in attendance, in the
audience. Edgar Winters, Fred Medler,

344
00:23:12,890 --> 00:23:13,890
in the audience.

345
00:23:19,710 --> 00:23:24,290
Didn't want to leave the ring because of
the goosebumps and what I was feeling

346
00:23:24,290 --> 00:23:25,290
at that moment.

347
00:23:27,590 --> 00:23:32,390
After the matches, we went out to
celebrate with all of our new friends,

348
00:23:32,390 --> 00:23:33,650
know, a lot of fun.

349
00:23:34,290 --> 00:23:40,490
When you went to Studio 54, there was
just this crazy cast of characters,

350
00:23:40,710 --> 00:23:44,690
artists, singers, and they loved us.

351
00:23:45,050 --> 00:23:47,470
Back then, it was the rare soul who...

352
00:23:47,770 --> 00:23:52,490
like pro wrestling, not only for who
would win or lose, but also for the joy

353
00:23:52,490 --> 00:23:56,750
the spectacle of it. And it says so much
about Dusty Rhodes' talent and his

354
00:23:56,750 --> 00:23:58,150
ability to connect with an audience.

355
00:23:59,190 --> 00:24:05,470
Dusty met Andy Warhol a couple of times,
and, you know, birds of a feather.

356
00:24:07,210 --> 00:24:08,810
I like the lifestyle.

357
00:24:09,830 --> 00:24:14,790
I wasn't a conventional kind of girl, so
it appealed to me.

358
00:24:15,230 --> 00:24:16,890
We dated for a while.

359
00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:19,760
Then we moved in together about a year.

360
00:24:20,380 --> 00:24:24,800
What was important to me wasn't the fact
that he'd been divorced.

361
00:24:25,020 --> 00:24:31,420
I was more concerned about what kind of
father he was.

362
00:24:31,540 --> 00:24:34,480
You can't love a man if he's a crappy
father.

363
00:24:35,540 --> 00:24:39,320
We had gone out to Austin to visit
Dustin and Kristen.

364
00:24:40,250 --> 00:24:43,390
And just out of the blue, he asked me to
marry him.

365
00:24:43,690 --> 00:24:47,570
And I said yes because I did want to get
married.

366
00:24:48,030 --> 00:24:51,630
But up until that point, I really hadn't
thought about it. I was happy with

367
00:24:51,630 --> 00:24:52,750
things the way they were.

368
00:24:52,950 --> 00:24:54,010
So we got married.

369
00:24:55,710 --> 00:24:58,070
My mom is suddenly a stepmom.

370
00:24:58,490 --> 00:25:02,690
And I think that that was natural for
her because in her family, there's lots

371
00:25:02,690 --> 00:25:03,690
people.

372
00:25:04,150 --> 00:25:07,350
When we got married, Dustin and Kristen
were very young.

373
00:25:08,140 --> 00:25:10,400
We would see them whenever we could.

374
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:16,940
We would have them on holidays and in
the summer, but it was a long -distance

375
00:25:16,940 --> 00:25:17,940
relationship.

376
00:25:18,900 --> 00:25:20,940
Absolutely. That's how it went.

377
00:25:21,380 --> 00:25:26,380
Getting there to Tampa, seeing the
horses, seeing the pool, swimming in the

378
00:25:26,380 --> 00:25:29,700
pool, seeing Dad occasionally, not a
lot.

379
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,780
I didn't want to go somewhere else and
me not be around him anymore.

380
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:35,940
I wanted to go where he was going.

381
00:25:36,850 --> 00:25:41,350
No, he wasn't home a lot, but in some
strange way, I had an understanding.

382
00:25:41,610 --> 00:25:45,570
And I think, again, it goes back to me
just admiring the vision that he had and

383
00:25:45,570 --> 00:25:46,870
what a great person that he was.

384
00:25:48,010 --> 00:25:51,310
Dusty Rhodes has achieved victory here
at Madison Square Garden.

385
00:25:52,430 --> 00:25:55,990
The notoriety that came from superstar
Billy Graham, Dusty Rhodes' match, it

386
00:25:55,990 --> 00:25:58,870
helped me prepare myself for all the
race.

387
00:25:59,590 --> 00:26:03,210
The National Wrestling Alliance World
Series title was the ultimate goal.

388
00:26:04,159 --> 00:26:08,560
NWA World Heavyweight Champions held the
championship for several years.

389
00:26:08,780 --> 00:26:14,380
And to defeat the champion and actually
lay claim to being a World Heavyweight

390
00:26:14,380 --> 00:26:17,480
Champion was a huge deal.

391
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:20,980
Dusty, what was going through your mind
at that moment?

392
00:26:33,260 --> 00:26:37,780
and become world's heavyweight wrestling
champion with that blow right there.

393
00:26:37,900 --> 00:26:38,940
That is mystery.

394
00:26:45,460 --> 00:26:49,960
In that moment, you're riveted, and you
do think that winning is possible when

395
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:55,240
all the odds tell us that winning is not
possible. That is activated by Dusty

396
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,860
Rhodes, being able to embody the
American dream.

397
00:26:59,050 --> 00:27:03,470
He considered the world championship to
be the highest honor. You can't get him

398
00:27:03,470 --> 00:27:04,950
to say that wrestling was fake.

399
00:27:05,390 --> 00:27:06,410
You can't.

400
00:27:06,630 --> 00:27:08,410
And it's because it's not.

401
00:27:08,870 --> 00:27:13,950
That moment wasn't. And when you take it
that seriously, the fans take you

402
00:27:13,950 --> 00:27:17,610
seriously. And they support you. They're
crying with you. They're cheering with

403
00:27:17,610 --> 00:27:21,010
you. And that would parlay into the next
big step in his career.

404
00:27:21,470 --> 00:27:25,330
This is an example for every man, woman,
and child. Dream of a dream.

405
00:27:25,550 --> 00:27:30,790
Have a dream. Have a way to get it. Hold
on to it and shoot for the sky because

406
00:27:30,790 --> 00:27:35,810
I have been to the mountaintop and it
will take a hell of a man to knock me

407
00:27:37,950 --> 00:27:42,690
To my left, the American dream, Dusty
Rhodes, and it's most unusual that we're

408
00:27:42,690 --> 00:27:49,110
here in an empty arena because Dusty
Rhodes fills arenas. The man of the

409
00:27:49,130 --> 00:27:50,130
the man with the power.

410
00:27:51,050 --> 00:27:52,690
The hit maker, the record breaker.

411
00:27:53,970 --> 00:27:58,090
In the early 80s, he'd become a big
star.

412
00:27:58,490 --> 00:28:01,470
Who are you hoping will win the world
title tonight? Oh, I want to see.

413
00:28:02,130 --> 00:28:06,750
The little plumber son who come out of
the ditch and became so sweet.

414
00:28:09,750 --> 00:28:12,530
Can you dig it? Became so sweet.

415
00:28:13,070 --> 00:28:14,410
Yeah, it's on fire.

416
00:28:14,750 --> 00:28:16,750
You better believe it's on fire.

417
00:28:17,070 --> 00:28:20,290
When Vince was looking at his expansion.

418
00:28:20,890 --> 00:28:27,810
Vince looked at Dusty Rove and saw Dusty
is the guy to make it what it

419
00:28:27,810 --> 00:28:28,810
has become today.

420
00:28:29,250 --> 00:28:31,450
That is electrified butt.

421
00:28:31,690 --> 00:28:35,850
One of Dusty's biggest attributes, and I
don't know if this is the proper term

422
00:28:35,850 --> 00:28:37,650
these days, but just balls.

423
00:28:38,430 --> 00:28:44,310
Because for him to, they know, walking
away from that top spot, he just had a

424
00:28:44,310 --> 00:28:45,310
gut feeling.

425
00:28:46,270 --> 00:28:49,590
Dusty always wanted to produce
wrestling.

426
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,660
So he went to the Carolinas for Jim
Crockett.

427
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,900
This is the most down -to -home
situation in the world of Wrestling of

428
00:28:57,900 --> 00:29:03,300
the national Wrestling of the Life. He
got to produce TV shows, promote

429
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:08,800
and got to wrestle. There was just more
opportunity for what Dusty wanted to do,

430
00:29:08,940 --> 00:29:14,100
even though when we moved to Charlotte,
it was a wasteland.

431
00:29:14,500 --> 00:29:19,000
At the time, Crockett promotions was
kind of like a mouthful of oatmeal with

432
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:23,990
sugar. There were some good quality
people there, but they didn't have

433
00:29:23,990 --> 00:29:28,550
to spice it all up. And Dusty, he was a
dreamer of epic proportion.

434
00:29:28,950 --> 00:29:31,350
He saw things on a huge scale.

435
00:29:31,770 --> 00:29:36,010
This is the night for everybody to
remember wrestling history to be made.

436
00:29:36,010 --> 00:29:37,010
really was a genius.

437
00:29:38,270 --> 00:29:41,550
I've been here over the years, from the
war games to the Starrcade.

438
00:29:41,890 --> 00:29:45,610
Starrcade 83, this is the wrestling
event of all time.

439
00:29:45,950 --> 00:29:50,770
And then, of course, Great American Bash
on tour, man. And we hired everybody

440
00:29:50,770 --> 00:29:52,910
from George Jones to Waylon James.

441
00:29:53,250 --> 00:29:55,710
I'm looking forward to being a part of
the Great American Bash.

442
00:29:56,010 --> 00:29:58,550
Went on the road, and it worked.

443
00:29:59,190 --> 00:30:00,430
We sold out everywhere.

444
00:30:00,950 --> 00:30:02,390
We were rocking and rolling.

445
00:30:03,190 --> 00:30:05,690
The business started taking off.

446
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:11,460
And then they got on TVS. So their show
was going in more and more homes.

447
00:30:11,820 --> 00:30:14,300
All of a sudden you're reaching a mass
audience.

448
00:30:15,060 --> 00:30:21,140
So a kid in New York City like myself
could watch this very regional carnival

449
00:30:21,140 --> 00:30:22,140
enterprise.

450
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:28,520
And I remember being 10, 11 years old
watching Dusty Rhodes versus Ric Flair.

451
00:30:29,020 --> 00:30:30,980
and I'd never seen anything like this
before.

452
00:30:31,220 --> 00:30:34,100
And this is the moment that we've all
been waiting for right here.

453
00:30:34,340 --> 00:30:38,440
It's the New York Yankees and the
Brooklyn Dodgers. It's Muhammad Ali and

454
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:43,020
Frazier. It's one of the great rivalries
in the history of sports entertainment.

455
00:30:43,540 --> 00:30:49,260
He doesn't like me getting ahead, and
that perks me right here for him to get

456
00:30:49,260 --> 00:30:52,880
ahead. The ultimate bad guy and the
ultimate blue -collar guy.

457
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:57,580
We just had that magic, man. We loved to
interview against each other. It became

458
00:30:57,580 --> 00:30:58,580
a real competition.

459
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:03,320
I don't put values in the same thing Ric
Flair does. The Rolex!

460
00:31:04,380 --> 00:31:05,380
We're in!

461
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:07,140
Diamond ring wearing.

462
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,240
I'm the son of a plumber. I was raised
in Austin, Texas.

463
00:31:10,460 --> 00:31:16,860
Can't steal it. Never had anything
unless I fought for it. Lemons being

464
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:18,040
Jet flying.

465
00:31:18,260 --> 00:31:24,620
Son of a gun. Unless I got down on my
knees and went for it. It is so hard to

466
00:31:24,620 --> 00:31:28,200
humble when you're looking like Ric
Flair.

467
00:31:29,860 --> 00:31:32,220
Here goes Flair over the top rope.

468
00:31:32,860 --> 00:31:38,260
But I want to be the number one
entertainer. The one -upsmanship,

469
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:39,700
definitely, it's there.

470
00:31:40,380 --> 00:31:42,740
Well, it's smashed into that steel ring,
folks.

471
00:31:43,900 --> 00:31:45,800
He has got a bad cut.

472
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:52,080
We can depict violence that is not
common today. It was very much a part of

473
00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:56,440
craft of what we did for the most
theatrical effect that we can get.

474
00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:58,760
He has stopped the man.

475
00:31:58,980 --> 00:32:00,100
He has stopped it.

476
00:32:00,650 --> 00:32:02,430
Because of a cut on the arm.

477
00:32:04,510 --> 00:32:05,530
Wait a second.

478
00:32:06,350 --> 00:32:13,070
Ric Flair, if you call this a victory,
you need to go home and kiss your mama.

479
00:32:14,010 --> 00:32:16,630
This ain't no victory. This ain't over.

480
00:32:16,910 --> 00:32:20,650
Dusty looked at pro wrestling just like
a movie.

481
00:32:21,390 --> 00:32:22,510
It was cinema.

482
00:32:23,070 --> 00:32:27,230
It was this long tale that didn't just
include the moment.

483
00:32:27,470 --> 00:32:31,790
Look what Ric Flair is doing. He is
padlocking that cage. So Dusty Rhodes is

484
00:32:31,790 --> 00:32:35,410
helpless. Not only that, he cannot be
helped by anyone from the outside.

485
00:32:35,750 --> 00:32:41,710
Seeing the adult nature of these
conflicts, it felt like adults were

486
00:32:41,710 --> 00:32:44,630
with their fists over big issues.

487
00:32:45,070 --> 00:32:49,970
I was at ringside, Bob. I couldn't
believe what I was seeing. Down he goes

488
00:32:49,970 --> 00:32:50,970
Dusty Rhodes.

489
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,820
And right now, you know, everybody is in
a panic right now because, see, Tony,

490
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:56,660
too, a lot of concern for this injury.

491
00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:57,880
It was real.

492
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,340
And I believed in it. They broke my
dad's leg.

493
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:06,740
That's how they portrayed it. And they
weren't going to have anybody saying

494
00:33:06,740 --> 00:33:07,699
was funny.

495
00:33:07,700 --> 00:33:11,760
This is why wrestling in the 80s was so
awesome, because everything was real.

496
00:33:12,180 --> 00:33:17,460
Dusty Rhodes brought that sensibility
that you needed to know not just what

497
00:33:17,460 --> 00:33:20,260
happening in the ring, but what was
happening in the locker room.

498
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:22,180
What's happening in the parking lot?

499
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,420
It was like a reality series.

500
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,620
And you needed to see this week because
it explained last week. And then you

501
00:33:30,620 --> 00:33:33,500
needed to watch next week because it
would explain this week.

502
00:33:34,060 --> 00:33:38,240
So really, it sounds like, Dusty, if you
want to be ready, you're going to have

503
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:40,660
to do exactly what he tells you when he
tells you.

504
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,900
There's no doubt, David, that I have to
do what he tells me.

505
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:48,140
One day, I saw the cast in his closet.

506
00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:52,400
And I'm like, what the?

507
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:57,940
And it's got a big slit down the middle,
and that's how you would get it on.

508
00:33:58,620 --> 00:34:01,580
And wore it around the house, and he
kayfabed his own kids.

509
00:34:01,860 --> 00:34:05,760
Ladies and gentlemen, you all know that
Dusty Rhodes has been injured. Well, we

510
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:10,300
want to welcome back tonight Dusty
Rhodes for his first interview since his

511
00:34:10,300 --> 00:34:16,400
injury. Here is the American dream,
Dusty Rhodes. And Dusty, your fans

512
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:17,400
you back.

513
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:22,800
Think about that period in the 80s, what
was happening in U .S. society. The

514
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:27,420
biggest shows were Dynasty and Dallas.
But there was an underbelly underneath

515
00:34:27,420 --> 00:34:32,199
that in U .S. society at the time. And
that was working class people, black and

516
00:34:32,199 --> 00:34:36,139
white, particularly union, who were
seeing their lives and living standards

517
00:34:36,139 --> 00:34:38,300
utterly immiserated, if not destroyed.

518
00:34:39,710 --> 00:34:41,790
Hard times on Dusty Rhodes and his
family.

519
00:34:42,230 --> 00:34:44,730
You don't know what hard times are,
daddy.

520
00:34:44,989 --> 00:34:49,570
Hard times are when the textile workers
around this country are out of work.

521
00:34:49,590 --> 00:34:54,429
They got four or five kids and can't pay
their wages, can't buy their food. Hard

522
00:34:54,429 --> 00:34:59,670
times are when the auto workers are out
of work and they tell them go home. And

523
00:34:59,670 --> 00:35:01,650
hard times are when...

524
00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:12,180
and say, hey, a computer took your
place, daddy. That's hard time.

525
00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:14,700
That's hard time.

526
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:21,540
We're at this point where companies are
thinking about how do they replace

527
00:35:21,540 --> 00:35:27,840
unionized labor. And the reality is the
idea of achieving the American dream is

528
00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:28,840
starting to slip away.

529
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:34,920
And Ric Flair, you put hard times on
this country by taking Dusty Rhodes out.

530
00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:36,200
That's hard time.

531
00:35:37,430 --> 00:35:40,390
Dusty was the son of a plumber. I was
the guy born with a golden spoon.

532
00:35:41,270 --> 00:35:42,710
And it's basically the truth.

533
00:35:43,790 --> 00:35:46,110
You know, my dad was a doctor. Dad was a
plumber.

534
00:35:46,710 --> 00:35:48,330
Dusty was just saying you to me.

535
00:35:49,410 --> 00:35:50,650
Nature boy, Ric Flair.

536
00:35:52,110 --> 00:35:56,750
The world's heavyweight title belongs to
these people. I'm going to reach out

537
00:35:56,750 --> 00:36:02,590
right now. I want you at home to know my
hand is touching your hand. What, me?

538
00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:09,340
that promo so special, like it dips into
the anger and the disillusionment that

539
00:36:09,340 --> 00:36:14,020
we feel, but it also asks us to reach
for something greater, to reach out to

540
00:36:14,020 --> 00:36:16,060
him, but also to reach out to each
other.

541
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:18,280
Let me leave you with this.

542
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:27,180
One way to hurt Ric Flair is to take
what he cherishes more than anything in

543
00:36:27,180 --> 00:36:28,180
world.

544
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:29,780
That's the world's heavyweight title.

545
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:32,040
I'm going to take it. I've been there
twice.

546
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:37,500
This time when I take it, daddy, I'm
going to take it for you.

547
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:39,120
Let's get up for it.

548
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,320
Don't let me down now. For an interview
to be amazing, the person giving that

549
00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:45,980
interview has to believe it.

550
00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:51,720
And that is really the secret to his
success, because he really was the

551
00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:55,960
dream. I can't say that I'm going to
walk through my house and show the

552
00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:59,280
all the fine, great things that I've
earned in this profession.

553
00:37:00,140 --> 00:37:02,880
But there's one thing when I walk
through my house that I see every day of

554
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:07,500
life. She's about that high and she's
two years old. And I got two other ones

555
00:37:07,500 --> 00:37:08,500
too.

556
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:13,720
Dusty had missed out on so much, Dustin
and Kristen's life.

557
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:19,400
He never talked about it, but I know
it's something that just weighed heavy

558
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:20,400
his heart.

559
00:37:20,540 --> 00:37:26,980
When Teal was born, her birth was like a
second chance at fatherhood.

560
00:37:27,100 --> 00:37:32,370
And when Cody was born, We never went
anywhere that we didn't take our kids.

561
00:37:33,490 --> 00:37:37,530
Dustin came to live with us the summer
before his junior year of high school.

562
00:37:37,750 --> 00:37:40,790
He just wanted to be around his dad,
period.

563
00:37:41,030 --> 00:37:43,510
But he wasn't doing well in school.

564
00:37:44,550 --> 00:37:48,430
I think Dusty saw Dustin as being like
this great football player.

565
00:37:48,670 --> 00:37:52,630
He had been offered some football
scholarships, but you've got to have the

566
00:37:52,630 --> 00:37:57,590
grades as well, and that bothered Dusty.
Dusty wanted his kids to go to college.

567
00:37:58,060 --> 00:38:02,240
He was worried about what Dustin was
going to do and did not want Dustin to

568
00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:03,240
in the wrestling business.

569
00:38:03,340 --> 00:38:08,620
He was trying to keep me away from it
because it's a tough life.

570
00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:15,460
You're looking at the greatest wrestlers
alive today.

571
00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:17,280
Three.

572
00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:21,340
What do we got here, huh?

573
00:38:22,420 --> 00:38:24,800
Ric Flair versus Dusty Rhodes.

574
00:38:25,020 --> 00:38:26,660
This was years of struggle.

575
00:38:27,180 --> 00:38:28,180
By Dusty Rhodes.

576
00:38:28,380 --> 00:38:31,600
Look at the World Heavyweight
Championship.

577
00:38:33,260 --> 00:38:35,600
1986 Great American Badge.

578
00:38:36,060 --> 00:38:38,720
Ric Flair is legitimately the man.

579
00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:45,180
The man. And Dusty, throughout their
rivalry, it's loss

580
00:38:45,180 --> 00:38:48,060
after loss after loss.

581
00:38:49,260 --> 00:38:55,520
But from a wrestling perspective, those
weren't losses. That is the definition

582
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:56,520
of the chase.

583
00:38:57,620 --> 00:38:59,800
Dusty was like an open nerve.

584
00:39:01,300 --> 00:39:02,540
Dusty was your pain.

585
00:39:03,500 --> 00:39:04,540
Dusty was vulnerability.

586
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:16,580
People needed to see him come

587
00:39:16,580 --> 00:39:17,578
out on top.

588
00:39:17,580 --> 00:39:20,540
They needed to feel like they were
coming out on top, finally.

589
00:39:42,090 --> 00:39:46,130
People are losing their mind because
they were in on the chase with him.

590
00:39:47,230 --> 00:39:49,110
They love Dusty so much.

591
00:39:50,130 --> 00:39:55,570
To have him finally beat Ric Flair, to
have him do it in a steel cage, I mean,

592
00:39:55,590 --> 00:39:58,370
it did amazing things for Dusty Rhodes'
legend.

593
00:40:00,490 --> 00:40:05,330
To see them work in these huge arenas
and huge stadiums and selling them out,

594
00:40:05,430 --> 00:40:07,010
they're on top of the world.

595
00:40:08,650 --> 00:40:14,470
So it was very important that the NWA
stayed in lockstep with what the WWE was

596
00:40:14,470 --> 00:40:15,470
doing.

597
00:40:15,750 --> 00:40:18,830
Depending upon which side you're on is
how you view things.

598
00:40:19,090 --> 00:40:22,810
In the South, looking at it from that
point of view, it's like, man, we're

599
00:40:22,810 --> 00:40:24,790
great. We've got a hell of an
opportunity here.

600
00:40:25,370 --> 00:40:30,710
Then when you get up to New York and
looking at the scope of that, you

601
00:40:31,110 --> 00:40:32,770
oh my God, they don't have a chance.

602
00:40:33,650 --> 00:40:36,790
There's a whole other world out there
that...

603
00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:42,200
had never heard of Jim Crockett
Promotions. And what Jim Crockett

604
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,920
failed to recognize was that other
audience.

605
00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:51,840
It was a family -owned business, and we
were running around like rock stars and

606
00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,380
should have had a much greater
accounting principle.

607
00:40:54,860 --> 00:41:01,160
Crockett sold the business to TBS, and
Dusty got the call from Vince to come

608
00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:02,160
work for him.

609
00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:15,120
It was a little difficult at first
because Dusty saw himself as Hulk Hogan.

610
00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:16,920
Dusty looked in the mirror and saw Hulk.

611
00:41:18,740 --> 00:41:24,620
We didn't have that eyesight Dusty had.
We looked at him and went, be the common

612
00:41:24,620 --> 00:41:29,280
man. One man's strength is another man's
treasure.

613
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:33,720
At that juncture in his career, he was
no longer a spring chicken. He wasn't on

614
00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:36,780
the top of his game, so I wanted to go
with more fun.

615
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:39,140
We did some vignettes of Dusty.

616
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:40,440
So entertaining.

617
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:43,880
Have no fear, the sun will plummet.
What's going on, baby? Thank God you're

618
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:44,880
here. Woo!

619
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:47,440
Hey, aren't you?

620
00:41:47,780 --> 00:41:52,060
This man is America, Dusty Rhodes!

621
00:41:52,380 --> 00:41:54,000
He's just a common name.

622
00:41:55,580 --> 00:41:57,560
Right behind Whitney's name.

623
00:41:57,820 --> 00:41:58,820
And he's got the pole.

624
00:42:01,340 --> 00:42:03,420
That's, uh, polka dots.

625
00:42:04,140 --> 00:42:05,140
What?

626
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:08,380
He needs polka dots.

627
00:42:08,620 --> 00:42:10,340
Yellow polka dots. It's everywhere.

628
00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:12,940
We think he's nuts.

629
00:42:13,180 --> 00:42:15,200
What can I say? I'm into polka dots.

630
00:42:15,540 --> 00:42:17,040
The dream gets down.

631
00:42:17,540 --> 00:42:22,540
It was the difference between seeing
somebody I looked up to and respected

632
00:42:22,540 --> 00:42:23,540
seeing a cartoon.

633
00:42:24,140 --> 00:42:29,420
We lost an authentic, working -class
voice. That ended.

634
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:35,040
The day the yellow polka dots came on.
You know, I'm just a common man.

635
00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:41,140
I was mixed about seeing Dusty Rhodes
and the polka dots. I was kind of like

636
00:42:41,140 --> 00:42:45,740
heartbroken because I wanted the
American dream Dusty Rhodes with the

637
00:42:45,740 --> 00:42:50,280
all over his head, bleeding like a pig
every night, doing the hard times

638
00:42:50,720 --> 00:42:51,780
He didn't care.

639
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:53,540
He was so glad.

640
00:42:54,510 --> 00:42:59,110
to get the call to come to the WWE, he
would have worn a diaper. As long as he

641
00:42:59,110 --> 00:43:01,250
was getting a big check, polka dots are
great.

642
00:43:02,330 --> 00:43:08,090
There are fans to this day who will try
to convince me that they made a mockery

643
00:43:08,090 --> 00:43:09,410
of the American dream.

644
00:43:09,630 --> 00:43:14,570
Maybe it was even punishment for having
been the opposition or not coming the

645
00:43:14,570 --> 00:43:18,990
multiple times that he had been
presented the opportunity to go. I don't

646
00:43:18,990 --> 00:43:19,990
that at all.

647
00:43:20,580 --> 00:43:24,760
Whether it started out as a rib, I was
from that school that I want to make

648
00:43:24,760 --> 00:43:25,760
work.

649
00:43:26,020 --> 00:43:28,120
I want to put this back in somebody's
face.

650
00:43:28,580 --> 00:43:33,600
It was a time that WWE was really
breaking through major pop culture.

651
00:43:33,860 --> 00:43:36,840
And Dusty was absolutely part of that.

652
00:43:37,260 --> 00:43:38,720
He was always that guy.

653
00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:43,320
Do you give it to me and I'll make it
something. And Dusty's role was to make

654
00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:44,320
the people jump.

655
00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:46,960
to make the fans get up out of their
seats.

656
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:51,580
When he was playing the polka dot role,
everybody still gravitated to Dusty

657
00:43:51,580 --> 00:43:57,980
Rhodes. It was just 18 months of his
career, and it was likely the most money

658
00:43:57,980 --> 00:44:01,880
he'd ever made. And I don't think it was
a practical joke at all. And if it was,

659
00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:05,880
he threw it back in their face, and they
were smart enough to let him throw it

660
00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:10,140
back in their face and run with it. He's
got more than Sapphire in this corner.

661
00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:12,980
He's got his son Dustin right there.

662
00:44:14,510 --> 00:44:19,830
I was there for all these moments, man,
and yes, of course I want to be a pro

663
00:44:19,830 --> 00:44:23,970
wrestler, and I really want to do this,
and I'm going to do this whether you

664
00:44:23,970 --> 00:44:25,470
like it or not, Dad, right?

665
00:44:25,790 --> 00:44:30,470
And he did not want that for me. He
wanted me to go to college, but you know

666
00:44:30,470 --> 00:44:31,470
what I wanted more?

667
00:44:32,350 --> 00:44:34,830
I wanted to be like my dad.

668
00:44:35,510 --> 00:44:40,350
And he said, Dustin, you want this
business? I'm going to let you do it.

669
00:44:40,350 --> 00:44:41,350
my son.

670
00:44:41,470 --> 00:44:45,030
And the legacy of the American dream
lives in this kid's heart.

671
00:44:45,330 --> 00:44:50,190
And what he don't know, we're going to
teach him. Because Dustin Rose right

672
00:44:50,190 --> 00:44:54,010
is getting ready to get funky like a
monkey in Florida.

673
00:44:54,430 --> 00:44:59,790
He breaks me into the business. This is
the first time that I am hearing what

674
00:44:59,790 --> 00:45:01,810
pro wrestling is from the inside.

675
00:45:03,270 --> 00:45:06,710
Dustin had been in Florida and felt that
Dustin had the chops.

676
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:10,140
At that point in his career, young,
still had a lot to learn.

677
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:15,320
But why not? Let's give him a shot and
bring him in as Dusty's son. It was

678
00:45:15,500 --> 00:45:19,540
Wait a minute. What is this? We've got
Ted DiBiase on one side.

679
00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:23,860
We've got Virgil on the other side,
liking Justin Rhodes.

680
00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:27,500
Wait a minute. Whoa!

681
00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:29,280
Whoa! Did you see that?

682
00:45:30,260 --> 00:45:31,740
Oh, no. Oh, no.

683
00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:35,660
No. Look what they're doing to Dusty
Rhodes' son.

684
00:45:36,170 --> 00:45:39,550
My first thought was, like, this could
get very interesting very quickly.

685
00:45:39,970 --> 00:45:45,890
Will Dusty Rhodes be granted the freedom
to tell the story of his odyssey with

686
00:45:45,890 --> 00:45:46,930
his son, Dusty Rhodes?

687
00:45:47,470 --> 00:45:54,030
He swings it like this, straight onto my
head, and the two corners

688
00:45:54,030 --> 00:45:59,190
hit me in the head and busted me open. I
mean, wide open.

689
00:45:59,470 --> 00:46:01,810
But I felt so alive.

690
00:46:03,110 --> 00:46:04,110
Oh, no!

691
00:46:12,720 --> 00:46:18,660
I'm just underneath him. Oh, my boy. And
he's acting it out. He's crying, right?

692
00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:23,600
And people are feeling it in the arena.
And he's right there with me, you know?

693
00:46:36,270 --> 00:46:42,430
He missed a lot of Dustin's young life,
and there were things he needed from his

694
00:46:42,430 --> 00:46:44,790
dad that he didn't get.

695
00:46:45,330 --> 00:46:51,350
For the first time, I think, in my life,
I felt

696
00:46:51,350 --> 00:46:55,210
connected to him.

697
00:46:59,030 --> 00:47:03,770
It was probably some of the most fun I
ever had because I went outside the box.

698
00:47:04,190 --> 00:47:07,850
But as time went on in that year and a
half, I got tired of it at the end

699
00:47:07,850 --> 00:47:09,290
because it wasn't me.

700
00:47:09,630 --> 00:47:16,470
It is great to be back with WCW. I'm
talking about tonight. 91, 92, 93,

701
00:47:16,470 --> 00:47:22,390
the head of creative. He wrote the
stories. He hired the talent. He set the

702
00:47:22,390 --> 00:47:24,210
direction of the company from a creative
perspective.

703
00:47:24,730 --> 00:47:30,610
He had just stepped out of actively
being a full -time wrestler, and he was

704
00:47:30,610 --> 00:47:31,630
of an executive producer.

705
00:47:32,890 --> 00:47:37,830
And it meant he was with me a great deal
of my childhood.

706
00:47:39,350 --> 00:47:42,510
He was our football coach when I was in
middle school.

707
00:47:42,750 --> 00:47:44,470
He supported me in everything.

708
00:47:44,790 --> 00:47:50,510
He made me feel like the most special
girl.

709
00:47:50,730 --> 00:47:52,270
It was an easy relationship.

710
00:47:53,330 --> 00:47:58,710
But there's no balance to having the
world and having a family.

711
00:47:59,310 --> 00:48:04,510
We didn't suffer for it, but I think on
that climb, my sister Christian and

712
00:48:04,510 --> 00:48:06,190
Dustin, I think that they did.

713
00:48:06,870 --> 00:48:10,070
My father loved us all, and he loved his
kids first and foremost.

714
00:48:10,590 --> 00:48:15,670
You know, it's the time and space
between all of us that's the enemy.

715
00:48:17,830 --> 00:48:18,830
Come here, Dustin.

716
00:48:21,150 --> 00:48:24,930
I want everybody to bear with me just
for a minute.

717
00:48:25,510 --> 00:48:26,990
I want to talk to my son.

718
00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:51,900
My favorite Dusty Rhodes interview I
cannot watch

719
00:48:51,900 --> 00:48:52,980
without.

720
00:48:54,240 --> 00:48:58,280
being too deeply affected, is the
interview he had with my brother.

721
00:48:59,120 --> 00:49:05,800
He lays it on me with this promo that is
just hair

722
00:49:05,800 --> 00:49:09,400
standing on your arms type stuff to make
you feel something was real.

723
00:49:09,760 --> 00:49:14,040
I'm terrified. I mean, you're thrown
into national television. You're young,

724
00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:15,200
you're greener than you do.

725
00:49:15,360 --> 00:49:17,120
Yeah, terrified.

726
00:49:17,700 --> 00:49:20,200
My dad's been doing this for 20
-something, 30 years.

727
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:24,940
It's easy for him, but, you know, all
these people are staring at me now, and

728
00:49:24,940 --> 00:49:26,640
dad's talking to me, and I'm listening.

729
00:49:26,840 --> 00:49:31,360
How do I act? I don't know what to do
except just listen.

730
00:49:31,700 --> 00:49:36,600
When you walk behind and you're not a
leader, then the view never changes,

731
00:49:36,760 --> 00:49:40,500
The view never changes, baby. The view
never changes.

732
00:49:42,030 --> 00:49:47,030
You have the ability to be the world's
heavyweight wrestling champion. There is

733
00:49:47,030 --> 00:49:50,230
not a greater athlete at your age in
this sport.

734
00:49:50,490 --> 00:49:56,370
To bring that to life within the context
of a story and the real emotion

735
00:49:56,370 --> 00:49:59,070
that manifests because of it.

736
00:50:00,010 --> 00:50:06,630
Wow. I'm asking you if you can carry
this old out of shape, old bent out,

737
00:50:06,690 --> 00:50:10,250
old spindly legged man. I want to be
your partner.

738
00:50:12,750 --> 00:50:14,970
To offer to be his partner.

739
00:50:19,350 --> 00:50:22,810
That's like every kid wants that.

740
00:50:23,550 --> 00:50:25,190
And Dustin deserved that.

741
00:50:25,410 --> 00:50:31,990
He did. I can't watch it, but it's very
special. The roads are blood.

742
00:50:32,210 --> 00:50:37,770
I don't need a handshake. What I need
now from you is just a hug and a kiss to

743
00:50:37,770 --> 00:50:38,870
fill the deal, baby.

744
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:48,940
I had a ton of people over at the house,
and I felt like he was going to cry.

745
00:50:49,160 --> 00:50:53,080
And I could, like, hear it in his voice,
and I thought, this is bad.

746
00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:54,700
I don't think I want to watch.

747
00:50:54,940 --> 00:50:58,340
I don't think I can watch this, you
know? And I had to, like, leave the

748
00:50:58,520 --> 00:51:02,500
And I remember them being like, it's not
real. You know, it's not real.

749
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:04,080
You know, it's fake.

750
00:51:04,280 --> 00:51:05,740
I'm like, okay, buddy, I got it.

751
00:51:06,240 --> 00:51:07,900
I mean, it's really just beautiful.

752
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:13,480
There were plenty of people in that
crowd who had problems with their dad

753
00:51:13,850 --> 00:51:17,150
Their dad had problems with the son, and
I don't think there was anything my dad

754
00:51:17,150 --> 00:51:18,490
was ever that proud of.

755
00:51:18,770 --> 00:51:19,810
Here he comes!

756
00:51:20,050 --> 00:51:21,050
Here we go!

757
00:51:22,010 --> 00:51:25,190
Dustin will tell you, I always wanted to
be like my dad.

758
00:51:25,910 --> 00:51:30,730
Those were hard shoes to fill, and I
think he always felt a tremendous amount

759
00:51:30,730 --> 00:51:35,550
pain and pressure that just built and
built and just stayed with him.

760
00:51:35,770 --> 00:51:37,450
Dustin got married to Terry.

761
00:51:38,080 --> 00:51:41,660
Dusty thought it was a very bad decision
and was very vocal about it, which I

762
00:51:41,660 --> 00:51:44,000
think is where they went their separate
ways at that point.

763
00:51:44,220 --> 00:51:50,840
I think that Dustin had a lot of
resentment from when he was growing up.

764
00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:53,200
wife just played into all of that.

765
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:59,160
I was made to choose a woman over my
father.

766
00:51:59,480 --> 00:52:01,420
And I chose the woman.

767
00:52:01,780 --> 00:52:06,660
I was mad and I was angry. I didn't want
anything to do with my father.

768
00:52:07,340 --> 00:52:09,460
I didn't talk to my dad for five years.

769
00:52:09,680 --> 00:52:13,620
It was heartbreaking because he suffered
greatly because of it.

770
00:52:14,600 --> 00:52:19,980
During those five years, I wanted
nothing else than to do something

771
00:52:20,300 --> 00:52:23,340
I was tired of being Dustin Rhodes.

772
00:52:33,120 --> 00:52:36,380
We're sitting there watching Dustin.

773
00:52:36,860 --> 00:52:42,300
And Dusty's just floored because he
didn't have a clue.

774
00:52:42,600 --> 00:52:47,600
All he knew was that Dustin was going to
go to work at the WWE, and we all just

775
00:52:47,600 --> 00:52:49,160
looked at each other. Yeah.

776
00:52:49,800 --> 00:52:50,960
Dustin was Goldust.

777
00:52:51,540 --> 00:52:56,360
What does American Dream think of
Goldust? Well, I really don't have any

778
00:52:56,400 --> 00:53:00,280
You know, it's been about two years, two
and a half years since I've talked to

779
00:53:00,280 --> 00:53:04,160
him. Because of some mistakes he made
with Dustin, Dustin was right.

780
00:53:04,950 --> 00:53:09,450
And being upset with that, he was. But
where he wasn't right was letting the

781
00:53:09,450 --> 00:53:12,570
entire world know. I know you guys
haven't talked. It might be not a bad

782
00:53:12,570 --> 00:53:14,150
opportunity to say what you got on your
mind.

783
00:53:14,410 --> 00:53:15,670
Say what at least you want to say.

784
00:53:16,510 --> 00:53:17,448
About what?

785
00:53:17,450 --> 00:53:19,850
I can't, uh, there's lots to say.

786
00:53:20,630 --> 00:53:25,410
My initial impression of that character
was that it was a slap in the face. It

787
00:53:25,410 --> 00:53:27,090
was an insult to Dusty and to Dustin.

788
00:53:27,810 --> 00:53:28,810
It's the dream!

789
00:53:38,570 --> 00:53:45,370
The danger going into a real life
backstory is they go into a

790
00:53:45,370 --> 00:53:50,530
story and everybody's willing to pull
back the curtain this much.

791
00:53:51,050 --> 00:53:55,190
Everybody's cool with that. But after a
certain amount of time, you want the

792
00:53:55,190 --> 00:54:01,510
audience to lean in with you. You go
from that much of the story to that much

793
00:54:01,510 --> 00:54:02,510
the story.

794
00:54:02,550 --> 00:54:06,670
And now you're exposing things and
talking about things that you never

795
00:54:06,670 --> 00:54:07,670
thought you would.

796
00:54:07,930 --> 00:54:14,450
or intended to, and you don't realize
how much it's going to affect you or the

797
00:54:14,450 --> 00:54:18,090
other people involved until after you do
it, and by then it's too late.

798
00:54:18,350 --> 00:54:19,308
Oh, here we go!

799
00:54:19,310 --> 00:54:20,430
Woo -hoo! Here we go!

800
00:54:21,910 --> 00:54:24,170
Those things were way too fun.

801
00:54:24,790 --> 00:54:27,850
It was not easy, because in deep down I
wanted him.

802
00:54:32,870 --> 00:54:35,490
And I know he did too.

803
00:54:37,610 --> 00:54:39,030
But we're both hard -headed.

804
00:54:40,530 --> 00:54:42,590
And we both didn't pick up the phone.

805
00:54:43,770 --> 00:54:48,310
My dad was depressed. He seemed really
low.

806
00:54:49,490 --> 00:54:55,990
I'd find him sitting out on our porch,
just like so down.

807
00:54:56,770 --> 00:55:02,210
And he'd say, you know, I was never a
good father to Dustin.

808
00:55:02,750 --> 00:55:05,450
I should have done this. I should have
done that.

809
00:55:06,920 --> 00:55:10,960
You know, it was a really painful time,
very painful time in our life.

810
00:55:11,320 --> 00:55:14,940
During that time, my mom just kind of
instinctively knew that she wasn't going

811
00:55:14,940 --> 00:55:16,880
to get to see Justin's daughter, Dakota.

812
00:55:17,620 --> 00:55:22,660
I remember the last time we saw her, I
remember she cried on the way home.

813
00:55:23,940 --> 00:55:26,760
This falling out, he also cut me and
Teal out.

814
00:55:27,980 --> 00:55:31,640
And that creates the same resentment
that you were fighting against.

815
00:55:48,040 --> 00:55:52,280
This young fellow, when he was eight
years old, was digging ditches for his

816
00:55:52,340 --> 00:55:54,280
who was a plumber out in Texas.

817
00:55:55,120 --> 00:56:01,680
And he told our next inductee, there is
and can be an American dream.

818
00:56:01,920 --> 00:56:05,180
The American dream, Dufty Rose.

819
00:56:10,100 --> 00:56:14,860
I remember as a kid, we would have a
conversation where he treated me like

820
00:56:14,860 --> 00:56:15,860
of the boys.

821
00:56:16,370 --> 00:56:20,410
In wrestling, and when you're the
biggest fan of your dad, I mean, that's

822
00:56:20,410 --> 00:56:22,810
the ultimate gift on earth to have that.

823
00:56:25,510 --> 00:56:29,310
Cody was dressed in the boots and the
jeans and the western shirt, and it was

824
00:56:29,310 --> 00:56:32,230
important to Dusty to hand that to him.
That was his boy.

825
00:56:32,590 --> 00:56:36,750
I'm just standing there holding this
Hall of Fame trophy, and I thought it

826
00:56:36,750 --> 00:56:39,150
the greatest thing ever in my life.

827
00:56:39,730 --> 00:56:44,370
Part of the reason I went on this vision
quest with amateur wrestling and had

828
00:56:44,370 --> 00:56:45,370
such success.

829
00:56:45,500 --> 00:56:48,520
I loved that we were together with
wrestling.

830
00:56:49,660 --> 00:56:52,380
Eventually, I fell in love with pro
wrestling.

831
00:56:53,220 --> 00:56:56,400
There was nothing else that I would ever
want to do.

832
00:56:57,420 --> 00:57:03,480
I want to thank my children, Peel and
Cody, Kristen and Dustin Rhodes.

833
00:57:04,660 --> 00:57:05,940
You want me to elaborate?

834
00:57:07,060 --> 00:57:08,860
It wasn't on my radar.

835
00:57:10,120 --> 00:57:14,020
Honestly, I just, I wasn't there.

836
00:57:15,060 --> 00:57:21,500
And then you grow up, you see what truly
is important to you in your life.

837
00:57:22,420 --> 00:57:26,860
After not speaking to my dad for five
years, I go with Barry Windham to

838
00:57:26,860 --> 00:57:30,460
Jacksonville, and I pull up in the
parking lot, and Barry says, your dad is

839
00:57:30,460 --> 00:57:32,400
here, you know that, right? And I'm
like, okay, whatever.

840
00:57:33,300 --> 00:57:36,340
He walks up to me, and I don't know what
to expect.

841
00:57:36,920 --> 00:57:42,080
And he walks up, and then at the last,
like, six feet, he walks a little

842
00:57:45,900 --> 00:57:52,120
And he puts his, he basically tackles me
and he hugs me.

843
00:57:55,020 --> 00:57:56,160
And I hugged him.

844
00:57:57,300 --> 00:58:00,940
And we hugged and didn't say a word.

845
00:58:04,520 --> 00:58:09,580
And immediately, everything that was on
his shoulders and mine

846
00:58:09,580 --> 00:58:11,800
dropped.

847
00:58:12,960 --> 00:58:13,980
I was little.

848
00:58:14,600 --> 00:58:19,680
So I know that there were issues with
Pop and Dad, but there was never

849
00:58:19,680 --> 00:58:22,600
bad that I knew of. I didn't learn about
that until I was much older.

850
00:58:23,400 --> 00:58:27,940
But he was so happy that he was back,
and I don't think that either of them

851
00:58:27,940 --> 00:58:29,820
wanted to think too much about what
happened.

852
00:58:30,080 --> 00:58:31,520
They just wanted to be over that.

853
00:58:32,780 --> 00:58:34,260
He loved us all the same.

854
00:58:35,260 --> 00:58:40,800
He really did, and that was a hard
lesson for a young, going into his

855
00:58:40,800 --> 00:58:42,740
years, me to learn.

856
00:58:44,430 --> 00:58:46,530
My dad wanted his son back.

857
00:58:47,130 --> 00:58:48,130
That was it.

858
00:58:51,990 --> 00:58:55,830
This is where the big boys play, and let
me tell you something. There is no

859
00:58:55,830 --> 00:59:00,150
better anywhere in the world than WCW.

860
00:59:00,850 --> 00:59:06,110
As a head of creative, he saw something
bigger than most people saw when he

861
00:59:06,110 --> 00:59:07,290
looked at the wrestling product.

862
00:59:16,740 --> 00:59:21,640
He worked for Ron Simmons to be the
first black champion.

863
00:59:21,840 --> 00:59:27,800
He was pretty true to the decision that
made it possible for us to expand this

864
00:59:27,800 --> 00:59:28,960
idea of the American dream.

865
00:59:29,180 --> 00:59:34,580
And that right there just tells you a
whole lot about Dusty Rhodes. Dusty was

866
00:59:34,580 --> 00:59:38,900
the guy to step up front and say, no,
this is the guy who should be our

867
00:59:38,900 --> 00:59:44,400
champion. Opportunity knocks for WCW,
the showcase of professional wrestling.

868
00:59:45,050 --> 00:59:48,470
But Dusty had a hard time adjusting to a
corporate environment.

869
00:59:48,810 --> 00:59:53,650
Dusty just really didn't do the best
with not being his own boss.

870
00:59:54,070 --> 00:59:59,310
And he had his hands in cuffs a lot
because of the corporate structure of

871
00:59:59,310 --> 01:00:01,050
and World Championship Wrestling.

872
01:00:01,450 --> 01:00:07,090
But Dusty was a part of the team that
was finally beating WWE from 96 until

873
01:00:07,090 --> 01:00:08,090
about the end of 98.

874
01:00:08,410 --> 01:00:09,730
That was a fun ride.

875
01:00:10,570 --> 01:00:13,570
And then Vince McMahon started to turn
it around again.

876
01:00:14,240 --> 01:00:15,240
That was less fun.

877
01:00:16,100 --> 01:00:19,840
And ultimately led to the end of WCW.

878
01:00:20,140 --> 01:00:23,680
I think at that point, Dusty was kind of
just done.

879
01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:31,660
One of the things about growing up in a
culture of poverty, it instills within

880
01:00:31,660 --> 01:00:36,800
you a value of being really present
oriented.

881
01:00:37,260 --> 01:00:40,280
He never had that ability.

882
01:00:41,180 --> 01:00:45,580
To look to the future, to plan for the
future, to prepare for the future.

883
01:00:46,120 --> 01:00:51,480
My dad's motto was always, if I have one
dollar in my pocket, I'm spending two.

884
01:00:51,720 --> 01:00:53,600
Spend your money, you'll make more
later.

885
01:00:55,280 --> 01:00:57,240
You don't need to do that. Don't do
that.

886
01:00:58,500 --> 01:01:01,940
My dad always said, you come through
life one time, you might as well pass by

887
01:01:01,940 --> 01:01:04,600
a Cadillac. And buddy, I passed by on a
Cadillac.

888
01:01:05,280 --> 01:01:06,660
Overspended, got behind the IRS.

889
01:01:07,040 --> 01:01:10,200
I'm talking about a dollar in my pocket.

890
01:01:11,920 --> 01:01:13,480
We were very broke.

891
01:01:14,580 --> 01:01:18,200
And he did everything in his power to
make it so that we didn't know.

892
01:01:19,240 --> 01:01:23,960
I do know it was incredibly difficult on
him and my mother. I know that they

893
01:01:23,960 --> 01:01:25,160
almost didn't make it.

894
01:01:26,000 --> 01:01:30,400
My mom had gone back to school to be a
nurse and to get a job and to work in a

895
01:01:30,400 --> 01:01:33,180
hospital. And I thought at the time she
just wanted a career. Her kids were

896
01:01:33,180 --> 01:01:37,580
older. I didn't realize how dire it was.

897
01:01:41,390 --> 01:01:45,430
Paul Heyman gave me a job when I was
broke, and he knew I was on my ass.

898
01:01:49,530 --> 01:01:55,250
The worst part is where a wrestler

899
01:01:55,250 --> 01:01:58,350
loses the business completely.

900
01:01:59,330 --> 01:02:01,470
He's used to being out in front of a
crowd.

901
01:02:01,970 --> 01:02:03,890
He's used to making a consistent living.

902
01:02:04,470 --> 01:02:09,350
It's not an easy ride when you're down
in wrestling. It's really hard to pull

903
01:02:09,350 --> 01:02:10,530
the nose back up on it.

904
01:02:11,500 --> 01:02:13,560
He did some work for Hall's promotion.

905
01:02:14,160 --> 01:02:15,920
He did independent promotion.

906
01:02:16,940 --> 01:02:20,340
And things were just getting worse and
worse and worse financially.

907
01:02:23,300 --> 01:02:29,340
Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time to
induct the American Dream Dusty Rose.

908
01:02:30,860 --> 01:02:35,780
Please welcome his two sons, Dustin
Reynolds and Cody Rose.

909
01:02:39,500 --> 01:02:43,300
He didn't need a pitch, he didn't need a
parlor, he didn't need a shop. All

910
01:02:43,300 --> 01:02:45,600
Dusty Rhodes needed was a mic.

911
01:02:46,280 --> 01:02:50,420
And one thing that he passed to myself,
my brother, and my family is that

912
01:02:50,420 --> 01:02:54,740
nothing or nobody is bigger than this
business.

913
01:02:56,760 --> 01:03:02,260
I do remember Cody at the Hall of Fame
and realizing right then and there that

914
01:03:02,260 --> 01:03:03,300
we had a future superstar.

915
01:03:04,160 --> 01:03:05,300
Stay away from my dad.

916
01:03:05,620 --> 01:03:08,460
You got a feisty one here. What's the
matter, dream? You can't stick up for

917
01:03:08,460 --> 01:03:13,600
yourself? Even back then, you could see
that he had the Rhodes family magic.

918
01:03:14,000 --> 01:03:18,260
You know, there is this respect factor
for this lineage.

919
01:03:19,000 --> 01:03:24,520
At that point, I was not ready for the
mantle of responsibility that comes with

920
01:03:24,520 --> 01:03:26,680
being a member of this family.

921
01:03:27,680 --> 01:03:32,560
But he knew I was going to make it on
the level that...

922
01:03:32,940 --> 01:03:34,080
He had made it on.

923
01:03:37,160 --> 01:03:42,500
Too often than not, some of our old
-timers, some of our Hall of Famers,

924
01:03:42,500 --> 01:03:46,680
get a bad rap for not necessarily being
the best family men. And I am here to

925
01:03:46,680 --> 01:03:49,280
tell you, that is a grave
misunderstanding.

926
01:03:50,220 --> 01:03:53,460
And if there was a Hall of Fame for
fathers, you could bet he would be in

927
01:03:53,460 --> 01:03:54,299
one as well.

928
01:03:54,300 --> 01:03:57,300
Our father, the American dream, Dusty
Rhodes.

929
01:04:08,810 --> 01:04:13,510
When you go back and you look at our
industry, you look at driving down the

930
01:04:13,510 --> 01:04:16,690
night after night, trying to make a
town, getting $25.

931
01:04:17,070 --> 01:04:18,310
That's hard times.

932
01:04:20,110 --> 01:04:26,750
But it's our duty to make it good times
for the fans that pay their money to see

933
01:04:26,750 --> 01:04:28,610
us perform each and every night.

934
01:04:35,630 --> 01:04:37,430
Wrestling industry is about people.

935
01:04:38,030 --> 01:04:40,010
Brought really high and then brought
really low.

936
01:04:40,350 --> 01:04:46,750
In that regard, Dusty Rhodes' story is
not exceptional, but that he was able to

937
01:04:46,750 --> 01:04:51,030
have another act after that, that was
incredible.

938
01:04:52,150 --> 01:04:57,330
At the time, we were trying to find the
next generation of talent, and we knew

939
01:04:57,330 --> 01:04:58,990
that Dusty could be very helpful with
that.

940
01:05:00,330 --> 01:05:01,630
It was so surreal.

941
01:05:01,970 --> 01:05:04,450
Here's Dusty Rhodes interviewing with
me.

942
01:05:05,920 --> 01:05:08,400
Of course you should have a job here,
Dusty.

943
01:05:08,980 --> 01:05:13,820
He was really excited to develop and
train our talent, not only to be able to

944
01:05:13,820 --> 01:05:17,020
perform in the ring, but to be able to
cut a good promo, to be able to tell a

945
01:05:17,020 --> 01:05:18,020
good story.

946
01:05:19,060 --> 01:05:23,200
Dusty's really the first person to ever
talk to me about promos. There is an

947
01:05:23,200 --> 01:05:29,860
escape, and I will find it, no matter
what it takes.

948
01:05:33,320 --> 01:05:37,920
We cultivated like a different side of
my personality that I didn't know that I

949
01:05:37,920 --> 01:05:38,920
had.

950
01:05:39,760 --> 01:05:41,420
Dusty was always about being himself.

951
01:05:41,780 --> 01:05:45,120
He made me understand from the get -go
that you're fine, you're perfect the way

952
01:05:45,120 --> 01:05:46,120
you are.

953
01:05:46,260 --> 01:05:51,660
I didn't feel like I belonged, but Dusty
loved his broken toys, as he called

954
01:05:51,660 --> 01:05:54,880
them, and really took the time to really
nourish me.

955
01:05:55,540 --> 01:06:01,670
When you think of the great women's
wrestlers who have changed the times,

956
01:06:01,670 --> 01:06:06,230
have to talk about the American dream,
Dusty Rhodes, and his ability to mold

957
01:06:06,230 --> 01:06:10,290
this generation of talent. A lot of
people deserve credit for it without

958
01:06:10,290 --> 01:06:14,270
question, but Dusty Rhodes is one of the
people who made that happen.

959
01:06:16,030 --> 01:06:19,910
He loved that job.

960
01:06:20,370 --> 01:06:22,590
He loved working with those kids.

961
01:06:23,990 --> 01:06:30,110
When he was coaching at NXT, him and my
mom both seemed so much happier, so

962
01:06:30,110 --> 01:06:31,940
much... More settled.

963
01:06:33,400 --> 01:06:38,220
Later in life, when I look at their
relationship, she brought him to a place

964
01:06:38,220 --> 01:06:40,240
that I never thought he would ever be.

965
01:06:40,520 --> 01:06:43,420
Just a deep appreciation for family.

966
01:06:44,280 --> 01:06:49,920
And I think he saw an opportunity to
right some wrongs.

967
01:06:51,360 --> 01:06:54,540
What was important to me was the
relationship that I had with him at that

968
01:06:54,540 --> 01:06:58,400
moment. He would call me every single
day.

969
01:06:59,340 --> 01:07:05,460
He didn't like being an old man, but he
really did like being a grandpa.

970
01:07:06,820 --> 01:07:10,620
Being grandparents, you just do all the
fun stuff, which was kind of his lane

971
01:07:10,620 --> 01:07:14,140
anyway. Whatever you want, all the time,
Christmas every day.

972
01:07:14,440 --> 01:07:16,740
That was kind of his brand.

973
01:07:18,180 --> 01:07:25,120
He was a great man who circumnavigated
through life and found his path and

974
01:07:25,120 --> 01:07:27,000
his way and figured it out.

975
01:07:28,360 --> 01:07:32,740
But no matter what, he still wanted to
go out and conquer the world.

976
01:07:39,560 --> 01:07:46,560
Having two sons you are proud of, two
sons

977
01:07:46,560 --> 01:07:51,700
that you love with all your heart is
what's best for business.

978
01:07:55,240 --> 01:08:00,620
We recognize that we have this amazing
opportunity to have Dusty and Cody and

979
01:08:00,620 --> 01:08:05,660
Dustin all in the ring, you know, at the
same time and have a storyline that

980
01:08:05,660 --> 01:08:11,140
really did pit two families against one
another. I mean, it doesn't get much

981
01:08:11,140 --> 01:08:12,320
more real than that.

982
01:08:15,120 --> 01:08:19,880
To your glorious baby boy, the one who's
always done everything absolutely

983
01:08:19,880 --> 01:08:25,060
right. Or you can give this job to the
son that you neglected all those years

984
01:08:25,060 --> 01:08:26,399
traveling on the road.

985
01:08:26,840 --> 01:08:31,600
Stephanie, you can go straight to hell!

986
01:08:35,540 --> 01:08:40,040
I was worried about him. He was starting
to look really frail.

987
01:08:43,470 --> 01:08:46,990
But he was excited to be in the ring
with both his sons.

988
01:08:47,510 --> 01:08:49,210
It was a dream come true.

989
01:08:49,430 --> 01:08:53,430
There is no length I will not go to
protect this family's future.

990
01:08:54,529 --> 01:08:57,370
And yeah, we're not the perfect family.

991
01:09:01,330 --> 01:09:07,450
Tonight, we fight for our lives.
Tonight, we fight for our family.

992
01:09:12,590 --> 01:09:19,529
My dad didn't like being seen on camera
when he got older because he didn't want

993
01:09:19,529 --> 01:09:21,229
to be remembered as a fat old man.

994
01:09:21,450 --> 01:09:22,710
He wanted to be young.

995
01:09:24,270 --> 01:09:31,170
It was the first wrestling moment I'd

996
01:09:31,170 --> 01:09:36,090
had in years where I was like, this is
great. This is so good. It was magic.

997
01:09:41,640 --> 01:09:43,640
It was crazy, crazy loud.

998
01:09:43,859 --> 01:09:47,319
The people were all about it, and the
match was fire, man.

999
01:09:49,180 --> 01:09:56,120
Me and Dustin are in there trying to
have the five -star classic, and it is.

1000
01:09:56,120 --> 01:09:58,200
can feel the tension. You knew it was
special.

1001
01:09:58,920 --> 01:10:05,680
But the crowd literally comes up off
their feet when he threw his hat at

1002
01:10:05,680 --> 01:10:06,720
Dean Ambrose.

1003
01:10:25,160 --> 01:10:26,560
He did what he does best.

1004
01:10:26,800 --> 01:10:31,320
He drew people in and made them feel.
And he's the best at that.

1005
01:10:58,730 --> 01:11:01,670
I played it back in my head, and I
wasn't feeling really well. I was

1006
01:11:01,670 --> 01:11:03,490
with some issues, fighting them off.

1007
01:11:03,830 --> 01:11:05,710
But, my God, it was just amazing.

1008
01:11:09,770 --> 01:11:11,630
It's something that I will never forget.

1009
01:11:11,950 --> 01:11:14,890
It was a very huge moment.

1010
01:11:16,930 --> 01:11:23,790
It was like watching this great
performer have one last stand,

1011
01:11:23,950 --> 01:11:24,950
you know?

1012
01:11:25,210 --> 01:11:27,250
One last moment.

1013
01:11:29,960 --> 01:11:33,500
That was the one and only time the roads
were a hole.

1014
01:11:34,760 --> 01:11:38,020
And I didn't know that that was it.

1015
01:11:43,060 --> 01:11:44,300
He loved this bike.

1016
01:11:44,560 --> 01:11:45,760
He definitely did.

1017
01:11:46,420 --> 01:11:48,500
Yeah. Oh, look, we have some friends
today.

1018
01:11:49,480 --> 01:11:51,080
Always the Longhorns.

1019
01:11:51,460 --> 01:11:54,880
I never told you this story, but he got
me a cattle chart.

1020
01:11:55,420 --> 01:11:59,340
And I studied it. It was probably this
big, and it had every charlay. It had

1021
01:11:59,340 --> 01:12:01,200
whole skins. Oh, my gosh, I think I
remember that.

1022
01:12:01,480 --> 01:12:04,800
And I had to learn every breed of
cattle. Oh, my gosh.

1023
01:12:05,020 --> 01:12:10,760
And he tested me on it constantly. I
think secretly he wanted me to be like

1024
01:12:10,760 --> 01:12:11,760
bull riders.

1025
01:12:12,460 --> 01:12:13,460
Yes.

1026
01:12:15,020 --> 01:12:16,180
I miss him, honey.

1027
01:12:16,460 --> 01:12:17,459
I know, sweetie.

1028
01:12:17,460 --> 01:12:18,460
I know.

1029
01:12:22,830 --> 01:12:27,010
I go to this event in New York, and
everyone's there.

1030
01:12:30,530 --> 01:12:37,270
And when I seen Dusty, I couldn't
believe it. Probably lost 60, 70

1031
01:12:37,270 --> 01:12:39,830
pounds at that time from what I knew him
as.

1032
01:12:40,110 --> 01:12:42,570
Something was going on, but he never
told me what it was.

1033
01:12:43,610 --> 01:12:49,970
He was having these mysterious signs of
illness, but he hated doctors.

1034
01:12:50,510 --> 01:12:55,290
And he felt like if he didn't go to the
doctor, he wouldn't get sick. You know,

1035
01:12:55,310 --> 01:12:59,410
it's like he hadn't aged in forever, and
then it was like all those years,

1036
01:12:59,570 --> 01:13:04,390
beating his body, just didn't catch up
with him.

1037
01:13:05,030 --> 01:13:09,330
Tonight I winded and dined with kings
and queens and slept an alley and dined

1038
01:13:09,330 --> 01:13:14,310
pork and meat. Dusty, thank you so much.
To see him kind of fall apart in front

1039
01:13:14,310 --> 01:13:15,710
of us was hard.

1040
01:13:16,410 --> 01:13:19,430
I didn't know yet just how bad it was
about to get.

1041
01:13:21,350 --> 01:13:27,810
One day he woke up really early in the
morning. He said, something's wrong.

1042
01:13:28,090 --> 01:13:30,310
And he collapsed. He just collapsed.

1043
01:13:31,250 --> 01:13:32,590
I was frantic.

1044
01:13:35,150 --> 01:13:39,950
Doctor comes in and says that he has an
infection.

1045
01:13:41,630 --> 01:13:45,230
And it was just eating his liver up.

1046
01:13:47,660 --> 01:13:50,760
I remember talking to the kids. I said,
y 'all need to come.

1047
01:13:52,460 --> 01:13:57,800
You know, I got there, and it just all
went downhill so fast.

1048
01:13:58,960 --> 01:14:04,180
He called Dustin and I into the room,
and he asked if he could sit up.

1049
01:14:05,140 --> 01:14:09,760
And I couldn't pull him up by myself,
and my brother stood on the other side

1050
01:14:09,760 --> 01:14:15,300
pulled him up. And as much as I'm hard
on Dustin, there's not a better son.

1051
01:14:17,580 --> 01:14:19,200
I knew what that moment was.

1052
01:14:21,200 --> 01:14:22,440
And he was awake.

1053
01:14:22,700 --> 01:14:26,420
So I said, are you okay, Dad? I love
you. And, you know, I said all my things

1054
01:14:26,420 --> 01:14:31,700
that I needed to say to him, and he said
them back, right? And I go get Kristen

1055
01:14:31,700 --> 01:14:37,080
at the airport, and I drive back, and he
had already closed his eyes.

1056
01:14:38,300 --> 01:14:43,840
When I got to the hospital, he was
already in that state of...

1057
01:14:44,840 --> 01:14:49,700
He had already, I mean, I didn't get to
speak to him. So, no, I didn't get to

1058
01:14:49,700 --> 01:14:51,180
make it there to have words with him.

1059
01:14:52,400 --> 01:14:53,400
So, yeah.

1060
01:14:54,560 --> 01:14:55,560
He died.

1061
01:14:55,840 --> 01:15:02,820
It was 30 hours from the time I called
the ambulance until he

1062
01:15:02,820 --> 01:15:04,220
died. It was awful.

1063
01:15:04,600 --> 01:15:05,600
It was just awful.

1064
01:15:10,080 --> 01:15:12,940
This week, this industry lost a legend.

1065
01:15:15,080 --> 01:15:16,720
The American dream, Dusty Rhodes.

1066
01:15:18,280 --> 01:15:19,720
He gave everything he had.

1067
01:15:20,060 --> 01:15:21,360
It was his passion.

1068
01:15:23,880 --> 01:15:27,720
To everybody on this stage, we lost
family.

1069
01:15:53,169 --> 01:15:57,370
He hated funerals.

1070
01:15:58,730 --> 01:16:02,070
But I do think he would have been
touched by all the people that came.

1071
01:16:03,250 --> 01:16:09,370
You know, these giants that you grew up
with and you haven't seen them in so

1072
01:16:09,370 --> 01:16:11,110
long, and they're all there.

1073
01:16:12,310 --> 01:16:18,710
I've always been impressed with how
revered he was, even from the old days.

1074
01:16:20,110 --> 01:16:24,030
I would go to events and I would just
watch wrestlers and ask him for his

1075
01:16:24,030 --> 01:16:25,030
advice.

1076
01:16:25,810 --> 01:16:27,410
Internalize every word.

1077
01:16:31,150 --> 01:16:32,470
I miss him terribly.

1078
01:16:34,370 --> 01:16:36,430
But I know he is not in pain now.

1079
01:16:37,470 --> 01:16:41,030
And now I guarantee it, he is getting
funky like a monkey with the angels in

1080
01:16:41,030 --> 01:16:42,030
heaven.

1081
01:16:45,270 --> 01:16:48,390
It's professional identity. It claims so
much of...

1082
01:16:48,940 --> 01:16:51,260
who we think he is, but no.

1083
01:16:51,540 --> 01:16:53,640
It's a minuscule part.

1084
01:16:54,200 --> 01:16:56,640
He's a cowboy of the old republic.

1085
01:16:56,920 --> 01:17:03,880
He's a master orator who spit fire, but
if you pose the question to him, fame

1086
01:17:03,880 --> 01:17:08,100
or family is always family.

1087
01:17:12,920 --> 01:17:18,080
I was there at the end, and the last
thing he said,

1088
01:17:19,400 --> 01:17:23,180
On this earth was my mom's name.

1089
01:17:24,520 --> 01:17:29,460
And I'm glad they got that.

1090
01:17:33,620 --> 01:17:38,760
The important parts of our lives were
not the wrestling or any of that. We had

1091
01:17:38,760 --> 01:17:43,200
family. We had a life. And Dusty gave us
a good life.

1092
01:17:46,160 --> 01:17:47,600
Come on, baby.

1093
01:17:48,910 --> 01:17:51,270
God, you just sounded like Dad when you
said that.

1094
01:17:52,990 --> 01:17:54,190
I love this.

1095
01:17:55,270 --> 01:17:58,170
There's a special place out there where
he visited.

1096
01:17:58,530 --> 01:18:01,890
It's just a field with a lot of
longhorns.

1097
01:18:02,410 --> 01:18:08,270
And we thought it would be the perfect
place to lay his ashes.

1098
01:18:09,730 --> 01:18:13,210
What happened to the little cross that
was here? It was right there. We had to

1099
01:18:13,210 --> 01:18:14,210
hang it up high.

1100
01:18:14,330 --> 01:18:15,430
Oh, yeah.

1101
01:18:16,630 --> 01:18:17,630
I'm good.

1102
01:18:20,470 --> 01:18:25,370
I, of all the siblings, spent the least
amount of time with my dad. And when you

1103
01:18:25,370 --> 01:18:30,070
don't get that closure and when you
don't get that time, it's not easy.

1104
01:18:31,450 --> 01:18:35,130
But there was no question in my mind
that I loved my father and that my

1105
01:18:35,130 --> 01:18:35,929
loved me.

1106
01:18:35,930 --> 01:18:38,490
He knew. He knew. He knew.

1107
01:18:39,750 --> 01:18:43,150
We had differences, but I always loved
him.

1108
01:18:43,390 --> 01:18:49,900
It is very important to me that we... as
a family, come together and uphold

1109
01:18:49,900 --> 01:18:51,340
our father's legacy.

1110
01:18:53,360 --> 01:18:56,600
Because it means something to this
world. It does.

1111
01:19:00,180 --> 01:19:02,500
Just one mystery remains.

1112
01:19:02,880 --> 01:19:08,860
Who will stand across the WrestleMania
ring from Seth freaking Rollins? We know

1113
01:19:08,860 --> 01:19:09,739
it's an opponent.

1114
01:19:09,740 --> 01:19:10,840
My dad.

1115
01:19:11,320 --> 01:19:14,060
It's more difficult because he won't see
it.

1116
01:19:14,500 --> 01:19:18,010
But... His thumbprint is all over.

1117
01:19:18,910 --> 01:19:20,110
Who's it going to be?

1118
01:19:26,050 --> 01:19:28,230
My dad taught me so much.

1119
01:19:28,510 --> 01:19:33,650
And at this stage in my life, 53 years
old, it is all about giving back.

1120
01:19:34,150 --> 01:19:35,150
What's up, kids?

1121
01:19:36,150 --> 01:19:40,470
And I'm proud to teach the future
superstars.

1122
01:19:54,730 --> 01:19:58,030
Son of a blumber is grinning from ear to
ear.

1123
01:19:58,450 --> 01:20:00,270
I had the best education in wrestling.

1124
01:20:00,890 --> 01:20:04,770
I can confidently say it's because I was
Dustin's son.

1125
01:20:07,170 --> 01:20:13,110
When I see a change in them and they get
it for the first time and they see it

1126
01:20:13,110 --> 01:20:14,190
on their face, that's a payoff.

1127
01:20:15,130 --> 01:20:16,250
It's a payoff for me.

1128
01:20:18,350 --> 01:20:20,310
He would love that.

1129
01:20:20,650 --> 01:20:22,990
He would be so proud. I know he would.

1130
01:20:34,970 --> 01:20:37,750
I, in this moment, feel really connected
to my dad.

1131
01:20:39,430 --> 01:20:41,110
That, I know he's there.

1132
01:20:51,750 --> 01:20:53,110
This is a great one, too.

1133
01:20:53,510 --> 01:20:54,510
It's that face.

1134
01:20:54,610 --> 01:20:55,610
It's rubbing right there.

1135
01:20:57,390 --> 01:21:00,290
Look at the stirrups. He was trying to
prove to his dad.

1136
01:21:00,950 --> 01:21:02,250
No, wait, what's this story?

1137
01:21:02,830 --> 01:21:06,670
Big Virgil cut him from Little League?
The story is that his dad cut him from

1138
01:21:06,670 --> 01:21:10,510
his own team. I don't believe that. The
reality is, I think. Maybe benched him.

1139
01:21:10,610 --> 01:21:13,250
Maybe benched him, yeah. Yeah, I mean,
you've got to put your best hitters in.

1140
01:21:13,370 --> 01:21:16,390
Always a little bit of drama. I've seen
this one. That was your coach. Yeah,

1141
01:21:16,430 --> 01:21:20,670
this was my coach, yep. So how was that
with dad coaching you? Great motivator.

1142
01:21:20,690 --> 01:21:22,710
But motivator, sure.

1143
01:21:23,010 --> 01:21:26,890
However, his defensive scheme was
genuinely very good.

1144
01:21:27,190 --> 01:21:30,290
So he had that second defense with all
the really overweight kids.

1145
01:21:30,760 --> 01:21:32,060
The Jumbo World Order.

1146
01:21:32,580 --> 01:21:34,880
And he made them their own shirts.

1147
01:21:35,880 --> 01:21:38,240
That one is definitely one of my
favorites.

1148
01:21:38,540 --> 01:21:41,820
Well, I know we need to pick one. For
the foundation.

1149
01:21:42,100 --> 01:21:43,100
Do we need to pick one?

1150
01:21:43,360 --> 01:21:44,380
As we do the website.

1151
01:21:44,640 --> 01:21:45,579
I like the Little League film.

1152
01:21:45,580 --> 01:21:46,580
I mean, I like that one.

1153
01:21:46,920 --> 01:21:47,980
Dusty Rhodes Foundation.

1154
01:21:48,900 --> 01:21:51,400
Something that my mom started.

1155
01:21:51,700 --> 01:21:56,640
And it's perfect because one of the
things that encapsulated Dusty was youth

1156
01:21:56,640 --> 01:22:01,760
sports. We've already given some money
away to a baseball program in North

1157
01:22:01,760 --> 01:22:07,520
Carolina, which is an underserved
community, and we want to continue to

1158
01:22:07,520 --> 01:22:11,800
with them. But we want to do all the
places that Dad lived and hopefully

1159
01:22:12,260 --> 01:22:17,760
I mean, and it all stems back to here,
in here. It's what he didn't have, what

1160
01:22:17,760 --> 01:22:18,760
he wanted.

1161
01:22:19,240 --> 01:22:21,740
The rules are everyone needs to be
involved.

1162
01:22:23,140 --> 01:22:24,360
We'll all do it together.

1163
01:22:26,610 --> 01:22:32,630
Maybe his last wish, in a way, that
everyone get along and everyone carry

1164
01:22:32,630 --> 01:22:33,630
legacy forward.

1165
01:22:40,090 --> 01:22:43,230
When I was a kid, they one day said,
you're going to be the American dream.

1166
01:22:43,390 --> 01:22:47,070
You're going to field build, and there's
going to be millions come to see the

1167
01:22:47,070 --> 01:22:50,030
American dream, the greatest sports
attraction in the world today. And

1168
01:22:50,030 --> 01:22:51,030
true, and you know it's true.

1169
01:22:51,410 --> 01:22:54,790
I am number one at what I do, and it's
going to be a good while.

1170
01:22:55,390 --> 01:22:57,990
A long time that I'm going to stay
number one.

1171
01:23:02,310 --> 01:23:08,790
From Austin, Texas, weighing 280 pounds,
Dirty Dusty Rose.

1172
01:23:10,710 --> 01:23:15,970
The fact that Dusty Rose is still
influential says something about his

1173
01:23:15,970 --> 01:23:16,970
resonance.

1174
01:23:17,550 --> 01:23:22,370
As long as people are struggling, they
will look to the American dream, Dusty

1175
01:23:22,370 --> 01:23:23,370
Rose.

1176
01:23:32,840 --> 01:23:36,260
Dusty Rhodes did it better than all of
us before us.

1177
01:23:37,880 --> 01:23:41,020
When I went down, grew chin up, the
finger went up.

1178
01:23:41,440 --> 01:23:43,160
It's Dusty Rhodes all day long, brother.

1179
01:23:43,620 --> 01:23:46,700
When I was nine years old, I saw him do
it. I stole it then.

1180
01:23:47,260 --> 01:23:49,180
I used it for 30 years in the ring.

1181
01:23:50,100 --> 01:23:53,760
I learned a lot about having fun.

1182
01:23:54,270 --> 01:23:55,270
From Dusty Rhodes.

1183
01:23:56,350 --> 01:23:59,350
You know what? You can kiss if you don't
like what I'm saying.

1184
01:24:02,210 --> 01:24:04,870
Dusty had a way with people. Dusty had a
way with creating.

1185
01:24:05,270 --> 01:24:10,550
Dusty had a way of talking to you that
would kick you off guard, but also teach

1186
01:24:10,550 --> 01:24:11,550
you a lesson.

1187
01:24:11,570 --> 01:24:15,610
That's hard time.

1188
01:24:20,590 --> 01:24:21,670
That's hard time.

1189
01:24:22,290 --> 01:24:23,450
Raise the wall time.

1190
01:24:25,260 --> 01:24:26,300
We sold out everywhere.

1191
01:24:27,460 --> 01:24:31,380
He had a lot of respect for a lot of
people and deserved it.

1192
01:24:32,480 --> 01:24:35,160
The greatest, most attractive in the
world today.

1193
01:24:35,760 --> 01:24:40,620
The little plumber son who come out of
the ditch and became so sweet.

1194
01:24:41,000 --> 01:24:47,800
When you measure the whole work, I don't
think there'll ever be anybody to

1195
01:24:47,800 --> 01:24:49,920
even come close to what he accomplished.

1196
01:24:52,170 --> 01:24:55,070
Do I think I have lived the American
dream is the question.

1197
01:24:55,550 --> 01:24:56,710
I would say I have.

1198
01:24:59,970 --> 01:25:02,030
How do you demand not to be remembered?

1199
01:25:03,130 --> 01:25:04,570
In the end, a good father.

1200
01:25:05,830 --> 01:25:10,210
That's the most important thing to me,
is a good husband and a good father, and

1201
01:25:10,210 --> 01:25:11,210
that's the way I feel.

1202
01:25:13,330 --> 01:25:14,330
Peace out.