Dusty: Reflections of Wrestling's American Dream (40 page)

BOOK: Dusty: Reflections of Wrestling's American Dream
9.08Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

After several months of discussion, planning, writing, and rewriting, the hardcover version finally hit the stores and made its way into the hands of readers. And when reviews began pouring in, something fascinating happened. We learned that if you loved Dusty, you loved the book. If you hated him, you hated the book. There was no gray area, only good or bad— it was all very black and white.

Much of the criticism I felt was unwarranted. For every review that disliked the chapter on how Dusty would book Starrcade Prime or the chapter dedicated to and written by his fans, there were two reviews that loved them because they were genuine. There was also criticism of a love-fest between Dusty and those who provided comments throughout the book, because nobody criticized Dusty.

When I first began gathering comments from people, Dusty’s edict was that nothing would be edited out. “If they say good things about me or if they say bad things about me, it has to go in as is,” he ordered.

Well, while Tully Blanchard partially criticized Dusty for not listening to others, I couldn’t get one other person to say anything negative about him— and believe me, I tried. While Dusty gave me a list of about 10 people to speak to, I ended up interviewing a lot more. I even placed calls to members of the Crockett family to get their side of the story as to what caused the demise of Jim Crockett Promotions. Without exception, I called Jackie, David, and even Jim Crockett, Jr. himself, leaving detailed messages of why I was calling, and not one of them returned any of my calls. The only one I did not call was the sister, Frances.

Quite frankly, the only things Dusty took an eraser to in regard to other people’s comments were some remarks made by his son Dustin about ex-wife Terri (aka Marlena). Even though Dusty might have agreed with his son’s comments, he felt the strong language could potentially hurt the feelings of his granddaughter Dakota, and he wasn’t about to let that happen.

Of all the people I contacted, aside from the Crocketts, only a handful declined to comment or didn’t bother to respond. They were: Hulk Hogan, who simply ignored the request because … well, probably because he’s Hulk Hogan; Linda McMahon, who wrote in an e-mail at the time, “I did not know Dusty very well and had very little interaction with him while he was here”; Vince McMahon, who cited a potential conflict of interest with WWE’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, should he provide a comment; and Paul Heyman, who said he wanted to comment, but couldn’t officially, because he didn’t want to get into trouble with Vince at the time. However, he did write in an e-mail: “I would LOVE to tell the story of how Dusty gave me a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE break in WCW, and then was removed as booker/lead writer … everyone turned their back on him … but I refused to at Starrcade, because he had given me the chance of a lifetime and upset a lot of people by doing it. I would be happy to tie that in to his ECW tenure, as I truly believe in my heart I owed him, and even though bringing him into ECW was ‘re-paying him,’ he contributed more to ECW than we could ever compensate him for.”

Overall, working with Dusty on
Reflections
was a fantastic educational experience for me. To say he is a character is an understatement, and some of our interactions working on the book were classic in their own right, perhaps even worthy of making it onto these pages.

One of the last times we got together to work on the book face-to-face, I drove from my then-home in Charlotte, North Carolina, to his home in Marietta, Georgia. When I arrived, I moved my overnight bag to his pickup truck for the long drive from the Peach State to Pensacola, Florida, where Dusty would judge a karaoke contest in his name to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The roundtrip drive would give us a good 12 hours together.

We left his home and made the first pit stop about 100 miles down the road to get a snack. As I went for my wallet to pay for my drink, I realized I had left it, and subsequently all my cash, in the glove compartment of my car; I had taken the wallet out of my pants pocket when I had last stopped
for gas. So, for the rest of the weekend, Dusty had to go into his pocket to pay for whatever I needed. He was quick to let whoever we came in contact with know of my forgetfulness.

Aside from hearing some great road stories, I not only learned Dusty had driven this route hundreds of times previously when doing WCW television, but that he knew all the lyrics to the theme of the TV show
Green Acres
, as he sang it for hours on end as we passed miles and miles of farm “land spreadin’ out so far and wide…”

I learned that Dusty could pull a hell of a rib if he wanted to. When the karaoke contest was finished, we called it a day and stayed overnight at one of his sister’s Pensacola condos. Dusty was kind enough to give me the master bedroom—the one that had no bathroom towels and no hot water. During the night, however, he lowered the thermostat to the point that icicles were forming on the inside of the bedroom window. It got so cold in that room that I had to open all the windows and the balcony door just to make the temperature bearable.

The next morning his sarcastic reaction to my complaint was, “Oh really, it was cold? You should’ve raised the thermostat.” You could see that held-back grin behind his attempted poker face as those words came spewing out with that exaggerated lisp. Perhaps it was his way of payback for thinking I had attempted to pull a rib on him by having no money on me.

I also learned Dusty could have a deep emotional side too, as it was during this trip that he finally opened up about Dustin and how that whole episode went down—a subject he had avoided for as long as he possibly could. It struck an emotional chord deep within him, and he was silent for a long time after talking about it. Personally, I felt this was the most compelling part of his book, because it was one of the few times where Dusty Rhodes took a backseat to Virgil Runnels, Jr.

Looking back now, these are just some of my personal reflections of Dusty, and my experience working with him on something that was very important to him.

So thanks, Dream, for the opportunity to be a small part of your much-storied and very colorful life.

ALSO AVAILABLE

Terry Funk

More Than Just Hardcore

by Terry Funk with Scott E. Williams

Foreword by Mick Foley

He’s been a fixture in professional wrestling for five decades. He helped introduce a hardcore wrestling style that you see in the WWE and Japan today. He’s made his mark in Hollywood. He’s Terry Funk, and this is his story. In this captivating look at the life of a living legend, Funk opens up about growing up in a wrestling family, working with various entertainment companies (including the ECW, WWE, and WWF), and so much more.

$16.95 Paperback

ALSO AVAILABLE

Legends of Pro Wrestling

150 Years of Headlocks, Body Slams, and Piledrivers

by Tim Hornbaker

Legends of Pro Wrestling
offers the first comprehensive look at the entire world of wrestling. With detailed biographies and never-before-seen statistics of some of the greatest athletes in the sport, you will be able to read about hundreds of wrestlers, dating back to the mid-1800s. As the first of its kind, this centralized reference allows wrestling enthusiasts a range of information at their fingertips and stands alone as the “ultimate wrestling resource.”

This book offers readers a link between what happened a century ago to what is happening today. A fan of Bruno Sammartino or “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers can enjoy this book as much as someone who follows John Cena or The Undertaker today. This collection is a never-ending source of facts, figures, and other entertaining data.

Professional wrestling is a world of accomplishment and legacy. Through injuries, sickness, and family tribulations, many wrestlers have given everything there is to give in the ring, and true fans of the sport love every second of it. No matter your age, if you’re a fan of professional wrestling,
Legends of Pro Wrestling
is the book for you to own and cherish.

$24.95 Paperback

ALSO AVAILABLE

Hardcore History

The Extremely Unauthorized Story of ECW

by Scott E. Williams

Foreword by “The Franchise” Shane Douglas

Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was one extreme contradiction piled on top of another. It was an incredibly influential company in the world of professional wrestling during the 1990s, yet it was never profitable. It portrayed itself as the ultimate in anti-authority rebellion, but its leadership was working covertly with the two wrestling giants, the WWF and WCW. Most of all, it blurred the line between real life and the fantasy world of professional wrestling like no other company, and many of those who thought they were conning others ended up being victims of the ultimate con.

Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of ECW
offers a frank, balanced look at the evolution of the company, starting even before its early days as a Philadelphia-area independent group called Eastern Championship Wrestling and extending past the death of Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001. Writer Scott E. Williams has pored through records and conducted dozens of interviews with fans, company officials, business partners, and the wrestlers themselves to bring you the most balanced account possible of this bizarre company.

$14.95 Paperback

BOOK: Dusty: Reflections of Wrestling's American Dream
9.08Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Sweet Piracy by Blake, Jennifer
Chasing the Bear by Robert B. Parker
Orphan Star by Alan Dean Foster
Semi Precious Weapons by Clancy Nacht
The Drowned Boy by Karin Fossum
Countdown by David Hagberg
Prince for a Princess by Eric Walters