The Daily Scoop / January 2010 / Wrestling Legend Comes to Hendersonville

Wrestling Legend Comes to Hendersonville

It’s not unusual for a car dealership to help people obtain the American dream of owning a car, but on Saturday one such Hendersonville business really gave its customers the American Dream.

Former professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes appeared at the 1st Choice Auto Center at Hunter Chevrolet to mingle with fans, sign some autographs, pose for pictures and relive some of his glory days as one of wrestling’s biggest names in the 1970s and 1980s. The man forever known as the American Dream looks like he could still mix it up in the ring even though the 62-year-old is more content these days developing talent for World Wrestling Entertainment and following his sons, Dustin and Cody, in their own wrestling careers.

Rhodes’ appearance in Hendersonville certainly made area wrestling fans one happy bunch.

“I loved him back in the day when he was fighting the Four Horsemen. They had some pretty good fights,” said Christopher Payne while clutching his newly autographed photograph of Rhodes.

Rhodes has worked with the local dealership before on special sales events and said he enjoys interacting with the fans, all of whom eagerly stood a line for a moment with their wrestling hero. Rhodes provided signed photographs to a mixture of both seasoned wrestling fans and those too young to remember the wrestling Hall of Famer’s days in the ring.

“The different people that came in and out today was just really cool,” Rhodes said during a break. “The old fans bring the young fans and they show the tapes of me and they still don’t know who in the hell I am.”

Rhodes has been involved in wrestling for 40 years now. Growing up in Austin, Texas, he said wrestling was something his family followed. Friday nights were often spent going with his dad, a plumber, to the local matches. A young Dusty Rhodes was hooked and a career was born.

Rhodes created a flamboyant persona that foreshadowed the billion dollar industry that wrestling has become.

“I just said, ‘I want to do that. I want to entertain a bunch of folks some time,’” he said. “I love entertaining. I love being around folks. Being athletic when you entertain is really cool because that is what our business is all about. WWE is the entertainment business. We’re like Disney or something else. We do movies now, and it’s a great opportunity for everybody. I’m very blessed.”

Looking back on his career, Rhodes said he is especially fond of his 1986 match in Greensboro with Ric Flair and any match he had with Harley Race, the Four Horsemen and Terry Funk. And then there was the main event that told him he had indeed made it big.

“My first trip to the Garden, Madison Square Garden,” he said. “That was really big and on my bucket list of things to do.”

He explained how he came up with the nickname the American Dream. Actually, it was a man he worked with in the summer as a teenager who provided the inspiration. According to Rhodes, he was digging ditches with the man, T.C. Lee, who was like a second father to him.

Lee told Rhodes to work hard and make something of himself so he wouldn’t be digging ditches his entire life.

“He said, ‘You don’t need to be doing this. You need to be out there trying to achieve that American dream,’” Rhodes recalled. “I didn’t think much about it, but in 1974, I was doing an interview, and I used it. It wasn’t like I want you to call me this. People said here’s this common guy. He’s one of us. He doesn’t look like a bodybuilder, and he’s out there entertaining and talking smack. It just happened, and it stuck.”

Rhodes has certainly lived the American dream, obtaining fame and fortune in and out of the ring. He has even gotten the chance to talk wrestling with actor Mickey Rourke, who garnered rave reviews for his portrayal of a down-and-out grappler in the movie “The Wrestler.”

Rhodes said the movie did the one thing that any good wrestling match should do: it entertained the masses.

“Portions of it were realistic. It was pretty dark for me, though, and I told Mickey,” he said. “He was really good in it.”

The fans were simply overjoyed to catch a few moments with the wrestling star. One fan came all the way from Bryson City, where he stood in line for several minutes holding a wrestling belt he made himself to give to Rhodes.

“My mom and my friend told me that Dusty Rhodes was going to be here, and I just had to be here. I grew up watching wrestling, and Dusty Rhodes is one of the Hall of Famers that I grew up watching,” said Dillian S. Holloway. “I’m excited to be here. He’s in the top five along with Ric Flair.”

Another fan standing in line just wanted to get a copy of his Playstation 2 wrestling game autographed. A.J. Anderson of Swannanoa said the game features the American Dream Dusty Rhodes.

“I just watched him on TV a lot. I watch his two sons wrestle, too, Goldust and Cody Rhodes,” he said. “I was just raised up by mom watching him on TV in the old days. This is my first time ever meeting him.”

Rhodes said it is that kind of passion for wrestling that had him signing a steady stream of autographs for close to two hours. After his appearance, he said he would return to his life as a hunter and rancher who owns cattle in Florida and Texas.

He said he enjoyed hanging out with the people of Hendersonville and Western North Carolina. He said they obviously enjoy their wrestling.

“They were steady. They never stopped for the two hours,” he said.

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