Original subtitles

- Dusty Rhodes.

- Tell 'em Ric.

- Tell 'em Ric.

It's only just begun.

- Ric and Dusty together,

that was magic.

- I want you out here nose to nose,

face to face Ric Flair.

- The rivalry between Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes

is the rivalry between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

Contrasting styles is what makes great fights.

- Stylin' and profilin'.

- Ric rolled in with the jewelry and the suit

and the alligator shoes.

I looked at him go, "Man, I want to be like him."

- Woo.

Woo.

Woo.

- He's throwing his success in people's faces.

He's not afraid to brag.

- You can buy these anytime you want for about $10/$11,000.

I got 15 of them.

I don't put values in the same thing Ric Flair does.

- I've been hooked forever on Dusty Rhodes.

- The little plumber's son, who come out of the ditch

and became so sweet.

- He really was the American dream.

- And here we go.

- The polar opposites.

He was a perfect babyface.

I was the perfect heel.

- He has got a bad cut.

- For me and Flair,

you never knew what you were going to get.

You kept watching it.

- They both wanted one thing,

that top spot.

That creates an incredible dynamic.

- Yeah, you bad Ric.

You bad.

- When you have two of the best at the same time,

there's always going to be a bit of jealousy and rivalry.

That's what made it so good.

- You're out of line

- So much animosity

in this awesome rivalry.

- When two legends collide,

their rivalry stays pinned in our minds forever.

This is where we break down the legendary stories

behind the greatest rivalries of all time.

I'm Gabriel Iglesias,

and this is

WWE Rivals.

- Remember one thing, to be the man,

you got to beat the man.

I'm the son of a plumber.

I was raised in Austin, Texas, and I never had anything

unless I got down on my knees and went for it.

- The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes

and the Nature Boy, Ric Flair.

I don't even know where to start.

These are two names that I mean,

the business wouldn't be the business

without these two legends.

- Mmhmm.

- Those guys were a different level.

- Woo.

I'm the Nature Boy.

I'm the dealer.

You know why?

Because this says so.

Don't be stomping on me, Ric Flair.

Don't talk about the American Dream

Dusty Rhodes.

I am the best, daddy.

There is no other.

- You want to talk about how big this rivalry was,

look at the reaction.

If you put Dusty Rhodes versus Ric Flair in almost any arena

you were going to sell out.

- I wish I could have been there to experience that,

you know, and to be a fan back then,

Like, I'm so jealous that I-

- Ah, yeah dude it was the greatest.

- You know what I mean?

For you to be there, like,

- Especially for a little kid.

- Yeah.

- Man, everything's bigger than life as it is, right?

- I meet people all the time,

like, "I grew up on Dusty Rhodes"

and, like, "Do you remember what that was like?"

- Oh, yeah.

I grew up in Florida, in the Tampa Bay area.

There was no one bigger than Dusty Rhodes.

He was the biggest celebrity in all of Florida.

- You can see the throngs, they are gathering around,

trying to get to this charismatic individual,

Dusty Rhodes.

♪

- Whether you like it or not,

I'm gonna get meaner and badder than you've ever seen.

- They'd film TV at the Sportatorium in Tampa.

That's where I used to go watch Dusty Rhodes

and skip high school after lunch

and go down and watch him film wrestling.

- There's no greater star.

There's no greater being,

ever than Dusty Rhodes, The American Dream.

- When Dusty Rhodes punched somebody

or hit an elbow every time,

boom, boom,

sounded like a cannon would go off.

His charisma-

He was really, really good at connecting with the crowd.

- It's about winning for my people, baby.

- I fell in love with him then.

If he wasn't on TV one week,

I was pissed off.

- Who's your favorite wrestler?

- Dusty Rhodes.

- Why do you like Dusty better than anyone else?

- He's a hunk.

- I admit, I don't look like the athlete of the day.

My belly's just a little big.

My heinie's just a little big.

But brother, I am bad, and they know I'm bad.

- You have to remember what the ideal man was like at that time.

It was Stallone, it was Schwarzenegger.

It was this idea that you needed 20 inch biceps

and a six pack abs.

And here was Dusty Rhodes.

He looked like somebody you might know.

And yet Dusty Rhodes is a real athlete.

- There's the athlete side of Dusty,

and then there's the thespian side of Dusty.

To be a superhero in real life

and somewhat in a performative sense.

That's what he was for me.

♪

- I am the hit maker, the record breaker.

When all the wrestlers in the back laughing and jokin',

the Dream's out front, Woo.

Cookin' and smokin'

- Dusty was an entertainer first and then a wrestler second.

- When I was growing up,

I sure didn't think 265 pounds of blue eyed soul

would captivate the country like I have.

The people drive me.

I was very strict on how I wanted myself looked at,

how I wanted the fans to perceive me,

how I wanted to stay true to my character.

- I think Dusty was kind of like a pied piper,

and they would follow him because they believed

that Dusty was one of them.

- Dusty was Mr. Charisma.

He was in Minneapolis when I started-

my hero from day one.

- Around the time that Ric Flair began training

for the sport of kings,

Dusty Rhodes was already establishing himself as a star,

and when he saw guys like Dusty Rhodes,

he was just drawn to them.

And when he latches on to something, he's all in.

- I liked him so much that when I wasn't booked,

I would travel with Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch

and just be their driver.

- We had a great time earlier in his career.

Me and Dick Murdoch drove him crazy.

He was about 300 pounds.

We made him shave his head.

He looked like Porky the Pig.

- And this isn't as ridiculous as it sounds

because Ric Flair was soaking up knowledge.

Dusty was the star and Ric was the student.

- Flair got in the business one reason because of Dusty.

You know, he almost named him last name Rhodes.

- Rambling Ricky Rhodes.

Yeah.

- Wow.

- Because of his affection and- and admiration for Dusty Rhodes.

- And guess who my idol was?

It was the American Dream Dusty Rhodes, my idol.

I wanted to be Ramblin Ricky Rhodes.

[laughing]

- That's a true story I told him.

I said Natch, "Let me give you some advice.

Just be the first ever Nature Boy Ric Flair."

And the rest is history.

- Ric Flair he is a peacock, a dandy.

- I wear the finest clothes, date the most beautiful women,

driving the biggest cars,

and I'm the toughest piece of work in pro wrestling.

- Woo.

I mean, I had sunk my teeth into it.

Every day it just got better.

The more extravagant I was, the more attention I got.

The finest jet money can buy.

And it doesn't belong to Burt Reynolds.

It belongs to the one and the only

Nature Boy, Ric Flair.

Woo.

- What a lot of younger people don't understand

having grown up watching WWE,

one dominating juggernaut,

is that there was a territory system,

the National Wrestling Alliance.

Not only were Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes stars

in their individual territories,

Flair in the Charlotte based territory,

Dusty in the Tampa Bay's territory,

but they were often sought by other promoters,

and they traveled,

and there was no other symbol of dominance

in the National Wrestling Alliance,

than wearing that NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

- Dusty Rhodes, the challenger strolls into the ring

getting set to take on the World Heavyweight Champion,

Harley Race.

- On that given night.

I wanted to do the best, be the best in my business.

I always wanted to bring them with me.

That was my deal with the fans.

And they became such a part of me

that they forgot everything else.

Everything was real.

- It's all or nothing for Dusty Rhodes.

Comes down with the elbow.

[bell rings]

- Dusty Rhodes has just become

the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.

- First time I won the NWA Worlds Heavyweight title

was a dream come true.

I'm telling you, get a dream, hold on to it,

and shoot for the sky.

Because now I-

It was real.

It was the most realest thing I'd ever done.

That moment, I was champion of the world.

- Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes began the rivalry.

They finally had their first championship match in 1981.

Having your first championship match

against the American Dream.

- No pressure.

- I was so enamored with Dusty Rhodes.

For me to wrestle Dusty was awesome.

I wanna tell ya, it was one of the greatest moments of my life,

but it was terrible.

- And Rhodes grabbing Flair off the top rope for a suplex,

and look out.

And Nature Boy Ric Flair has won

the World Heavyweight Championship.

- Wasn't put together right?

The glamor and glitz wasn't there,

and it could have been so much better had it been done

in Florida or the Carolinas where people knew us.

They didn't even know us in Kansas City.

He didn't want to lose.

I didn't blame him.

We're friends, but I think he was really upset by it.

- In Florida, there was not a lot of financial movement

for me within my prime.

As far as creativity wise,

I needed to kick it in a little bit.

- You know, his name was American Dream,

but he was a dreamer of epic proportion.

He had come up with these concepts

of doing a mega, huge show,

and he was just looking for the platform to do it.

- Crockett Promotions in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Jim Crockett called me and said.

"I want an event like no other event."

This would be-be before Mania.

- David, it's always a pleasure

to be on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling

because this is-

- Coming to Mid-atlantic was kind of the beginning of

a section of Dusty Rhodes career that he would end up

becoming just as much known for as what he did in the ring,

which was to be that creative force.

And one of his first big ideas was to put on Starrcade.

- Ladies and gentlemen, Starrcade

- This was a major, significant event,

but it was also a very important event for Ric Flair.

- We're entering a brand new era

of professional wrestling.

- In the early 80s, Dusty moved to Charlotte, North Carolina,

to work for Jim Crockett.

Dusty always wanted to produce wrestling

to facilitate the shows and all of that.

He was very creative.

- My dad was a really deep thinker.

I'd catch him a lot at his desk, staring at a legal pad,

sometimes with matches scribbled there

or ideas.

He was an idea man.

- Dusty Rhodes had just come in to be the new booker.

Dusty also was an active wrestler.

He coined the phrase "He's the man with the pencil."

He makes the decisions.

Who wrestles who, who wins there, this and that.

- Dusty had a brilliant booking mind.

He knew how to tell a long term story in pro wrestling.

He knew how to evoke emotion and how to bring people to the peak

and then pull them back.

- Some people have that genius.

Dusty Rhodes had it.

Starrcade, Dusty created it, he came up with it.

It was our WrestleMania.

before there was WrestleMania.

- The name Starrcade came from Dusty Rhodes.

He understood

the concept of the big event

probably better than anybody.

- Starrcade '83, I done made my appointment.

- The creation of Starrcade.

I got the biggest payday that I'd ever gotten

just to create it as a writer, as a,

you know, a movie director of a movie.

It was my- Starrcade's my movie.

When I see it today, it's Gone With the Wind to me.

- Starrcade '83.

Ric Flair and Harley Race, I mean,

to get this match for Greensboro is just, uh, unbelievable.

And the match is going to be scheduled

for Thursday, November the 24th, Thanksgiving Night, 1983.

- We had Thanksgiving dinner early in St. Pete,

and then drove to Orlando and watched it on closed circuit.

- Due to the tremendous demand for tickets,

Starrcade '83 can be seen

on closed circuit,

big screen color TV

around the world and

in selected cities in your area.

- To be able to go somewhere and watch something live

that was happening somewhere else.

- That's so cool.

- There was a lot of people in there, man.

They probably had 10- 12,000 people in there.

- It was actually a cool event.

- Live from the Greensboro Coliseum,

Starrcade-

- This is a night for everybody to remember,

wrestling history to be made.

- Setting up Starrcade for the first time was huge for Dusty

from a creative perspective.

Starrcade changed the industry,

but it was also huge for the guy in the main event.

- From Charlotte, North Carolina,

The Nature Boy, Ric Flair.

- The stakes were really high for Ric Flair.

He was in his home turf.

It was almost like Ric Flair had to win.

- Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream,

two times world Heavyweight Champion is here

challenging the winner of this match to meet Dusty Rhodes

so I can be third times World's Heavyweight Champion once again.

- Here it is Starrcade '83.

It's all going to culminate right here.

- I can think of two words that may sum up this

entire match tonight,

intensity and execution.

- Flair up on the top rope.

One

- He's got him down, one.

- Two.

- Two.

Three.

He did it.

He did it.

- And what a match and what a battle for Ric Flair.

- It was overwhelmingly phenomenal.

Starrcade.

That was a big deal.

And that was in my home-home turf.

For me to win in Greensboro,

that's what really launched my career,

and I was able to really run with it.

- Congratulations.

I want to you remember one thing, daddy.

Down the road, there's one more "Dream".

There's a time comin'.

- You know, Jim Crockett has taken the world.

And I'm the man that's making it possible.

The World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.

- Starrcade launched Ric Flair

into a completely different stratosphere.

- Diamond ring wearin', kiss stealin'-

Woo.

-wheelin dealin',

Limousine ridin', jet flyin', son of a gun.

- He was that arrogant.

If you saw him, you want to run up to him and slap him.

- Take a look at that, huh?

Arnold Schwarzenegger, be glad you're making movies.

- People hated Flair because Flair would flaunt his money.

- My shoes cost more than your house.

- When you really think about it and you're honest with yourself,

well no you hate Ric Flair

because he's everything you're not.

- To enhance my image,

I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Woo.

I was living in the biggest house

on the biggest side of town.

- I got a limousine sitting out there.

A mile long, with 25 women just dying for me to go.

Woo.

- Every guy who's got testosterone in their body

wants to been Ric Flair.

- Jan, darling.

I didn't expect to see you for another week or two.

- Ric just came across as authentic

and the fans bought into it.

- When my name is on the marquee, baby,

you know you're seeing the best there is.

- With the Nature Boy, Ric Flair.

He was the champion of the world.

When I seen his full flown gimmick start to un-unveil

in front of me, I said, "Wow, this gonna be easy."

When you take the title, that makes you the greatest

at what you do.

And right now Ric Flair has that title.

And someday Dusty Rhodes wants that title back.

- You're looking at the World's Heavyweight Champion,

Nature Boy Ric Flair.

- I was the best wrestler alive.

I knew it.

Best dressed.

Best everything.

I knew how good I was back then.

I didn't even think about it.

I'm alligators and Rolex watches-

from head to toe.

I'm the man.

- He knew how good he was.

He was the man there, you know what I mean?

He needed a babyface.

There I was.

- Ric Flair is a great champion,

and the conflict between me and him will come to pass.

- What a man.

The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes.

- Dusty is a hero all over the United States at that point.

- Nature Boy, Ric Flair.

World's Heavyweight Champion.

Fancy robe.

Fancy cars.

Fancy ladies.

But Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream,

knows you and knows you well.

- You can't have an ego and not, you know, have some rivalry.

Dusty had a power in his business influence,

and Ric had this power

because he was just the number one performer in the world.

- Woo.

- You have two of the best and two of the greatest

at the same time.

There's always going to be a bit of jealousy and rivalry.

That's what made it so good.

- You nothing happening son of a plumber.

You can't stand the fact that I was born

with a golden spoon in my mouth can ya?

Huh?

- Promos are everything.

And to be a special superstar, to be a memorable one,

you have to be able to deliver in the promo.

- You're gonna call your ladies on the phone

and you're gonna say,

"Ladies, how did I lose that world title

to the American Dream?"

- Big Dust-

You got no belt.

You got no life.

You got nothin' to brag about.

Nothin' to stand on

- Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes promos,

how they played off of each other.

They were just so opposite, but so great.

But they made you listen to every word

they were talking about.

- Ric Flair-

It's not over.

It will never be over.

I'm going to mess you up real bad.

- The job of that interview, especially during that day,

was to talk people into the building, was to sell tickets.

I think when the two were paired together, the great promo,

plus the great booking-

magic.

- Dusty Rhodes, our egos ride side by side.

He doesn't like me getting ahead and that hurts me right here,

for him to get ahead

- To kill Ric Flair is to take what he wants

more than anything in the world, what he has,

and that's that gold around his waist.

- 1983 was the first Starrcade.

So you fast forward a year later when they have

the closed circuit again, it's Dusty versus Flair.

- There was a lot of bells and whistles on that match, right?

They had a "Smokin' Joe" Frazier as the special referee.

- Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair.

Let's keep it clean.

Let's keep it fair.

- It was also a million dollar, winner take all.

- There's a purported purse of a million dollars.

Exaggerated, undoubtedly.

But still, fans believed that.

- It's me and you and one million dollars.

I don't want to hear from you, because now is the time

that the talkin' stops and the fightin' begins.

- I'm going to walk in this Coliseum Thanksgiving night,

and I'm going to be ready for any kind of action.

Woo.

- It was like it was real.

What was real in it

was two mega egos who

both believed they were the guy.

In our business, you have to think that.

- One thing I'm sick and tired of

sick and tired of

is that goofy looking hat on top of your head.

I'm tired of looking at that hat.

I'm just gonna slip it off,

and throw it out to the fans.

- Just a little preview fans

of what it's all gonna be like at Starrcade '84.

- You didn't feel like they were cutting the promo.

They were-

They were talking and they believed every word

that they were saying.

- Yeah

- This is what- this is how I feel.

And I'm telling you that,

and I know you feel it too.

- And whether you like it or not.

I'm going to be the man after Starrcade.

This is mine.

- When you're listening to them speak, it's like it's a rhythm.

It's almost like a song.

And you're just like,"Wow."

And so to hear it like that, you know, from both sides.

- Yeah.

- Both guys were so good at this, and you were just,

you were just waiting to see what was going to happen next.

- The tension is mounting here at the Greensboro Coliseum.

- A one million dollar challenge match

for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

- It caught on.

People came from everywhere for it.

Nothing like it in the world.

We were rockin' and rollin'.

- Our special referee, "Smokin' Joe" Frazier.

and this is the moment

that we've all been waiting for right here.

- You know, it was amazing.

They loved, uh, you know what I was selling.

They got it.

Sometimes it's just that little extra something

Makes the rivalry really, really powerful.

- There goes Flair, over the top rope.

- Starrcade '84.

A lot of people are truly convinced that Dusty Rhodes

is going to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

- Dusty Rhodes slammed into the ring post.

He has got a bad cut.

It appears to be on the right eye.

- Dusty starts to bleed.

- Referee saying, wait a minute.

He's gotta check that eye.

As Dusty Rhodes is pushing him away.

- It could be a very serious injury.

- Dusty was bleeding too much, and in wrestling,

you never stopped a match because of blood,

but, you know,

- It was too much.

- Joe's a boxing guy, so he's getting in there.

- He's the cutman.

- "You gotta stop the match." he's like.

Oh, people were so mad.

[bell rings]

- Joe Frazier he has stopped it

because of the cut on the eye.

- Jim Crockett.

- A million dollar check.

- Handling him the uh one million dollars check to uh,

Ric Flair.

- I got in that ring to go 120%

and don't think he wasn't in there going 120%.

It's unfortunate he suffered the cut.

Whether Joe-Joe Frazier should have stopped the match or not,

It's not my business.

All I went in that ring-

- After Starrcade, things kind of cooled down

between Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes.

Ric ends up respecting Dusty.

The two form kind of a partnership,

and Ric Flair for a short period of time

becomes a hero.

- You got to reinvent yourself.

Don't reinvent the character,

but you have to change this a little bit.

- Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair,

as they all continue to go at it in that ring.

- Is this going to be a start of a new allegiance?

- As you can see, Ric Flair's hand is being raised in victory.

- September 1985 Ric Flair is in the ring and Nikita Koloff

and Ivan Koloff are beating him up.

- Stomping away.

It's a two on one situation and coming to the aid

of the World Heavyweight Champion.

Dusty has cleared the ring and there they stand,

both of them in the cage.

- Instead of the two teaming up,

suddenly, Flair's allies,

Ole and Arn Anderson.

- Look here, from behind.

That's the Andersons

It's a two on one right now.

Not only that, look what Flair is doing.

He is padlocking that cage.

Dusty Rhodes is helpless.

- They destroy Dusty Rhodes.

- Down he goes on that left foot of Dusty Rhodes.

- They break his leg.

- It's panic in the ring.

- My dad, being the dirtiest player in the game,

just makes you hate him more.

- We're at the point of desperation right now.

- We had a riot that night.

It took us over an hour to get out of the ring.

- All of these angles on how to build a rivalry

and make it seem real is really the blueprint

of not just modern pro wrestling,

but all of reality television.

- That face sure tells it all, Tony.

- I felt like I was watching a crime,

and I was so young when I saw this,

but uh, you knew there was something there.

And the birth of the Four Horsemen was uh something

that took that rivalry

to a whole different place.

- We told Dusty Rhodes we was gonna break his leg

and we broke his leg.

- The Four Horsemen, that was the first faction

in pro wrestling where ya just had four dudes.

It's us against the world.

- You had Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson,

Tully Blanchard, and J.J. Dillon.

He was the manager.

They began interfering on Ric Flair's behalf.

- The Four Horsemen are really on a roll.

- They got booed out of the building,

but everyone thought they were so cool at the same time.

People were sitting in the crowd wearing suits.

- It's a supergroup.

It's like the Avengers.

They came together like the Avengers they assembled.

And now you better watch ya ass.

- Everyone has got to watch out for the Four Horsemen now.

- To this day, the greatest faction that's ever existed.

It was magic for a long time.

- Dusty Rhodes-

Ha, I hope you live through it, brother.

- I mean, you got this common man that everybody loves

and you got four against one,

so he's always fighting against the odds.

It was just a perfect matchup.

- What in the world is going on?

- They had the legendary "Hard Times" promo-

- Right.

- -came out ll of this.

- It's Dusty Rhodes,

and Dusty, your fans welcome you back, man.

- I don't have to say a lot more

about the way I feel about Ric Flair.

No respect, no honor.

He put "Hard Times" on Dusty Rhodes and his family.

And without thinking one second

of what I was going to say.

It just came out.

You don't know what "Hard Times" are, daddy.

"Hard Times" are when the textile workers

around this country

are out of work and got 4 or 5 kids and can't pay their wages,

can't buy their food.

And one word led to another, to another to another.

And it built and it built and it built.

And "Hard Times" are when a man has worked at a job

30 years, 30 years, they give him a watch,

kick him in the butt,

and say, hey, a computer took your place, daddy.

That's "Hard Times".

- I mean, think about that period in the 80's.

What was happening in US society.

The biggest shows were Dynasty and Dallas.

You know, this total exaltation of the super rich of the time.

But there was an underbelly underneath that.

Working class people whose voice was not necessarily heard

in the broader culture.

And yet Dusty Rhodes was heard.

- And Ric Flair, you put "Hard Times" on this country

by taking Dusty Rhodes out.

- Dusty was able to bring it home.

In that one promo to let you know

that he felt what you felt,

and you wanted him t to win for that.

- I will be the next World's Heavyweight Champion

on this "Hard Time" blues.

- Just how much is riding on this match when you're talking

about the World's Heavyweight Championship,

you're talking about all of the marbles.

- Ric Flair and Dusty were really rivals in real life.

They both wanted one thing,

that top spot and that creates an incredible dynamic.

- We just made music, man.

We rolled.

No pressure.

He was a perfect babyface.

I was the perfect heel.

- Looks pretty dark right now for the champion.

- Fans of Dusty Rhodes backing him,

wanting to see him win the NWA title

from The Nature Boy Ric Flair.

He had it.

He was going for it.

He had the Bionic elbow going.

Everything was just perfect.

- The referee is down.

- Oh.

- Tommy is really out of it down there.

Here's Arn Anderson.

- Arn Anderson came charging into the ring

after Dusty Rhodes.

Oh that's-that's Ole Anderson now in the ring.

- Ole

- Ole caught Dusty Rhodes from behind.

- Another referee has come in

because Tommy Young is still down.

He's wrapped him up.

He got him.

[bell rings]

- Audience goes home thinking, wow, my guy's the new champion.

- Dusty Rhodes has done it.

- That night, Dusty Rhodes pinned Nature Boy Ric Flair

on Starrcade '85, and everyone thought, including myself,

that he was the World Heavyweight Champion.

However, Bob Geigel, the president of the NWA,

has given the belt back to Nature Boy Ric Flair

because of a ruling made by referee Tommy Young.

- Let's take a look, Tommy,

and they're your hands on the right of the screen,

right there when you see Arn Anderson in.

That is where I'm assuming you're calling

for the disqualification.

But when you were knocked out,

you were not able to make that call right there at that time.

- That is correct.

Mr. Rhodes-

He had thought he became World Heavyweight Champion.

- Well, it's obvious-

- Dusty's championship victory

didn't count because the pinfall didn't count

because Ole and Arn Anderson come out

and that resulted in a disqualification.

And as we know, a world title will only change hands

on pinfall or submission.

- They say nothing about Dusty Rhodes defeating Ric Flair

Starrcade '85 which I did.

So Ric Flair-

- Dusty Rhodes at this point is the booker.

He's booking this stuff.

He's the one who's deciding what's going to occur

in the match.

These types of finishes would fire up fans to go see

these guys clash again.

- Dusty Rhodes

- Tell 'em Ric.

- Tell 'em Ric.

- It's only just begun,

[laughing]

- We got 'em right where we want 'em.

- As the rivalry evolved,

so did the production value behind the storytelling.

You'd see handheld camera shots of the Four Horsemen tailing

Dusty Rhodes down the road.

As all this was happening,

Dusty Rhodes was that creative force behind the scenes.

This wasn't stuff that had really been shown

on wrestling television before this point.

- Poor Dusty got beat up by his car.

I mean, just tried to break his leg.

I mean, did everything you could to him.

The Four Horsemen,

and these guys are beating our hero up.

- Four horsemen always had Ric Flair's back,

so Dusty had to be careful because every time

he was wrestling Ric Flair,

he was actually wrestling with four guys.

- Nobody interfere.

The four horsemen, they need to ride on another planet

because I reserved the stratosphere for me and you.

- Welcome to the Great American Bash.

14 cities in 33 days.

The greatest wrestlers, the greatest wrestling matches

and the greatest wrestling fans.

- The year is 1986 and another brainchild of the you know,

American Dream, The Great American Bash.

- And This Great American Bash.

It felt to me like their version of the Rock 'n' Wrestling,

like WWE.

- That's right.

It was mainly Dusty's brain.

Dusty's brain was that thing ran differently

than the rest of the world.

He was that creative.

- Ain't it good to be alive

and raising hell at Greensboro, North Carolina?

- Great American Bash on tour, man.

And we hired everybody from George Jones to Waylon Jennings,

went on the road and it worked.

It sold out everywhere.

- This is Waylon Jennings, and I'm looking forward

to being a part of The Great American Bash '86.

- The Great American Bash tour.

They went from major city to major city.

And the most important part every single night,

Ric Flair was defending the World's Championship.

- Unprecedented signed the contract to wrestle each night

of the Bash and to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Title.

- Throughout this tour, we have been seeing Ric Flair

escape with the title.

- One thing that Ric did, I think better than anyone

is that he sold a fight.

You wanted to see Ric get beaten and that,

I think, was what was so compelling

when people would come to watch Ric Flair, they wanted to see-

- No one got beat up better than Ric Flair.

- People-

- Oh my god.

- yeah, people wanted to see him get his ass kicked.

- Yeah.

- On night number 12 right before the Great American Bash

tour is over, Dusty and Flair

meet in a cage in Greensboro, North Carolina.

- A fellow named Dusty Rhodes.

He hasn't got the guts

to back up what it tells all of you is going to do.

- It's only fitting.

It's only right that it comes down

to Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair.

If you think I'm through

on my quest for the World's Heavyweight Title,

you're damn wrong television land.

- He's fought for so long to beat Ric Flair

to get that championship belt around his waist.

But there was all these obstacles that stood in his way,

- And that was a tremendous blow.

- This may be one of the longer chases in wrestling history.

It's loss after loss after loss,

but I would say from a wrestling perspective,

those weren't losses.

That is the definition of the chase.

- Five years after losing the title to Ric Flair,

Dusty Rhodes gets his opportunity to win the gold

again at The Great American Bash.

- Yeah, and this is monumental because this is an angle,

a storyline that lasted almost a decade.

I mean, that-that's amazing.

- When Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes wrestle

the two greatest wrestlers in the world are colliding.

- The American dream Dusty Rhodes

wants Ric Flair and wants that championship.

- Because they're in the cage,

It neutralizes the influence of the Four Horsemen.

Now it's going to be one on one, man to man.

- They've wrestled so many times against each other before,

but it's always a new ball game

each time you step into the ring on a different occasion.

- In 1986, Dusty Rhodes fans

had been on that ride with Dusty for years.

As they try and they try and they try to get the title,

that means that they're the man.

But at the same time, to be the man, you've got to beat the man.

- There it is.

There's your weapon.

There's the thing that makes a cage match

the most dangerous match in wrestling.

- Dusty Rhodes had to beat Ric Flair.

He had to.

It couldn't be something

where Ric Flair always came out on top.

- Ric has him exactly where he wants him.

Can he hold on?

Can Dusty get out of it?

- Only two ways, David,

to reverse it on Flair or to get to the ropes.

- Dusty and Flair had been going around for several years

and the fans are really anxious to see

Dusty finally claim that big prize.

- You keep your mouth shut.

- The fans are behind Dusty.

Here he comes.

Dusty caught him.

- At first it was all Ric Flair.

Now, it's all Dusty Rhodes.

Small package has Ric.

Dusty Rhodes has just won the match.

[bell rings]

- I remember throwing the cushions of my couch

up in the air.

Like all of these really primal emotions

because we'd been waiting for it for so long.

- What a moment.

- Talk about the chase.

If you look at the furthest sections of that building,

and people are losing their mind,

it's because they were in on the chase with him.

[crowd cheers]

- Dusty winning that title that last time,

it just seemed like that was

"Okay, I'm done. I have nothing else to accomplish here."

- That's right.

You put a nice button, you put a nice button on it.

- To say Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes have been influential

in wrestling would be a gross understatement.

Not only did they have this rivalry in the ring

for the ages, but decades later, they're both in positions

where they're mentoring the new generation.

- Hey hey hey what's up man?

- What's up guys?

Looking good, man.

- Hey.

- I learned a lot from Ric.

Ric was a big part of the early stages of my career.

He took me under his wing.

I was lucky because I had Ric.

- Dusty Rhodes took on a position as the main coach,

the teacher at the WWE's Performance Center.

- A teacher promo class 3 or 4 times a week.

I'm looking for how you communicate

with what I named the Red light district.

Red light, meaning the camera.

That's 20 something in here.

When the red light's on there, that's 15 million.

You got to make them believe who you are.

That's what I teach.

It's one, two, three.

And they're here and they come down.

They got to come down like you just won the Super Bowl.

- Exactly.

- You know what I'm saying?

- Exactly.

- As ironic as it is, one of the people that walked through

the Performance Center doors to be molded by Dusty Rhodes

was a Flair.

- You really haven't seen anything yet,

and you've pushed me to my limit.

- Dusty was the guy with all the wisdom they could all go to.

To have my daughter, you know, be training under him

was a huge honor for her and for me.

- My most-my most redeeming qualities.

Yes, I know.

The weekly struggle of figuring out how to communicate

in promos and getting that out of me and,

just constantly making me believe

that I had it in me that I was going to be a star.

He believed in me.

- We're struggling trying to cut promos in a way that's,

you know, relatable to people.

And he would just make you feel so good.

And the fact that Dusty Rhodes believed in you was,

"Oh my gosh"

you know what I mean?

Like, it just gave you-

It gave you confidence and he was so good

at just giving people confidence to go out

and be the best versions of themselves.

- The legacy of Rhodes and Flair is still going today.

- Charlotte Flair walking that aisle.

- As amazing as Dusty and Ric were,

the kids are so amazing that one day they're just a lot of people

are just going to know them as their dads.

- The American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes.

- It's so hard,

especially when you come from that kind of greatness.

You just have huge shoes to fill.

- A lot of people would shy away from that.

People would want to, like, not be what their parents are.

The way that Cody and Charlotte have stepped into those shoes,

and filled those shoes, and try to exceed those shoes,

and keep on perpetuating that legacy.

It's pretty remarkable.

- The passion I have for this industry is why I'm still here.

One thing is for sure though, when you go back and you look,

you look at "Hard Times" on the road.

You look at driving down the road night after night,

seven days in a row.

And I looked across to see who this seven day in a row marathon

was with, and it was the greatest wrestler

in our industry's history, the Nature Boy, Ric Flair.

- You're gonna kill me.

Yeah, I'm good.

- It'll be good.

- I know, I know it is.

- Hold it together.

Get me through the night Natch.

- My idol.

He was the American dream, Dusty Rhodes.

I used to say to them, "What are you doing, man?"

He'd say, "I'm genius-in"

And he's a smart guy and he adds a lot to this company.

Thank you Dream.

Love you.

- Man, I think so many of the best rivalries come

when it's there's a layer of friendship there,

a deep layer of friendship.

But at the end of the day, you still want to be the guy.

You still want to be the one that comes out on top.

- Ric Flair, there's only one.

- The storyline was so compelling, you were excited

to see what was going to happen next.

- Ric Flair He put "Hard Times" on Dusty Rhodes and his family.

Big Dust, you got no belt.

You got no life.

- For Dusty and for Ric to go around the country

fighting for that championship was unbelievable.

- Dusty did it.

- Dusty was one of the greatest in the history of this business.

Our first Starrcade,

I walked up to him, center of the ring.

He's like "Kid-

Let's have fun."

We did.

Great chemistry.

- I watch you from a baby and he moved on in to become

a legendary figure in our industry.

- Ric Flair your-

Woo.

-livin' legend.

- Our rivalry was,

if not the biggest in our industry.

I don't know what would be.

I really don't.