Review of WWE: The American Dream - The Dusty Rhodes Story (3 Discs)

Introduction

Dusty Rhodes is the son of a plumber. And judging by his physique, you would be excused for thinking that Dusty (real name Virgil Runnels) had chosen to follow in his father`s footsteps.

But back in the early 1980s, when freakish physiques were not all the norm, Dusty Rhodes was one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling. He had modelled himself as the man of the people, proving that the average joe could make it if he fought for his dreams.

Over the course of his career, Rhodes became a three-time NWA World Heavyweight champion, defeating wrestling greats Harley Race (two times) and Ric Flair to win what was then the most prestigous championship in professional wrestling.

In 1989, Rhodes left the NWA/WCW to wrestle for Vince McMahon`s World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). In an apparent attempt to belittle Rhodes, McMahon saddled him with the gimmick of wearing polka-dot outfits. Rhodes however, realised that McMahon was deliberately trying to embarrass him, and vowed to make the gimmick work. Although not to the peak of his NWA/WCW fame, Rhodes had a successful two-year run in the WWF, after which he all but retired from in-ring competition.

"The American Dream: The Dusty Rhodes Story" is a 3-disc set which includes a documentary on the career of Rhodes, as well as twenty-four matches and numerous interviews from the man himself.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL and is good for a DVD for this genre. The new interview with the likes of Harley Race, Gerry Brisco, Ted DiBiase, and Rhodes himself looks very good, everything you would expect from a 2006 production. Spliced in with this new footage is archive material going back to the early 1970s, all of which is in remarkable condition considering that many of the reels have no doubt been treated less-than-carefully over the years.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is very good for a DVD of this genre. A generic soundtrack plays behind the documentary, but does not overshadow it in any way. The dialogue is always clear, even through Dusty`s infamous lisp.

Those with multi-region DVD players may wish to note that the documentary footage on the Region 1 DVD has a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. This however, is hardly critical, considering that a documentary hardly requires surround activity.

Features

Like many of these WWE wrestler profile releases, the main joy of the presentation is in the extras. And here we have been treated to twenty-four matches involving Rhodes, as well as over forty interviews/vignettes. Please refer to this list:

- AWA, 3/9/73 - Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch vs. Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher
- AWA, 3/24/73 - Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch vs. Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher
- AWA, 10/6/73 - Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch vs. Billy Robinson & Don Muraco
- Championship Wrestling from Florida, 5/1974 - Dusty Rhodes & Pak Song vs. Mike & Eddie Graham
- Championship Wrestling from Florida, Dusty Rhodes vs. Terry Funk
- Championship Wrestling from Florida, Lumberjack Match, Dusty Rhodes vs. Harley Race
- Madison Square Garden, 9/26/77 - WWWF Heavyweight Championship Dusty Rhodes vs. Superstar Billy Graham
- Madison Square Garden, 12/19/77 - Dusty Rhodes vs. Stan The Man Stasiak
- Madison Square Garden 12/20/77 - Dusty Rhodes vs. Johnny Rodz
- Madison Square Garden, 8/28/78 - Texas Bullrope Match Dusty Rhodes vs. Superstar Billy Graham, Alternate Commentary by: Steve Romero/Dusty Rhodes/Mike Graham
- Madison Square Garden, 12/17/79 - NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, Dusty Rhodes vs. Harley Race
- Atlanta, GA, 6/21/81 - NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship Dusty Rhodes vs. Harley Race
- Great American Bash, Charlotte, NC, 7/6/85 - World Television Championship Dusty Rhodes vs. Tully Blanchard
- Great American Bash, Greensboro, NC, 7/26/86 - NWA World Heavyweight Championship Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair, Commentary by: Steve Romero/Dusty Rhodes/Mike Graham
- Starrcade, Chicago, IL, 11/26/87 - NWA United States Heavyweight Championship Dusty Rhodes vs. Lex Luger
- Clash of the Champions, Greensboro, NC, 3/27/88 - Dusty Rhodes & Road Warriors vs. Ivan Koloff & Powers of Pain
- NWA Main Event, 4/3/88 - NWA United States Championship Dusty Rhodes vs. Ivan Koloff
- Clash of the Champions II, Miami, FL, 6/8/88 - NWA Tag Team Championship Dusty Rhodes & Sting vs. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard
- Starrcade, Norfolk, VA 12/26/88 - NWA World Tag Team Championship Dusty Rhodes & Sting vs. Road Warrior
- SummerSlam, E. Rutherford, NJ, 8/28/89 - Dusty Rhodes vs. The Honky Tonk Man
- Survivor Series, Rosemont, IL, 11/23/89 - The Dream Team vs. The Enforcers
- WrestleMania VI, Toronto, Canada, 4/1/90 - Mixed Tag Team match
- Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire vs. The Macho King Randy Savage & Queen Sherri
- Madison Square Garden, 11/24/90 - Dusty Rhodes & Dustin vs. Ted DiBiase & Virgil
- ECW Living Dangerously, Danbury, CT, 3/12/00 - Dusty Rhodes vs. Steve Corino
- WCW Greed, Jacksonville, FL, 3/18/01 - Kiss My Ass match Dusty Rhodes & Dustin vs. Ric Flair & Jeff Jarrett

The extras begin with two bouts from the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the archives of which have just recently been purchased by Vince McMahon. The footage is historically fascinating - since I don`t believe that it has ever made it to commerical release - but has little repeat-viewing value. The same could be said for the third AWA match on this release (which, unlike the previous two bouts, is not clipped), although it does include England`s own Billy Robinson, and is a good example of how regional wrestling matches were at that time.

The Championship Wrestling from Florida bouts also have great historic value, although it is very odd indeed to hear Rhodes himself commentate (along with legendary announcer Gordon Solie) on his own matches. It is also somewhat of a shame that only clips of the bouts with Harley Race and Terry Funk are shown here, but it is likely that the entire bouts were never shown on television, for fear that fans would prefer to watch on TV rather than attend at the arena.

The quality of the archive footage begins to pick up in the next bout, as Rhodes challenged WWF champion "Superstar" Billy Graham at Madison Square Garden. The match itself was hardly a classic, but is interesting nonetheless. Thereafter, there are further Garden bouts with Stan Stasiak, Johnny Rodz, and Harley Race, the latter of which is the best match of the set thus far.

Don`t be put off by the fact that there is a third Rhodes vs Race bout next, as this one - for the NWA World Championship - is in clip form, and is imperative to the story of Rhodes` career. It also goes a long way to showing just how popular pro wrestling was at that point in time.

Things take a major up-turn in the next bout, as Rhodes engages in two Steel Cage contests, with Tully Blanchard and Ric Flair respectively. The proceeding match with Lex Luger (another cage match!) does not live up to those standards, and the six-man match where Rhodes teams with The Road Warriors (more commonly known as The Legion of Doom) is more of an all-out brawl than a wrestling match.

Although the United States championship match Ivan Koloff is a relatively basic contest, the crowd are very much into it, and that can certainly also be said for the NWA Tag Team Championship match pitting Rhodes and Sting against Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson, which is very good indeed. The two then team up again to face The Road Warriors, which is also well-supported, although it is very odd to see The Road Warriors as the "bad guys".

From the NWA/WCW, the setting then turns to the World Wrestling Federation, where Rhodes makes his WWF pay-per-view debut against The Honky Tonk Man in a comedic but entertaining match. The Survivor Series tag team match featuring Rhodes` team against The Big Boss Man`s team is an odd choice here, since Rhodes does not feature that much in the bout. The next two contests are also tag team bouts, the first in tandem with female manager Sapphire, the second with son Dustin Rhodes. Neither of these are too much to write home about.

From there, Rhodes makes a special appearance in an ECW match with Steve Corino, which is a Bullrope match where the two participants are connected by a long bullrope, so that one cannot escape from the other. The final match is yet another tag team contest, as Rhodes and son Dustin take on Ric Flair and Jeff Jarrett in a match where the loser must kiss the winner`s ass. Lovely.

As previously mentioned, there are also over forty interviews/vignettes, stretching back as far as the Championship Wrestling from Florida days, right up to 1990 and Rhodes` latter WWF shows. These are a mixed bag, and for every great interview here, there is one which seems like pure nonsense.

Conclusion

So far, the only wrestlers to have received the WWE`s three-disc treatment are Ric Flair, The Undertaker, and Bret Hart. Unfortunately for Rhodes, the comparisons with those three do not bode well for him, as not only are his DVD predecessors much better known to today`s fans, but Flair and Hart in particular have so many more great matches to call upon from their career. Although the Blanchard and Flair bouts here are excellent, nothing stands up to Flair`s series with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, nor Hart`s with "Mr Perfect" Curt Hennig.

I was also rather disappointed in the documentary. Previous focuses on Bret Hart, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Eddy Guerrero are in particular of a much higher standard than this. The most successful period of Rhodes` career, where he was not only a three-time NWA champion but also a behind-the-scenes match-maker, is badly overlooked in favour of his tenures in Florida (pre-NWA) and the WWF (post-NWA). This is criminal, ignoring much of Rhodes` era of stardom, in turn giving this documentary a lack of credibility.

As a set, "The Dusty Rhodes Story" is a comprehensive look at one of the most popular wrestlers of the 1980s. But that comprehensiveness comes from "The American Dream`s" matches, and not from this WWE-biased documentary.