Picked this up today pretty cheap *$18.00 at walmart.
Another OUTSTANDING WWE release!
The obligatory biography piece is done exceptionally well, and goes into a lot of detail on the entire "polka dot" era (Dusty didnt mind) the booking era (Dusty takes no blame for anything bad) and the rift between him and Dustin (It isnt SAID, but Dusty acted like a prick pretty much.
The matches are incredible, especially the one with him VS Superstar Billy Graham, which I had never seen.
Lots of old Florida footage, lots of older WCW stuff.
Great disc, easily worth the money.
Plus, you get to hear Dusty talk in his real voice, which is odd.
He tells a funny story about Terry Funk and how good of friends they are in private, but how he is always trying to start a brawl if they are in public. In an airport or where ever. Dusty says "I've been kicking your ass for 37 years, give it up".
Here's the match listing. The earlier stuff with Murdoch is ass whooping 101. All the Florida matches are good, but the Dusty 'somewhatgayswagger' is there.
The WWWF stuff is good, if only for seeing him in matches you probably never saw. Lots of charisma.
The Cage match vs Tully is all kinds of great, as is most of the NWA/WCW stuff/ The later stuff is hit or miss, depending on how much of a fan you are. But for less than twenty bucks, you can afford to get this for only the first two discs.
AWA, 3/9/73 - w/Dick Murdoch vs. Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher AWA, 3/24/73 - w/Dick Murdoch vs. Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher AWA, 10/6/73 - w/Dick Murdoch vs. Billy Robinson & Don Muraco Florida 5/1974 - w/Pak Song vs. Mike & Eddie Graham Florida - vs. Terry Funk Florida - Lumberjack Match vs. Harley Race MSG - WWWF Heavyweight Championship: vs. Superstar Billy Graham MSG - vs. Stan “The Man” Stasiak MSG - vs. Johnny Rodz MSG - Texas Bullrope Match: vs. Superstar Billy Graham MSG - NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship Match: vs. Harley Race NWA 6/21/81 - NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship Dusty Rhodes vs. Harley Race Great American Bash 85 - TV Championship Cage Match vs. Tully Blanchard Great American Bash 86 - NWA World Heavyweight Championship Cage Match vs. Ric Flair Starrcade 87 - NWA United States Heavyweight Championship Cage Match vs. Lex Luger Clash of the Champions 1 – Barbed Wire Match: w/The Road Warriors vs. Ivan Koloff & Powers of Pain NWA - NWA United States Championship: vs. Ivan Koloff Clash of the Champions II - NWA Tag Team Championship w/Sting vs. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard Starrcade 88 - NWA World Tag Team Championship w/Sting vs. Road Warriors SummerSlam 89 - vs. The Honky Tonk Man Survivor Series 89 - The Dream Team vs. The Enforcers WrestleMania VI - Mixed Tag Team match: w/Sapphire vs. Randy Savage & Queen Sherri MSG - w/Dustin Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase & Virgil Living Dangerously 2000 - vs. Steve Corino Greed 2001 - Kiss My Ass match w/Dustin Rhodes vs. Ric Flair & Jeff Jarrett
I just picked it up today at lunch, then again for the reminder everybody. The case they put it in is beautiful. I cant wait to get it home & watch it.
Picked it up on Tuesday and have watched bits and pieces so far. A few thoughts: When compared to the WWWF and Crockett footage, the Florida video quality is subpar. Gordon Solie is still God. Talking about substitute lumberjacks, stressing that film will be sent to the NWA headquarters to be reviewed. Have no idea why RoboCop is shown, as his disasterous appearance occurred when Dusty was in the WWF. Also, tough to take Dusty seriously taking credit for Halloween Havoc when he was out of Crockett/WCW for 10 months before it occurred. Have a major problem with the 9.28.85 promo they use. If they have footage from that date, they should show Dusty saving Flair from the Russians, with Flair then getting pissed at Dusty for doing it, which led to Flair and the Anderson's breaking Dusty's ankle. Missed opportunity. Like the button on the box. Nelson MotherFucking Royal. The greatest Jr. Heavyweight Champion of all time appears. Would have liked to have him recite the rules of the Bunkhouse though. No Midnight Rider. NO WarGames: The Match Beyond? Very brief mention of Kevin Sullivan, with few details of that legendary feud. No America's Team/James Gang or Risky Business Boys. Not much on the Horsemen. Would have preferred they set it up more along the lines of the Flair DVD, and would definitely have preferred less late 80's/early 90's WWF and more Florida early 80's/Crockett mid 80's. Overall very good, but it could have been excellent. Still for $15 bucks after rebate well worth it. Anyone purchase the Managers DVD and is that worth it? Edit: And, a surprising error on the 3rd disc, as the promo advertised as 2.18.87 appears to be from 1982, judging by David Crockett's appearance and the background set.
The lack of Wargames is pretty baffling, given how Dusty created the match and the gimmick was foolproof until the Hogan era. Perhaps the fact that TNA had a Wargames match just the other month had something to do with it.
"You know what the fellow said: In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love. They had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." --- Harry Lime (Orson Welles) in The Third Man
Or, perhaps they will be on a BLOODBATH 2 dvd in the future.
Watching through some of these matches brings back so many great memories. Much more so than the HBK dvd. Its almost Fliar level great for me. But, I've always been a big Dusty fan.
Vincent Kennedy McMahon calling Harley Race vs. Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at MSG is surreal. Of course, a subtle shot by Finkel stating that it is the 7th match of the evening and there will be 3 action packed matches following it. It's Rhodes vs. Race for the NWA World Title, that should be exciting enough. And I'm shocked that Vince didn't destroy this tape during the late 80's during his 'I Do Not Acknowledge Any Wrestling History' phase.
You wanted the best, you got... Out of Context Quote of the Week.
"I know, I know you are saying "sure there was some bad calls, but Jake Gyllenhaal obviously dropped too many easy catches and Ang Lee had some horrible clock management at the end of each half!"" (krakken2000)
Upon further review, just how much revisionist history was there with the Polka Dot Error? I missed out on his WWF tenure, so I don't remember seeing it in action, but it looked really embarassing for his sake. Still glad I got the DVD, considering I actually never saw ANY of Dusty's work.
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