2015 Pro Wrestling Thread

Dusty told a great story of Cody and the infamous debut of the Shockmaster, who everyone backstage called Uncle Fred. Dusty had told Cody, who was a teen at the time, to be sure to watch the show because there was supposed to be something great happening.

So Cody gets some friends together, watches the show, see the Shockmaster's pratfall, and yells out, "I think that was Uncle Fred!"

 

Shock and Awe: The oral history of the Shockmaster incident | WWE.com

That's referenced on page 2 of this story.

 

Raw: DX and Dusty Rhodes witness the return of The Shockmaster | WWE.com

Love that Arn is playing the role of Ole.

 

Might not be the strongest thread ever, but I saw the AP obit on Dusty Rhodes and immediately thought of the SJ.com wrestling crowd.

RIP, Dream.

 

And the fact that the AP thought enough of him to do an obituary should tell you how big a figure he was.

 

I don't think he's in any discussion of the Mount Rushmore of wrestling, the four or five biggest names ever, but I'd venture a guess he's on the list of a dozen or so that most Americans could rattle off or at least recognize.
I used the brief version of his obit, didn't want to push my luck, but did put it on my sports front for tomorrow.

 

The New York Times has both an AP and a Reuters story on their web site. I'm wondering if they'll do a staff obit themselves.

I'm guessing Dave Meltzer has a three-volume book on Rhodes' obit nearly ready to go.

 

I'd bet it's going to be one of his biggest obits ever. He sounded really bummed out on their radio show today.

 

I watched the Rivals: Flair vs. Rhodes on the Network last night. Lots of stuff I didn't know and lots of stuff I had forgotten.

RIP Dream.

PS: I'm hearing that he took a bad fall the day before and his condition kept deteriorating until he finally succumbed to his injuries.

 

The doctors probably thought he was just selling.

 

Ho. Lee. Schit. You're burning in hell for that, and I'm coming with you for laughing.

 

One very small consolation to all of this: Reading the thoughts of the WWE community on Twitter

WWE Superstars, Divas and celebrities react to the passing of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes | WWE.com

Some great stuff on here:

Kevin Owens changing his Twitter handle to Kip Stern, alluding to the time Dusty called him that in promo class

Triple H with the hashtag #BookingAintEasyKid

Charlotte, who's known Dusty her entire life, posting a great selfie.

and too many others to mention.