Dusty Rhodes last match is one you would never expect

Hamish Woodward

dusty rhodes last match

Dusty Rhodes was known as The American Dream during his long career in wrestling, and was considered one of the greatest of all time. Dusty Rhodes was a multi-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, with his rivalry with Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen being one of the greatest feuds of all time.

Dusty Rhodes inspired a number of wrestlers during his run as the American Dream. Ric Flair said in his interview with Steve Austin on the WWE Network that he wanted to be called “Ramblin’ Ricky Rhodes”, in honour of his hero Dusty Rhodes.

“I went to Verne [Gagne] and said I wanted to call myself Ramblin’ Ricky Rhodes. He said, “What?” I said I wanted to call myself Ramblin’ Ricky Rhodes and go as Dusty’s brother… He said, “That ain’t happening. What’s wrong with Ric Flair?”

Ric Flair on wanting to be named after his idol Dusty Rhodes

Dusty Rhodes, in his own autobiography Dusty, corroborated this claim, even claiming that Ric Flair asked him about changing his name to Ricky Rhodes, but that Dusty steered him away from the name and told him forge his own path as Ric Flair.

Back when Ric first started and weighed about 300 pounds, he was driving down the road with me, driving my car as I gave him a ride to the next town. He looked over at me and said, ‘I want to ask you a question…a big favor of you…I got my wrestling name, and if it’s okay with you I want to be a cousin. I want to be “Rambling” Ricky Rhodes.’

I said to him, ‘No! Make your own name. Be your own self. Make something of yourself in your own likeness of what you see…not “Rambling” Ricky Rhodes.’

Dusty Rhodes on Ric Flair’s name in wrestling

While Dusty Rhodes inspired many wrestlers during his time in the ring, it could be argued he had the most impact after he was retired. He became a trainer in NXT and helped to create the next generation of superstar in WWE, including Sami Zayn, Sasha Banks and many, many more.

While most people may have been forgiven for thinking that Dusty Rhodes retired decades earlier and went into training the stars of tomorrow, that was not the total truth. Dusty Rhodes last match was one much more recent than you would have expected, and one that you definitely would not have seen unless you were lucky enough to be at a certain FCW show in 2010.

Dusty Rhodes last match

Dusty Rhodes’ last match was in a six-man tag team match, teaming with sons Dustin Rhodes and Cody Rhodes to take on Caylen Croft, Curt Hawkins, & Trent Barreta. The match took place in FCW (Florida Championship Wrestling) and was the developmental promotion for WWE at the time the match took place in 2010.

Dusty Rhodes was a trainer and commentator in FCW at the time, and had been long retired for many years. He was hired by WWE not to wrestle but to help guide the next generation of wrestler, which he was most known for doing in NXT some years later.

The match took place due to the competitors in the match being Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes (as the character Goldust). As the father of the two WWE stars, Dusty Rhodes wanted to tag with his two sons just once in WWE, and was able to in this six-man tag team match in FCW.

He had previously tagged with Dustin Rhodes in WCW, and with Cody Rhodes in 2006, again in FCW, but had never tagged with both together prior to this match.

Dusty Rhodes retired for good after this match, and went to become a father figure of the superstars in NXT, helping train some of the brightest stars in WWE and some current WWE main eventers. He sadly passed away in 2015, aged on 69. He was honoured with a tournament, the Dusty Rhodes Classic, named after him in NXT.

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