World Wrestling Entertainment legend, Dusty Rhodes, died today at the age of 69, TMZ reported. The 69- year-old WWE Hall of Fame inductee succumbed to numerous complications but further details of the cause was purposely held back by the family for personal reasons.
Born Virgil Runnels more famously known as The American Dream has captured the wrestling fans through his indomitable sprit, unquestionable work ethic, a very charismatic personality, and his polka dot in ring tights.
Rhodes had a colorful career for 39 years and made his debut as a heel for the American Wrestling Association. After a couple of matches with the AWA, Rhodes went to wrestle in the NWA in which he won the championship three times. By 1977, Rhodes signed for the then World Wrestling Federation in which he built his illustrious career.
In the WWE, he was pitted against superstars such as fellow hall of fame inductee Rick "The Nature Boy" Flair and Billy Graham. He eventually went to wrestle for Jim Crockett Promotion's World Championship Wrestling. Rhodes went to wrestle for WCW until a car accident in 1986.
He also played for Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling from 2003 to 2005 and to Independent Circuit from 2003 to 2005.
The American Dream had famous feuds with fellow wrestlers such as Terry Funk, Ray Stevens, Kevin Sullivan, Blackjack Mulligan, Nikita Koloff, and Harley Race on top of Flair and Graham.
After his retirement, he still continued to appear for WWE from 2005 to 2015, as part of the WWE Legends League as a promotional attempt conceptualized by the WWE's creative team to draw more fans when WWE suffered a cut on their fan base.
Runnels was formally inducted in the World Wrestling Entertainment hall of fame in 2012 and was inducted by his longtime rivals, The Four Horsemen.
Rhodes is the father of current WWE superstars Dustin "Goldust" Runnels and Cody "Stardust" Runnels, according to the WWE website.
