Punditty TV Greats Countdown: It's the 'American Dream' at No. 8!

8. Dusty RhodesDusty Rhodes, Georgia Championship Wrestling & Various Other Wrestling Shows: “Talkin’ ‘bout the Dream, Jackson! The American Dream, Daddy, lookin' fine on the TV monitor! Yeeeeoooo!!! Gettin’ funky like a monkey!”

To see Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. wrestle and rap as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes was to witness a kind of primal poet-warrior energy at once unleashed and still under complete control, an ability Punditty has seen equaled by exactly one other American athlete/showman in the past half-century -- Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali himself.

Whether Rhodes was being mugged in the parking lot by Lars and Ole Anderson, on the receiving end of a tire tool to the head from the likes of Ivan Koloff, or dropping Harley Race with a straight punch to the jaw, “The American Dream” was to 1970s and ‘80s professional wrestling what Elvis PresleyElvis Presley, in his prime, was to rock and roll.

Rhodes brought with him a shamelessly unadulterated, in-your-face, Southern-fried White Boy Cool -- no questions asked. He was a kind of Gonzo Superfreak who somehow managed to kick ass and take names while still hitting the nightspots and makin' time with the ladies, usually well past last call.

Always a captivating presence in the “squared circle,” as WTBS announcer Gordon Solie called the ring, Rhodes nonetheless did some of his most memorable work beyond the ropes. He took to the microphones and cameras between wrestling matches with the flashy urgency of a politician spreading lies during a heated campaign, vowing to inflict physical damage upon all those who had done him wrong, not to mention those who even dared think about takin' down The Dream.

Long before there was the Bush Doctrine, there was the Rhodes Doctrine.

Whether he was talking about picking himself up off that cold, concrete floor after a sneak attack outside The Omni or bragging about “lookin’ fine on the TV monitor,” when Dusty had something to say, audiences around the globe listened.

His affected lisp and Harpo Marx-like hair definitely helped him stand out, but it was Rhodes’ Dixie-fried joie de vivre and his entirely original, high-intensity monologues that set him apart from other great wrestling figures of not only his own era but of all time. Hulk Hogan, Jesse “The Body” Ventura and sneaky bad-guy manager Bobby “The Weasel” Heenan all had many great moments, no doubt about it. But if the U.S. Postal Service ever considers a professional wrestling stamp series -- and why the hell shouldn’t they? After all, Dick Nixon got his own stamp – Rhodes would be an obvious choice to lead the set.

In the clip embedded above, Rhodes is in total character as he chokes down some Mello Yello and lets out a few energized whoops. If you click on the “Images” section, above right, you can see Rhodes’ dramatic side as he out-Brandos Brando with a chilling Col. Kurtz-like portrayal of a man obsessed with waging total war.

Coming soon at No. 7: At 6-foot-8 with strong moves to the hoop and a sweet jump shot, he had a real shot at a college scholarship – but still had to overcome the struggles associated with growing up in South Central Los Angeles in the late 1970s.

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The Punditty Pantheon of TV Greats can be viewed in full at:

http://www.punditty.com/tvcharacters.html