Horsemen break Dusty Rhodes leg

[kenpalmer1965]

This was an atrocious incident. And as was mentioned, it happened after Rhodes came in to rescue Flair from the Russians. It originally was a one-on-one matchup between Ric Flair and Nikita Koloff. Flai got the pinfall and win and then Ivan Koloff came in to attack Flair along with Nikita after the match. And Krusher Kruschev held the cage door shut from the outside until Dusty showed up and cleaned house. I have to say that they really knew how to create some great angles in wrestling then.

[TjmMinistries]

The four horseman were born from this match.

[kenpalmer1965]

@TjmMinistries Indeed they were. Also, it was then it was revealed that Ric Flair and the Andersons were family.

[cjack21276]

Fans absolutely silent at ringside Schiavone? What do you call all the fans trying to get into the cage???

[AceDagger1]

It seems the storyline here was Dusty and Flair were both babyfaces, but there was still some animosity torwards Dusty from Flair because they had feuded in the past when Flair had been a heel previously. When he became a babyface, Flair grew to 'respect' Dusty, but still didn't like him personally, and he didn't want Dusty's help against other heels (like the Russians here). When Dusty DID help though, Flair got pissed and turned on him, thus turning heel again

[WillHear432]

Hello Dusty, I want to play a game. For too long you have looked into a two-way mirror and seen a hero, a hero that has yet to TRULY reveal himself. Tonight you will enter a cage of death, a cage stained in blood, but who's blood will it be? Your're courage has captivated the masses. Now let us see if your strong heart has a LEG to stand on....your choice: live or die.

[malathis0]

Good god, the fans surrounding the cage looks like a damn zombie movie!

[sammys70]

it's a shame we can't get wrestling like this anymore.Watching the fans really get into this and trying to kill Flair and the Andersons when there walking back to the dressing room is something we'll never see again live.

[Erionnacirema]

This was an "episode" in NWA I never understood at the time. But I began to realize how BIG an EGO the Nature Boy had (and STILL does).

Flair DID "respect" The American Dream, for the wrestler and athlete he was. But as a "man" Flair saw Dusty as some "country bumpkin" not worth being associated with.

This is the ONE thing I never liked in Ric Flair. He didn't have to constantly HURT and demean folk.

[PaulGreen11]

I remember after seeing this when I was 11 years old I ran down stairs to the living room with my aluminum bat in my hands, crying and sobbing out loud at my father, "Take me to North Carolina!"

[87shadowfox]

Dammit dusty! Hit em wit ya mufflah!

[whycantihavemyownuse]

CLASSIC NWA WRESTLING NEVER TO BE DUPLICATED!!!

[Darkyodajedi]

I remember watching this back in the day and it was awesome, Horseman for life baby!!!!!

[kolz4ever1980]

Tony was the best? What the fuck are you people smoking?

[dariusdynamite]

you can't tell me these aren't wrestling fans?! the match/show was over and they WAITED and watched the ENTIRE TIME (and tried to climb the cage and fight the horsemen)!

[robdux]

these were the days where Wrestling was somewhat believable. i remember watching alot of the territories broadcast on tv, seeing matches like this as a kid is what made me such a huge wrestling fan, but now a days they have ruined the effect it has.

[ltrott3]

@mamacornettesmoney Thank you for restating the obvious. The point was that when the kayfabe was strong and no internet, a strong face could be turned instantly and given the white hot heel heat by screwing over Dusty. These turns were mostly unexpected because there was no suggestive lead-ins like there would be now. These two turns were done at house shows. Now, people go to arenas and watch but know there probably won't be any major incidents because it is not a taping or PPV

[mamacornettesmoney]

@ltrott3 Yes, there were suggestive lead ins. Dusty had saved Flair a few times and Flair told him he didn't need his help. they often referenced how they didn't particularly care for each other in interviews also. The Good bookers/promotions always had hints and lead ins, some more subtle than others. Some of the lazy ones, like Ole's GCW, and places where it was epxpected, lIke Memphis, would do the "sudden turns with no hints", but MOST (not all, Ron Garvin in 88 comes to mind) had buildups.

[mamacornettesmoney]

@ltrott3 Not to mention that Flair had been chumming with the Andersons on TBS and Dusty was embroiled in a bitter feud with them at the time. They had already jumped TA and Sam Houston more than once and told Dusty he was going to get it too.

The Anderson turn in 1980 was much more sudden though.

[HIVisaLIE]

dusty rhodes and his wife

dusty pussy

[cjack21276]

If you noticed, the guy who controlled the door of the cage actually helped Ric Flair lock the cage.

[ltrott3]

Do a YouTube search on Georgia Wrestling - The Big Turn of 1980

[ltrott3]

What people seem to forget is that this angle was actually a REWORK of an angle that was done in Atlanta. Three people were actually involved in both angles. Five years difference-same white hot result. They counted on the fact that even though TBS was national, fewer cable companies carried it back in 80 so fewer fans of that era saw it.

[mamacornettesmoney]

@ltrott3 They were pretty similar, though that one was a bit different. In this one Dusty came to save Flair, who had been running with the evil Andersons and Blanchard. They then turned on Dusty. In the other one, Dusty was in a tag match with Ole & got set up (but there was the similarity that he offered help to his old nemesis in the battle with Kollof and the Assassins - and of course the locked cage and terrible odds against Rhodes).

[neilzep]

Clear case of too much eating RED MEAT and Alcohol...sheer infidels!

[Rassamdul]

Lol there is more heat when Dusty is carried out of the ring, that there is when Cena pulls a Additude Adjustment :)

[clusterfocked]

One of the greatest storylines of all-time. This put the Horseman over the top.

[dude075wm]

it was so hard to see this in nyc back in my day...i had to wait for an uncle to bring me VHS tapes full of south wrestling...loved it then and love it now this old stuff is STILL BETTER THEN WHAT YOU SEE TODAY...

[kixxclub]

you know what, i can honestly say that wrestling use to fuck with your emotions back in the day, do you see how enraged those people are down at ringside, geez

[bobscottcav]

a swerve inside a swerve inside a swerve inside a swerve!!! why can't wwe get their act together and do something right. like call smackdown - WCW??? Bring back he name, they already own it! Have a WCW World title with tag titles and WCW ring logo's and never mention WWE? I don't get it!

[Smithfilmproductions]

Dusty always took a beat down from the Horsemen.

[4ThGenerationPainter]

The Rey Mysterio/Swagger gimmick people should have watched this video first before they did their thing on Smackdown this past Friday. They would have learned how to really milk a situation.

[OldSchoolRasslin]

Where was Tully on this fateful night?

[ltrott3]

@OldSchoolRasslin Probably wrestling Magnum as Tully was already US Champ and they were building to the "I Quit" match at Starrcade

[keithyw]

this angle was awesome back in the day. that's when you had real consistency in terms of characters. turns made sense, not just turning for daytime drama sense. flair acted like a true jerk and egomaniac, which defined him in that scene. and with them selling the injury at the end, it had a sense of realism back then.

[MrBysa]

tony with the porno 'stash

[bigdaddy66688]

im so glad rhodes wasn't ever a horsemen

[daredevilpre]

Road Warriors had to fight through the crowd in AWA, after they had harmed some wrestlers.

They call that "White Heat", such high heel heat that the fans threaten violence and it is dangerous for everybody.

It didn't happen all the time, mostly because the fans FEARED the heels. This doesn't happen hardly at all anymore.

[gonzomoya420]

@daredevilpre it never happens today. it happened back then because many people thought pro wrestling was real. today even little kids know its fake.

[yardlet6]

@daredevilpre I have that match on tape. They fought Curt Henning and Baron von Rashke. They trapped Henning's head between the ropes and beat it with a chair. Hawk and Animal were mobbed coming out of the ring and knucklehead fans came into the ring. One fool got into the face of a guard and got tackled and hustled out. Great stuff!

[rosario508]

I loved this! It's when Ric became a true heel! I remember when I started watching WCW he was pretty much a heel but also feuded with other heels like Buddy Landell and Nikita Koloff. I always thought that was kinda weird.

[mamacornettesmoney]

@rosario508 Yeah, it's because in the home territory of the Mid-Atlantic, Flair was a face and extremely popular. so he'd fight heels there. But everywhere else, he usually fight babyfaces and play the heel role. He was basically a heel on TBS (that got respect from the announcers) but was really a face on the syndicated stuff out of the Mid-Atlantic area.

[bookenight]

did ole hit a fan at 5:06?

[yardlet6]

@bookenight Keep the marks back.

[geminiwizard1969]

LMAO!! No good deed goes unpunished huh Fat Boy!!

[chriskoob]

the funyn thing bout this is you could tell when magnum and the rest get inside that i guess the original plan was for the horsemen to just leave on their own but because the fans had blocked the door, you could tell ole was thinking "fuck it" and just started fighting everyone on the spot to try and buy time, you'll NEVER see something like that on raw ever

[MikeyMikeisMe]

I missed that the first time how the fans held the door shut so the Andersons and Flair couldn't get out. THAT is priceless!

[chriskoob]

hey im not even a big ole fan (heard too many asshole storys bout him) but least i give em props for thinking on their feet

[mkl62]

Ric, Ole, & Arn had to fight the fans for about 30 minutes on their way back to the dressing room. The same thing would happen in Memphis later when Jerry Lawler got his hair cut by Austin Idol, Tommy Rich & Paul E. Dangerously. The fans were about to tear the cage down. Ole was stabbed by a fan in Greenville, SC and was hit in the head with a tire iron by a group of fans in Augusta, GA one night. Arn was cut in Dothan, AL, also.

[RSXemperor]

Paul Heyman said that him, Idol and Rich had to stay in the arena until 3am because the fans refused to leave and were waiting for them.

Another notable incident was in ECW when Shane Douglas caused a riot when he knocked Gary Wolfe aka Pitbull #1 down when his neck was broke and the fans (who were knowledgeable to the inside of the business) attacked the ring.

[mkl62]

Another rough place was the old New Orleans Auditorium. One night a fan jumped in the ring and pulled a gun on Michael Hayes after he came down to confront a "blinded" Junkyard Dog who was there to "announce" his retirement. Today, that would be ANGLE ALERT! (see Rey Mysterio on Smackdown) But back then, everyone thought it was real. Another example was Abdullah the Butcher's attack on Wahoo McDaniel in August 1981. That is on You Tube now, BTW.

[ugotzo33]

Someone has to have the footage of Dusty, Magnum TA, and LOD breaking Ole's leg!!!!!

That's the best

[chriskoob]

magnum wasnt involved, but it was dusty and the warriors, type in "ole anderson and dusty rhodes" youll find a clip where arn and ric are interviewed and they show footage of the attack on ole

[chriskoob]

type in "david crockett interviews ric flair and arn anderson", the clip of the dusty/road warriors attack on ole is there

[MrDeray5]

Dusty vs. Flair and the Minnesota wrecking crew...legendary

[anthony1468]

where is the footage of Dusty & The LOD breaking Ole Amdrson's leg?

[Mortagne]

steburton I agree with you Bro. Dusty was part of some of Wrestlings best angles or events ever put together. No one could of imagined that on that night Dusty's magic would help to see the birth of The Four Horsemen !!!!

[steburton]

I always thought that Dusty's matches were above average, but not the best. However, I always loved his angles and his mic skills. That is always what attracted me to watch his matches. His personality and charisma were second to none.

[username32286]

wrestling today is so stupid and boring

[nickfrohead82]

In my opinion, Dusty Rhodes was a fat idiot who never worked a good match in his life - although, i am a wwf mark and only remember his stint there; also, his son is a useless wrestler.

[T74G]

third dumbest wrestling comment ever....

do you know despite his being a fat fuck boooker for Crockett, he really...really drew second only to Ric Flair, 95 % of his career??

wwf mark buster!!!!

[nickfrohead82]

Excellent. You seem to have given fact. Mine was simply an opinion. I mark out for anybody sintilating to watch.

[episodenone]

also -- great way to distract the audience until the next match while you take down the cage!!!

[episodenone]

in my humble opinion - Tony Schiavane was at the TOP of the GAME in announcers of all time for sure

In his youth -- he was one of the Best

[ThunderwingMatrix]

@episodenone Tony was a great commentator until the backstage politics got to him. Then his abilities went down the drain.

[dariusdynamite]

@episodenone I MISS TONY SCHIAVANE AND DAVID CROCKET!!!!

[eslubin]

@dariusdynamite that makes one of us. in the whole world.!~

[NAMTRIP]

@episodenone  OH yeah,he was the greatest,, a hell of an announcer. ,I loved wrestling back then,its to commercialized now days.

[mdot0785]

@episodenone Couldn't agree with you more...Definitely H.O.F worthy!!!

[episodenone]

@episodenone Schiavone "And now we're gonna see.... from behind..." Arn and Ole walked directly up to Dusty! That's what I loved -- such conviction! He wrote the story as much as the wrestlers were doing in the ring!

[Paducahrus]

@episodenone Tony was an excellent announcer up until he was given an earpiece and forced to parrot whatever the suits in WCW fed to him.

[danteras23]

@episodenone Tony was the best. Does not get enough credit. People still remember the thing with Mick Foley. He was a great announcer for a long time.

[pretty23garbage]

@episodenone indeed in till mid 1997

[AceDagger1]

@episodenone I never thought he was that bad, especially as bad as the IWC claim, even in the late 90s. He's my favorite next to Vince McMahon, Monsoon, and Jim Ross

[AbyssMark]

This wasn't a Horsemen attack,it was just Flair and the Andersons. This happened in 1985 and the Horsemen weren't formed until May of 1986.

[Sgtbigmike]

@AbyssMark True. However, it was in essence what really sparked a serious feud with Dusty and his friends against Flair and the Andersons which helped lead to the formation of the Horsemen. This is talked about on the Four Horsemen DVD. If you're a Horsemen fan I reccommend you get it, you'll enjoy it a lot.

[GoblinGirl]

Funny how all local law enforcement always let the Horsemen assault Dusty Rhodes with chairs, barbed wire, steel cages, and they kept on breaking his legs, his arms, splitting open his forehead, etc., etc..

[princesstamika]

It's wrestling and that applies both ways. The only police officers stupid enough to interfere in a wrestling match back then were the MSG cops.

[kirkwanglers32]

Fake in colution.

He dint brake Rhodes leg.

No way.

[meavid]

"that face sure tells it all Tony"

[stonerage]

Memories! I remeber watching this on Saturday morning. Remember when Dusty came back with the steel plated boot and cut the classic "The Devil is in tha boot Daddy!" promo?

[MikeyMikeisMe]

One of the best angles of all time. I remember reading about this 20-some years ago and it outraged me (remember this was when wrestling was still considered "real" to fans). Face saves arch-enemy heel from even worse heels, and then gets beat down aftewards by first heel's friends. The explanation by the Horsemen was so callous afterward, too. Something like it was merely taking advantage of an opportunity. One of the best and most surprising angles ever.

[Jessman46205]

It's magic isn't it?

[DRMAFUNE]

wrestling needs some legitimacy with angles

hey, the biz has changed!!!!! but this is great11

[litehouse6]

I'm suprised they didn't have to bring in a forklift to get Rhodes' fat ass out of the ring.

[litehouse6]

In the mid-1970's, Ole and Gene Anderson were billed as brothers and Flair was billed as their cousin. This was in the Mid-Atlantic promotion.

[mkl62]

@litehouse6 Gene was the only legitimate Anderson. Ole was Al Rojowski and Lars was Larry Heimeini. Arn was Marty Lunde. In 1977, Gene and Ole won the NWA World Tag Team Belts from Flair and Greg Valentine as faces. But they were hated heels in Georgia. Flair and the Andersons would team and then feud with each other off and on in their careers. A great time to be a fan.

[mamacornettesmoney]

@mkl62 The Andersons were hated heel in Mid-Atlantic too, but they had been there so long as the top team, when they feuded with Cousin Ric and Valentine (the top heels at the time), the fans got behind them. But I'm pretty sure they were still heels. Just got cheered by virtue of whom they faced.

[dloman56]

The horsemen don't play they kick ass. They beat up Dusty every other day for about 5 years. The greatest wrestling gang of all time by far!!!!

[ratesforless]

Him, Magnum, and the Rock & Roll Express would get their asses kicked on a weekly basis by the Horsemen back then. Whether it was after matches, before matches, in the locker room, parking lots, it didn't matter where they were; the Horsemen were there to beat them down.

[GoblinGirl]

It always seemed that way. The Four Horsemen always got the upper hand. Rarely did Dusty or any of the others get a hand up on JJ Dillon and the boys.

[kevmoney2make]

Tony said they we're flairs cousins.

[roddypiper15]

but why I mean how they break dusty's leg

[B44501xRacerEX]

Just like HHH said on raw months ago.

"Without the horsemen, their would be

no NWO or DX."

You simply have to love this for that reason.

[MIMIOMAR]

that statements been made way before big nose hemsley said it

[fingerbang666]

It seemed that every other week, Dusty was either bleeding profusely or getting a limb broken.

[p9p8333]

Oh my god that was real

[johnnykov]

This was 1985 I had just moved to New Hampshire from PA and was waiting for my fiance to move up the next month...Saturday afternoons watching TBS brings back memories

[markblox]

look at tony tash lol

[tjmanville]

ha thats that announcer guy on moday night nitro in the beginning

[mkrny12]

the original horsemen, i think, were flair, the andersons, and tully blanchard. horsemen came ans went, including lex luger, barry windham, and the final installment w/ mc michael, benoit, malenko, and curt hennig taking arn's spot. ole anderson's storyline was he got kicked out of the 4 for going to his son's soccer game or something instead of a match or a horseman funtion.

[jung46n2]

times when it was fun to be a mark

[val0andrews]

Did they brake his leg on purpose?

I love dusty he's so cool!

[hairbandfan]

No they were rubbing on it to make it fell better. Are you people crazy.

[1400deadwood]

Back in the day when wrestling shows featured endless action!! How I miss those times.

[excelsior34]

this is the birth of the horseman

[13jon13]

ric flair has sexy hair

[imdagr8st]

i will pay big bucks if anyone can get me the uncut version of this. there was a reason why this was shown in segments. it was because a full scale riot erupted. fans tried scaling the cage and got their asses beaten. once again anyone who has the uncut version please let me know.

[ratesforless]

I was there for this one. It was at the Omni in Atlanta. This set up the Starrcade '85 main event and the entire Flair/Rhodes feud.

[ratesforless]

You are correct. Wrestling fans, especially down south in Atlanta LOVED Dusty Rhodes back then and were steaming hot. Several fans did attempt to scale the cage and got beat down before Magnum and Co. could get down there. Check out the ringside area around 4:25 or so.  Fans pushed the barracade to the cage. Flair and the Andersons had to stay and fight in the cage until the cops got down to clear a space for them to escape to the locker room.

[Jamieboy]

flair sucks

[CoryByrd2006]

Are you fucking crazy? Ric Flair is the GOAT there no if and or buts about it.

[misternogood]

Don't be fooled. Flair is great, probably the GOAT on the mic, but to say that randy savage, hogan, bret hart, and a couple others aren't at least on his level is not fucking crazy.

IMO savage > flair

[AbyssMark]

This was not the Horsemen breaking Dusty's ankle, this was Flair and the Andersons breaking Dusty's ankle.  This match happened in mid 85, the Horsemen weren't formed until May of 1986.

[pyro4561]

the horseman were formed in or around 81 or 82

[Ordovicus]

This was the biggest Flair heel turn. Flair had just beat the hated Nikita Koloff (remember that this was when the Soviet Union, avowed enemy of the USA, was still around). Before this heel turn, Flair was a major fan favourite. Well, this "shocking" turn against Dusty cemented Flair as a super-heel for years to come. If this event did not mark the debut of the 4 Horsemen, it certainly was a catalyst in making the 4 Horsemen the most hated heel stable back then.

[Sargebri]

@Ordovicus Interestingly, at this time Flair was more or less a tweener at this point in Crockett because he was not only wrestling Nikita, but Magnum as well. Also, this was at the point when Mid-Atlantic and Georgia were treated as two seperate territories with Flair as a face in the Carolinas and heel in Georgia and the rest of the NWA, even though they were both owned by the Crocketts. It wasn't until this angle that Flair became universally hated in all the territories.

[danowar1989]

man thats old

[ed2kou1]

Do you have the actual match between Nikita and Flair