 Wrestling has more than one. Royal Family. He's just a common man. Born the son of a plumber, Dusty Rhodes captured the essence of the Everyman perhaps better than any other superstar in wrestling history. Behind his blue collar work ethic and that infectious charisma, the American Dream was a bona fide rock star. Having passed away in 2015, Rhodes' legacy and behind the scenes influence lives on through his sons Cody and Dustin and through the numerous wrestlers or Dusty's kids that the dream mentored along the way. Musically speaking, Big Dust's entrances were an eclectic mix of musical genres from rock to country to jazz and a few surprising ones in between. This documentary will chronicle the American Dream's career and also take a special look at the music that made the man. From Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover to the Common Man Boogie, let's take a look behind the themes of Dusty Rhodes. Dusty's first entrance theme shows us just how much of a creative storyteller he really was. By 1983, wrestling territories across the United States had begun to use theme music as a pre-match theatrical way to introduce a wrestler. For a natural showman like the American Dream, this was Grand Theater at its finest. Primarily performing for Championship Wrestling of Florida, Rhodes was involved in a bloody feud with the Prince of Darkness, Kevin Sullivan. After beating each other senseless for months, they were booked into a solid steel cage, loser leaves town match, which Dusty lost. But leave it to the dream to figure out a way to not lose a payday because in his absence, entered the Midnight Rider. As if it weren't obvious enough from his body type, mannerisms and voice, the Rider was just a masked Dusty Rhodes. But the gimmick worked quite well, with fans enjoying the spectacle of frustrated heel wrestlers trying to unmask the Rider and prove it was really Dusty. In fact, the gimmick worked so well that it was repeated several times over his career. Now, instead of using the Allman Brothers' original version for his theme, Dusty chose to instead use a cover performed by his close personal friend and pot provider, Willie Nelson. In one of those bizarre, it had to happen in the 80s moments, for the main event of Starcade 1984, the Million Dollar Challenge, Dusty pranced down the aisle for his match versus The Nature Boy, Rick Flair, as purple smoke bellowed out around him with the smooth sounds of Prince's purple rain playing over the arena's speakers. This title track from the film and the album was all the pop culture rage back in 84, and although it definitely doesn't fit the quintessential stereotype for an entrance theme, well, neither did The American Dream. Now, we all know that The Nature Boy has been known to have a flair for the gold, so let's just say that Big Dust certainly had a flair for their dramatic. Honestly, I'm just surprised that Dusty didn't drive down to the ring in a little red corvette while wearing a raspberry beret. And as for the match itself, of course, there was a screwjob finish when special guest referee Smokin' Joe Frazier stopped the match due to Rhodes' excessive bleeding and declared flair the winner. Smokin' Joe must have gotten some weed from Willie or something, because he should have known that Rastlin' isn't like boxing. Before becoming practically the official theme song of classic rock radio, Bob Seeger's old time rock and roll was the first common man boogie woogie hit song that accompanied Dusty to the ring. Now, there's always been something genuine about the fast talking, down-to-earth sports entertainer that endeared roads to wrestling fans everywhere. Appealing to everyone on Main Street in the heartland of Americana with this tune, Dream once said, when you're fighting with me, it's risk a business. Which I'm sure Tom Cruise thinks is quite appropriate. It was also around this time when Dusty gave what is now considered to be one of the greatest wrestling promos of all time. Known as the Hard Times Interview, Rhodes used his uncanny ability to connect with the viewer like a preacher man, saying they've all experienced hard times together. The promo resonated with wrestling fans so much that people came to him with tears in their eyes to thank him. Who knew that they must have been holding out for a hero? People tend to forget what a juggernaut the movie Footloose starring Kevin Bacon was. For that matter, the entire soundtrack had everybody cutting loose and kicking off their Sunday shoes. Alright folks, let's try a little 6 degrees of separation with Kevin Bacon and Dusty. Alright, so Bacon worked with Ed Asner in the 1991 movie JFK and Asner worked with Dusty in the 1974 film The Wrestler. Boom, but seriously, where have all the good men gone is what Bonnie Tyler crooned for in her over-the-top anthem holding out for a hero. Used for his rematch against Flair for the NWA Heavyweight Championship in the main event of StarCade 85, The Gathering. Dusty makes one of his most emotional entrances here, psyching himself up as the pyro goes off and the fans cheer him on before the biggest match of his career. This frenetic and fast-paced theme has also been used by the likes of Tom Zink, the Dingo Warrior and of course, Chris Hero. A one-off theme if there ever was one, Dusty channeled his inner satchmo for his match against Tully Blanchard from the NWA's Superstars on the Super Station. A more or less televised house show concept that eventually became known as the Clash of the Champions. Here with Tully's former valet, the perfect 10 baby doll in his corner, Rhodes trolled Tully while Tony Shavani told Tall Tales talking on TBS. In an era of steroids and hulking physiques, Dusty was the rare top-end superstar who didn't possess the bodybuilder look. Rhodes was the complete opposite. His belly was just a little big, his high knee was just a little big, but the man made being chubby charming if your wheel. The perfect white meat, lovable, sympathetic babyface to feud with the four horsemen. Dusty used the bluesy Country Rock song You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover by Hank Williams Jr. and Huey Lewis. Both Cephas's Outlaw, Country Swank and Huey's Hot Harmonica complimented Dusty's determined march to the ring. There's probably no other entrance theme that echoed the American dream better than this tune, as one really couldn't judge a book by its cover as it related to Dusty Rhodes. Now you're probably starting to notice a little pattern here, as the dream is always used in a different entrance theme song for his matches at Starcade. In 1987's Shy Town Heat was no different. Challenging Lex Luger inside a solid steel cage for the United States title, Rhodes came out to this orchestral instrumental by famous composer Henry Mancini. In the 1962 African safari adventure rom-com film starring John Wayne called Hotari, quite the random song choice, but one of Dusty's most sincere qualities was his ability to be self-deprecating and not take himself too seriously. If I had to venture a guess as to why he made this odd choice of coming out to a tune called Baby Elephant Walk, it's probably because he compared himself to Luger's chiseled hard body and thought that he looked like Dumbo compared to the total package. Although he's been accused of pushing himself at the expense of others, there is no doubt that Rhodes was one of the top five performers in wrestling in the 1980s. Whether he was trying to defeat his former friend Barry Windham or teaming up with Nikita Koloff to form the superpowers, it was definitely showtime whenever Dusty made his way to the squared circle. And speaking of showtime, this instrumental track, called The Pursuit, was featured in the Los Angeles Lakers 1987 documentary called Drive for Five. But the irony lies in the fact that his classic feud with the fall horseman was designed to mirror the Lakers Celtics rivalry, hitting the flashy, stylish and flamboyant symbols of excellence against the no-nonsense workmen-like determined good old boys. Now following the sale of Jim Crockett promotions to turn to broadcasting in 1988, Rhodes was fired after the controversial eye for an eye angle with the road warriors turning heel on him, which gave Dusty some time to pursue other options. What can be said about the American dream that hasn't already been said? His character was one that stood up for the working class and his common man speeches weren't just some gimmick for a wrestler to use to get over. It's who he was as a man and as a wrestler, blue-eyed with a lot of soul, and the driving funk of his timeless, common man boogie theme expressed this very sentiment, striking a chord with wrestling fans from the very first cowbell. The song's funky like a monkey basslines, passionate vocals and tasty guitar licks push the tune forward making your hips shake like a jive turkey and your booty bounce baby. Behind the scenes, Jimmy Hart and J.J. McGuire tied everything together into a neat three-minute package that arguably is a top-tier wrestling theme song. And speaking of arguing, Dusty's one-year stint in the WWF will always be a dividing topic amongst the wrestling community. While some may feel that his introductory vignettes and polka dot outfits were designed to humiliate, Virgil Runnels remained as popular as ever. In fact, the ovations he received from the WWF universe were nearly as loud, if not louder than those usually reserved for Hulk Hogan. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it, brother. At the end of the day, common man boogie is the definitive Dusty Rhodes theme song, and part of that larger-than-life persona he possessed. Who says you can't go home, Jack? Because once the time came to turn in his polka dot tights, Dusty returned to WCW. And although he spent some on-screen time as the manager of the all-American Ron Simmons, behind the scenes he resumed his prior role as Booker. But an old rivalry was soon rekindled when some disagreements between Rhodes and Ric Flair led to the Nature Boys' departure to the WWF and the Big Gold Belt controversy. So now primarily serving as an insufferable southern-fried color commentator who gave close captioning workers fits. Because no one could understand some of his crazy lingo, Big Dust would lace his boots up again a handful of times and team with his son Dustin to battle the stud stable. Dusty even got to participate in a war games for old times sake. Having no real need for a specific theme song, Rhodes naturally got saddled with this awful country music style little diddy. Will it call him the natural? Natural! I mean, it's really straight up WrestleCrap Daddy-O. Whether he was a member of the Booking Committee, inventing WCW pay-per-view names or gimmick matches, Dusty is a man synonymous with the legacy of world championship wrestling. And despite his cup of coffee with the NWO towards the end of this road with his departure in 1999, few would have guessed that the American dream would end up in the land of the extreme. What started out as a one-off appearance quickly transformed into a full-blown program with Steve Carino that helped elevate the King of Old School to new heights. Now on the surface, this may have seemed like unfamiliar territory for Dusty. But really, he was hardcore before hardcore was cool. Heck, he might have even invented the concept. Having done bunkhouse stampeds and bullrope matches and Texas deathmatches, barbed wire matches, and all of that before most of us were even born. Sure, Big Dust was a little bit older and slower, which made the lyrics of his EC Dub theme That Is Why I Sing the Blues by Reckless Fortune hit home. But charisma never ages. And Rhodes added more memorable moments for new fans that missed his glory days. He's the heartbeat of America. The most popular phrase in the wrestling business is not who are you to doubt L. Dandy, but rather the three words never say never. And just like that, the dream again returned to his rightful home. Except this time, the company scrambled against an insurmountable combination of declining ratings, an exodus of talent, and a great deal of internal strife from a management perspective. L. Dandy reformed a partnership with Dustin in a war against Jeff Jarrett and Ric Flair after WJ had done several skits mocking the former NWA champion. However, the son of a plumber and the son of a son of a gun more than held their own, including a victory over the two in the tag team match at the final WCW pay-per-view greed. With the special stipulation being that the losing team would receive a stink face. Good times. The mouth of the South, Jimmy Hart jumped into his time machine to create this new theme for Dusty, which is such a blatant rip off of the common man boogie that Jimmy should have gotten sued and stink faced simultaneously. After WCW's purchase by the WWF in 2001, Dusty would work for TNA, Ring of Honor, and various other indie wrestling leagues, including Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, a promotion he founded himself. Rhodes struck a deal with total non-stop action in 2003 and joined the promotion as both an on-air talent and creative director. While in TNA, he was involved in several major storylines against the likes of the aforementioned Jeff Jarrett, the phenomenal AJ Styles, and the sports entertainment Extreme Faction. But after two years with the promotion, TNA President Dixie Carter asked Rhodes to step down as headbooker and join a creative committee, which he flat out refused, instead choosing to sit out for the remainder of his contract. In late 2005, he would sign a Legends deal, making occasional appearances on WWE Programming from then on, and in his later years, Dusty worked on NXT as a promo coach, mentoring and inspiring a whole new generation of wrestlers. Many of today's superstars cite sitting at the Knowledge Tree of Dusty as a major influence in their character work, promo skills, and ability to connect with the wrestling fanbase. Dusty Rhodes is without a doubt one of the most charismatic, entertaining, and popular wrestlers of all time. Additionally, outside of the squared circle, he proved himself to be a unique and influential booker and creative force in sports entertainment. From the son of a plumber grit to the blue-eyed soul that captivated fans around the world, the dream's multi-layered persona made it difficult to capture him in one song, which is why his legendary career was littered with lots of different lyrical, light motifs. To be continued...