RAW Deal: Have yourselves an American Dream

CLEVELAND, OH—No, I don’t mean dreams of leaving this country and draining it of its mental resources.

Last Friday (Manila time), one of the all-time greats, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, suddenly passed away. He had been having some health problems for a while now, but the passing was abrupt because everyone close to him had still seen him kicking just some days before it happened. Regardless, the inevitable occurred.

But instead of mourning his death, we should celebrate his legacy and influence in the world of professional wrestling.

Most fans, when the name Dusty Rhodes comes to mind, will conjure up memories of one thing: the classic Hard Times promo.

This three-and-a-half-minute soliloquy, a perfect piece of literature only very few of which pro wrestling is able to produce every generation, completely encapsulates what Rhodes was all about. He did not, in his prime, look like a privileged athlete who was able to work out, eat right, and maybe get a little help along the way to look like a modern-day Hercules. 

Rhodes exemplified the common man who worked hard enough to realize the American Dream—a concept somewhat lost to this current generation, as it’s fallen somewhat into vogue. But the American Dream, the concept after which he stylized himself, was simply getting by and being comfortable on the back of honest, hard work.

For those who never had an idea of who Dusty Rhodes was, perhaps the closest analogue to local pop culture would be Fernando Poe, Jr. FPJ’s gritty, realistic movie characters were hardly about success and making a living—Lord knows that that’s been close to impossible for many in this country for centuries—but they were all about defending justice against those with the money and power to abuse it.

Rhodes was all about that as well, as anyone who’s been stratified for any reason, be it appearance, personality, or financial situation will tell you that it’ll happen anywhere and everywhere. It’ll happen as long as the human condition is predisposed to pride and avarice. Rhodes stood up against that and taught everyone a most important lesson, if not a clichéd one: it’s okay to be yourself. It’s okay to fight for yourself, as long as you draw your fighting spirit straight from the heart, never forsook your values, and never forget those who depend on you.

The man was an icon an ocean away; but when one thinks about it, distance never stopped us from idolizing people not within our reaches. For all intents and purposes, Dusty Rhodes could have been as much a Philippine Dream as he was an American Dream.

Thank you for everything, Dusty. The wrestling world will miss you. Rest in peace and power.

 

High spots:

• I’m liking where this entire Seth Rollins angle is going. I called it last week that we were heading for a slow-burn babyface turn, one that doesn’t take sudden leaps of logic in the journey, but one that works within the bounds of Rollins’s established personality.  Again, for those who want depths to their wrestling characters (such as myself), there is no clear-cut good guy in this story. Triple H and Stephanie are only demanding that their chosen champion is actually worth their money—which is noble, in theory—but you can feel a sense of punishment in choosing Brock Lesnar as their next challenger. Meanwhile, Seth Rollins is desperate to further prove himself, but obviously he’s only going to want relatively easy pickings. And we need not say much about the Beast Incarnate; everyone knows he’s in it for himself, and the audience loves his lack of pretense.

• Seth’s acting is golden. 

• I know it’s a bit of a terrible sentiment, but props must be given to Machine Gun Kelly for working with the company to make the show better. I mean, yeah, it’s great that MGK was powerbombed, but he went the extra mile of having his appearance not just be a non-wrestling appearance, especially when everyone knows he didn’t have to take the bump. People might not like him as a rap artist, but they should have him back whenever they’re in town. 

• There were a slew of decent matches tonight, including the six-man tag technical main event, Dean Ambrose vs. Sheamus, and Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens. Ziggler has truly come a long way, and I’ve realized that what makes him a good wrestler is that he’s able to electrify crowds with less. Now I just need him to turn the intensity up just a bit more. 

• Props must also be given where they’re due: the creative team scores for having the Divas turn on Paige. The girls are right—Paige has been a bad friend. Why should anyone stand with her (in theory)?
• This might also be somewhat of a terrible sentiment, but Bray Wyatt threatening Roman Reigns’s daughter was a good move. It gives their angle some realer stakes, and when (not if) Reigns wins, he’ll look better for overcoming a dire situation.
• Thank God for no Lana/Ziggler this week. Let’s hope that thing has been quietly buried under the pain of Rusev’s soul.

 

Low blows:

• Despite how great the closing segment was, we have to give demerits to JBL for once again ruining the atmosphere of that moment. You see, JBL is largely cut-and-dry when it comes to alignment; he will almost always disparage the babyface and cheer for the heel, except in some muddled scenarios. As soon as Brock Lesnar comes out to officially be the new #1 contender, JBL jumps ship and roots against Seth Rollins, when just last night he was cheering for him. What gives? It not only plainly gives away the fact that Rollins is about to turn good, but it makes the JBL character ridiculously shallow. Could he not have been written to be on the fence about things first, and maybe at least objectively assessing the scenario Rollins is now in? Bobby Heenan wouldn’t have been like that. If the main players in this story are becoming three-dimensional, then the supporting players have to be as well, unless we’re all okay with having them come across as fools.
• The less said about King Barrett, the better.
• The less said about Randy Orton and Sheamus, the better. Orton is now officially filling the “veteran with nothing to do” role, which Christian has been playing in recent years before he was ultimately pulled off TV.

 

Do you listen to podcasts? Would you want to listen to a local podcast about pro wrestling? If the answers to most of those questions—especially that last one—are yes, then you should check out the cleverly-named Smark Gilas-Pilipinas Podcast—featuring Mellow 94.7 DJ and PWR General Manager Stan Sy, wrestling writer Romeo Moran, and all-around multimedia person (and voice of PWR) Raf Camus! On their latest episode, local radio DJs Jam Alas of Magic 89.9, Poch Estrada and DJ Faustino formerly of 99.5 Play FM join the boys and talk wrestling! Listen to it here!