Diamonds Are Forever: Great Feud #3

Feud #3: Dusty Rhodes

This was a rivalry between two of the greatest entertainers of all time. These guys were also arguably the two

greatest on the mic. Kansas City was the site where Flair reached the pinnacle of his sport by defeating "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes for his first NWA World Heavyweight Title on September 17, 1981. This was just the beginning of the memorable Flair/Rhodes feud. Dusty was suspended from the NWA in late1982 or early 1983. Then a masked man, known as the Midnight Rider, came onto the scene (who everyone knew was Rhodes). The Midnight Rider won the title from Flair on February 9, 1983. When the President of the NWA told the Midnight Rider to remove the mask, the title was returned to Ric Flair.

The Ultimate Ric Collection (Extras - Part 8)
Uploaded by Evolution-X

One of the key moments in the formation of the Horsemen was a cage match between Ric Flair and Nikita Koloff. After the match ended, Ivan and Nikita double-teamed Flair, beating him senseless. Fans rejoiced when Dusty Rhodes came to Flair's aid. When Ole and Arn Anderson entered the cage, the fans were astonished to see Flair repay Rhodes by attacking him! Flair and the Minnesota Wrecking Crew then locked the cage and annihilated Rhodes, breaking his ankle. Flair and the Andersons fought off an army of babyfaces from within the cage until they had taken their fill.

After Flair regained his title from Kerry Von Erich in the spring of 1984, he held the title for two years, two months, and two days. During this time Flair and Rhodes met in several high profile matches. Starrcade 1984: The Million Dollar Challenge saw Flair defeat Dusty to retain the NWA Heavyweight Title and win $1 million when referee Joe Frazier stopped the match due to excessive bleeding. At Starrcade the following year, it was Rhodes that beat Flair by disqualification when referee Tommy Young DQ'd Flair for outside interference from Ole and Arn Anderson. It was also around this time that Dusty's valet, the perfect 10 Baby Doll, turned on Rhodes and joined Flair and the Horsemen. Flair did eventually lose the title to Rhodes on July 26 at The Great American Bash '86, but he regained the title two weeks later.

At the Bash in '87, Dusty's team of the Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff, and Paul Ellering defeated the Four Horsemen and J.J. Dillon in the first ever War Games match at the Omni in Atlanta and then again later that month in the Orange Bowl. The feud between the Nature Boy and the American Dream really extended to all of the Four Horsemen as Dusty went onto to have many matches with Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson. There is even a spot (included in video below) where the Horsemen attacked Rhodes in a parking lot and "broke" his arm. At the time, this angle was considered to be very controversial and many people thought the Horsemen crossed the line.

Just like the other feuds, here are some Ric Flair-Dusty Rhodes videos to do the rivalry justice...