Dusty Rhodes Jr. was born Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. on 12 October 1945 in Austin, Texas USA. He was best known as one of the toughest professional wrestlers in WWE, earning himself the name ‘The American Dream.’ Some of his stage names included ‘Uvalde Slim,’ ‘The Midnight Rider,’ and ‘Dusty Runnels.’ He also worked as a trainer, producer and backstage booker in WWE’s ‘NXT.’ He died on 11 June 2015 from stomach cancer.
How rich was Dusty Rhodes by the time of his death? What was his net worth? According to credible sources, Dusty Rhodes was estimated to have a net worth of $3 million, and he earned his riches from his career in WWE, both as a wrestler, and manager and producer. He won the NWA World Heavyweight Champion three times and had been crowed as the United States Heavyweight Champion. Some of the wrestlers he managed include Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.
Dusty Rhodes Net Worth $3 Million
Dusty Rhodes had a deep passion for wrestling from an early age. However, he started by playing football, joining the West Texas State team in the Continental Football League. It was not until he met Gary Hart that he was introduced into professional wrestling business. Gary christened the young wrestler “Dusty Rhodes,’ from the character of Andy Griffith’s “Lonesome Rhodes” in the film ‘A Face in the Crowd.’ He succeeded in the wrestling business in the 1960s, joining Dick Murdoch, a fellow Texan, to form a tag team known as The Texas Outlaws.
Although Dusty didn’t quite have a typical physique to become a wrestler, he was famous for his personality, interviews and charisma. In 1974, he became a hero after fighting Mike and Eddie Graham and Eddie in Florida, but in the process turned against his manager Gary Hart and Partner Pak Song, and decided that it was time to go solo. From 1977 to 1981, he challenged various wrestlers for WWWF Heavyweight Championship, but lost the fights. In 1985, he started working as a wrestler and booker in Mid-Atlantic with Jim Crockett Promotions, a company that eventually bought World Wrestling Championship. Three times He won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, once by beating Flair and twice by beating Race.
In Mid 1989, Dusty Rhodes joined WWF, where he was managed by Sapphire. He did not stay there for long, and in 1991 he moved to WCW as one of the members of the booking committee. On August 1992, he won WCW World Heavyweight Championship, beating Big Van Vader. Later on, he was chosen to join the broadcast team, where he joined Tony Schiavone on the ‘Saturday Night.’ He was also paired with Bobby Heenan and Schiavone on pay-per-views. He left WCW and went to work for Extreme Championship Wrestling before returning to WCW to re-ignite his feud with the wrestler Rick Flair.
In 2003, Rhodes started appearing in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, before becoming the Director of Authority in 7 November 2004. During this time, he also acted both as a writer and head booker. Towards the end of the year, he made regular appearances in Carolina Championship Wrestling, teaming up with a team known as The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express in order to take on and defeat Stan Lane, Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey Bobby. On 31 March 2007, he was inducted into WWE Hall of Fame by his two sons: Cody and Dustin. In September 2015, he signed a deal with WWE, which saw him join the Creative Team to work as a consultant. All these activities increased his net worth significantly.
In his personal life, Dusty Rhodes married Sandra Runnels in 1965, and they had two children but divorced in 1975. Rhodes then married Michelle Runnels, with whom he also had two children: Cody and Dustin Runnels.
Dusty Rhodes died from the effects of stomach cancer, on 11 June 2015, in his home in Orlando, Florida.
