Wrestling legend 'American Dream' Dusty Rhodes dies at 69

Wrestler Dusty Rhodes. — (Image credit: Twitter.com/WWE)

Wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes, known as The American Dream, died Thursday at 69. The cause of death has not been released.

Born Virgil Runnels Jr., Rhodes was the wrestling world's working-class hero, the "son of a plumber" who had a memorable feud with wealthy "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in the 1980s, CBS Sports reports. He started wrestling in 1968, and his career took off in the early 1970s when he began to create his American Dream persona. Rhodes was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007. The father of four and grandfather of two, his sons, Cody and Dustin, are both professional wrestlers with WWE.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.