Nature Boy Ric Flair's Touching Tribute to Fellow WWE, WCW, NWA Legend Dusty Rhodes

On Thursday, tragedy struck in the wrestling world once again when the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, died at the age of 69. Rhodes, a legend in the business, may have been one of its most prolific and dynamic individuals to lace his boots up in the ring. Other than his own family, the person who may have been broken up about it the most is Ric Flair. Both men's careers have intertwined for generations and their rivalries are probably the best the business has ever seen. After Rhodes' passing TMZ reached out to Flair and the Nature Boy had a heartfelt tribute to his own friend.

Flair called Rhodes a hero, mentor and friend in his online eulogy.

"Today I lost one of my greatest opponents and greatest friends. He was the definition of heart and soul and I'm honored to have shared the ring with him countless times," Flair told TMZ. "He became the 'American Dream' because wrestling needed a hero they could respect, and he was the man for the job. Dusty Rhodes, I will miss you my mentor and friend."

Long after Rhodes' wrestling career came to an end, the American Dream still found a way to play a major part in the wrestling world. Up until the day he died, Rhodes taught promo classes in WWE's developmental territory, NXT. He trained the likes of Tyler Breeze, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Hideo Itami and just about everyone else who made their way through the yellow and black ropes.

On top of that, Rhodes was in the middle of the story between Goldust and Stardust. He was on WWE programming as recently as the Fastlane pay-per-view before Wrestlemania. Sadly, the story between the two Rhodes brothers was curtailed and we never got any closure. It'll be interesting to see where WWE takes the characters of Stardust and Goldust. Maybe Stardust reverts back to Cody Rhodes and he patches things up with Goldust?

 All I wanted to be in 1972 was Rambling Ricky Rhodes. The Dream told me "you can make it on your own." He mentored me and taught me how to be a star. Dusty used to say “If you are going to pass by... why not in a Cadillac??” He’s the man who invented A Flair for the Gold and was a genius way ahead of his time. Much love to your family and more respect than can ever be measured. Love you Dream.

A photo posted by Ric Flair® Nature Boy® (@ricflairnatureboy) on Jun 11, 2015 at 11:54am PDT