In July of 1981, the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dusty Rhodes made his first appearance with the ten pounds of gold on World Wide Wrestling. Rhodes had defeated Harley Race for the honors weeks earlier in the Omni in Atlanta, GA. Commentators Rich Landrum and Johnny Weaver called the action as Rhodes battled Jim Nelson in the cozy confines of WRAL TV studios in Raleigh.
Video from that era is very rare, but through the magic of a vintage audio recording, we present Dusty's first appearance on Mid-Atlantic area television as NWA World Champion.
Audio from the collection of David Chappell.