Harley Race
Dusty Rhodes won the NWA World heavyweight championship thrice in his career. Two of those wins came at the expense of Harley Race. Race had a habit of touring extensively over the country which landed him against Dusty on various occasions. The first championship clash between the two men came in 1979. Dusty won the title to end the 926-day reign of Harley.
Harley, however, came back strong and won the title back just five days later. Dusty would then win it back from Harley two years later in another excellent match. The title exchanges that Dusty had with Harley are still among the classics. And it is only fitting to include Harley in the list of Dusty’s best rivals.
Superstar Billy Graham
Vince McMahon Sr.’s World Wide Wresting Federation (WWWF) saw a great feud between Superstar Billy Graham and Dusty Rhodes. Billy was the reigning champion of WWWF during that time and needed a great opponent to make his reign a successful reign. And the pick went to Dusty.
Graham and Dusty went on to have a lot of matches filled with blood. Two most memorable matches from this feud happened in the legendary Madison Square Garden. The WWWF title was up for grabs in both occasions. The first match went to Dusty via a count out when the second match was won by Graham. The second match was a Texas Death match and Graham won through a mid-ring collision, which was enough to keep Dusty down for the three count.