Orton seeks milestone victory over Rhodes

Orton seeks milestone victory over Rhodes

This Sunday at The Great American Bash, Randy Orton wants to accomplish what countless wrestling greats -- including "Outlaw" Ron Bass, JJ Dillon, and WWE Hall of Famer Nick Bockwinkel -- have failed to do: beat the "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes at his own specialty, the Texas Bull Rope Match.

For Orton, a victory over the Dream in the match he made famous at The Great American Bash -- an event Rhodes put on the map -- would cement his legacy as a destroyer of legends.

There's no reason to believe that the former World Heavyweight Champion is not capable of beating a ring legend like Dusty Rhodes at his own game.

In a similar instance, Orton's proved he could match Mick Foley's flair for the extreme in April 2004, when, as Intercontinental Champion, he defeated the Hardcore Legend in a bloody, thumbtack-filled, No Holds Barred Match at Backlash.

Could Orton already have a psychological advantage over Rhodes? In recent months, the third-generation Superstar has taken sadistic glee in taking out legendary Superstars. One stiff kick to the skull from the former World Heavyweight Champion is all it took to put Shawn Michaels and Rob Van Dam out of WWE -- perhaps for good.

Randy Orton stood in a familiar spot Monday night. Standing in the Raw ring, looking down at the "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and his son, Cody, Orton felt the rush of power he's felt many times before. One stiff kick to the cranium of the young Superstar could have shelved the up-and-comer for a long time.

Orton charged, but was intercepted at the last minute by an enraged Dream. Rhodes may have prevented Orton from ending his son's career just as it was beginning.

The Texas Bull Rope Match on Sunday is now personal to Dusty Rhodes, and he will undoubtedly be looking to teach Orton a lesson in family values. Dusty is long removed from his in-ring glory days as a full-time competitor, but he is still the master of this brutal type of match.

Dusty Rhodes has called Orton a "disrespectful, snotty-nosed punk" for the way he slights the legends of the ring -- the men who made this business and their place in history.

But to Orton, Dusty's history -- in Bull Rope Matches or otherwise -- means nothing in the year 2007.  "People who live off their past don't deserve respect," Orton told the ring legend.
 
Will stoking the Rhodes' family flame come back to bite Orton? Will Dusty Rhodes teach Orton the ultimate lesson of respect while shackled to the unforgiving bull rope at The Great American Bash -- the event he made famous? 

Or will Orton put the Texas Bull Rope Match legacy of The American Dream on his trophy shelf -- along with the long list of victims he's already destroyed?

The only way to find out is to check out The Great American Bash this Sunday live on pay-per-view at 8/7 CT.

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