Steve Cook’s Top 5: Wrestling Dads

In the spirit of Father’s Day, Steve Cook takes a look at Wrestling’s Top 5 Dads! Which dad tops the list?

Last year, right around Mother’s Day, we took a look at the best mothers in the history of pro wrestling.  I thought for sure we did the same thing for the best wrestling dads, but apparently it didn’t happen. Certainly a mistake on my part, as pro wrestling is full of fathers whose sons & daughters ended up following them into the ring. Father’s Day is the one day of the year we make sure to give our dads the respect they deserve. These men certainly deserve our respect for how they helped their children create memories for us.

5. Chavo Guerrero Sr.

I didn’t get to see Chavo’s father, Gory, who formed a tag team with El Santo that never lost a match. He also had four wrestling sons: Chavo, Hector, Mondo & Eddy. After a legendary career of his own, Chavo resurfaced in the 2000s alongside his son Chavo Jr. in WWE. When given the choice between siding with his son or his younger brother, Chavo chose his son.

Chavo Classic stuck around long enough to have a Cruiserweight Championship reign, and would later appear in Lucha Underground for Jr’s Loser Leaves Lucha match with Rey Mysterio. Chavo’s attempt to help his son lie, cheat & steal his way to victory would be his last televised appearance prior to his death in 2017. Right until the end, Chavo was willing to do anything to help his son. Can’t celebrate Father’s Day without looking at Chavo Classic.

4. Ric Flair

The Nature Boy certainly had his ups & downs with all of his kids over the years. When David started his wrestling career, Ric used his position as President of WCW to give him favorable treatment. David eventually turned against his father because it was WCW and it was the late 1990s. Everybody turned against everybody at one point or another. Reid also appeared around this time and was expected to be a natural in the ring, but life had other plans there.

Where Ric’s sons unfortunately came up short, his daughter was able to excel. Charlotte inherited all of her father’s best traits, and as far as we can tell so far, none of his worst. Ric did his best to help Charlotte as well, up until the point where she decided that she didn’t need his help. Ric was heartbroken, but part of him had to understand where his daughter was coming from.

3. Stu Hart

No father in recorded history produced more professional wrestlers than Stu Hart. We all know about Bret & Owen, but Bruce, Smith, Keith, Wayne, Dean & Ross all had matches at one point or another. Not to mention all the kids they had, and Stu’s daughters marrying wrestlers and producing more wrestlers.

Stu was something of an icon in his homestead of Alberta, where he promoted Stampede Wrestling & performed in rings for years & years. He’s most known to American wrestling fans for his occasional appearances in the crowd at WWF events & in his sons’ storylines. Everybody in the business the same time as Stu has an impression of him that they do on a fairly regular basis. True story.

2. “Bullet” Bob Armstrong

Every single one of Bullet Bob’s sons followed in his footsteps and became professional wrestlers. In something of a rarity among wrestling siblings, they were all talented. Brian became the biggest star as the Road Dogg and was by far the best talker, but Brad, Scott & Steve were all great hands that always got the job done in the ring.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling was largely built on the back of Bob Armstrong. The Bullet had multiple stints as Commissioner during the company’s existence & spent most of the era leading his sons & other fine young men into battle against Jim Cornette & his cast of miscreants. The Armstrong/Cornette feud was one of the finest pieces of work in the 1990s, which is saying something because the decade had plenty of classic feuds. Both men were just tremendous on the microphone.

Honorable Mention: Angelo Poffo

It’s Father’s Day, and the father of Randy & Lanny, Angelo was instrumental in the early portion of both their careers. Angelo’s ICW promotion was where both men got on the map & showed the potential for great things in the future.

Angelo never achieved the fame of his sons, but they wouldn’t have gotten as big as they did without him. That’s why Angelo gets the nod here over Fritz Von Erich & other men that pushed their kids into the business. Angelo pushed them, but he made sure they had good heads on their shoulders. Randy & Lanny weren’t going to self-destruct because Angelo wouldn’t have allowed it.

1. Dusty Rhodes

There has not been a better father/son moment in the history of wrestling than when Dusty addressed his son in Macon, Georgia. It was 1994, and Dustin had ongoing issues with Col. Robert Parker’s Stud Stable, including some longtime enemies of Dusty’s in Terry Funk & Arn Anderson. Dusty resolved to help him out and make up for the fact he had previously neglected his son while being a world champion & front office worker. If you don’t feel a little lump in your throat or think somebody might be cutting onions or something while watching the American Dream pontificate in the below video, you have no soul.

Some say this was Dusty’s finest promo, even surpassing his famous “Hard Times” monologue. Cody, a man heavily influenced by his father & brother, cut a promo after his match with Dustin at AEW Double or Nothing that brought back memories & emotions from 1994.

Dusty would be proud 🙏@AEWrestling pic.twitter.com/GZNwHORQzG

— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) May 26, 2019

Dusty was a master of telling a great story. The bull of the woods passed that trait on down the line.