NXT Champion Kevin Owens Comments on the Passing of Dusty Rhodes

It was first confirmed by WWE on June 11 that Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes had tragically passed away at the age of 69.

Rhodes had recently been working with NXT developmental, helping train and mentor the superstars of tomorrow.

One of those stars was current NXT Champion Kevin Owens, who recently wrote a beautiful post on the loss of “The American Dream:”

Dusty…

These past few weeks, I kept telling myself that I had to find time to stop by the Performance Center and talk to Dusty. I wanted to thank him for all of his help in the last year and make sure he knew how grateful I was for the chance I got to work with him. But I’ve been very busy and just couldn’t find the time.

Well, today, I learned that Dusty Rhodes has passed away.

There are no words to express the sadness I feel, not only because I won’t get to see him or talk to him or laugh with him again, but because I didn’t get to tell him how special he was to me.

So today, I invite you all to make time to tell the people in your lives how much they mean to you…You never know what tomorrow will bring.

I can only hope that even though I didn’t get to tell him directly, Dusty knew how much I appreciated and valued his help, wisdom, support and friendship. He was unlike anybody I’ve ever met in this industry and to say that I will always remember him and be thankful for the honor of having known him is an understatement.

In the meantime, the entire NXT crew is on its way to Pittsburgh where we will do what we do best. And you can bet every single second of tonight and every other NXT show this week are dedicated to the memory of the legendary, one-and-only Dusty Rhodes.

My thoughts are with his family and friends at this time…especially his children. Your father was an incredible coach and an even better man. He will be greatly missed.

Dusty used to call us “his NXT kids”… Well, I think I speak for all of us at when I say that tonight and every other night from here on out, we will give it our all for you, Dusty.

We’ll make you proud, Dream.

Thank you for the memories…thank you for everything.

Much love,

Kevin

There are no words that can express the sadness in our hearts. RIP Dusty Rhodes…You will be missed, Dream…We love you pic.twitter.com/45dPxrS3JB

— Kevin Owens (@FightOwensFight) June 11, 2015