Tyrus Reveals How Much Of Dusty Rhodes Was In The Funkasaurus

Current NWA star Tryus (FKA Brodus Clay) recently spoke about his life and career with Wrestling Epicenter ahead of tomorrow's NWA Alwayz Ready pay-per-view.

One thing he touched on was his Funkasaurus WWE persona and how much of his mentor Dusty Rhodes was in the character:

"In every nook and cranny! Everything except the track suit, but I was like, "Listen, if I'm going out there, I'm going like Run DMC!". Vince McMahon picked the colour red and I hated the colour red. He picked the colour red because that is an encourager not to gain weight. If you're in bright red, you're going to skip the cake at catering".

Tyrus sought out The American Dream's help when it came to putting the Funkasaurus together, with Dusty even teaching him how to dance:

"So, I went down there [to FCW] and he [Dusty] was waiting on me. He had the arena cleared out and I was bitching and moaning. I was like, "This is not right! I want Cena! I was training for Cena! I want to get my hands on Cena!". He said, "This is where you're at". One of the things I always loved about Dusty is he always took the heat off you. He grabbed me by my face and said, "You are mine! And you have to pay for my sins!. When they put me in the polka dots, do you think I wanted to be in polka dots? I was a 3 time World Champion.". I said, "Yes you were...You also were the booker". 

"He said, "Shut up!". (laughs) "But, I did it. Because I had to feed my family…And I made it work. Are you saying you can’t do the same thing?". I said, "But I don't like to dance". He said, "Well, then you'd better start dancing". He had the sound guy put on 'Moves Like Jagger' and he had me dance with him for probably an hour and a half. And it was as awkward as it could be. I was trying not to cooperate. But I was literally doing America's Dream with him all around the arena. 

"And then he stopped dancing and I kept dancing. He was like, "See, you got it. You know what to do. When you start smelling that popcorn and hearing those people, you'll know exactly what to do. You know my history. You are me. I've not taught you about wrestling. I've taught you about life". Damn it. I miss him".

Brodus Clay was released by WWE in June of 2014. He subsequently worked for IMPACT Wrestling and is currently a contributor for Fox News.