Let's Talk About...Dusty Rhodes' WWF stint

[King Kamala 0]

OK---usually I'd be starting a TSM Profile around now and I may do that later this weekend but since this has been getting some discussion in the WWF/E tidbits thread, I figured it warranted its own "Let's Talk About..." thread. That and we haven't had one of these in a while.

 

 

I have very mixed feelings about his run so let's bust out The Pros and Cons

 

 

Pros

At this stage in his career, this was probably the best position for Dusty to be in. He was long past his expiration date as a believable main eventer but I totally bought him as a fun-loving mid carder.

 

Great opponents. I don't really get the knock that WWF buried Dusty. Yeah, sure, he wasn't main eventing but would the WWF fans have bought him as a force to be recokened with alongside Warrior and The Hulkster? Absolutely not. He wasn't the type of guy that main evented WWF shows in 1990. He did remarkably well on the national stage, given the circumstances (he was fat and extremely Southern...not to mention the lisp!). It seemed like all of the guys he feuded with in WWF (The Big Bossman, "Macho King" Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase) were guys that had just gotten done feuding with Hogan or had feuded with him at some point or another. Not a bad position to be in at all. While Dusty wasn't a very good worker at this stage, he was still a smart one and his opponents were perfect for his style at the time. While not workrate classics by any stretch of the imagination, I can't watch one of his matches with Savage or DiBiase and not be at least somewhat entertained. In fact, I'd take any of those matches with Savage over any of the matches in his far more famous series with Ric Flair.

 

The unintentional comedy! Four words; Ultimate Wayuh Thuck Cup

 

 

Cons

The yellow polka dots! It's weird that something as simple as a ring outfit can be used as the most damning evidence for a company burying the company but I think that's the case here. If it weren't for the polka dots and Sapphire, I think Dusty's WWF run would be remembered as a decent but unspectacular coda to a career that was quite a few years past its prime. I mean, seriously, why polka dots?

 

Sapphire. Really, what exactly did she bring to the table? She couldn't wrestle, she didn't have any discernible charisma, she certainly wasn't good looking. I guess it was supposed to help Dusty's reputation as a common man that his valet was a dumpy looking, middle aged black chick but really did he need any more help in being believable as any average joe?

 

Too goofy---ties into the other ones. Even by '80s/early '90s WWF standards, The American Dream gimmick seemed a bit too goofy. He was far too fun loving and wacky for me to take seriously as a mark. Then again...maybe that was the intention.

 

 

Anyways---share your thoughts on the final chapter in the American Dream's in-ring career.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I heard most of the stuff in his WWF gimmick, including the polka dots, were his own ideas.

[Zack Malibu 0]

I believe Sapphire (the gimmick, not the woman who played her) was originally supposed to be portrayed as a hooker/"lady of the night".

[Diamonddust 0]

I believe Sapphire (the gimmick, not the woman who played her) was originally supposed to be portrayed as a hooker/"lady of the night".

 

I thought that was some other valet Dusty used during the NWA Days (Sweet Georgia Brown maybe?), or it could be both... I've heard that story before, but I can't remember who it was referring to.

 

As for his time in the WWE, he made the most of it, and from my memory as a kid, was pretty over with the crowd. He definitely had a lot of baggage due to his days of booking for Crockett so I think he knew he wasn't in a position to complain about anything. I don't know if it's true or not (I think Dusty said it so it's 50/50), but he wanted Patterson's job and basically used the Polka-Dot gimmick as a way of saying, "Hey... I don't care if I act a fool... I'm serious about this and will still get it over."

[Papacita 0]

The unintentional comedy! Four words; Ultimate Wayuh Thuck Cup

 

First thing that popped into my head when I opened this thread! Thank you!

[King Kamala 0]

Don't forget the pre-debut vignettes they had for him where Dusty was working various, blue collar jobs.

 

"You can beat my prices but you can't beat my meat!"

[Mos_Def 0]

He really played himself --- the WWF made a fool out of him. That whole gimmick was designed specifically to laugh at him, nothing more. There wasnt an ounce of dignity in that gimmick. Remember the vignettes that they created to introduce him?

 

some people are hoes when it comes to money.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Rhodes admitted as much in one of the Legends of Wrestling roundtables.

[cabbageboy 0]

I don't see how he was buried all that bad. It was an odd way to do it if that was the case. Sure, he had the polka dots and was a goof but they put him over HTM, Savage, Bossman, etc. This wasn't a case like DDP where he was totally buried and humiliated, did a terrible gimmick as a stalker, lost to Taker's wife.

[The Buzz 0]

I was just watching his dvd again the other night, and have found myself enjoying not only his promos but his matches. He really did have it in the ring as a worker. By the time he got to the WWE I think his days as a top level guy were over anyway, so he was probably just enjoying his time on a national stage in the spotlight.

[King Kamala 0]

I don't think they buried him either, personally. It was an odd way to end a career but in the long run, I don't think it hurt his legacy all that much. I think Dusty Rhodes's run was kind of like Rikishi in '00. He was an over, fun-loving upper mid-carder who won most of his feuds but didn't really seem to be headed towards the main event.

[Mos_Def 0]

They didnt bury him, in terms of placement on the roster --- they just made an ass and a joke out of him and his whole career. Yeah, he had good feuds and all, but they had him wearing polka dots, doing stupid ass dances, and they introduced him cleaning shit out of a toilet among other humiliating skits.

 

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

He was dancing like that LONG before that WWF stint.

[Mos_Def 0]

C'mon now. He may have done a dance or two to reflect his common man character, but it was nothing like what we saw him do in the WWF. They made him out to be a retard. The whole gimmick was designed to humiliate him. They're pretty upfront about it.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

C'mon now. He may have done a dance or two to reflect his common man character, but it was nothing like what we saw him do in the WWF. They made him out to be a retard. The whole gimmick was designed to humiliate him. They're pretty upfront about it.

And it's not like that this was the first time they did something to make fun of Dusty.

 

*Points to Virgil

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

C'mon now. He may have done a dance or two to reflect his common man character, but it was nothing like what we saw him do in the WWF. They made him out to be a retard. The whole gimmick was designed to humiliate him. They're pretty upfront about it.

And it's not like that this was the first time they did something to make fun of Dusty.

 

*Points to Virgil

 

Don't forget Akeem

 

[ChrisMWaters 0]

C'mon now. He may have done a dance or two to reflect his common man character, but it was nothing like what we saw him do in the WWF. They made him out to be a retard. The whole gimmick was designed to humiliate him. They're pretty upfront about it.

And it's not like that this was the first time they did something to make fun of Dusty.

 

*Points to Virgil

 

Don't forget Akeem

...how was Akeem a reference to Dusty?

 

Virgil was by the name (Dusty's real name being Virgil Runnels)

[BUTT 0]

Akeem The African Dream was intended to be a parody of Dusty, at least mildly.

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

A white man acting and speaking black = Akeem and Dusty