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Big Dust

Scott,
Do you think Dusty Rhodes could have been something more during his WWF run?  Vince obviously had it in for Dusty and saddled him with the polka dots and general goofiness, but do you think he could have had a greater impact?  Feuding with Savage made sense, but he never really did anything else.

I think he pretty much exceeded what his potential should have been given his age and Vince’s hatred of him.  Dusty was never going to be a top guy given his look and history, and he almost was, so good for him.  I don’t think that realistically anyone in 1990 was going to buy him as a serious challenger to the WWF title or anything, but headlining C-shows against Dibiase or Savage?  Totally fine.  Dusty made a shit-ton of money from merchandise and got to rub it in Vince’s face before getting fired, so everyone was happy.

Comments

  1. Dusty got fired from WWF? I thought he just left to go book WCW again

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  2. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Dusty quit to take his position back on the booking committee. As I recall, he wasn't fond of someone that was on the committee (Ole?) and once they got the boot he started to make his path back to WCW.



    And I agree with what Scott said -- Dusty was at the tail end of his career in 1990 and really, how could it have gone any better than it did, given the gimmick he had? Him and Sapphire were like the most over faces in the company after Hogan, Warrior, and maybe Jake Roberts.

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  3. I wonder why Dustin Rhodes was in that Rumble if they knew he'd be gone too. I guess they did job.

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  4. I assume just because they'd already run the big angle on TV with Ted Dibiase and Dustin and wanted to blow off the storyline.

    Dusty and Dibiase were supposed to be paired at house shows through January. Looking back, I wonder if the idea to turn Virgil came about due to Rhodes leaving.

    If so, that was quite the tidy piece of booking -- the babyfaces couldn't go over in the match, so just turn one of the heels babyface. A pretty smooth, natural transition for a feud change midstream and Virgil/Dibiase ended up being the hotter feud on TV anyway.

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  5. (Normally this would be a sarcastic comment, but there is none intended) If Vince hated Dusty so much why did he bring him into the Fed in the first place? And where did that hatred come from?

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  6. Has Dusty ever gone on record about the whole Starrcade 88 rumour with him booking Rick Steiner over Ric Flair in 20 seconds? As for his original WWF run it was what 14 months long? He got over,made money and had one hell of an entrance theme! Not bad for a then 44 year old fat guy.

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  7. I don't know if he hated him so much as he say him as the last viable chance at being a threat to the WWF if the NWA could get their shit together. Dusty could be his own worst enemy as a booker (especially when he was wrestling) but he did help the NWA draw money after Vince killed everyone else dead. I'm sure he felt he could pick his brain too and get the scoop on the NWA's long term plans.

    Also, IIRC the Clash of Champions special running against WrestleMania IV was Dusty's idea, which drew a huge rating and the WWF felt it cost them a ton of money, although to be fair, Vince started that whole war.

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  8. I remember Dusty being my little brothers favorite wrestler at the time. He was like 5 yrs old and would call him "The Dottie Man".

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  9. My brother too, actually. And about the same age.

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  10. Yeah Vince is right in this regard, I would never ever ever ever but Dusty as anything serious or close to serious or in the same sentence as the word serious except for seriously silly.

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  11. Yeah Vince is right in this regard, I would never ever ever ever buy
    Dusty as anything serious or close to serious or in the same sentence as
    the word serious except for seriously silly.

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  12. His WWF theme is top 5 all time. So his run was a success.

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  13. I hated him because he beat Macho Man at WrestleMania VI and I thought it was bullshit.

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  14. plus we got sweet sapphire

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  15. I would take cheesy over the generic "nu metal" stuff they've been pumping out for the last ten years any time, so... agreed.

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  16. I'm not sure what Dustin's contract situation was or if he was simply working without one, but Dusty's WWF obligations ended at the end of 1990. He was allowed to pretty seamlessly leave for WCW in exchange for working one last date at the Rumble.

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  17. Aaaaaaammmmmeeeeeerrrrriiiiicccccaaaaannnnnn Dddrrrrrreeeeeeaaaaaammmmm

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  18. Vince saw it as 2 things:


    1) Hurt a competitor by taking one of its most over performers.


    2) Dusty was as good a mid-card draw as there ever was. It was actually a much better role for Rhodes than being "the man"

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