10 Genius Ways Wrestlers Survived WWE Humiliations

4. Dusty Rhodes Defies WWF Ribbing

Men like Bruce Prichard sit there with a straight face and claim the WWF's decision to put Dusty Rhodes in laughable polka dots wasn't a rib. It absolutely was, but Dusty didn't sell it. Instead, he played the company's over-the-top version of his grounded 'American Dream' gimmick to the hilt.

Dust made the best of a bad situation.

It takes a top worker to do that, and Rhodes was one. He blocked out the overt silliness of the getup he was wearing, made it work for him and still kept a close connection with fans (both those from the old NWA days tuning in and the fed's more casual audience). Dusty will never get enough praise for that.

By the end of a fairly low-key run in the company, Rhodes had shed the dots to better-resemble his prior self. Then, he returned home to Atlanta and resumed his career. No McMahon buffoonery was going to crack him.