10 WWE Attitude Era Stars & Their 80s Counterparts

6. Mankind / Dusty Rhodes

By the time Dusty made his debut in the WWF in 1989, his character had undergone a bit of a change. Without even discussing the polka dots, Dusty's "son of a plumber" persona was taken a bit literally by Vince McMahon as vignettes were shown introducing the former NWA Champion fixing toilets, delivering pizza, picking up the trash and other common man day jobs. To his credit, Rhodes seemed to enjoy every bit of it and, while he could still put on a great match, was used more as a fun-loving, fan-favorite, borderline comedy act by the time he went to work for Vince. When Mick Foley came into the Federation in 1996 as the deranged Mankind, the last thing he was perceived as was a comedy act. Foley was a dark, twisted heel pushed as a psychotic masochist. Eighteen months or so after his debut, Foley found himself playing the Dude Love and Cactus Jack characters before settling back around on Mankind. The new Mankind was a much different character. After Foley's brutal, demolition derby style of wrestling had taken its toll on his body, Foley opted to used more of the comedic side of his personality to get over. By the end of 1999, Mankind was everyone's favorite New York Times best-selling author/wrestler complete with a sock puppet he called Socko. In their careers, the two men put on several brutal, eye-opening, emotional, and physical contests that have gone down as all-time greats. The American Dream and Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy were so similar in that both men were so driven and smart enough to overcome their less-than-impressive physical shape in order to become two of the all-time greats.