20 Wrestling Gimmicks That Got WEIRD Rip-Offs
6. Dusty Rhodes (Dirty Rhodes)
Roger Smith once wrestled under a mask as one of The Assassins alongside longtime tagger Jody Hamilton in the 1980s. When that run ended and somebody else took his place, Smith reached for the stars by morphing into a cheap knock off of 'American Dream' Dusty Rhodes. Looking for a clever play on words, Roger plumped for "Dirty" Rhodes.
Give them a good sweep then. Sorry, couldn't resist.
Back to the fine art of grappling. Dirty Rhodes came about because numerous wrestlers remarked that Smith resembled Dusty and shared some of his mannerisms. Capitalising on that look, Smith decided he could get at least a few bookings if people thought he was related to Rhodes. He wasn't, but this was pro wrestling and facts rarely get in the way of a good story.
Dirty mimicked Dusty's famous promo style and worked a similar way inside the ring to boot. That actually led to some success for ol' Roger in groups like Stampede and the USWA towards the end of the 80s. Apparently, there was a real zest amongst some markets for a Rhodes rip off. It didn't hurt that the guy's name rolled off the tongue and sorta sounded like the real Dusty Rhodes if he said it quickly enough ('Dutty Rhodes').
This might've continued into the 90s and led to Smith enlisting a 'Sweet Sapphire' lookalike. Wonder if their split would've been as heartbreaking?
In a clever move, as you can see above, Roger also shielded his eyes with a cowboy hat during some promos. That added to the suspension of disbelief, especially when that masking was twinned with a convincing Dusty impression. Ambitious bit of self promotion from a regional worker, to say the least.