9 Old School Wrestling Champs That Could Make It In Today’s WWE

2. Dusty Rhodes

This is a tricky one. Today€™s WWE is so cosmetically aware, that it seems unlikely that a wrestler of Dusty€™s build, with his double chin, flabby belly and rounded features, would ever get through basic training. However, Dusty Rhodes lived his entire life by going against the grain, which is reason enough to assume that, if he made it then, he would make it now. Just last week, I found myself writing that WWE had failed to notice Samoa Joe because he didn€™t fit their image of a wrestling star. So, if Joe, one of the best wrestlers in the world today, isn€™t on WWE€™s radar, why would Dusty be? The answer is simple. Charisma. Whereas Joe sells no frills, old school derived wrestling (with a little MMA thrown in for good measure), Dusty sold himself. Where Joe is a scowling badass, Dusty was a one-man gimmick machine, while Joe gets over by choking out his opponents in plausible displays of exhibition violence, Dusty would get over simply by giving an interview and appealing to the fans. In addition, like Joe, Dusty was far fitter than anyone ever gave him credit for. He could hang with the fittest wrestlers of his era and, despite his size, never seemed to €˜blow up€™ (find himself out of breath) in the ring. Like Mick Foley, a younger model Dusty Rhodes would get over by virtue of his larger than life personality and his track record for having great matches. Also, let us not forget that Dusty, a three time NWA Champion, was a shrewd backstage politician, in addition to being something of an on again/off again wrestling genius. This would enable him to put himself into a position to get over with today€™s WWE €˜Universe€™. Dusty€™s charisma, popularity and sterling ring work would definitely send him to the top, regardless of what it says on the calendar.