Dusty Rhodes's 10 Greatest Legacies
6. He Bucked The Trend For Main Event Physiques
The 1980s is regarded as the ‘steroid era’ of American professional wrestling. Many top stars had glistening, Greek god like physiques, and the shocking mortality rate of those stars bears testament to the price they ultimately paid for this. In the WWF. Top stars like Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior had superhuman builds, and in the NWA, Lex Luger and The Road Warriors also looked like they were carved out of steel. While Ric Flair was never a bodybuilder, he looked in top sporting condition. Dusty on the other hand did not have what one would describe as a physique to write home about, with all due respect, yet he still enjoyed tremendous success, whether he was the booker or not.
This served to inspire, guess who, the common man in the audience. If Dusty could be a wrestler, maybe the common man could as well? It clearly wasn’t all about physique, but charisma and drawing power as well. And if they just wanted to stay in the audience and be a fan, then they could identify better with a man like Dusty than The Road Warriors.