Every Wrestling Rookie Of The Year: Where Are They Now?
34. 1989: Dustin Rhodes
A ridiculously dynamic worker, given that he was such a huge specimen, the 'Natural' persona was no gimmick: he really did have it, and the WON voter base agreed.
Literally painted into a corner with the Goldust gimmick in the WWF, for a time, his story was a sad one. He battled substance abuse issues for years and years, and his work was ultra-gimmicked no matter which gimmick - TAKFA Goldust, Black Reign - that he played.
His early 2010s renaissance really was as good as JBL insisted it was every week, but it was in AEW where he finally restored his legacy: the timeless sympathetic babyface brilliance resonated all the more when playing a character more down to earth, who'd lived one hell of a life.