How Good Was Dusty Rhodes Actually?

This is undoubtedly a hole in Dusty Rhodes’ armour, as he doesn’t have a series of timeless moments that live on forever.

While Ric Flair went on to have countless classic moments in WCW, his infamous Royal Rumble win in 1992, and Shawn Michaels ending his career at WrestleMania 24, Dustry was treated as a lower attraction by Vince McMahon and was only really used in WCW on commentary and to try to get Dustin Rhodes over in the ring.

In fact, one of Dusty’s most notable moments was being on commentary the night that Hulk Hogan turned heel at Bash At The Beach '96. Rhodes cheering on The Hulkster with an unforgettable “Who’s bad now, boys?!” directed at Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, right before Hogan broke a million hearts, is timeless.

This is a pretty low bar, though. The “Hard Times” promo will live on forever, but in terms of landmark moments, Dusty’s highlight reel is seriously out of whack with his talent and standing with wrestling fans.

Despite the great build-up, Starrcade '84 didn’t quite live up to expectations, with the finish seeing Rhodes to Ric Flair lose due to a stoppage, as ‘Smoking’ Joe Frasier ended the match over a cut over Dusty’s eye. The following year’s Starrcade rematch sees Dusty’s redemption, but even then, his great moment is cut short by the trademark “Dusty Finish”, in which the referee reverses the decision to a DQ that meant Flair kept the NWA World Heavyweight Title. 

Dusty Rhodes did, however, have a moment worthy of his talent and legacy under Paul Heyman in ECW. Cutting a bitter promo about how performers were killing themselves for audiences' enjoyment due to Dusty opening the door for blood and violence in his matches in the '70s and '80s, Steve Corino goaded and berated Rhodes until Dream made his way to the ring and exploded in a series of elbows for Corino and Jack Victory. ECW's notoriously difficult crowd goes ballistic for Dusty Rhodes rolling back the years, letting loose that trademark strut and dropping the Bionic Elbow in a moment that Cody Rhodes confides "gave Dusty his confidence back" after years out of the limelight.

6/10