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The modern era fans might tag the likes of CM Punk or Paul Heyman among the best microphone workers in the business. But if you ask a professional wrestler, he or she will name Dusty Rhodes as the ‘promo’ guy. The American Dream was and is still one of the benchmarks for microphone work in the wrestling business.
Throughout his career, Dusty was known for pulling off exceptional promos. Most of the things he said through the microphone were heartfelt and intense. He told a story whenever he took the mic in his hands and everyone from jobbers to main eventers took a notice when Dusty started talking. The legend passed away in an unexpected fashion recently. In his memory, here is a look back at some of his best promos:
Helping Baby Doll get over
Baby Doll is an unsung manager from the past. She managed many great wrestlers during her career and Dusty Rhodes was one of them. The run of Dusty Rhodes and Baby Doll came just after she turned on Tully Blanchard and the Four Horsemen. The fans literally hated her before the turn so it was hard to get her over as a face.
But Dusty was there for the rescue. Soon after the face turn, Baby Doll aligned with Dusty. Dusty got her over as a babyface with his association, but soon it all came crashing down. Baby Doll turned heel once again to join hands with Ric Flair and the fans started hating her again. This showed the power that Dusty had to manipulate the fans.
The new Alliance
At one point of his career, Dusty Rhodes started teaming up with Nikita Koloff. The pairing of two extremes was a bit hard for the fans to digest. Dusty, however, overcame this problem through his promos. Initially, Dusty was the American that everyone connected with. And Nikita was the Russian nightmare that no one accepted as a baby face.
This image of Nikita soon turned upside down as Dusty started setting Nikita up in promos. The combination produced wonders during their time and redefined the way in which the business saw unexpected pairings. Majority of the credit for this success was due to Dusty and his ability to evoke emotions with words.
For his friend
If you need lessons about putting someone over with a promo, then this promo is what you should start with. Magnum TA was having a great run in the wrestling business. He was supposed to reach the top soon, but an accident derailed his career. Nikita Koloff and Dusty were real life friends with Magnum and the duo decided to incorporate this into a segment.
This was a tad different from all other promos of Dusty. Instead of occasional screaming and rhymes, Dusty concentrated on Magnum. It does not have many decorations as most of Dusty’s promos and it showcases the range in which he would work. The real life situation added extra levels of emotion to the whole promo.
Hall of Fame Speech
Hall of Fame acceptance speeches is emotional on any given day. It is the time when a wrestler sheds off his/her wrestling gimmick and comes bare in front of his fans. Dusty was no different his Hall of Fame speech had his trademark all over it. Dusty was inducted in the class of 2007.
Stealing the show in a class that had the likes of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler was no easy task, but Dusty did it in style. He came in front of the microphone and simply captivated everyone with his words. Dusty being inducted by his sons Dustin and Cody made the moment more emotional. As Cody said, ‘Being Common is absolutely uncommon’.
Hard Times
The ‘Hard Times’ promo is inarguably the most iconic promo of Dusty Rhodes. The promo is perfect in many ways. It had humor, drama and most of all; it had a big chunk of intensity. In the promo, Dusty talks about how hard life is, for a common man in the United States. He touches burning issues like unemployment, poverty, and many other things.
He establishes himself as one among them and turns the fans against his opponents. The way in which Dusty connected with the fans was what made this promo a classic.
The recent outings of Dusty suggest that Dusty still had it in him. And if it wasn’t for his death, we would have seen some more excellent microphone work from him.
