Dustin Rhodes

[Matt D]

As much as I love Jimmy Golden and as much as this board loves Jimmy Golden, I think the ECW Arena crowd would have shit all over Bunkhouse Buck. And a lot of hardcore fans still thought Dustin was a product of nepotism in 1994. It might have made for a better match, but the crowd would not have given it a chance.

Show of hands, and I'm just curious: how many people here really loved Bunkhouse Buck back in 1994?

[goodhelmet]

Cox.. you don't have faith that Paul E couldn't get clips of Dustin and Buck bleeding all over the place and made them exceptions to the rule? They would have shit on them for 3 minutes until the strap shots or the blood flowed.

 

Matt... maybe Phil Schneider.

[Matt D]

I do think Buck could have been a pretty good heel in 94 ECW just by going opposite to type and controlling the pacing of the match in a way that would drive the crowd irate, kind of like Foley did, but without that vaguely ironic undertone.

[shoe]

In 1994 I hated the Buck gimmick. The gimmick screamed out jobber to me. Hell he looked like a hobo to me. Now as an adult I can appreciate his work, but not really in 94.

[Loss]

Remember that Brian Lee worked ECW.

[goodhelmet]

I do think Buck could have been a pretty good heel in 94 ECW just by going opposite to type and controlling the pacing of the match in a way that would drive the crowd irate, kind of like Foley did, but without that vaguely ironic undertone.

Agreed... plus the willingness to bleed and brawl.

[goodhelmet]

Remember that Brian Lee worked ECW.

Hell, they got Tommy Dreamer, Sandman and a dozen other misfits over who were way cornier than Bunkhouse Buck.

[rainmakerrtv]

As much as I love Jimmy Golden and as much as this board loves Jimmy Golden, I think the ECW Arena crowd would have shit all over Bunkhouse Buck. And a lot of hardcore fans still thought Dustin was a product of nepotism in 1994. It might have made for a better match, but the crowd would not have given it a chance.

In 94? Maybe in 91, but I think by 94 he had proven himself on his own merits. That's how it was with me and at least the few other hardcore fans I knew personally.

[shoe]

I'd agree Dustin would have been over in 94 in ECW for a one shot in ECW. People knew he was a good worker at this point, and probably felt he was getting short shifted in

feuds with Buck, and doing jobs.

 

Now Buck is another story . It took a while to

get Dreamer and Lee over . Buck is coming in for a one shot. I would find it hard he'd be able to get over for a one shot.

[Matt D]

Goldust handhelds #1

 

Goldust vs Yokozuna - 8/4/96 - Ottawa

This is not the best VQ you will see this week. Goldie makes an open challenge to everyone since Ahmed Johnson isn't there. He calls everyone chicken-shit, gets a ton of heat and the place comes unglued when Yoko comes out.

 

Dustin rolls out while Yoko comes in and then rolls in to attack him from behind. He gets a few shots in. Yokozuna no sells and strikes back to the crowd's delight. Dustin rolls back out and starts to the back. He heads back and complains about the count, about Yokozuna, about the ref, about everything. Nice heat-garnering.

 

He rolls in and asks for the handshake and they milk it for all its worth. Yoko refuses. They lock up and do a bit of rope running (well Dustin, does). He runs into an elbow and rolls out to the floor, taking a pratfall and stalling some more. Finally Dustin comes back in, lures Yoko into the corner, and eyepokes to take over. Dustin is all punches and clubbering here, making good use of Yoko's broad back to do some drumming. Two clotheslines stagger him. Since this is a babyface Yokozuna match, the third one knocks him down. Goldust follows up with a blatant low blow stomp and the chest taunt. Lots of booing. Dustin's trying to keep the heat segment compelling here, throwing in a knee along with the punches but he's very limited on what he can do to the big guy here.

 

Finally, he looks exasperated and goes for a headbutt. Yoko's head is too hard. Goldust falls over and we get our comeback. A few strikes, a samoan drop, a legdrop and a pin.

 

I would sum this up as pretty decent stalling followed by an uninspired heat segment. Ultimately disappointing.

 

Mankind/Goldust vs Undertaker/Shawn Michaels - 9/29/96 - MSG - Handheld

Again, not great VQ. Kind of interesting pairings though. Undertaker in the ring as Sexy Boy is playing is kind of surreal. Thankfully it's short lived as the heels try to ambush. Babyfaces fight back. Undertaker is brawling with Mankind on the floor. Michaels is doing a corner ten punch on Goldust. They do a cute spot out of it. Mankind temporarily disposed of Taker (I think by reversing a whip into railings/stairs/etc). Shawn is beating Goldust around the ring and mounts another corner. Mankind comes in and stalks Michaels who leaps back off the second rope with an axe-handle only to turn right into a great Goldust punch. Mankind plays King of the Mountain, keeping Taker out as Goldust really beats the snot out of Michaels. This is a chaotic scene. Mankind adn taker end up brawling back on the outside as Goldust keeps on Michaels. Taker makes it back in first and flips Goldust around. After a moment of begging we get the double choke toss and a crazy Michaels dive over the top to Mankind. The ref is exasperated. Taker is tossing Goldust from pillar to post. The ref finally gets Michaels into his corner and Mankind slinks to his.

 

By this point we've moved past the initial beating/brawling into something resembling a shine. Taker is hitting Dustin with some big power moves and Dustin is bumping and selling for him. they move on to arm control stuff, then quickly into Michaels/Dustin rope running, ending with Michaels eating the drop down punch. They fake a transition with Mankind tagging in but Michaels makes it to Taker immediately and they do a bit of a reset, going back to the arm offense and Old School. I think Taker actually looks really good here. Mankind eats his stuff well, and his timing on some things (like choking Goldust after no-selling a cheap knee from the outside off the ropes, and turning to take a Mankind clothesline over the top), is very good. Yes, he no sells a lot of it, but it's a balance. I think there's an inherit value in the heels getting to do it to him in the first place. It makes you feel like they have the advantage and are a force. They're on offense and while they're not scoring a goal, the ball's not on their side of the field either.

 

Taker holds his own on the outside until Michaels complains, gets taken out by the ref and Bearer comes out of nowhere with an urn shot. The ref goes to check Bearer and Mankind uses the distraction to utilize a chair. One thing I'll say about Shawn is that he's a great Robert Gibson in the corner when his partner's getting killed. Goldust and Mankind's offense on taker looks good. Taker's a fascinating case to me, because he can sell effectively by just laying still and dead in the ring. That would bore most crowds if it was someone else, but it means something specific to them if it's taker. His punching from his knees flurry on Mankind hope spot is pretty great too (the cut off was a really well timed neckbreaker). Something happens on the outside I can't quite make out (Lothario? Pulls Bearer off the apron?), but in the chaos, Taker makes the hot tag and Shawn comes in and cleans house on Mankind and Goldust first with a chair and then with the forearm/kip uip/axehandle.

 

He strikes up the band but gets nailed from outside by Goldust and then cut down by Mankind in a nice spot that sends him out. This is immediately followed by the plunge on the outside. Undertaker tries to cut in but Goldust uses the ref as a shield and we get our second heat segment. I think Dustin and Michaels have pretty good chemistry and Dustin and Foley work together well as heels, so this is all pretty good. I particularly loved Foley's diving side headbutt/elbow while Michaels was in the tree of woe. Michaels gets a hope spot nearfall out of some questionably timed rope-running, gets cut off and Dustin slaps on the ol' rear chinlock. I will say that he works it better than he did a year ago at this point, from what I can tell. it's pretty tedious though, and my least favorite thing about heel Goldust. In a vacuum, though, it works, and it works here because he's good at feeding Michaels' comeback and then cutting it off. His pacing/timing/variation/execution of hope spots/cutoffs is probably my favorite thing about him as a heel.

 

I love the next sequence. Micheals ends up in the tree of woe again, but sits up as Foley goes for the dive. Foley recovers first and goes for the Mandible Claw but he's shaken enough that Michaels can toss him into Goldust on the apron. Michaels did such a good job in this after a pretty solid heat segment that you're clamoring for him to make the hot tag and it's painful when Dustin breaks it up. He cuts him off at the last second, and sets up Michaels for a Superplex. Michaels fights back only to have Foley grab his leg from the apron. He kicks him off and hits flying clothesline to Foley on the apron that's pretty cool visually. Dustin tags in but can't stop the hot tag.

 

Taker cleans house. I really like Dustin's sell of the big boot. Mankind blatantly calls a "neck drape over the top rope from the outside" spot which Taker just walks into. Weird. It's just a set up for Dustin recovering enough to jump off the top into a choke an the fans are chanting "Rest In Peace" so I guess it was harmless. Chokeslam. Tag to Michaels. Elbow off the top. I really hate the Elbow off the top as the SCM set up. Dustin ducks it though, which I didn't expect at all.

 

We get a (let's say unique) finishing sequence with Dustin taking Shawn out with a clothesline, doing the fondling pin on Shawn, tossing him into the corner and setting up for the Curtain Call. Shawn floats over, kisses Goldust, and hits the SCM.

 

This was probably one of my favorite Michaels performances from 96 that I've seen. There was a lot to like and I thought the heat segment on him was really quite good. Dustin plays his role well, though I don't think it's anything that stands out that much.

 

As a set up for the next match:

 

Goldust vs Sid - Raw - 10/7/96

Sid is probably one of the top five over babyfaces in the history of the WWF. He was a babyface for so short a time in his three runs but the fans respond to him in such a massive way. This is to build him up for the match vs Vader at the next PPV. I liked it a lot, actually, though it's ultimately as slight as you'd expect for a glorified squash. It's still a pretty good, straightforward, five minute match. They fit a lot of stuff in and some of it (like the slapfest) was pretty compelling.

 

Mankind/Goldust vs Sid/Undertaker - 10/25/96 - Indianapolis - Handheld

So, just like the last match, just Sid instead of Shawn? Oh good, there's no time limit. Lots of ambient noise but it sounds like Dustin has a ton of heat here. Mankind brings Goldust flowers and it's all something else. I kind of love this team. The camera pans away from Dustin/Mankind as the bells start to toll which is a shame, since Dustin had put his hands over his ears and was jumping up and down.

 

Brawling to start. Goldust eats Takers punches well. They clear the ring and the fans chant like crazy for Sid. Dustin back in and I love the dumbfounded way Sid sells Dustin's punches. He's like a punch out character. Whomp whomp whomp. It doesn't last long. Sid throws him around the ring and they start the arm control stuff. Dustin is hamming it up, screaming for Mankind and it's great. I've never seen him sell so broadly during this period. He's crashing about for Taker. Transition is a blind tag and Mankind nailing Taker as he swiped for Bearer over the top rope.

 

Heels cut off the ring and grind Taker down. Goldust is great in this match. After a swinging neckbreaker cut off, Taker sits up anyway. Goldust's reaction is to go nuts and run around him to tag Mankind. Taker sits up again and Bearer hands Mankind ashes. Taker knocks them into Foley's face and makes the hot tag. Sid's goofy hammer punches are way too much fun. He goes fo rthe power bomb on Foley but Dustin gets him with a double axe handle from behind. He goes for the choke slam on Goldust but Foley comes off the second rope towards him. He catches him in a choke too but Goldust and Mankind hit the DOUBLE LOW BLOW KICK. There's an element to this of the referee being totally unwilling to DQ the heels since they're so bizarre and crazy. They're getting huge amounts of heat for choking/dismantling Sid. Eventually Foley either hits him from the outside in or hits himself as the chair bounces off the ropes. I can't tell and ultimately it doesn't matter.

 

The fans chant for Sid. Goldust grounds him with the reverse chinlock but Mankind has to rush in. Goldust holds him. Mankind hits him. The fans get more and more riled. Foley gets on the mandible Claw but sid POWERS OUT. Goldust nails him from behind and Taker's had enough, rushing in as everything breaks down. Everyone ends up on the floor but Goldust rolls in after Sid and cuts him off. He follows it up by stalking up Sid's prone body and uh, ending up in the testicular claw. The fans pop huge and amazingly this is somehow just a hope spot as Sid goes for a legdrop instead of making the tag and misses. Foley gets a chair, gives it to Goldust who tries to slam it into Sid in the corner. Sid gets his foot up, makies the hot tag. Taker lifts the chair up between Goldust's legs. I have to admit Dustin probably should have sold this a bit more. He's reversing an irish whip the next second only to get flying clotheslined. Sid tags back in, hits a lame pile driver, and it all breaks down again. Taker and Mankind fight down the alley. Whatever happens in the ring we miss, but it ends with Dustin doing a ten punch on Sid in the corner, followed by fondling and the same inverted atomic drop they did in the TV match. This sets up the choke slam and the pin. God was Sid over.

 

Anyway, this was another pretty good tag. Mankind and Goldust made for very solid partners and this was as good as I've seen Dustin look in 96 other than maybe one of the Shawn matches.

[Matt D]

Random quick reviews.

 

I'm just going to burn through a few things I haven't hit yet or that i want to see.

 

Goldust vs Marc Mero - Raw - 7/1/96

 

I've seen next to no face Mero in WWF. What the heck is his gimmick? Coked out? I'm going to go with coked out. Austin is guest commentating. Sloppy, fast-paced stuff to begin until Dustin dives out to take a break. Rinse and repeat, though the second time around it looks better. Marlena goes near Sable on the outside, Mero goes out, Dustin goes out, Mero chases Dustin back in. Dustin catches him in the way in. Transition. While they play up the Marlena/Sable stuff Dustin has on yet another rear chinlock. Hope spots, cut offs, taunting, chinlock. Pretty sloppy roll forward pin hope spot nearfall. Dustin's stuff looks pretty good during the heat segment but it's sure not compelling. Fiery comeback ends with Mero distracted by Marlena and Sable and eating a Curtain Call. It's WWF Wrestling by numbers and the execution is adequate but not strong enough to put it ahead of the pack. Past the shine, the first transition, and the Marlena/Sable extracurricular, it'd be a perfectly fine early card WWF House show match from 1985.

 

Goldust vs Marc Mero - Summerslam 1996

 

The shine is pretty good. Goldust turns on the athleticism early on. They move into an arm control section which is mainly good for Dustin's selling. Dustin elbows out of a hammerlock and it's back and forth for a minute but he takes over with a drop down punch then a back body drop over the top that's pretty nasty. Pretty good heat segment with some nice outside stuff. Goldust goes to the chinlock but it's a signal for Mankind to come out to menace Sable and Dustin switches it up a bit in the ring while it's going on so it's not all that bad. Mero fights up and Goldust cuts it off with a big knee and follows up with a few minutes of work on the ribs. Mero comes back with an abrupt back elbow off the second rope and goes ahead to hit a lot of his spots, including the Badd Day. It's all pretty dead at this point. Mero hits a lot of stuff without much drama, all to lead up to the Wild Thing (shooting star press) debut. Marlena has the ref distracted though, which allows for the countout. It's another one of those cases where the timing of Marlena distracting is a little weird. Anyway, Goldust comes back and hits a rather dangerous looking Curtain Call for the win. Post match Dustin menaces Sable and Mero gets his heat back. It would have been a really good Raw match but it was more of a mid point of the feud than the end of it so it was just okay for a Summerslam match. Dustin looked good and it WAS better than the actual Raw match (though that might have had a better shine). It was just paced weird.

 

Goldust vs The Stalker Barry Windham - Raw - 10/21/96

 

This is a set up for Survivor Series. Hunter and Crush are out with him. Windham has Mero, Henry, and Rocky with him. I know how these go. Five minutes. Brawl with everyone at the end. Steve Austin on the phone to talk about his own stuff to go to Brian Pillman's house. Meanwhile, the guys in the ring have come to work. Windham is broken down and reminds me way too much of Mulligan, but he's running the ropes better than you'd think. They're laying it into each other fairly well and when they come back from the commercial break, both guys selling, you buy it. Shortly thereafter it all breaks down.

 

It's a shame that we didn't get a little more because it was probably the best you could hope for given the conditions.

 

Goldust vs Jerry Lawler - Raw - 12/30/96

 

I'm pretty sure this was set up by a King's Court where Goldust fully turned face. HHH and Honky are announcing with Vince, which is sort of surreal. This is more of an angle than a match as they were early into the HHH/Goldust feud that would go all the way to Mania. Lawler knows he only has a couple of minutes and he actually starts quickly. Great looking offensive, playing to the crowd like no one else, using their response as a distraction to lead to the transition. Dustin is working as a basic babyface, not playing up the gimmick much at all, but Lawler vs a 94 styled babyface Dustin is still pretty great. Unfortunately, we just get a snippet of it before HHH kidnaps Marlena, Mero tries to make the save and Dustin leaves the ring. Ah well.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Off the top of my head from Goldust's initial run, I like the Razor match at Rumble '96, the Backlot Brawl, the first Taker match, the Mero match at Summerslam. I feel like there are other things I liked. I really liked the idea of a Goldust and Mankind alliance, but that was dropped. The Goldust promos were amazing. I will never forget "Is that Embalming Fluid No. 5 I smell?" to Undertaker on a Raw.

 

WCW United States Champion Dustin Rhodes vs Rick Rude - Worldwide 05/15/93

 

From my understanding, Rude has been back for about 2 months claiming to still be the real US Champion since Dustin never beat him for the title. This is always a good angle to build to a hot match, but unfortunately it seemed like injuries prevented a good match. I loved that Rude had Capetta say his insults for him. Having dweeby Capetta call the crowd a bunch of "Montgomery Meatheads" was rich. The match begins with some dueling back psychology with Rude standing out in his selling as everytime he took a back bump into the turnbuckles he sold it like he was shot. Dustin bites out of a bearhug, which raises Jesse's dander. Neither one can pick the other up in a nice touch. I love Rude's top rope knee drop that should be a finisher for someone. They do a tombstone reversal spot to get a 2 for Dustin. I noticed too that Rude was starting to take bumps weird like the press slam off the top and back body drop. He was basically taking a header on both. Couldnt tell whose fault that was. The ref gets caught up in a Irish Whip and both get visual falls on the other. Before they do the double pin where both get their shoulders up, but the acting ref only sees Rude's shoulder up. I will say this match did display both men as equals to set up the rematch at a PPV for the vacant United States Championship. The match itself could have been a lot better, but it acted as a good set up for future matches. Hopefully, they will deliver in those matches.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dustin Rhodes & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Rick Rude & WCW World TV Champion Mr. Wonderful - Slamboree '93

 

Rhodes and Sasaki sure are weird team. Larry Z doubts their ability to communicate because of Sasaki's limited English. Heenan or Ventura would have pounced and said well I dont know how much English Dustin knows either. C'mon Larry Legend got to step up your game. Rude mocks Sasaki's stature and style. Sasaki wins a shoving contest and gets a big pop after Rude's sell into the turnbuckles. The babyface shine consists of arm wrenching on Rude and Orndorff. Rude and Rhodes finally square off and it is on like Donkey Kong! In the heat of the moment, Rhodes goes tumbling over the top to trigger the heat segment. Orndorff rams Rhodes head into railing as Tony reminds us that it is Dustin that brought back the "Paula" chants earlier in the year. The heat segment is good, but not great a bit by the numbers. They do the tombstone reversal spot to give Dustin a two. Sasaki is a pretty good hot tag as expected with his lariats, but is totally lost during the finish. The finish is a bit clunky as no one seems to be where they are supposed to be. Sasaki eventually gets pushed off the top. In a very funny visual, Sasaki is too short to take the Rude Awakening properly, but Rude eventually gets it off to win the match.

 

It was a perfectly fine tag team match, but I don't feel like it moved any issues forward or delivered a spectacular match so it feels like it did not accomplish much. It seems they wanted to get Rude/Rhodes to the next PPV and figured to just throw them into a midcard PPV tag match. Nothing you have to see, but not actively bad either.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Dustin Rhodes , Sting & Davey Boy Smith vs Rick Rude, Vader & Sid Vicious - Clash XXIII

 

Dustin doing an impression of his father was not half bad. I would want him to find his own voice, but that was better than I expected. For all the business troubles WCW was having in 1993, you cant blame it on lack of talent. They have a far deeper talent pool than the WWE has right now in 2013. There top 12 at the time were these six plus Flair, Anderson, Steamboat, Austin, Pillman and Barry Windham. That's a murder's row.

 

As far as fun, popcorn WCW six-man tags go this was pretty good. Sting press slams Rude onto Vader & Sid early. Then Vader mistakenly splashes Rude. It is all good guys as Sid gets crotched by the middle rope. Dustin was on fire in this match and the best worker of the face team. He was really taking it to Vader early who was bumping all over for him. Vader comes away looking like a million bucks in this match. His run in 1993 is an all-time run in terms of quality work every time out. Dustin misses an elbow and eats a stiff clothesline. Dustin kicks out of a Vaderbomb, which was strange. Rude gets his licks in, but gets a gourdbuster for his troubles. However, Sid gets the tag, which was a great hope spot. Sid even works in his kip out of a headscissors. Vader goes for his corner punches, but takes his bodyslam from the middle rope, but still he is cut off. Rhodes/Rude work their tombstone reversal spot and finally Dustin tags out, but the ref does not see it! Melee ensues. Sting eats the railing on a Stinger Splash attempt that looked nasty. Vader clocks Dustin with Haliburton (holding the US Title) and Rude pins for the win.

 

What a great performance from Dustin and Vader who just ran show in this match. There was no Davey Boy, which seemed odd, but hey more Dustin the better. I wish they ran Dustin/Vader on top in this part of '93 as opposed to Vader/Davey. This felt like it had a little more angle advancement as you want to see Dustin get his comeuppance against Rude and reclaim the US Title. The action was great and never really let up. ***1/4

---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dustin Rhodes vs Dick Slater - WCW Saturday Night 7/17/93

 

Dick Slater is a big blind spot for me. I really don't know much about his career arc. I just know him as the guy sells like Terry Funk. That being said, this was pretty good, but mostly Dustin carried things in this one. Slater is also rocking a ponytail that seems more appropriate for a 12 year old girl with short hair. O and the commentary for this is in German. The only English I can make out is "Tricky Dicky" or "Quicky Dicky", which got a chuckle from me. At first, they seem to be wrestling a respectful match, but things start to get heated as each gets a nearfall on the other. Dustin is a clubbering outside and it looks great. Dustin misses a dropkick and Slater immediately jumps on the leg. Dustin sells like a million bucks and really makes the match into something worthwhile. Slater goes for the figure-4 and it is immediately reversed. This affords Dustin the opportunity to attack Slater's leg and get his receipt. Slater tries a small package, but Dustin shifts his weight to win the match. It is a good TV match which allows to showcase Dustin's chops as a sympathetic face. **3/4

[Matt D]

Three sentence reviews:

 

Goldust/Snitsky vs Spirit Squad - 5/16/06

 

This was surprisingly good and people should watch it. Goldust played FIP almost as well as I've seen him in the 00s, making the Spirit Squad look really formidable and getting the crowd super into the hot tag. Snitsky played his role well and the crowd was pretty hot and pissed off after the clever interference finish.

 

Dustin Rhodes vs Jeff Jarrett - Nitro - 3/12/01

 

This is really a non match, but in some ways it's worth looking at. It's three minutes of Dustin really beating on Jeff after a novel use of Jarrett's pyro to enter the ring. He looks as good as I've seen him in this period though and I do think he and JJ have chemistry.

 

Dustin Rhodes vs Jeff Jarrett - TNA Weekly PPV - 2/4/04

 

Probably the best TNA match I've ever seen which isn't saying much because I've seen about ten TNA matches and wouldn't call this great even if it is VERY worth watching. It doesn't actually have a heat segment which means it can't really be that good of a match but it does have Dustin beating Jarrett ALL around the Asylum (?). It ends begins with a ball gag and ends with the TNA main event bullshit from that era but the stuff in the middle has some really good face-beating-heel stuff by Dustin that got the crowd very into things by the end.

 

Dusty Rhodes Jr. vs Justin Credible - World 1 - 4/8/04

 

This had some of the same arena brawling but with more weapons and at 2/3rds speed. It was in front of a fairly small crowd so I can't blame them too much. I wouldn't go out of my way for it though it's kind of fun to see Dustin toss trashcans at people and work as Dusty Rhodes Jr.

 

Black Reign stuff:

 

I thought this might be good because it's Dustin. Even fat Dustin would have the psychology down. I didn't hate Rellik/Reign vs Kaz/Young but really, best to avoid all of this.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Skipping the Beach Blast Iron Man because it is 30 mins and I have puro to watch.

 

Dustin Rhodes & Hawk vs Rick Rude & Equalizer - Clash of the Champions 24

 

You have to watch the bad to appreciate the good. I wish Equalizer's name was The Great Equalizer. I had never seen the Equalizer/Evad Sullivan before he kinda looks like a fat Michael Hayes or a Moondog. The spot that best exemplifies the match is when Hawk goes a reverse neckbreaker on Equalizer and Equalizer loses his balance and just falls. I have not had such a good laugh in awhile. The babyface team was perfectly fine and energetic. It was cool to see Dustin hit the Doomsday Device, but it was oddly used as a transition move. Rude was great at stooging, but it was all over, but the crying for him. The heat segment was pathetic with a clueless Equalizer and a decrepit Rude. Was Equalizer's gimmick was he was an absolute moron? Hawk just ignores the ref and fucks the heel team press slamming Rude onto Equalizer. Hawk shoulderblocks Dustin on top of Equalizer for the win. Why wasnt the Doomsday Device the finish? Bad, bad match.

[Matt D]

Skipping the Beach Blast Iron Man because it is 30 mins and I have puro to watch.

Ironically, this is why I never watch those long hyped NJPW main events from the last year or two.

[rainmakerrtv]

Does anyone recall exactly what promo it was in the Stud Stable feud where Dusty calls Arn Anderson "what they call a walk-behinder"? Was it the classic "I neglected ya!" promo or a different one from the feud? I'm a bit fuzzy, it's been some time since I watched the feud.

[PeteF3]

Does anyone recall exactly what promo it was in the Stud Stable feud where Dusty calls Arn Anderson "what they call a walk-behinder"? Was it the classic "I neglected ya!" promo

Yes.

[Bierschwale]

The view never changes, baby!

[ButchReedMark]

"All I need is a hug and a kiss to seal the deal!"

 

My favourite promo ever.

[Big Rob]

That promos was pretty epic, although I remember it mostly for just how horrible Dustin's shirt was. I know it was the 90s, but christ he wore some ugly tops around that period.

 

Back to Dustin the worker, this most recent run of his is one of my favourite things in wrestling for years. Seriously, the pairing of him and Cody are right up there now with my favourite tag teams of all time, and as good as the inevitable split and match will be, I really hope they draw the team out as long as possible.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Dustin Rhodes vs Rick Rude - WCW Beach Blast 1993 Vacant US Title 30 Minute Iron Man Match

 

In 1993, it is a sad truth, but Rick Rude had no business going 30 minutes anymore. It is an incredibly precipitous decline given how bitchin' his 1992 Beach Blast 30 minute Iron Man with Steamboat was. Rude was never going to make anyone's greatest offensive wrestlers list. He always his money stooging and bumping for babyfaces. However, his offense at this point has deteriorated to the point where I having issues suspending my disbelief. Dustin tried his damndest, but it basically looked like he was getting knocked over by a feather at some points. Then you add on top of this they forced to go 30 minutes and you have a recipe for disaster. It is actually a testament to both how good this ended up being. Yes, it is a mediocre match that you do not have tog o out of your way to see, but it should have sucked out loud. They cut a snail's pace, but they were very logical in how they built the match and used a lot of shtick to salvage what would otherwise tedious and boring stretches. They came off as two men who really hated each other with all the jawing, heated early tie-up (love that as a start to a match) taunting and spitting on each other, but unfortunately the action did not always follow suit. Rude took a big back body drop early and was just selling that back so well. We hit the reverse chinlock early on Rude, but Dustin provides a smattering of entertainment with pelvic gyrations mocking Rude. Dustin had kept jumping and landing with all his weight on Rude's back, but he went once to the well too often and ate some knees. The follow-up clothesline Rude hit is what I mean by business-exposing bad offense. You gotta love Rude selling the abs on the hip swivel.

 

( ASIDE: As a marathon dancer at the clubs of Boston Metro, that one is a particular favorite of mine after about an hour at the club. You go for the hip swivel, sell the back, go for the hip swivel make a half-rotation, sell the back, then you do a full rotation to a big pop. Ok, so one drunk guy popped for it, but I am working on trying to get on a bigger stage.)

 

Rude applies the bearhug and when Dustin tries to pry himself free, he eats a belly-to-belly. Dustin changes his strategy from the back to the leg, which sucks on two fronts. Rude is one of my favorite back sellers and his knee selling is just ok. Secondly, Dustin is not every good at working the knee in this match. His pathetic excuse for an Indian Deathlock is wrapping the legs up and bearhugging it. Rude says fuck this and hits his Rude Awakenin to go up 1-0.

 

The best part of this match is Dustin staggering all over the place whether after this Rude Awakening or after an eye rake later. In a rare show of wrestler patience, Rude waits for him to stagger near him and hits him with the weakest clothesline possible. At this point the heat segment starts to drag because Rude just has nothing to do. They do the tombstone reversal (always a great spot) and Dustin gets a 2. Dustin looks to be mountinga comeback, but he is a bit overszealous and he jumps over the top rope careening to the floor. See all the good spots are there and there are spurts of action, but so much deadtime. Rude gets in his two best offensive moves with a pair of snap suplexes. He goes to the well once too often and Dustin hits a suplex, which Tony sells as a great nearfall. Again, you think he is about to mount his comeback, but Rude pulls his tights so that Dustin takes a header into the top turnbuckle. I love that in this 30 minute match that you see both wrestlers going to the well once too often. They know they have to go 30 minutes no matter what so they keep trying to repeat moves that work to extend themselves to the 30 minutes, but this allows the other wrestler to anticipate the moves.

 

Rude grabs a sleeper and Dustin almost passes out and his hand grazes the mat for a 3rd time, but ref does not call it. "THATS BULL!" - Jesse. Rude hits Dustin with a snot rocket and Dustin retaliates later on with some spit. Rude eye rakes Dustin, who staggers and falls over the top rope. Dustin sells cant seeing as well as Marty Jannetty at Wrestlemania VI (yeah I am single and watch too much wrestling, what of it. ). Rude toys with him, but when he ducks Dustin goes behind and hits the bulldog. It is all knotted up. The race against the clock is on as there is under 5 minutes left. Dustin is clicking on all cylinders: flying elbow, piledriver, lariats. He even avoids Rude off the top and hits a DDT, but tit is too little too late for him to capture the vacant US Title. So after, 27 minutes of sluggish action and 3 minutes of fire, we are left with no US Champion. Hopefully the best of 3 match series will be shorter matches and more entertaining.

 

This match has rep as a total borefest and I don't think I would be quite that harsh. Actually, reading this review back it feels almost too positive that really focuses on the action and positives of the match. What can I say I just have a disposition of relentless optimism. There is a lot of downtime in the match and Rude just does not have enough at this point to carry heat segments. **3/4

[Superstar Sleeze]

Dustin Rhodes vs Rick Rude - WCW Saturday Night 08/28/93 Best of 3 Series VACANT US Champion

 

After the draw at Beach Blast and another month in between, WCW declared the Vacant US Championship would be decided in a Best of 3 matches series. The title has been vacant since May. This is getting a little ridiculous to say the least. Plus it seems according to commentary and Rude's post-match promo that Rude is ready to move onto Flair and that Rhodes will be joining in Wargames against Vader. Of course, given all this heat dissipation, they go and have their best match yet in spite of it being 24 minutes. I would not call it a lost classic, but it is a very solid match and the most enjoyable thus far.

 

The beginning is the same as all their matches there is some jawing and a heated tie-up. At this point, I am just praying they do not outright re-hash the Beach Blast match. Rude grabs a headlock and talks some trash "Your father ain't nuthin. Your mama ain't nuthin", that's one underutilized way to make a headlock entertaining. I started digging the match during Dustin's arm work. I thought Rude's selling and Dustin keeping things moving was some of the best work from them yet. Rude powders selling his arm and gets back in and tries to goad him into a test of strength. Jesse puts over Rude hard here saying even though Rude is the one who is hurt, he is dictating the pace. Dustin ain't buying it and kicks him in the arm. WHAT?!?! The fans are chanting it "Break It" when Dustin has him in the armbar. That's awesome! I'll never forget the 4 year old that once yelled at Big Show to eat Jack Swagger's leg.

 

Rude gets a right hand to get out of it. He slams Dustin's head into the mat breaking only to sell his arm and talk trash. Rude is the man, baby! Rude tries to hip swivel, but cant and we go to commercial. Apparently, during the commercial Dustin broke the Rude Awakening due to Rude's weaken arm and hit his own. However, he did a little bump 'n' grind before the pin, which Jesse mocks the "Stupid Texican" relentlessly. "You know Tony, thats what happened at the Alamo. Crockett was too busy swiveling his hips instead of firing his canon." Jesse was on top of his game that night for sure. Rude starts to work the back in earnest and this where the match starts to drag with Rude hitting his camel clutch and bearhug. There is one really good hope spot: Dustin's electric chair drop, but he ends up sailing over the top rope to the floor when Rude ducks, which is such a great bump. Rude does the most entertaining ab stretch ever as he gives Dustin a wicked wedgie when the ref is not working. I got a good laugh out of that. Rude goes back to the camel clutch and when he jumps to land on Dustin's back instead the Rude jewels crash against Dustin's need. I can still picture Rude's double over sell now. He probably has the best double over sell ever. Arguments against?

 

Dustin hits some bionic elbows and string together an inverted atomic drop (Have Mercy!) and bulldog, but Rude's foot finds the bottom rope. Rude grabs a desperation sleeper so Dustin backs him into the corner. Then Rude jumps over Dustin so that Dustin can grab a sleeper? (That was weird) Rude pushes off the turnbuckles to land on top to pick up the victory. It is a less well-executed version of the Hart/Austin Survivor Series '96 finish.

 

Finish execution problems aside, this was an enjoyable match and really surprising given that it goes 24 mins (22 mins aired). I did not think they had it them to pull this match out given their previous performances. Who am I to doubt Dustin Rhodes and Rick Rude? When Rude stays away from offense, he is still really friggin' good and even during the heat segment he used more of his tricks to keep it entertaining. I am still waiting for Dustin to open a can of whoop ass, but this was his best performance by far. Whereas Rude had always been doing stuff he does well well, Dustin seemed to be lacking energy and interest in this feud. He woke up for this match. Lets hope thats the case for the last three matches of the feud. ***1/4

 

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Dustin Rhodes vs Rick Rude - WCW Saturday Night 09/4/93 Best of 3 Series VACANT US Champion

 

I am sorry, Mr. Rude, for doubting your offensive ability. For one night, Rick Rude looked like the Rick Rude of 1992 and just kicked all sorts of ass. Dustin was there every step of the way. They start off more tentative in this match. Dustin has everything to lose in this one. "Is he playing to win or not to lose?" asks Jesse. Rude takes the offense early as he is up 1-0 with a headlock, but Dustin gets a kneecrusher and just fucks up that knee. He wrenches and tortures it. Rude is giving Savage and Kawada a run for their money in the knee selling game. Rude forces separation by axe kicking Dustin in the head. He then hits a DDT, a backbreaker and a gourbuster all while selling his knee like it has been shot. On the second gordbuster, his knee gives way, but he still crawls to the camera to give the viewing public a kiss to say it is over. Rude limps back and Dustin punches his knee. Rude stymies Dustin with an eye-rake, but Rude goes to well once to often and Dustin hits a gordbuster. Dustin eats knees on his splash attempt. During a criss cross, Dustin grabs a backslide for a flash victory. This match was well on its way to "Lost Classic" status before the abrupt finish. The finish makes sense because you don't want the decisive one until the big finale next week, but it does not give this match that extra boost. Rick Rude wrestled for two in this one as he was clicking on all cylinders and made this match one worth watching. Dustin is very capable, but this is the Rude show. There ain't no shame in that, kid. ***1/2

 

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Dustin Rhodes vs Rick Rude - WCW Saturday Night 09/11/93 Best of 3 Series VACANT US Champion

 

Back to our regularly scheduled boring programming. Flair is out to do guest commentary, but it is babyface Flair so it is a bit more serious. Dustin extends Rude his hand, I guess he respects him after this last week's badass performance. Rude comes outta the gates early with a bearhug. Dustin with bionic elbows and slaps on a camel clutch like chinlock. Dustin goes to jump on Rude's back, but his balls get busted. Rude follows this up with an atomic drop, which is just awesome and Dustin falls to the outside. We go to commercial and during the commercial Rude got a nearfall off a DDT. Rude works the chinlock...a lot. Dustin gets a back drop, but eats knees again on the splash, nice callback. After some more chinlocking, we get a nice little slugfest and Dustin starts to fire up and grabs a backslide, another nice callback. Dustin gets an O'Connor Roll. He is feeling it and goes for the bulldog, but Rude throws him into the ref. Rude is headed for the chair, but the Dirtiest Player in the Game aint having none of that. Rhodes wins off a rollup via distraction from Flair. Ugh, what a shitty finish. That was very disappointing that after 4 months of feuding and the two previous matches that grand finale ends up being the backdrop for the Flair/Rude feud. It was a pretty blase match outside Dustin's great bump off the atomic drop. **

 

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Dustin Rhodes & Ric Flair vs Rick Rude & Sid Vicious - WCW Saturday Night 09/18/93

 

Ric Flair better have bought Dustin a drink after that performance. It is often said that Flair takes up too much of his tag match as he is afraid to rely on someone else to get over his match. Flair trusted Dustin to get this match over as Dustin wrestled 99% of this match as a face in peril and did an exceptional job. At the beginning of the show, Dustin attempted to save his Wargames partner, Sting from a Harlem Heat beatdown, but ended up having his back injured in the process.

 

Sid attacked Dustin early and the heels never let up. Flair hemmed and hawed on the apron. He tried to get a chair to save Dustin and he tried to mess with Rude's mind by thrusting his hips at him, but nothing could save Dustin from this torture, but Dustin. After an extended Rude chinlock and plenty of hip swiveling, Dustin claws at Sid's eyes and hits a cross body on Side, but he gets flung to the outside on the kickout. Tony puts this over huge. Rude slams Dustin's back into apron while Flair inadvertently detains the ref. Back from the commercial, Sid misses a leg drop, but has the presence of mind to cut off Dustin and tags Rude. Ruge bearhugs Dustin and what is making all this is Dustin's great selling. He seems more into this then any of the previous matches as he really is the star of this match. He hits some bionic elbows, but takes the belly to belly for 2. Sid drops Dustin gut first across the railing. I am thinking the roof is going to blow off this place when Flair gets the tag. Flair gives Dustin a pep talk and sends him back into ring. He must really want Rude. Dustin reverses the tombstone and I really thought this was going to be it, but Sid cuts him off. Now, I am excited for the hot tag! Dustin hits out of a nerve hold and hits a lariat, but just collapses. Sid blocks him again and Rude is in and just taunting Flair by taking his time with Dustin. Dustin tries to go through the legs and eventually fights to make it, but ref misses. Tony does a great call of this as he was so excited to see Flair, but when the ref sends him back he is very disappointed. Dustin hits the bulldog on Sid! TAG TO FLAIR! He atomic drops Rude so hard he forgot to stick his knee out. He is hitting everything that moves. Flair gets the sleeper and here comes Harlem Heat. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! They throw it out. Sting is in to save and here comes the Shockmaster as he trips over the guardrail and the bottom rope. Sometimes you just have to embrace it.

 

We get a kickass front half of a match. The drama of that FIP should have belonged in a lost classic, but then it just ended. Dustin put in his best performance of '93 summer here. Rude is such a dick and Sid does what he does best look big. You have Flair cheerleading and being a mad man on the apron. It is Dustin that makes it all special. The way he times his hope spots and how he sells the desperation. The hook of the match is to get the hot tag, but then it just ends. Very disappointing finish to a great Dustin performance. ***

[Beast]

Wish the "Dustin of the Day" write ups were still available, been almost a decade since they disappeared.

 

I am curious as to what people think of as Dustin/Goldust's best match or performance. Even if it's something totally obvious and popular, I'd like to hear what each of you think of as being his definitive moment.

[(BP)]

As Dustin, probably Spring Stampede 94 against Bunkhouse Buck. Goldust work is tougher to choose without going through it again, but it would be something from the last six years, and maybe even something from the last six months.