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Post by Kriss on Apr 8, 2024 19:46:24 GMT
I really liked Dustin for most of his career. Never struck me as world champion material. That's all. Maybe, but Cody never struck me as World champion material either until a year ago. It's all about how someone is presented. If the right person doesn't see you in that role, then no one else will either. I don't think Vince was ever gonna push one of Dusty's sons to the very top.
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Post by Jim on Apr 8, 2024 19:51:46 GMT
Never said he wasn't good. But he was never good enough to be a world champion. It seemed like it when you said he was either a comedy character or had substance abuse issues for almost his entire career. There were pockets of that, but most of his career that wasn't the case. I mean Jeff Hardy got a WWE World title twice. Haha, I wasn't watching at the time Jeff got it and flicked onto it one day, saw he was champ, and turned it off. I think Dustin has as much and maybe more talent in the ring than Cody but he's never struck me as a top guy. But you're right, Cody was sort of a joke most of the time in his first WWE run and in AEW I never really bought into him either.
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Post by Dr. Strangelove on Apr 9, 2024 3:55:36 GMT
Today he'd probably get one, but just couldn't picture him as world champion the time he competed. Still too many main event level guys ahead of him.
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Post by The Ultimate Sin on Apr 9, 2024 4:09:18 GMT
It seemed like it when you said he was either a comedy character or had substance abuse issues for almost his entire career. There were pockets of that, but most of his career that wasn't the case. I mean Jeff Hardy got a WWE World title twice. Haha, I wasn't watching at the time Jeff got it and flicked onto it one day, saw he was champ, and turned it off. I think Dustin has as much and maybe more talent in the ring than Cody but he's never struck me as a top guy. But you're right, Cody was sort of a joke most of the time in his first WWE run and in AEW I never really bought into him either. I never liked Dustin either. He seemed like one of those shitty second generation wrestlers who were getting a push because their dad was a star in the company and the promoters were ramming them down our throat trying to convince us that this schlub was as good as their old man. (See also: Mike Graham, Greg Gagne & George Gulas)
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Post by Jim on Apr 9, 2024 4:36:19 GMT
Haha, I wasn't watching at the time Jeff got it and flicked onto it one day, saw he was champ, and turned it off. I think Dustin has as much and maybe more talent in the ring than Cody but he's never struck me as a top guy. But you're right, Cody was sort of a joke most of the time in his first WWE run and in AEW I never really bought into him either. I never liked Dustin either. He seemed like one of those shitty second generation wrestlers who were getting a push because their dad was a star in the company and the promoters were ramming them down our throat trying to convince us that this schlub was as good as their old man. (See also: Mike Graham, Greg Gagne & George Gulas) I did like Dustin. And he was better and had more going for him than those three . I remember him in WWF and he was fine for the angle they did. But in WCW he wasn't a shitty wrestler ,he was very good especially in tag teams with Steamboat and Windham.
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Post by beejmi on Apr 9, 2024 8:22:09 GMT
Haha, I wasn't watching at the time Jeff got it and flicked onto it one day, saw he was champ, and turned it off. I think Dustin has as much and maybe more talent in the ring than Cody but he's never struck me as a top guy. But you're right, Cody was sort of a joke most of the time in his first WWE run and in AEW I never really bought into him either. I never liked Dustin either. He seemed like one of those shitty second generation wrestlers who were getting a push because their dad was a star in the company and the promoters were ramming them down our throat trying to convince us that this schlub was as good as their old man. (See also: Mike Graham, Greg Gagne & George Gulas) Watts was another
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Post by Dr. Strangelove on Apr 9, 2024 9:28:42 GMT
In fairness to Dustin, he was a lot better to Erik Watts and Greg Gagne (I never saw Mike Graham or George Gulas so can't comment).
As far as being a mid-carder, I've always thought he was a legit IC/U.S. Champion.
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Post by Kriss on Apr 9, 2024 9:39:36 GMT
In fairness to Dustin, he was a lot better to Erik Watts and Greg Gagne (I never saw Mike Graham or George Gulas so can't comment).
As far as being a mid-carder, I've always thought he was a legit IC/U.S. Champion.
No doubt, but I can't see him main eventing PPVs against Flair or Vader or Austin or Undertaker. And certainly not as the defending world champion. You could definitely put him in a big match near the top of the card, but he didn't have that bit extra to get into the main event tier.
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Post by Sexy Tom on Apr 9, 2024 14:33:15 GMT
As already mentioned, he screamed second-generation wrestler who was nowhere as good as his dad. From what I can recall in the early 90s, he never really came into his own. His work was good and his mic skills were passable, but he just wasn't main event status. Goldust on the other hand was awesome. At first, I had no idea it was Dustin. The movie quoting queer was original. Unlike other gay gimmicks, his was different. His antics with Razor Ramon were hilarious. His feud with Piper was great. He was over, and then suddenly he was derailed. If they kept on going, they could have made him the champ. People would have paid good money to see him get his butt kicked.
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Post by Dr. Strangelove on Apr 9, 2024 14:54:31 GMT
As already mentioned, he screamed second-generation wrestler who was nowhere as good as his dad. From what I can recall in the early 90s, he never really came into his own. His work was good and his mic skills were passable, but he just wasn't main event status. Goldust on the other hand was awesome. At first, I had no idea it was Dustin. The movie quoting queer was original. Unlike other gay gimmicks, his was different. His antics with Razor Ramon were hilarious. His feud with Piper was great. He was over, and then suddenly he was derailed. If they kept on going, they could have made him the champ. People would have paid good money to see him get his butt kicked. Yeah, Goldust was Dustin's way of getting away from the shadow of his dad. It worked in a way and was one of the more unique and over characters in the early stages of the Attitude Era. He just wasn't on the same level as Austin or The Rock (even though Vince would've given him a run if he wanted to).
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Post by Sexy Tom on Apr 9, 2024 15:46:12 GMT
As already mentioned, he screamed second-generation wrestler who was nowhere as good as his dad. From what I can recall in the early 90s, he never really came into his own. His work was good and his mic skills were passable, but he just wasn't main event status. Goldust on the other hand was awesome. At first, I had no idea it was Dustin. The movie quoting queer was original. Unlike other gay gimmicks, his was different. His antics with Razor Ramon were hilarious. His feud with Piper was great. He was over, and then suddenly he was derailed. If they kept on going, they could have made him the champ. People would have paid good money to see him get his butt kicked. Yeah, Goldust was Dustin's way of getting away from the shadow of his dad. It worked in a way and was one of the more unique and over characters in the early stages of the Attitude Era. He just wasn't on the same level as Austin or The Rock (even though Vince would've given him a run if he wanted to). You really raised the bar with Austin and Rock. The Goldust that wasn't derailed vs Austin and Rock would have been a license to print money. The promos would have been gold.
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Post by Superstar on Apr 9, 2024 16:00:21 GMT
I don't think Vince liked Dusty at all, because he knew how to book wrestling. He was successful everywhere he went. So Vince saw him as a threat, and signed him just to make him look bad. It didn't work, he sold the polka dots better than anybody could, just by being the Dream. I think had Vince still had his fingers in the WWE pie, he would never have allowed Cody to beat Roman. That's just my two cents on this.
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Post by srossi on Apr 9, 2024 16:11:35 GMT
I don't think Vince liked Dusty at all, because he knew how to book wrestling. He was successful everywhere he went. So Vince saw him as a threat, and signed him just to make him look bad. It didn't work, he sold the polka dots better than anybody could, just by being the Dream. I think had Vince still had his fingers in the WWE pie, he would never have allowed Cody to beat Roman. That's just my two cents on this. Cody always says that wasn't true and Vince was never trying to embarrass Dusty. I wonder what he will say going forward now that Vince is gone and never coming back. He might really believe it, I don't know.
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Post by Superstar on Apr 9, 2024 20:12:34 GMT
I don't think Vince liked Dusty at all, because he knew how to book wrestling. He was successful everywhere he went. So Vince saw him as a threat, and signed him just to make him look bad. It didn't work, he sold the polka dots better than anybody could, just by being the Dream. I think had Vince still had his fingers in the WWE pie, he would never have allowed Cody to beat Roman. That's just my two cents on this. Cody always says that wasn't true and Vince was never trying to embarrass Dusty. I wonder what he will say going forward now that Vince is gone and never coming back. He might really believe it, I don't know. We all know that Dusty was past his prime when he came to the WWF. But just let the man get over and he can draw money in any program you put him in. It was 1990 and they were still rolling out three touring groups. Dusty didn't need any belts to be over, and he was always seen by the fans as a threat because he won so many over the years. WWF only had two belts, he wasn't winning them, but he could have headlined the B shows and even the C shows that need a name to draw the house. Instead he had him plunging toilets, pumping gas, and wearing polka dots. They even dropped The American Dream from his name as soon as they were done with the vignettes. Cody can say what he wants, Vince didn't do any favors for Dusty except pay him extremely well. I would not be surprised if he even reached out to Dusty to try and get him to back out of booking Starrcade 83, the only Starrcade he wasn't on. He tried to pay Harley to walk, why not Dusty? He had been at MSG in June of '83 I think, if not June close to it.
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