Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
‘The American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes was one of the old familiar faces of the old WCW. Whether he was wrestling, booking or acting as a color commentator…Rhodes was a constant on WCW programming. When the New World Order formed in 1996, Dusty represented the tradition and history of the company. He was extremely vocal against the nWo and a staunch supporter of WCW. Just two years later, all that would change and not necessarily for the better.
In 1998, nWo founding member Scott Hall was embroiled in a feud with WCW commentator Larry Zbyszko. The back and forth between Hall and Zbyszko actually got over with fans, as they would constantly chant…”Larry!…Larry!…Larry!” That would eventually lead to a one on one match up between the two at the Souled Out pay per view. Hall would have his “protégé” Louie Spicolli second him to the ring, while Larry Z asked his fellow WCW loyalist Dusty Rhodes to be in his corner.
While the build up to the match was hot, the actual match up really wasn’t. Fans were solidly behind Scott Hall as the cool heel, while Larry Zbyszko was viewed as the old, out of touch man. In any case, Larry Z won the match by disqualification when Spicolli interfered on behalf of Hall. Dusty came in to clean house, but in the process “accidentally” hit Larry Z with a bionic elbow. This led to Hall pointing to Rhodes, who removed his shirt to reveal an nWo t shirt underneath…solidifying Rhodes’ allegiance to the New World Order.
After all of those years being a loyal WCW guy, Dusty Rhodes was suddenly spitting on everything he ever did with the company. The question that remained was why? Not so much why would Dusty join the nWo…because let’s face it…almost everybody with a pulse was joining…but why did WCW creative book Dusty as an nWo member? People have criticized Rhodes constantly aligning himself with top stars to make him seem more relevant. In years past, Rhodes teamed with very popular guys like the Rock N Roll Express, the Road Warriors and Magnum TA. This was not the case in this instance. Apparently, it was mainly Scott Hall’s idea. Reportedly, Hall wanted to repay two of his biggest mentors (Larry Z and Dusty) for helping guide him early in his career by working a high profile angle with the both of them.
Dusty Rhodes suddenly became the mouthpiece for Hall (A wrestler who really didn’t need someone to do the talking for him). It also created a small faction within a faction with Hall having both Rhodes and Louie Spicolli watching his back. This was leading up to Hall challenging Sting for the WCW world title at the Uncensored pay per view. In kayfabe, Dusty blamed the corporate suits of WCW for ruining a promotion he helped build…so he decided to join the nWo.
Overall, fans who cheered the New World Order and those who rooted for WCW, rejected Dusty as a heel. After all, Dusty was everything the nWo was against…the WCW establishment, tradition, history etc. Eric Bischoff who greenlighted the Dusty heel turn would say this years later…“It was friggin’ bad, I wish I wouldn’t have done it.” That was the sentiment of many fans during that time period. Dusty just didn’t fit the part of an nWo member. WCW creative agreed and after a few months, Dusty was kicked out of the faction and returned to being a babyface.
David Fullam
And Bischoff was supposedly a genius.