BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) DUSTY RHODES
Do I respect Dusty? Yes. I just never got into his work. He has a billion NWA Titles and I’m sure a boat load more. I never enjoyed a Dusty Rhodes match or promo. His promos are babbling and silly. They’re only really talked about because his voice is so mockable. I’m sure he did well back in the day, but I never connected. I have a hard time really understanding how anyone else does either. Is this one of those situations where no one really agrees but are afraid to admit it in fear of being attacked by those “in the know”?
(THREE) TITO SANTANA
Good wrestler? Sure. He was a solid mid carder who on his best day was a decent IC Champion. I like him and I’m sure he’s an awesome guy in the locker room, but I don’t see why he made it into the Hall of Fame before so many other people who deserved it more. TONS of solid 80’s mid carders were just as good, if not better than Tito.
(TWO) KOKO B. WARE
Everything I just said about Tito goes for Koko, except he wasn’t nearly as good as Santana. He was fun to watch as a kid, but what did he ever really contribute to any big storyline? He had Frankie the bird and was a nice guy. I met him as a kid and he was really cool, but he was pretty much a jobber with a consistent gimmick. He was the Santino of his time. Nothing wrong with that. I appreciated his entertainment, but Hall of Fame? C’mon!
(ONE) RODDY PIPER
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper’s biggest fan is himself. He sells himself as if he’s “one of the greats”, but he’s not. I’ve seen his matches, I’ve seen his promos, I’ve seen his “historic moments”, and I am not impressed. He was a good talker in the 80’s, but with each decade that has passed since then he has lost more and more coherence. He makes me uncomfortable now in the same way Gary Busey does. It’s like we all know there’s something wrong, but we just smile and cheer it on. He was never that good of a wrestler. He got by on presence and psychology. When he had a really good face to heel out on then he’d do fine, but people sleep on all the crap. If you get deep into it, he was carried through some matches with Bret and others but he is as basic as they come. No one cares about any “in ring action” from Piper. People remember him hitting Snuka with a coconut and spraying that dude smoking a cigar in the face with a fire extinguisher. Now a billion years later he comes out like he’s getting a standing ovation and works the crowd as if they’re going crazy. Pay attention, they just sit there… and wait for the next segment. At least “They Live” didn’t suck… oh wait.
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