I highly doubt that this can be written without sounding disrespectful, so I’ll preface it by saying that I have the utmost respect for the success that Mr. Rhodes accomplished during his career.
Unfortunately, I fail to grasp exactly why he had that success.
I’ve watched his interviews from down south.
I watched his work in WWF.
I even made it through most of a match he had with Abdullah the Butcher in Japan.
Aside from not looking like someone who any state athletic commission would even clear to wrestle, the peroxide afro, pasty white skin, and raccoon eyes did not help his physical image.
His mic skills seemed good, but nothing extraordinary that would put him above guys like Jake Roberts and Bill Eadie.
And while people are quick to criticize the limited ring repertoire of guys like Hogan, Warrior, Rock, etc., the only “move” the Dream had was that elbow.
In the match he and Butcher did in Japan, Rhodes’ main offense consisted of bites and elbows.
Again, I'm not arguing with his success.
I'm simply at a loss to understand how he came across the success he did.