Did Cody Face Less Pressure Than Dustin In Being Dusty's Son?

[The Brain]

This one’s for you Ryan. Merry Christmas. Don’t say no one ever gave you a chance. This is to help you get your feet wet in the prison and show you can contribute. Just because this is the prison doesn’t mean you can’t create threads that seem to belong elsewhere. Forget that this is prison and create the same threads you would in the other sections.

A little over twenty years ago Dustin Rhodes made his wrestling debut. He had some talent and looked like he belonged in the wrestling business but he had one problem. There was a huge shadow cast upon him by his famous father the American Dream Dusty Rhodes. Comments like ‘you’re only here because of your father’, and ‘you’ll never be as good as your dad’ were par for the course. Dustin had success in WCW winning the US title and being a fixture in the upper mid card but it seemed that shadow of the Dream always loomed. In 1995 Dustin was released by WCW and joined the WWF. He felt the need to completely reinvent himself in order to finally escape his father’s shadow and create his own identity. Goldust was born and the rest is history.

Many years later Dusty’s other son Cody would make his debut. Cody did not seem to face the same hurdles that Dustin did. While I’m sure the thought existed in his mind, the pressure to live up to his father’s legacy wasn’t acknowledged for Cody like it was for Dustin. Despite using the last name Rhodes, Cody always seemed to be his own man while Dustin was faced with the pressure of trying to follow the American Dream.

Do you feel that Dustin faced more pressure than Cody did in being Dusty’s son? If so why? I’ll give some others a chance to post before I give my opinion.

 

[ryan86]

Well, I am not going to pretend i know a whole lot about Dustin and his WCW days, I was not watching in '95. I started watching some in '96, and mainly WCW in '97, until the spring of '98 when I started watching WWF/E more often.

I definatly never watched Dusty Rhodes, so I cant do the comparrisons. How-ever, I do know that the Rhodes have a long wrestling background and IMO, Cody is carrying the name in such a sucessfull manner, that should not only make him the "golden child", but should make his dad proud.

Cody has a lot going for him. The last name of a dynasty, "Dashing good looks", top of the line in-ring style, tripple A mic skils, and the most important thing; a proper, deliberat and methodical push. His grooming has been a true sucess story and he has brough meaning to the IC Title, that hasn't meant anything in 10 years.

Dedication and commintment has eraned him everything. So i assume that is why his last name is not held as the main reson for sucess.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

I think he absolutely had a tougher time trying to live up to the Rhodes name than Cody. For one thing, Dusty was still pretty active when Dustin started coming up, last I remember he started out initially on the scene as Dusty's partner against Ted DiBiase and Virgil. Also, the American Dream was still pretty fresh in people's minds when Dustin came up that most fans could draw comparisons. Cody has come up around a fan base who vaguely know who Dusty is or may not at all. Also, when you look at the two, Dustin actually looks like he's related to Dusty, Cody on the other hand looks nothing like Dusty and I'm surprised isn't just a Rhodes in name. I think Dustin had more pressure to live up to, and I think he did a better job of living up to it. Dustin managed to break away from the Rhodes name and created a character that will be remembered just as long as his father's name. Cody, on the other hand, has yet to do that, personally I don't think he ever will because I don't think he has the look to ever be a larger than life superstar, but he may one day find something that'll give him staying power. Right now, he's a good enough role player on the team, even a fairly significant one, but he's hardly anything worth remembering long term like his father and brother were.

 

[JenksIX]

What's this thread doing in the Games Section?

Threads like this belong in the wrestling sections - this section is used for non-wrestling related topics like games and ranting.

This section has been used to try and create wrestling discussion, but it just never works.

As for the question, I am going to say that Cody definitely faced and still faces less pressure then Goldust (Dustin) does. Goldust got into the game in the early 90s and WWF gave him a ridiculous gimmick the way they gave his father the gold and black pocadots. Also, Dustin was WCW made to some degree. It was just a different time back then and I'm sure Cody had to deal with far less then Dustin ever had to especially considering Dusty's current WWE role.

Now a days, 2nd-3rd generation stars are a novelty and it doesn't matter who you are or what your skill is, for the most part. Cody's road ... is much simpler.

With that said, in this shitty time of wrestling, Cody shines through and sets himself from apart of the rest of the field, the problem is, it's just too easily.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Poor old Dustin faced several problems back in the day:-

Name: Dustin Rhodes is WAY too close to Dusty Rhodes.
Look: Dustin is a taller, thinner version of good old dad, who even wore a similar outfit to Dad's old NWA look.
Nepotism: Even his moniker in WCW ('The Natural') screamed, "I'm Dusty's son!".
Timing: Daddy was still very active and very popular, so there was a massive shadow to escape from.
Gimmick: Good ole boy? Was already being done and had been done for decades.

Dustin escaped these issues, when he returned to the WWF, by moving as far from these issues as possible.

Name: Repackaged as Goldust, pretty tough for casual fans to make the association with Dustin (or indeed Dusty) Rhodes.
Look: Painted gold in a full bodysuit (that helped hide his non-bodybuilder physique) and as camp as the 'Carry On' series.
Nepotism: Good ole Dad wasn't mentioned; Dustin and Marlena had to get the gimmick over themselves.
Timing: Daddy had virtually vanished from the mainstream, he was standing on his own feet now.
Gimmick: There had never been a character as androgynous as Goldust (especially given that he predated 'Attitude) so the character definitely had the shock factor to get it off the ground.


Cody didn't originally take off, the whole Hardcore Holly 'respect' storyline floundered until he turned on him and joined Legacy. Even there, he was regarded as the least important member. It was only when he finally became his own man, after being drafted to SD, that he started to build his own career. (In fact, to timeline the two boys - it had taken Dustin 5 years to get himself over as an original, 3 years for Cody from hitting the main roster.)

Cody definitely benefits from Daddy now being a distant memory, for those fans who even remember him. He also benefits from having more original characters than big brother had to begin with (well, once the whole Hardcore team was scrapped). Ungrateful and disrespectful child to, slightly camp, narcissist to psychotic 'Phantom' to his current melding of narcissist and Psychotic. All of these eclipse 'The Natural' as a gimmick (although, as someone not from y'all parts, I did enjoy early 90s Dustin - especially his work with Barry Windham).