Cody Rhodes On Whether Dusty Could Have Done What Hulk Hogan Did For WWE

Cody Rhodes weighed in on whether Dusty Rhodes could have done the same role Hulk Hogan did in WWE. Rhodes reflected on the matter on the Bill Simmons Podcast when asked by Simmons whether WWE would have blown up the way it did if his dad was given the role instead of Hogan. Rhodes recalled Vince McMahon confirming to him that Dusty was offered the role first and then explained why he thinks Hogan was the right call. You can see highlights below:

On Vince confirming he had offered Dusty the Hulk Hogan spot: “So, one of the things that that Vince actually told me, I didn’t believe the story when my dad told me the story. Again, you never know what to believe. My dad telling me he was slotted for the spot, walked out of the hotel room, never came back because Vince had booked recording studio time, they were going to make an album with Dusty. All right? I thought, ‘This is complete Dad nonsense.’ Years later, Vince tells me the exact story. Tells me how mad he was. ‘Dusty walked out of the hotel room on me.’ And I’m thinking, ‘What? This is a — he really was in line to do it.’

“However, part of the story. He didn’t say it in a mean-spirited way. He said, ‘But it worked out better that I got Hulk and that your dad got to go do Jim Crockett Promotions, help build WCW up from the NWA. Him and Ric and everyone of course involved, and all the the great talented people they had. I think it worked out better.; I don’t know the answer to that, but I think Hogan was more of the now than maybe [Dusty].”

On whether Hogan was the right call over Dusty: “I think a lot of it you could literally chalk it up to, Dusty’s subverting your expectations with his look, was one thing. But the look at the time and where it was going, especially if you look at the AWA. Which most people don’t realize, Hulkamania and St. Paul at the AWA, was happening. So, I think it was probably the right call. Dusty had a different delivery, a different way of talking people in and Hogan was — Stallone, Arnold, Hogan.”

On Dusty being out of his prime at that point: “He was, he was. He had beat himself up. He was moving through. Dusty’s real prime is — there’s very, very little footage of his real, not prime but his hottest stuff is Florida. Championship wrestling from Florida with Gordon Solie and Pak Song and Harley coming in, and that was unbelievable. I mean, they were scalping tickets. This is — Tampa’s main sport was was really Championship Wrestling from Florida at this this brief onset with the Armory and the Grahams. It’s crazy.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Bill Simmons Podcast with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.