Dusty Rhodes and “Hard Times”

The American Dream Dusty Rhodes is perhaps the biggest personality to ever grace the wrestling world. Decades after his retirement, his words continue to resonate with fans around the world.

[Ric Flair] put hard times on Dusty Rhodes and his family. You don’t know what hard times are, daddy!

Hard times are when the textile workers around this country are out of work, they got 4 or 5 kids and can’t pay their wages, can’t buy their food!

Hard times are when the auto workers are out of work and they tell ‘em go home!

And hard times are when a man has worked at a job for thirty years, thirty years, and they give him a watch, kick him in the butt and say “hey a computer took your place, daddy!” That’s hard times! That’s hard times! 

And Ric Flair, you put hard times on this country by takin’ Dusty Rhodes out, that’s hard times. And we all had hard times together, and I admit, I don’t look like the athlete of the day’s supposed to look. My belly’s just a lil’ big, my heiny’s a lil’ big, but brother, I am bad, and they know I’m bad!

Dusty Rhodes was, and remains, one of the most prolific talkers in pro wrestling’s history. He is especially notable in this aspect because he overcame several physical setbacks, and even used them to his advantage. Dusty didn’t look or sound like the macho men that are typically associated with pro wrestling in this era. He had a big belly, a goofy, crooked smile, and a bird’s nest of blond curly hair on his head. What Dusty lacked in athleticism, though, he made up for ten-fold in his stage presence. He was so charismatic that his “flaws” became strengths. His belly, which would have made him seem out of shape, was altered by his charisma and instead made him seem jolly and lovable, like pro wrestling’s Saint Nick. 

Dusty’s most notable setback in regards to his mic skills was undoubtedly his speech impediment. Dusty spoke with a noticeable lisp (as in, it showed as soon as he introduced himself). In virtually any scenario, a lisp would preclude a wrestler’s chances of becoming one of the sport’s best talkers. The life of the American Dream, though, wasn’t at all a typical scenario. Much like Dusty used his charisma and confidence to make his rather atypical appearance something very endearing, Dusty’s charm made his lisp something lovable, too. 

The character Dusty Rhodes is so much larger than the sport of professional wrestling; his mission was to show that anyone can live the American Dream. Men who didn’t feel quite as handsome as the men in movies, women who hated the stomach rolls they saw in the mirror, everyone could look at Dusty conquering the wrestling world and find hope in him. All of this is exemplified in his promo, “Hard Times.”

“Hard Times” is Dusty’s most renowned interview, as well as one of the highest praised promos in history. This isn’t at all surprising; it’s a powerful, timeless message delivered by a powerful, timeless voice. In just three minutes, Dusty cemented a place for himself in the debate over who’s the best talker in the sport’s history. Several rhetorical devices often utilized by poets and politicians are used by Dusty here. 

The most prominent technique used by Dusty is anaphora through his repetitive use of the phrase “hard times” at the start of multiple sentences. Each time, the phrase introduces another vivid scenario of an American worker struggling to make ends meet. 

In addition to anaphora, Dusty also uses basic repetition as a means of emphasis. For example, in the phrase “when a man has worked at a job for thirty years, thirty years!” Dusty uses repetition to emphasize the worker’s loyalty to the company that stabbed him in the back. This emphasis on loyalty makes the company firing the worker that much more vile. 

Additionally, Dusty’s handle on pacing and volume makes his words wholly captivating. Like a gospel preacher, Dusty builds to a crescendo in his promos. He starts out slow to set the scene and give the audience time to prepare themselves for the roller coaster that Dusty’s about to take them on. This is an extremely effective way to grab and hold a crowd’s attention, and Dusty does it seamlessly. 

Of course, it doesn’t matter how well a man speaks if he never says anything of substance. This leads into the other powerful aspect of the “Hard Times” promo: Authenticity. In this interview, Dusty invokes major socio-economic struggles that rural America was experiencing at the time. Many of these struggles pervade to this day. 

One of the overall themes of the promo is Americans’ fear and struggle with unemployment. For better or for worse, much of an American’s identity comes from their job. This is especially true in southern and rural America, where cultural values closely relate a man’s work with his sense of pride. Consequently, when a man loses his job, he loses a huge piece of his pride. While the amount of emotional investment someone should put into their job, particularly when they work for a large corporation, is highly debatable, it should be recognized and respected that within this context, self-worth and economic output were very much co-dependable. Viewing Dusty’s promo through this lens helps to understand just how much his words resonated with the soul of his audience. 

The line “hard times are when a man has worked at a job for thirty years, thirty years, and they give him a watch, kick him in the butt and say ‘hey, a computer took your place, daddy!’” is a reference to the increase in automation within the American workforce. Automation is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “the use of largely automatic equipment in a system of manufacturing or other production processes.” 

The economic difficulties that the working class faces when their bosses discover new technology is a recurring theme in American history, dating back to the industrial revolution in the 1800s. In the book, musical, and 2005 film adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie’s father worked at a toothpaste factory but was laid off before the start of the story; he was replaced with a robotic arm that screwed on toothpaste caps more cheaply and more efficiently than Mr. Bucket ever could. Charlie’s father thus became a victim of industrial automation in 1979, the year Roald Dahl’s book was first published. Dusty delivered his infamous “Hard Times” promo six years after Mr. Bucket lost his job. 

The fact that both Dahl and Dusty, two men from wildly different walks of life, both recognize the harm that automation does to the working class shows just how devastating it can be. It’s important to know the scope of what Dusty spoke about in his promos in order to understand why they affected fans so deeply.

Dusty is the son of a Texan plumber. He grew up on unpaved roads (hence his ring name) and spent the hot summers of his childhood digging ditches to aid his father’s plumbing. The “Hard Times” promo being delivered by Dusty makes it so much stronger than it would’ve been had it come from someone of a middle or upper-class background; fans know that Dusty knows what he’s talking about.

In “Hard Times,” Dusty Rhodes places himself in the center of rural America’s economic struggle. Yes, this is a bit egotistical of him, but Dusty took his job as America’s working-class icon very seriously. There wasn’t, nor will there likely ever be again, a man more suited for the role than Dusty. In my personal opinion, the closest we’ll ever get to the next Dusty Rhodes is AEW’s Eddie Kingston. Like Dusty, Eddie Kingston came from low socioeconomic status and quickly won over wrestling fans with his charisma. These two men, their tough upbringings, and their success in pro wrestling are exemplary of the sport’s ability to resonate with its audience much more deeply than TV shows or movies ever could.