When it comes to wrestling promos, there are some that end up becoming truly iconic and memorable and in the case of Dusty Rhodes' famous 'hard times' promo, that has truly been the case.
Hard Times Has Passion & Meaning
One of the reasons that the iconic 36-year-old promo still stands to this day is because it had the right balance between great delivery and the words having a true meaning, which proved to be the right ingredients for the best possible promo.
Rather than just rattling off cliche lines to get people interested, it becomes very obvious that Rhodes is speaking from the heart. He is open and tells stories that audiences can relate to, and not just as the everyman.
Anytime someone can be real, it instantly allows for the passion to flow, and those moments where a wrestler can simply be themselves always lead to special situations.
He is not trying to be too macho, and he is also not wanting to paint himself as a victim either. Instead, Dusty is just true to himself and that is something that fans saw and it helped to intensify the feud without him having to call the Nature Boy a bunch of names for the sake of it.
The meaning behind everything he said was clear and it was obvious that Dusty believed in every word that he came out with. It was a truly special and unique moment where everything fell into place, but from that moment wrestling royalty was created.
The Hard Times Promo Is Full Of Great Quotes
One of the tricks to a timeless promo in wrestling is making it quotable. Whether it's screaming "Austin 3:16" or "with a tear in my eye" all of the greatest wrestling promos have hooks that fans remember.
One-liners that people end up quoting forever. They can be printed onto a t-shirt, throw in a video package, or referenced by other wrestlers down the line, and that is what helps to make them last forever.
While the diehard fans will be able to quote Dusty's promo word for word, many fans remember the bullet points, the big quotes, and "that's hard times" certainly stands that way for the American Dream.
This is truly what makes it one of the greatest promos ever because people can quote it and not even know the exact details behind the storyline. It becomes more than that and grows a legacy all upon itself, which is what this special moment has done.
The Ultimate Babyface Promo
Ultimately, this promo has stood the test of time because it is the perfect babyface promo. Trash talking people and working as a heel is far easier to do in wrestling, as making audiences boo is a simpler technique.
There are many ways to rile up an audience, but to get people around the world to truly love a wrestler, takes genuine skill. Being a truly over babyface is something few wrestlers actually achieve, but Dusty was one of those people.
This moment was a great example of why. Being able to grab an audience and take them on an actual journey of his life, explaining his personality without being overbearing, and bringing it all back to wrestling in tights is not a simple task.
Sure, Dusty ticks the necessary boxes of covering his storyline with Ric Flair and their upcoming match. But he did not stop at that point, he went above and beyond with everything else he said, which is what drew people in.
However, he perfectly carved this story to create the ultimate babyface promo. It created sympathy, yet it made him believable, it made him an underdog, yet he was still a fighter, and most of all it showed just how much he cared.
All of this combined helped to make it a truly special moment and considering all of the great achievements Dusty Rhodes managed to put together throughout his career, the fact this is talked about the most showcases just how good the promo was.
While five-star matches help to build a career, it's promos like this that will truly last forever, with the 'hard times' segment being something that all babyfaces should look to take a page out of.