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Report: Dusty Went off Script on Raw, Legitimately Upsetting Stephanie

Posted: Oct 5th 2013 By: mikeiles

For the last several weeks, the feud between the Rhodes family and the McMahon-Helmsley tandem has arguably been the most compelling storyline on WWE TV.

From Cody Rhodes being fired, to Goldust's almost-there effort, to Dusty Rhodes being reluctantly knocked out by the Big Show, viewers have been finding themselves in a position to relate to Dustin and especially Cody vindicating themselves against the powers that be.

And when the struggle came to a head upon Triple H's issuance of an all-or-nothing tag team proposition on Raw for the Battleground pay-per-view, it seemingly appeared to become a little too real.

According to Dave Meltzer's subscribers-only Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the flip was switched on the script during a nose-to-nose confrontation between Dusty and Triple H.

For those who watched Raw, the "American Dream" decided to improvise by putting his left hand in the face of Stephanie McMahon, a third-party observer, while he was making his point to her husband, Triple H. This immediately prompted Stephanie to slap away Dusty's hand in a moment of primal instinct.

Just like that, Dusty's unscripted snap judgment spurred the following backstage scoop:

If you think something is different about Dusty Rhodes on Raw compared to everyone else, it?s because when he?s out there, the script is gone...But he did cut off Stephanie instead of letting Stephanie do the making the face look like a wimp thing she does with most talent. On 9/30, the face palm on Stephanie when she started talking like he was blowing her off, which if you watch it looked like Stephanie had no idea was coming, that was actually the case. And she was not happy about it. Since it?s Dusty, it?s not like he can be buried with being booked to lose a bunch of matches now.

On the one hand, given the fact that Dusty comes from an era where improvisation was not only encouraged, but necessary, it shouldn't be a surprise that he can be a little unpredictable on the microphone.

That being said, the WWE environment is no longer reflective of how things used to be done, but rather adapted to modernity where episodic entertainment is meticulously scripted.

Because the rules have changed, so must the performers of both the present and past. While Dusty should be afforded a degree of extra rope for his legendary contributions to the business, it is no excuse for veering off the charted path with a blatant hand gesture.

Compounding Dusty's aggressive body language was the fact that the gesture attempted to upstage Stephanie's TV character and, as far as she was concerned, the real-life person as well.

Taking into account today's TV show protocols, how else could Stephanie have perceived an unscripted act of insolence as existing on any other plane but reality? Obviously, because her on-screen persona and behind-the-scenes title share many commonalities, it is not outside the realm of reason for her to have suspected Dusty was taking advantage of the situation.