Most people(myself included) think of the fat tub of guts Dusty. Vince really ruined his image with the polka dot thing. Even when he returned to WCW his image in my mind and most really never recovered.
Pre-polka dot he was an ass kicker. Lots of ultra violent matches.
I get what you are saying, but I disagree. His stint in the WWF was pretty much the end of his run as a full time wrestler so I think that being his swansong (more or less) leaves us feeling sour about it more than anything. Personally, I feel his WWF run was great in that it proved the point that Vince couldn't bury Dusty as easily as he thought he could. It was a shit gimmick, but Dusty ran with it and got it over.
HARDCORE:
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/EXnkT3FHMSM?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/EXnkT3FHMSM?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
One of the best damn matches...ever. Great in ring work and psychology.
