Dusty Wolfe (born Barry Dale Wolfe on July 18, 1962), occasionally billed as Dale Wolfe and occasionally appearing as Doink the Clown, is an American retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

Professional wrestling career

Wolfe was trained by fellow wrestler Ken Johnson, who helped

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one ...

enter professional wrestling (Johnson was later a co-owner of Texas Wrestling Academy with Michaels). He debuted on July 5, 1982 in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

. Wolfe is best known for his long tenure as a jobber in what was then known as the WWF, making his debut there as Dusty Wolfe in March 1987. In June 1989, WWF began billing him as Dale Wolfe so as to distinguish him from

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

, who had just left

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

(WCW) for the WWF (the two wrestled each other on television later that year). During his time in the WWF, Wolfe wrestled as both a babyface and a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exer ...

. He was respected for his ability to work with, and put over, major stars, working with many of the WWF's top names from 1987 to 1993. He also wrestled for

Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was a 3-time world champio ...

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...

(WCCW), and appeared frequently in the

NWA territories Formed in 1948, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was the largest governing body in professional wrestling. Under the control of the NWA Board of Directors (consisting of various prominent, regional promoters), the organization oversaw the NWA ...

and independently, where he would typically appear near the top of the bill. Wolfe also worked for the

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

(WWC) in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

where he was a two-time tag team champion. In 1996, he made several appearances in

at ''

WCW Saturday Night ''WCW Saturday Night'' is an American weekly Saturday night television show on TBS that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Launched in 1971 initially by Georgia Championship Wrestling, the program existed through various incarn ...

'' TV tapings. Wolfe remained under contract with WCW until 1998, but was not used after 1996. Wolfe is one of five people licensed to wrestle as Doink the Clown.

Later life

After retiring completely from wrestling, Wolfe attended the

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

branch of

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

, where his grades were sufficient to qualify him for membership in the

Phi Alpha Theta Phi Alpha Theta () is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history. It has more than 400,000 members, with new members numbering about 9,000 a year through its 970 chapters. Founding Phi Alpha The ...

Honor Society; in 2012, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in history. He then attended

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

, where he obtained a master's degree. He has taught history classes at Northwest Vista College since 2015. Wolfe has published a number of books and essays about the wrestling industry since 2008. Wolfe is married and has four children (one of whom is named after wrestler

Dick Murdoch Hoyt Richard Murdoch (August 16, 1946 – June 15, 1996) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names "Dirty" Dick Murdoch and "Captain Redneck". He was best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation and New Jap ...

Championships and accomplishments

*Flemish Wrestling Force **FWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Rob Raw *NWA New Zealand/Steve Rickard promotions **Asian Jr. Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Southeastern Championship Wrestling **SCW Open Champion (1 time) **SCW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with James Claxton (1) and Ken Johnson (1) *

**WCCW Heavyweight Championship (90’s Arkansas version) (1 time) *

** WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Galan Mendoza **

WWC World Tag Team Championship The WWC World Tag Team Championship is the tag team title contested for in the Puerto Rican professional wrestling promotion, the World Wrestling Council. History Abroad (2017) On February 11, 2017, Thunder and Lightning defended the WWC World T ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) - with Mohammed HusseinPro Wrestling Illustrated, December issue, PWI 500 third edition, p.43. *Xtreme Championship Wrestling **XCW Ironman Championship (1 time)

Published works

* ''Journal Of A Journeyman'' (2008), * ''The Wrestling Journeyman: Life and Times of an Indy Wrestler'' (2016),

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfe, Dusty 1962 births 20th-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Living people People from San Antonio Professional wrestlers from Texas