Dusty Rhodes allegedly told former WWE champion that he couldn’t wrestle

WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes was one of the most decorated names in professional wrestling, having won several championships outside the Stamford-based company. In addition to his in-ring prowess, The American Dream mentored several World Champions, including Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Sheamus, and more. However, a former WWE Superstar recently revealed that Rhodes once told him he could not wrestle.

Justin Gabriel (aka P.J. Black) impressed many during his appearance in the first season of NXT, finishing third after David Otunga and the eventual winner, Wade Barrett. He made his main roster debut as a part of Nexus. The 43-year-old won the WWE Tag Team Championship thrice alongside Heath Slater before parting ways with the promotion in 2015.

During his recent appearance on the Developmentally Speaking podcast, Gabriel recalled his tryout for FCW. The former Nexus member claimed that after watching his match tape, Dusty Rhodes told him he could not wrestle for sh*t.

"Long story short, I got invited to the tryout in FCW in Florida, so I flew to the US and FCW at the time, in Tampa. I walked into this office, and there's Dr. Tom Prichard, Steve Keirn, Norman Smiley, Dustin Rhodes. And it was very intimidating, and they popped my tape in. [...] They watched this tape, and I thought the match was fantastic. It was one of my favorite matches ever. And I was playing this stripper/porn star character at the time, did a decent promo and everything. And when they were finished, they all kind of looked at each other, it got quiet, and I was like, 'Oh shoot.' And Dusty was like, 'Well, you can't wrestle for s**t, but you can do all the other stuff,'" he said. [H/T: Wrestling Inc.]

You can check out the entire conversation in the video below:

Justin Gabriel opens up about signing with WWE again

Later on during the podcast, Justin Gabriel was asked about the possibility of returning to WWE.

The former Corre member claimed he was in talks with the wrestling promotion for a coach's role around the period of its merger with UFC. Unfortunately, it did not lead to anything substantial.

"There's been quite a few, and the talks never go anywhere. I'm getting a little bit older now. They recently wanted me to be a coach because I've been in this business over 30 years now, wrestling 27 [years]. That kinda like went nowhere. That was during the transition stage where the company that bought them and UFC [Endeavor] were kinda in the transition, so I didn't really bother them too much about that. Those talks kinda just fell away," he said.

Following his departure from WWE, Gabriel appeared in several promotions, including TNA, ROH, NWA, and more. He is currently wrestling on the independent scene under the ring name PJ Black.