What kind of bugs me about Rufus is how inexplicably fast he is for such a morbidly obese man. It's like that Sumo chick from KoF in reverse!
Comic relief my friend. It's called a humorous contrast.
Personally, I don't even have a problem with him being fat anymore. I just wish he had a better outfit.
As for Able, I found his moveset fun, but I could never get him to actually do anything all that effective. Does he have a single special that's safe on block? Oh well, Iron Tager managed to be everything I hoped Able would be.
Abel just has a high learning curve. Many of his specials have a specific time and place to be used and most of his big damage comes from mix-up when close and threatening with the tornado throw. The Tager comparison is also rather poor since Tager plays more like Zangief. Also, Tager is Rock bottom on tiers whereas Abel hovers around low-mid.