Things might have been different had referee Walton sent off Wycombe keeper Ricardo Batista early in the game for an assault on Rochdale striker Morike Sako.
The Premiership official opted instead to show a yellow card at a time when the visitors' substitute keeper was actually preparing himself to come on fully expecting a red card for his team-mate.
The Chairboys took the lead three minutes after the incident when veteran striker Tommy Mooney started and finished a clever passing move with a thunderous left-footed shot.
In the second half, in particular, Rochdale pinned the visitors in their own penalty area but failed to take a number of chances.
Sako was twice denied by keeper Batista as well as narrowly missing the target with a header.
Striker Keith Barker hit the side-netting when he could perhaps have done better and defender Alan Goodall twice went close as did substitute Ernie Cooksey.
Deep into time added on, with Rochdale pushing for what would have been a deserved equaliser, a rare slip by defender Nathan Stanton allowed Kevin Betsy to provide a simple close range finish for Dixon that, not only sent Wycombe top of the table, but gave them a club record of seven successive wins.