The WWE has had its fair share of wrestlers with strange gimmicks over the years, but few have experienced the level of success and notoriety of Goldust. The wrestler behind Goldust, Dustin Rhodes, has since moved on to AEW, but anyone with a Peacock Premium subscription can visit his more extreme years as Goldust and see the peak of his character work. It turns out that work came with a lot of trial and error and a fateful match with Savio Vega.
Dustin Rhodes recently spoke to Wrestlinginc.com about his early days as Goldust and the moment he finally figured out his character. Rhodes credited Savio Vega for helping him tap into the sensual and slightly weird side of Goldust, which would ultimately become a trademark of the character. Rhodes wasn’t sure about trying that in the ring but decided to finally try it during a match the two had in Madison Square Garden. He shared:
So as soon as I [did] what we had talked about, was me going behind him and rubbing up and down his chest. That’s it, right? I was really terrified to do that. It was something that I just would not do. Did not do that, did not think that way. And I did it, and he turned around, and I just ran out of the ring. They [the fans] (expletive). I did not get any reaction for that 6-7 months until right then. And it was like they were screaming every profane name that they could possibly call me, and I was like, ‘Holy fuck’. And I’m looking at Savio in the ring, and I’m staying away from the rails because they’re stepping over, and they’re spitting, and they’re cussing. And this is…’95, this is 1995 or 1996.
Fans found Goldust’s behavior in the ring shocking and reacted almost immediately. Of course, these days I think it’s possible that Rhodes wouldn’t have gotten quite as intense of a reaction for doing his rubbing movements and whatnot, but it was a different time.
Goldust got a reaction he hadn’t received before, and he was content with that. Savio Vega, however, thought they could take things further, and as Dustin Rhodes detailed below, they did:
And I rolled back in, and I’m looking at him in the corner, and he’s laughing. I’m like, ‘Motherfucker’. And we lock up, and he takes me back to the corner, and he’s still laughing, and I’m like, ‘Why are you laughing?’ ‘See? I told you it’d work. I told you it’d work, just listen to me.’ He said, ‘We’re gonna do another one now.’ And I’m like, ‘Aw, God. What are we gonna do now?’ He said, ‘Back me up to the corner.’ I backed him up to the corner. I turned around, and I stuck my ass right in his dick. OK? Ref’s counting, counting, counting. I start rubbing my ass on his dick. He pushed me in the back. I turned around, I gave him a little kiss and I rolled out of the ring. They (went), ‘Whoa!’ Goldust was created. . .Now looking back on it, it is what I tell my students is you have to step over that scary line and out of your little bubble if you’re gonna make something if you’re gonna be a success story. And I did, finally.
Dustin Rhodes’ advice to future wrestlers is solid, as Goldust’s boundary-pushing matches and character work in the '90s ultimately made him a highlight of WWE’s Attitude Era and likely is why he’s still working in various wrestling organizations to this day. Of course, some of that is a credit to Rhodes and his continued evolution of the character into the modern era.
WWE fans can revisit some of Goldust’s best moments over on Peacock. His brother Cody is back in WWE right now and, hopefully, getting a chance to further cement his legacy with more memorable moments in the company in the near future.
