That's, uh... quite a boy you raised, Dusty.
Dustin Runnels, born 1969, is a
professional wrestler best known by his ring names
Dustin Rhodes and
Goldust. He is the son of WWE Hall of Famer
"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, the half-brother of fellow WWE superstar,
Cody Rhodes and the ex-husband of
former WWE Diva Terri "Marlena" Runnels.
Tropes associated with Goldust:
- Agent Peacock
- Alternate Company Equivalent: Of himself as Black Reign in TNA
- Ambiguously Gay: Though it could be argued that that was all part of his mindgames to get into his opponent's head. Jerry Lawler once outright asked the question, to which Goldust shouted "NOOOO!" before beating him down.
- What Could Have Been: The character was supposed to be the first openly gay wrestler, and was portrayed as one for about a month (his first major feud was sending love letters to Razor Ramon). However, gay rights groups got upset over a gay person also being "evil," so Marlena was introduced and it all became "mindgames."
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Of movies, and, especially, the Academy Award, when the Goldust gimmick started.
- The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust: In 1998.
- Award Bait Song: His entrance music.
- Badass Family: He's a Rhodes, it's a given.
- Dustin was the one that established this trope, being the first of Dusty's kids to follow in his footsteps.
- Big Damn Heroes: When Hornswoggle was about to get crushed by The Big Show, he came in just in time, to save him. He lost miserably, but it's the thought that counts.
- Camp Straight
- Catch Phrase: "Remember the name...GOLDUST"/"You will never... forget the name of *inhales deeply*...GOLDUST!"
- Depraved Bisexual: At least he pretended to be one.
- Drugs Are Bad: A serious message in his autobiography Cross Rhodes: Goldust, Out of the Darkness.
- Facial Markings
- Finishing Move: The Curtain Call. As Dustin Rhodes, he usually used the bulldog.
- Fun with Acronyms: After Dustin burned the Goldust suit on the May 11, 1998 Raw, he went back to his real name and started a gimmick as a born-again Christian. It was mostly played straight and serious (in fact it was a definite precursor to WWE's real-life problems with the Parents' Television Council, which spawned the Right to Censor gimmick), though Dustin also appeared in taped vignettes where he would attempt to spread his message and would claim to be speaking for an organization called Evangelists Against Television Media and Entertainment.
- G-Rated Sex: During a 1996 match with The Undertaker, Taker was knocked out and Goldust... took advantage of his prone state. By laying on him and rubbing himself against Taker. Likely as close to male-on-male molestation the WWF/WWE would ever show.
- Genre Savvy: Of Pro-Wrestling and Film
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: In his book, he acknowledges how "sick" some of his promos were during his initial heel run (e.g., eating a chocolate bar while talking about Ahmed Johnson.)
- Gorgeous George
- Groin Attack: "Shattered Dreams"
- Head-Tiltingly Kinky: With Marlena and Luna.
- Heterosexual Life Partners: Him and Yoshi Tatsu are superpals.
- Hollywood Tourette's: After getting "electrocuted", thankfully it died down and went away permanently later on, though it was Played for Laughs.
- It Runs in the Family
- Large Ham: What do you expect from someone whose face is painted gold and wears gold suit and a wig?
- Nightmare Fetishist
- Odd Friendship: With Booker T. Huge emphasis on the 'odd' part.
- Parts Unknown (as Black Reign in TNA): "The Deepest Darkest Corner of His Mind"
- Rage Against the Author / Real Life Writes the Plot: Dustin got tired of being Goldust at one point and tried to be a born-again Christian wrestler. The gimmick sadly didn't take, in part because the WWE didn't care and in part because it was just him in a t-shirt and blue jeans just preaching before matches. Even when Dustin went to WCW and TNA, he never (or they never let him) tried the gimmick again.
- Red Baron: "The Bizarre One", "The Prince of Perversion", "The Man With The Golden Power"
- As Dustin Rhodes, he was called "The Natural," "The American Nightmare," or "Lonestar."
- The Rival: Though the history wasn't ever referred to in WWE, Dustin has had a lot of matches against William Regal dating back to the early 90s in WCW.
- The Trope Formerly Known as X: The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust, a period where he was most known for wearing disturbing outfits.
- Take That Kiss: One of his moves to throw off an opponent.
- Villainous Crossdresser
- Wrestling Family: Son of Dusty Rhodes and half-brother of Cody. He was married to Terri Runnels for a couple of years.
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