The Importance of… 7.10.09: Dustin Rhodes

Posted by Mike Chin on 07.10.2009

He was once "The Natural" and since that time, became one of the most unnatural characters in wrestling history. Nonetheless, the fact remains that Dustin Rhodes is one of wrestling's most important starts.

He's a second generation start who never made it as big as his dad. He's never had a world title run, nor has he ever really been a serious threat to one. He never won the Royal Rumble, the King of the Ring, Battlebowl, a King of Cable tournament, or any other comparable competition. For most men, the combined effects of the aforementioned experiences would place him as a forgettable career-mid-carder. And yet, out of the unique story of Dustin Rhodes emerges one of the most interesting, surprising, and altogether important stars of his generation.

The Natural



After brief runs in the NWA and WWF in the late eighties and early nineties, Dustin Rhodes began to carve his niche in the wrestling world in WCW. Promoters never tried to hid the fact that Dustin was the son of wrestling legend, Dusty Rhodes. Indeed, with his strikingly similar, if slimmer looks, Dustin looked exactly as one would expect Dusty's son to—a rugged common man, with an honest face; strong and tough without the chiseled physique. He was good in the ring, good on the mic, not quite the electric personality his father was, but certainly a young man with the tools and potential to go quite far in the business.

Sons of major stars often enter the business an undue level of credibility, have the opportunity to rise to the top of the card before such elevation is really due to them. Such was the case for Greg Gagne meteoric rise in the AWA, and the ascent of virtually every Von Erich brother in World Class. Granted, these men had the double advantage of not only being second generation stars, but also sons of the owners. Regardless, there are other examples of sons who advanced more on name than accomplishments, from David Sammartino, to (arguably, in his early years) Randy Orton. Fans tend to have a connection with second generation performers, and bookers are quicker to trust them as well—knowing their names will draw, and knowing that they're a part of a legacy.

In any event, Dustin was a famous enough son to draw instant credibility, and had more tools to back up his push than a lot of sons did. After some success in the tag ranks, it's wasn't long before Dustin was competing for the US title, and his share of success at that level, with high profile feuds against men including Rick Rude and Steve Austin. All signs pointed toward Dustin eventually advancing to the main event level, especially as he flirted with feuds against main event level talents like Vader and Sid.

Changing with the times

Had WCW continued along its traditional trajectory, Dustin Rhodes may well have arrived in the main event. However, the business was changing, and WCW was changing all the more so. In the mid-1990s, Hulk Hogan was signed, and it wasn't long before a troupe of eighties stars from the WWF days followed him. Soon, it was Hogan who consumed the main event scene, with WCW main eventer Sting playing second fiddle, and men like Randy Savage and Jim Duggan filling the next roles down that Rhodes might have had on his way to the top. Wrestling was changing, with top stars hanging around longer, or making comebacks at later ages, and WCW did very little to use these aged talents get newer stars over, on the contrary, cycling through established main event talents in the vast majority of cases.

And so, lost in the WCW shuffle, it came time for Rhodes to head back to the WWF. Rhodes did not return under the family name, though, instead espousing a new character altogether. Rhodes became Goldust.

Goldust



Goldust was among the most revolutionary, creative and altogether different characters in wrestling history when he debuted. Sure, there were still flashes for Rhodes' bruising signature offense, full of big right hands and bulldogs. New to the man, though, was a bizarre style of dress with a full gold body suit, gold facepaint, and a long blond wig. Mainstream wrestling had never seen anything like this character, and in playing such a different role, Rhodes went a long way toward defining the cutting-edge, off-beat style of the Attitude era. No, he was not as bad ass as Stone Cold, and no, he was not as cool as DX. Nonetheless, Goldust did represent a tremendous departure from the establishment. His feuds with Ahmed Johnson, Roddy Piper and Marc Mero, among others, were interesting if for no other reason than his ability to play off of the homophobia of his face foes and the fans—always walking the line between playing mind games and legitimately violating his foes. The character held up too, across several modifications to his attire, and heel-face turns, doing some absolutely mind-bending promos, and delivering in the ring as well.

Back to WCW



In the early 2000s Rhodes was set to make a return to WCW, and recorded weeks of lead-in promos under the creepy new character of Seven. While it was never entirely clear what this ominous figure was all about, a combination of the creative character and Rhodes's credibility as a performer made expectations high. This all culminated in one of the most bizarre worked-shoot promos of all time as Seven debuted, only to remove his costume, and deliver his promos as a disgruntled Dustin Rhodes—fed up with silly characters. Many accounts indicate that the Turner powers that be squashed the character for fears that the lead-in videos of him made him look like a child molester. How much of the change came from turner, and how much was the whim of WCW's notoriously variable booking squad may never be known, but regardless this led to an unexpected face run for Rhodes, feuding with Jeff Jarrett, Ric Flair and others.

Ashes to ashes, Dustin to Goldust

In 2002, Goldust was back in the WWF. At first, the character seemed to have little new to offer the WWF landscape of the time. Soon enough, though, he took one of his most interesting turns, teaming up with Booker T for a memorable odd couple run that included a reign as tag team champions, and some interesting conflict when Booker got recruited by the new nWo. The angles ultimately didn't lead anywhere particularly significant, though as he ended up quietly leaving WWE.

Again appearing as under his family name, Dustin went on to perform for TNA, and have some runs in Japan, besides a brief comedic return to WWE. His next significant role, though, came in 2007 when he brought the Black Reign character to life.

TNA

Black Reign was, in many ways, a poor man's Goldust. While Reign did not play with sexuality to nearly the extent of the preceding character, he did have the bodysuit and facepaint. The character was supposed to be something of a monster, as he teamed with men like Rellik to torment the faces of the day. In this run, Rhodes marked another important shift in the business. Weird characters like Reign were no longer cutting edge, or even interesting—they just felt like cheap knock-offs of the Goldusts, Papa Shangos and other more interesting characters of the decades before. Reign never got over, and smarks across the internet condemned him as one of the worst characters of the year, before he ultimately left TNA.

Today

With a new year came another new run for Goldust in WWE. He's now almost exclusively a comedy and nostalgia act—good for a laugh, and good to help fans remember a hotter period in wrestling. Regardless of how little the character seems to mean at this point, his current role is a good reminder of how he has mattered to wrestling—a solid talent, an innovative character, and a generally important figure, specifically in the nineties.

That's all for this column. Next week, we take a look at the importance of Chris Benoit. See you in seven.