History Wrestling / Goldust

* AmbiguouslyGay: This was a prominent trope in regards to him being VERY fond of other male wrestlers such as Ahmed Johnson. Wrestling/JerryLawler even once outright asked if he was gay to which Goldust [[BigNo shouted "NOOOO!"]] before beating him down.

* {{Nepotism}}: Being Dusty's son, and with Dusty's booking power in WCW, he had to work to overcome the implications of this. It was largely averted in fact. Goldust's greatest success came in the years beginning the WWE Wrestling/AttitudeEra, where he and his father worked in different promotions[[note]]Dusty Rhodes was working in WCW while Goldust was in the aforementioned WWF/E[[/note]] and weren't even on speaking terms. Dustin took the Goldust gimmick partially so he could prove he could be successful in the business on something other than being Dusty Rhodes' son.
* {{Mascot}}: Misty, his pet rat as Black Reign

* AbortedArc: Goldust vs. Stardust. That match is the one everyone was most excited for at ''[[Wrestling/WWEFastlane Fastlane 2015]]''. Then the awful Memphis crowd ruined the moment, and the feud was thrown out. (Same thing always happened with Matt & Jeff Hardy. For some reason, the match everyone thought they could deliver together just never materialized.)
** They restarted this feud in Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling, with the "Natural vs Nightmare" match at ''Double or Nothing.''

* BadassGrandpa: Having hit 50, Dustin finally counts as one, being an old man by wrestling standards who - if his instantly legendary match against his brother Cody at ''AEW: Double or Nothing'' is anything to go by - can still compete on a higher level than many wrestlers literally half his age.

** WhatCouldHaveBeen: 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 [[Wrestling/ScottHall Razor Ramon]]). However, gay rights groups got upset over a gay person also being "evil," so Marlena was introduced to give the early impression he was doing "mind games".

** They seem to be restarting this feud in AEW.

Dustin Patrick Runnels (born April 11, 1969) is a {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er best known by his ring names Dustin Rhodes and Goldust. He is the son of WWE Hall of Famer [[Wrestling/DustyRhodes "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes]], the half-brother of fellow WWE superstar Wrestling/CodyRhodes and the ex-husband of former WWE Diva [[Wrestling/TerriRunnels Terri "Marlena" Runnels]]. While he is most known for his work in Wrestling/{{WWE}} and Wrestling/{{WCW}}, he has also competed for Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling, the United States Wrestling Association in Memphis, Wrestling/{{TNA}}, Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}}, and many independent promotions around the U.S.

!!!"You will never forget the tropes of *inhaled deeply* Goldust":

** They seem to restarting this feud in AEW.

* AbortedArc: Goldust vs. Stardust. That match is the one everyone was most excited for at ''Fastlane''. Then the awful Memphis crowd ruined the moment, and the feud was thrown out. (Same thing always happened with Matt & Jeff Hardy. For some reason, the match everyone thought they could deliver together just never materialized.)

** However, given how the character made passes at both men and women, it's obvious he's not gay at all but rather a bisexual.

Dustin Runnels, born 1969, is a {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er best known by his ring names Dustin Rhodes and Goldust. He is the son of WWE Hall of Famer [[Wrestling/DustyRhodes "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes]], the half-brother of fellow WWE superstar Wrestling/CodyRhodes and the ex-husband of former WWE Diva [[Wrestling/TerriRunnels Terri "Marlena" Runnels]]. While he is most known for his work in Wrestling/{{WWE}} and Wrestling/{{WCW}}, he has also competed for Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling, the United States Wrestling Association in Memphis, Wrestling/{{TNA}}, Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}}, and many independent promotions around the U.S.

-->Wrestling/JimCornette:"No, he's an [[AccentOnTheWrongSyllable invalid]]!"

* WrestlingFamily: Son of Dusty Rhodes and half-brother of [[Wrestling/CodyRhodes Cody]]. He was married to Terri Runnels for a couple of years. Also, Jerry Sags of Wrestling/TheNastyBoys and Fred "Tugboat"/"Typhoon" Ottman are/were uncles at one point, as they have both been Dusty's brothers-in-law

* {{Nepotism}}: Being Dusty's son, and with Dusty's booking power in WCW, he had to work to overcome the implications of this. It was largely averted in fact. Goldust's greatest success came in the years beginning the WWE Wrestling/AttitudeEra, where he and his father worked in different promotions[[note]]Dusty Rhodes was working in WCW while Goldust was in the aforementioned WWF/E[[/note]] and weren't even on speaking terms.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gd_5700.jpg]]

* WildlifeCommentarySpoof: Did one on the WWF version of the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder in their natural habitat(their locker room) in order to set up a joke about Wrestling/XPac's [[XPacHeat special situation.]]

* GRatedSex: During a 1996 match with Wrestling/TheUndertaker, 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 as the WWF/WWE would ever show. (Of course, Undie was laying in wait, immediately grabbed his throat impressively fought his way to a standing position while holding Goldie in midair ... and went on to deliver a huge chokeslam before defeating him.)

* FinishingMove: The Curtain Call/Lone Star State Of Mind (Falling inverted DDT). The Final cut (a neckbreaker lifted like a suplex). As Dustin Rhodes, he usually used the bulldog.

Dustin Runnels, born 1969, is a {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er best known by his ring names Dustin Rhodes and Goldust. He is the son of WWE Hall of Famer [[Wrestling/DustyRhodes "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes]], the half-brother of fellow WWE superstar, Wrestling/CodyRhodes and the ex-husband of former WWE Diva [[Wrestling/TerriRunnels Terri "Marlena" Runnels]]. While he is most known for his work in Wrestling/{{WWE}} and Wrestling/{{WCW}}, he has also competed for Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling, the United States Wrestling Association in Memphis, Wrestling/{{TNA}}, Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}}, and many independent promotions around the U.S.

'''Dustin Runnels''', born 1969, is a {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er best known by his ring names '''Dustin Rhodes''' and '''Goldust'''. He is the son of WWE Hall of Famer [[Wrestling/DustyRhodes "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes]], the half-brother of fellow WWE superstar, Wrestling/CodyRhodes and the ex-husband of former WWE Diva [[Wrestling/TerriRunnels Terri "Marlena" Runnels]]. While he is most known for his work in Wrestling/{{WWE}} and Wrestling/{{WCW}}, he has also competed for Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling, the United States Wrestling Association in Memphis, Wrestling/{{TNA}}, Wrestling/{{HUSTLE}}, and many independent promotions around the U.S.

As usual, you can find the basics at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldust The Other Wiki]].

** WhatCouldHaveBeen: 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 [[Wrestling/ScottHall Razor Ramon]]). However, gay rights groups got upset over a gay person also being "evil," so Marlena was introduced and it all became "mindgames."
** However, after avoiding such a big upset, the character has portrayed as being very implicitly bisexual.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Though it could be argued that that was all part of his mindgames to get into his opponent's head. Wrestling/JerryLawler once outright asked the question, to which Goldust [[BigNo shouted "NOOOO!"]] before beating him down.

* DepravedBisexual: At least he pretended to be one.

* RageAgainstTheAuthor[=/=]RealLifeWritesThePlot: Dustin got tired of being Goldust at one point and tried to be a born-again Christian wrestler. (See above under FunWithAcronyms.) The gimmick sadly didn't take, in part [[ScrewedByTheNetwork because 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 tried (or they never let him try) the gimmick again.
* RedBaron: "The Bizarre One", "The Prince of Perversion", "The Man With The Golden Power"