S T A T S

A B O U T

Dustin Runnels began wrestling in the Florida area in 1988, just after his high school graduation. The eldest son of Dusty Rhodes, Runnels was given an all-american Cowboy gimmick when he first appeared in a major promotion, WWF.

His first major-promotion apparence occured in the WWE in 1991 at the Royal Rumble, just as Dusty Rhodes was preparing to leave the company. The young rookie was thrown into the Virgil/Ted DiBiase/Dusty feud, eventually playing the whipping boy in the angle as his father was jobbed out of the company.

Both men returned to elder Rhodes' original stomping ground, WCW. Dustin was a popular babyface during his four-year stint with the company, feuding heavily with the York Foundation (this is how he met Terri Boatwright, who soon became his wife) and was part of the large WCW-versus-The-Dangerous-Alliance program of that year.

After that feud ended, Rhodes became part of a popular tag team with Ricky Steamboat. Runnels and Steamboat briefly held the WCW tag team titles in 1993 and 1994, before Steamboat was placed in a conflict with Rick Rude. Runnels then tagged with Barry Windham.

Runnels left WCW in the oddest of ways. Instructed not to blade (cut himself with a razor to show blood) during a tractor trailer match with The Blacktop Bully (Barry Darsow) during the 1996 Uncensored Pay Per View, Rhodes and Darsow defied orders and were fired by the company.

Rhodes was scooped up by the WWE quickly. Goldust first appeared on the wrestling scene in 1997. Androgynous, Hollywood obsessed, and not afraid to use his sexuality to confuse his opponents, he was a heat magnet from his first feud with Razor Ramon.

After a feud with Roddy Piper, Runnels' real-life wife, Terri, was brought back into the business to portray the character of Marlena, Goldust's cigar-smoking "director". The relationship between Marlena and the feather-robed Goldust was always kept as ambiguous until 1998, when the worked shoot became popular and Goldust and Marlena became Terri and Dustin. A controversial angle with Brian Pillman, in which Pillman was to rape Marlena and Marlena was to fall in love with him and leave Dustin for Pillman, was pulled after Pillman's untimely death. After a few months, the angle was reborn, which lead to Marlena eventually leaving a "psychotic" 'Dust, who began painting only half his face to indicate a mental breakdown.

After that, Luna Vachon was brought in to portray Goldusts' dominatrix/valet. She would lead him around on a chain while he sported a ball-gag and green hair and the affectations of a bondage enthusiast. This led to his "burning" the Goldust gimmick in a trash can, and the rebirth of Dustin wrestling as himself in street clothes before the WWE let him go for the first time due to a salary dispute.

After stints as Se7ven, a strange cowboy figure on a horse and himself in WCW, Dustin got another WWE contract, and Goldust eventually returned to action as a partner for Booker T in 2003. The team caught on with fans, for whom Goldust came up with the nickname "Bookdust". After a tag title reign, the team split sadly but amicably after the Goldust character developed tourettes syndrome after being electrocuted in '05.

After the "tourettes syndrome" affectation wore out its welcome with fans, creative couldn't come up with further ideas for Dustin, and he was fired, then re-hired, and Goldust was used in several cameos as a comic relief figure. In June of '06, Dustin was released again, but was on good terms with the company. At the '07 Hall of Fame Dinner, Rhodes inducted his father, Dusty, along with his half-brother, Cody.

After a brief period of wrestling in Japan, Dustin debuted for TNA in July of 2007. Allied with Christian Cage, Dustin portrayed a schizophrenia gimmick, working as the heel "Black Reign" and the face "Dustin Runnels" simultaneously. He carried a pet rat, Misty. He was released from the company in June of 2008.

In 2008, Dustin signed a legends contract with the WWE. He has made sporadic appearences on-air since then.

R U L E S

We don't have that much in the way of rules to follow here; just follow these simple notions and you should be fine.

C O D E S

All made by Me unless otherwise noted. To donate, attach to an email and send Here!

50x50

100x50

J O I N

To Join this listing, Click Here!
To edit your information, Click Here!

F A N S

To view members of this listing, Click Here!

L I N K S

TFL.org

A F F I L I A T E S

If you'd like to affiliate, send a 50x50 to this address. I accept listings related to Goldust only!