Dustin Runnels has said during shoot interviews that he didn't know what to make of the Goldust character when it was first presented to him. As a tough-talking Texan, Runnels likely thought he was being ribbed by Vince McMahon over the guise. On the contrary, McMahon was deadly serious, feeling the character would be controversial. An androgynous, deluded freak, Goldust existed in some sort of Hollywood-inspired world of his own creation. The gimmick was definitely unique, and Runnels had a love/hate relationship with it over the years. When he made his debut as 'Se7en' in WCW later, the man remarked that the idea almost killed his career. Incredibly, it also made him a bigger star than ever before. Embracing the idea from the get go in 1995, Runnels made Goldust wildly popular. There were questions over exactly what the character's motives were, using homophobia to get inside the head of his opponents. Known as 'The Bizarre One', Goldust remains one of the most mystifying gimmicks in history.