10 WWE Stars Who Overcame Terrible Gimmicks

By Jack Morrell /

3. To Catch A Sexual Predator

€˜The Bizarre One€™ was, and possibly still is, the oddest gimmick that WWF/WWE have ever placed upon their programming€ a weird, uncomfortable hybrid of underground fetish clichés, drag queen, deranged, movie-obsessed stalker and sexual predator, depending on the era and whether he was playing a babyface or a heel. People watching Dustin Runnels as the child-friendly Goldust on today€™s PG-13 WWE programming probably don€™t realise exactly how close to the bone the character was in the mid-to-late nineties: especially into the rise of the Attitude Era. He€™d grope and molest other wrestlers in the ring, ostensibly as a distraction tactic, playing an x-rated, fetishistic version of the €˜Exotic€™ Adrian Street gimmick of the sixties, seventies and eighties, and playing on homophobia across Western culture. Having a sexually omnivorous heel character alone could be considered a homophobic issue €“ the macho world of professional wrestling has never been been a safe space for men to explore their sexuality. But having a gay or bisexual heel character experimenting with cross-dressing, who regularly intimidated and frightened babyface characters with his thinly veiled sex offender tendencies €“ essentially, a fetish-loving gay character played as a violent sex pest who should have been placed upon a register €“ was too far even for WWF/WWE. When sufficiently motivated though, Dustin Runnels €“ son of the American Dream €“ is one of the most talented professional wrestlers out there, something he€™s demonstrated to a new audience since returning to WWE to team with his younger brother Cody. He€™s had to deal with bizarre and uncomfortable gimmicks for nearly twenty years (his child-abducting weirdo Seven in WCW actually managing to beat Goldust for sheer offensiveness), and got Goldust over through sheer commitment, hard work and talent. Today€™s WWE character, shorn of the horrendous sexual politics that made him so offensive, and partnered with Cody as Stardust, is one of the most popular and entertaining on WWE television.