10 Insane Inspirations Behind Famous Wrestling Gimmicks

4. Goldust Was Inspired By The Oscars Statuette

Goldust is Dustin Runnels - son of wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes - and he has become just as big a personality as his father, who was one of the best speakers in wrestling history. He has also performed under other ring-names Seven, Black Reign and Dustin Rhodes, but Goldust seems to be the one he has settled on. When Goldust was first introduced in to the WWF back in 1995 as "the bizarre one", he possessed somewhat spooky, mysterious and sexually suggestive mannerisms. His character was portrayed as a drag queen who was obsessed with films and everything gold - so much so that his appearance was based on that of the golden Academy Awards statuette. He maintains the gimmick to this day - albeit in a less lewd fashion, given that we're now in the PG era of WWE - and he performs as a tag team with his half-brother Cody, who is now known as Stardust and dresses identically.