Climactic Event: Monday Night Raw Location: Rosemont Date: October 12, 1998 Its inconceivable that a character like Goldust could get past the WWE head office today. Hes just too subversive, too eccentric, and too androgynous for the newly PG-rated company. Even back in the New Generation era, which was loaded with insane gimmicks, no young wrestler would want to be saddled with a gimmick like this. And yet, Dustin found a way to make it work by committing, bravely and fully, to the character and its eccentricities. Still, as over as the Goldust character was, Runnels clearly wanted to do more. His love angle occurred during one of several times that Goldust dropped his bizarre act and tried to get over as Dustin Runnels. It was a pretty typical storyline for Val Venis The Big Valbowski slept with Dustins wife Terri, and showed a video to Dustin of the adulterous couple cuddling, post-coitus. A little under a month later, Dustin made a fabulous return as Goldust a drag queen reborn. And in one of the most satisfying moments in Raw history, Goldust performed Shattered Dreams on a spreadeagled Venis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix1Q6NYfmfE The feud would wind down for a couple more months Venis would eventually break up with Terri over her pregnancy but this well timed nut shot was the definitive highlight. Oof. Love hurts!
Kevin is an AP English Language teacher and freelance writer from Queens, NY. His focus is on American pop culture and American issues. He wrote a weekly column for Complex called "Throwback Thursdays," which spotlighted video games and trends from previous console generations. Kevin has also been published in VIBE, Salon, PopMatters, Joystiq, and Racialicious. Follow him on Twitter to learn more.
