10 Wrestlers You Were Too Embarrassed To Admit You Loved
1. The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust
Vince McMahon and Dustin Runnels' collaborative and clunky stab at high art, The Artist Formerly As Goldust took a once-brave character in an equally-ballsy new direction that virtually prohibited audiences from finding anything to like. The sheer breadth of the insanity that fuelled the concept made it so hard to cling on to; his promos ranged from the nasty to the nonsensical, his feuds required cosmic levels of cruelty and he would wrestle wearing literally anything...and sometimes literally nothing.
A week spent as a New Year's Baby left him battered and bruised in a port-a-bog by Stone Cold Steve Austin. He wound up The Headbangers with a frightening turn as Marilyn Manson. He hounded a generation of homophobes yet again with his sexed up ramblings towards Vader, Marc Mero and others, though dressing as Sable may have already been a cause of confusion for 'The Wildman'.
It is as bad as it sounds in places, but it took bravery in the performance and bull-headedness in the booking. Under the surface of this ludicrous facade was a man on the edge following the collapse of his family and mental state. It was a vehicle for Attitude Era abuse, but one that's aged better than the rank-and-file misanthropy and misogyny elsewhere.