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 todays PG-13 WWE programming probably dont realise exactly how close to the bone the character was in the mid-to-late nineties: especially into the rise of the Attitude Era. Hed 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 hes demonstrated to a new audience since returning to WWE to team with his younger brother Cody. Hes 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. Todays 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.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
