WWE Gimmicks That FAILED The HARDEST Every Year (1985-2025)

Feast your eyes on what Goldust had become by 1997 above.

When the persona debuted in late-1995, it was alluring and controversial. People wanted to know more about the character, his motivations and what he planned to achieve in the WWF. By '97, most just wanted Goldie to go away and stop attacking their eyeballs by wearing increasingly-OTT outfits designed for pure shock value with no substance.

'The Artist Formerly Known As' Goldust (or 'TAFKA' for short) was a creative abomination from head to toe. When he wasn't reading Dr. Seuss books in a weird, squeaky voice, this version of Dustin Rhodes was wrestling with ball gags in his mouth or dressing up as everyone from Sable to...whatever that's supposed to be pictured above.

'TAFKA' Goldust was everything wrong with the looseness of the 'Attitude Era'. The WWF wanted wrestlers to express themselves and get controversial, sure, but it still had to make sense and provide watchable content for viewers tuning into Raw. Goldust didn't, and he leaned too hard on all of the sensationalist nonsense without focusing on good promos, storytelling or even matches.

The character was visibly flagging by the summer, but the second half of 1997 shockingly exposed how out of ideas everyone was when it came to nuance. Do yourself a favour: Don't watch In Your House: D-Generation X, and definitely don't listen to Goldust reading 'Green Eggs And Ham'.

How that even took up time on a pay-per-view people plonked down cash to see if anyone's guess. 'Green Eggs And Ham'? More like, green eggs and give us our bloody money back.