Vince McMahon received complaint from ex-WWE employee about superstar's outlandish booking
Vince McMahon booked countless controversial storylines during his 40 years as WWE's creative figurehead. In a recent interview, former WWE photographer Tom Buchanan revealed that he once complained about McMahon's presentation of Dustin Rhodes' Goldust character.
Buchanan joined WWE as a full-time staff photographer in 1987 after previously working for the company as a freelancer. In the mid-1990s, he watched on as Rhodes was repackaged as Goldust, an eccentric persona known for his suggestive mannerisms.
On the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast, Buchanan recalled how he and WWE's art directors were "really angry" about Rhodes' gimmick. One day, he even raised concerns to Vince McMahon:
"I said, 'This is really bothering me and this is why and I'm hearing it from a lot of other people, including our staff back in Stamford,'" Buchanan said. "And he told me not to worry about it, that they had this angle worked out, and I would really like the finish. Well, the finish was Rowdy Roddy Piper beating the snot out of Goldust, which was exactly the wrong way to end that one. It was gay-bashing at the extreme level." [36:22 – 36:45]
In 2021, former WWE writer Vince Russo told Sportskeeda Wrestling that Vince McMahon was forced to nix the Goldust character due to complaints from sponsors.
Tom Buchanan disliked another WWE incident
In the late 1980s, Jake Roberts and Rick Rude faced each other dozens of times on television and at live events. On one occasion, Rude forced a kiss on Roberts' wife Cheryl and danced over her in the middle of the ring.
Ravishing Rick Rude,rocking the Cheryl Roberts(then-wife of Jake Roberts) back in 1988:one of the qualities that made Rude such an effective rulebreaker was that he had no fear of pushing buttons to get under the skin of his opponent.that,and he was tough as hell https://t.co/R2lH1ppkfw
Buchanan felt uncomfortable watching the segment, so he advised the agents to include the crowd's negative reaction in their report of the show:
"The crowd was not buying that, so I went back and told the agents what I saw and why I thought that was bad, and I don't think we did it again. We had to kinda trim that one back a bunch." [35:13 – 35:27]
In the same interview, Buchanan explained how a picture he took of Tammy Sytch (aka Sunny) went viral in 1996.
Did you have a problem with the Goldust character? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.