Vince Russo spills the beans on WWE being forced to change Attitude Era star's on-screen character (Exclusive)
Vince Russo recently revealed how WWE was practically forced to tone down Goldust's character since the company's sponsors couldn't understand it.
There's no doubt that Goldust, played by current AEW star Dustin Rhodes, is one of WWE's most remarkable creations. The character was introduced in 1995, and Rhodes enacted the role until his WWE departure in 2019. Though Goldust never became a main event star, he was one of the most entertaining acts on TV.
Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo, Vince Russo disclosed how he couldn't present Goldust the way he envisioned. He revealed the character over the heads of the promotion's sponsors, who demanded WWE alter it.
"It kind of reminds me of Goldust because I was there for that bro, and they pulled the plug out from under him because people didn't understand the character. It was way too deep for sponsors and everybody to understand. So, bro what did I try to do?" said Vince Russo
He further added that instead of just wholly scrapping the character, he toned it down and made its transition into a TV-friendly act as smooth as possible.
"Okay, bro, we gotta change the character, we got to do something, but we tried to morph into something else based on the Goldust character. It's not like one week he was Goldust, and next week he was completely somebody else. I at least tried to make that transition to make some kind of sense," added Vince Russo (11:04 - 11:50)
Check out the full video below:
WWE veteran Vince Russo says Goldust would have been over as a heel
Russo feels that Goldust would have been massively over as a heel with fans. The former WWE writer explained that while he was altering the character, he stayed true to its essence, retaining its bizarreness.
"I was forced bro, I had no choice. That Goldust character would have been so over as a heel bro, he was just starting. But when they said, 'Vince, we can't do this anymore,' it's not like next week all of a sudden he was somebody completely different. You know, I tried to play off of who that character was and tried to kind of stay true to, he's still bizarre, he's still out there, he loves all the attention and spotlight on himself," said Vince Russo (11:59 - 12:28)
Hilarious moment between Goldust and Triple H 🤣 😂 https://t.co/HvKN41bqth
Since Dustin Rhodes made it clear he would hang up his boots in 2023, it's safe to assume that his chances of wrestling as Goldust again are slim at best.
Do you think Goldust should have won the WWE Championship? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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