Alright. So, we are about to get into some serious weirdness, which essentially originates from one manâs undying passion for professional wrestling - Dustin Rhodes. 

Son of the legendary wrestler Dusty Rhodes, Dustin saw a lot of success in the early stage of his career as he teamed up with his dad and got loud cheers from the audience in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). 

Even on his own, he quickly became a fan favourite during his run with the WCW as 'The Natural Dustin Rhodes'.

He grew up adoring the kind of creative and interesting work his father did. Wrestling became a passion for the man and he was completely invested in it.  

Ironically, it was his affection for the business which got him fired from WCW because he bladed his head (cut himself with a blade) in order to make the fight look more realistic. He did this, despite the companyâs warning, and it ended up costing him his job.

Dustin then reached out to Vince McMahon for a fresh contract with WWF but was also worried about not getting enough attention from the audience on his own, simply because of having a Hall of Famer of the show as his father.

He wanted to make a name for himself and asked McMahon for advice. The notorious genius that McMahon is, he asked Dustin to cover his entire head in gold paint and wear a body-hugging golden suit and come out as âGOLDUSTâ. 

An excited Dustin was all-in for the idea and despite McMahon repeatedly saying that the character was going to be androgynous, he agreed to play the part (Dustin later confirmed that he didnât know what the word âandrogynousâ meant and had to look it up in a dictionary). 

When his gimmick first appeared on a show back in 1995, nobody knew how to react to it but people sure as hell werenât going to forget him anytime soon. 

McMahonâs idea at the time was to make Dustin appear to be of indeterminate *** and âconfuse his opponents, gaining a psychological advantageâ according to ProWrestling Stories .

As you could have guessed, the character caused a lot of controversies wherever the WWF travelled. Quite a few riots also took place in certain cities and McMahon was called out for spreading homophobia. 

Vince created this notion that Goldust wasnât gay but was playing on the homophobic fears of others.

However, the notion didnât sit well with the people and Dustin was asked to tone down the âsexual actsâ as the character. The gimmick quickly lost all the gossip which used to surround it and the wrestler had to come up with an idea to make it interesting again or he might have to give it up altogether. 

Vince Russo, who used to write scripts for the show and for Goldust, writes in his autobiography: âMoments before we were about to pronounce the character dead, I got a call from Dustin.

"give me one million dollars for breast implants" - goldust pic.twitter.com/wFFLVPz5OA

ââVince, Iâve got an idea,â he said. âTell Vince if he pays me one million dollars, I will get implants.

ââWhat?â I said. âA penal implant?â

ââNoâ answered Dustin. âBreasts.â

âLet me break that down for you. Dustin Rhodes was considering getting breast implants for the wrestling business. Mind you, Iâm sure Dustin was reacting out of panic. Iâm sure if heâd really thought this through â a man walking around with womenâs breasts and all â he would have come to his sensesâ¦I think. And yes, McMahon did contemplate it. But thatâs what the business does to you. It makes sane men go nuts.â

Former WWE commentator Jim Ross writes in his book titled JRâs Cookbook: True Ringside Tale, BBQ, and Down-Home Recipes: â[Dustinâs] vision was that it would be so weird and bizarre that our fans and new fans, for that matter, would pay good money to watch him wrestle. He suggested that he would be huge on the talk show circuit, and people all over the world would be clamouring to see the âBizarre Oneâ in person (especially in prison, and perhaps Amsterdam)!â

According to JR, when Rhodes went to McMahon to pitch the idea of getting breast implants just to revive his character, he was absolutely stunned. To McMahonâs credit, he managed the situation in the best possible way. He commended Dustin for coming up with creative ideas for the show but that the company wasnât doing to go down that road.

Now, over a decade and a half later, Dustin because of his love for the business, his in-ring capabilities and his performance with the microphone is considered to be one of the most well-respected professionals. But make no mistake, even at 51 years of age, he is still considered 'The Bizarre One'. 

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