[1997-05-05-WWF-Raw] Interview: Dustin & Terri Runnels

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Pretty famous video package and interview that did a really good job humanizing Goldust as Dustin Runnels. He had to form his own identity to break out of his father's shadow. He also reveals that Marlena is his wife Terri. Some really cool childhood photos here, and this segment was a really nice piece of business. Funny that they talk about "a superstar once known for his machismo" refusing to wrestle him. He also mentions getting letters from gay people that made him see them in a new light. I forgot this segment was hyped as Goldust "coming out of the closet".

[El-P]

They killed the character right there.

[Kevin Ridge]

WWF was getting more comfortably referring to guys wrestling from that other organization. We get clips of Goldust from when he wrestled in 90/91 in WWF. He talks about his dad and the issues he has trying to make a name for himself. I can understand Teri being mentioned as his wife but she didn't add much to this segment. Dustin on his own was good enough.

[soup23]

Goldust comes out of the closest as Dustin Runnels. On one hand, this feels extremely business exposing revealing the bit with dusty and how the Gold Dust character was essentially an act of rebellion. The video was really well done and fascinating to watch but I'm still not sure if it was a good piece of business in the long run and think its one of the most debatable points so far in 1997.

[PeteF3]

Babyface Goldust was already dying a slow death before this, and arguably was dying even before the turn, so I get the logic behind it--it was essentially a Hail Mary attempt to save the character. The openly acknowledge the estrangement between Dustin and Dusty, and this portion feels like it's genuinely therapeutic for him.

[Exposer]

Fascinating segment. I thought it was smart to humanize Goldust. This broke kayfabe but it's good to see behind the mask sometimes. Goldust saying he knows how Ellen feels is a bit much. I can see why some wouldn't like this but I agree that it's a last ditch effort to save Goldust as a face. I liked this.