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WWE Hall of Famer Jake Roberts recently admitted that he loves a specific character that AEW star Dustin Rhodes played when he was in WWE.
Dustin was first known as "The Natural" in WCW from 1991 to 1992 before bringing the persona back to AEW. However, the veteran made a name for himself in WWE as the bizarre, gold-laden character Goldust.
Goldust was a spooky and mysterious personality that commonly used mind games and psychology to outclass his opponents. The gimmick peaked in 1996 when he was paired with Marlena. He is a former Intercontinental, Hardcore, and Tag Team Champion, with Booker T and his brother Cody Rhodes.
Speaking to DDP Snake Pit Podcast, Jake Roberts said he was a fan of The Bizarre One. He added that Dustin "flirted with disaster" but managed to play the character successfully.
"I love that character. He (Dustin) did a phenomenal job. Sometimes, you got to be careful when you’re playing characters because you can let yourself become part of that character and I think for a while there, Dustin was flirting with disaster. And maybe it caused him some problems, but that character was done so well. He carried it off not just to here, but to here. It was mesmerizing for me to watch," Roberts said. [H/T - WrestlingInc]
Jake Roberts disagreed with the rumors surrounding the Goldust character
During the same interview, Jake Roberts revealed that Dustin Rhodes just wanted to make the Goldust character work. There were rumors at the time that The Natural played the gimmick to send a message to his father, Dusty.
"There were rumors of Dusty and Dustin had gotten into a fight and just crazy sh-t that he was doing this to slap his dad in the face and all this crap, man, they fooled around with at the time. So, that’s not true, you know?," Roberts said.
Jake Roberts added that Vince McMahon loved making Goldust vignettes because he got to explore the veteran's character. Fans later began to appreciate the gimmick because of its organic nature.
"At the time, Vince (McMahon) loved vignettes. Man, he loved making vignettes because you could explore a character and that’s what he did. He used vignettes to get Goldust started and people loved the fact that it was the natural becoming Goldust," he added. [H/T - WrestlingInc]
Currently, Dustin has reverted to playing The Natural from his WCW days. However, fans still remember the bizarre Goldust gimmick from his early run.
