Tribute to the Bizarre One: Personal Commentary on Goldust's Departure from WWE

Yesterday, WWE announced Dustin Patrick Runnels, better known by Goldust or Dustin Rhodes, was released from his contract.

While it might come as a surprise to some people to realize Goldust even still had a job to lose after not being a regular performer since a shoulder injury in December of 2010, he's still been working backstage as a producer, reportedly helping put together women's matches.

Growing up in the Attitude Era, Goldust often just seemed to me like a really creepy dude who made me uncomfortable and led me to have a discussion with my dad about why a man would wear a woman's wig and adorn himself in body paint and glitter.

Since then, I've grown accustomed to and am no longer perturbed by such oddities. In fact, after reviewing WWE Superstars for a period in 2010 for thejohnreport.net, I had actually grown fond of The Bizarre One, who was at the time an on-and-off competitor on WWE's Thursday night broadcast.

While Goldust has rarely played a significant role on WWE television, except for rare instances such as his partnership with Booker T, he's consistently been an extremely ring-savvy and technically-sound performer, quite capable of educating WWE's prospective superstars in the ways of the ropes.

I remember all those matches on Superstars in which he demonstrated a very tight and refined wrestling aptitude. He wasn't the most creative or flashiest wrestler (obviously, his attire was of an entirely different nature), but his offense was sound.

Even though Goldust often appeared two keys short of a piano on his Twitter account, to me he's always been a commendable wrestler with an impressive dedication to the industry.

I would simply like to thank Goldust for all the time he's dedicated to WWE and hope whatever route he takes from here brings him joy.

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