page_title: Goldust
section_title: Teaming with Booker T (2002–2003)
hierarchical_section_title: Goldust / Professional wrestling career / Second return to WWF/E / Teaming with Booker T (2002–2003)
caption_attribution_description: English: Goldust Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL September 12002.
context_page_description: Dustin Patrick Runnels is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling under the ring name Dustin Rhodes, or simply Dustin, serving as a coach and wrestler. He is best known for his multiple tenures with the World Wrestling Federation from 1995 to 2019 as the character Goldust. The son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of fellow wrestler Cody Rhodes, he is also known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
  Between WWF/E and WCW, Runnels has won 23 total championships. In WCW, he was a two-time United States Heavyweight Champion, a one-time Six-Man Tag Team Champion, and a two-time World Tag Team Champion. In WWF/E, he is a three-time Intercontinental Champion, nine-time Hardcore Champion, one-time World Tag Team Champion, and two-time WWE Tag Team Champion. Runnels has also appeared in the second most Royal Rumble matches, at 13. Rhodes headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF and WCW during the 1990s.
context_section_description: When the World Wrestling Federation was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment and the roster was divided into two brands, Raw and SmackDown!, Goldust was assigned to the Raw brand, where he formed a tag team with Booker T. The duo engaged in numerous comedic vignettes, on one occasion hosting a segment titled Booker T and Goldust at the Movies and delivering reviews of The Scorpion King, a film starring The Rock. In May 2002, Booker joined the New World Order (nWo), with Goldust's request to join the faction rejected. In June 2002, Booker was ejected from the nWo by Shawn Michaels, sparking a feud between the nWo and Booker and Goldust. Booker and Goldust went on to compete in the tag team division, winning the World Tag Team Championship at Armageddon before being forced to split up on the February 3, 2003, episode of Raw by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff for failing to win back the World Tag Team Title.
  Following the dissolution of the tag team, Goldust contracted a stutter and Tourette's-like symptoms, upon receiving a shock from a Round Tube during an attack at the hands of Batista and Randy Orton. Goldust appeared in character on the Howard Stern Show in March 2003. He appeared sporadically thereafter, forming a tag team with Lance Storm in August 2003. In fall 2003, Booker T began receiving mysterious, haunting messages for a few weeks from somebody. The messages only said "I remember". It was rumored that the messages would be from Goldust, which would have begun a feud between the two. Suddenly, the angle was never mentioned again on television and the company announced on their web site that they would not be renewing Rhodes' contract. WWE allowed his contract to expire in December 2003.
caption: Goldust in 2002
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