Goldust

The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust

Dustin Runnels

Seven

In December 1988, Goldust debuted in World Championship Wrestling as **Dustin Rhodes**. Rhodes teamed with Kendall Windham in an undercard tag team called The Texas Broncos that saw success. Their first defeat came against The Original Midnight Express at a house show on December 10, 1988 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dustin's first singles match came two days later at a television taping in Atlanta, Georgia when he defeated Trent Knight. Rhodes' initial WCW run lasted only a few months, as he exited the company two months after his father, Dusty Rhodes. After suffering a loss to Butch Reed during a dark match for a *Main Event* taping on February 12, 1989, Rhodes closed out his initial WCW run with a win over Trent Knight in Walterboro, South Carolina on February 24.

Rhodes debuted as a fan favorite in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in late 1990. His first match in the WWF was against Paul Diamond on September 21, 1990. In December 1990, Rhodes defeated Ted DiBiase in a televised ten-minute challenge match. On January 19, 1991, at the Royal Rumble, Rhodes and his father Dusty lost to Ted DiBiase and Virgil in a tag team bout, and both left immediately after.

In February 1991, Rhodes returned to World Championship Wrestling (WCW), wrestling as "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes. He feuded with Larry Zbyszko until April 1991, when he refused to join Alexandra York's York Foundation, thus beginning a feud with Foundation member Terrence Taylor.

In late 1991, Rhodes formed a tag-team with Barry Windham and began pursuing WCW Tag Team Champions The Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Zbyszko). The pair received a title shot at *Clash of the Champions XVII*, but Windham was injured prior to the event. A returning Ricky Steamboat was chosen to partner Rhodes, and the makeshift duo won the WCW World Tag Team Championship. They lost the belts on January 16, 1992, to Arn Anderson and fellow Dangerous Alliance member Bobby Eaton.

On a taped edition of *WCW Saturday Night* on September 2, 1992, Rhodes teamed with Windham to defeat Steve Williams and Terry Gordy for the WCW World Tag Team Championship; the match would air on October 3. They held the belts for about two months before losing them to Steamboat and Shane Douglas in a memorable match on the November 18 edition of *Clash of the Champions XXI*. Windham turned on Rhodes after the match when Rhodes refused to pin Steamboat after an accidental low blow.

In January 1993, Rhodes reached the final of a tournament to decide the number one contender for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. The champion Rick Rude was stripped of his title that same month, meaning the tournament final would be for the title. Rhodes faced his old partner Ricky Steamboat to win his first United States Heavyweight title. He successfully defended the title the following month at SuperBrawl III against Maxx Payne. Rude returned that April and quickly challenged Rhodes. Their first encounter resulted in a controversial double pin, with Rude initially being awarded the title. The championship was held up two weeks later. After a 30-minute Iron Man Match ended in a 1–1 draw at Beach Blast on July 18, a best-of-three series was set between the two on *Saturday Night*; Rhodes lost the first match on August 28, but defeated Rude twice on September 4 and 11 to claim his second United States Heavyweight Championship.

At Fall Brawl, Rhodes teamed with Sting, Davey Boy Smith and The Shockmaster to defeat Big Van Vader, Sid Vicious and Harlem Heat in a WarGames match. Rhodes lost the title to Steve Austin in a two-out-of-three falls match at Starrcade, after losing both falls.

In March 1994, Rhodes started feuding with Bunkhouse Buck and Col. Robert Parker. After Parker introduced Arn Anderson and Terry Funk as adversaries for Rhodes, he responded by bringing his father, a former enemy of Funk, back into the ring to team with him again against Parker's Stud Stable. In December 1994, Parker introduced another opponent for Rhodes, The Blacktop Bully. In March 1995, Rhodes and The Blacktop Bully both bladed during a King of the Road match at the 1995 Uncensored pay-per-view. They were subsequently fired as a result, along with fellow talent Paul Roma.

In August 1995, Rhodes returned to the WWF, wrestling as a heel in **Goldust**, nicknamed "the bizarre one" because of his somewhat spooky, mysterious and sexually suggestive mannerisms and presence. Using in-ring psychology to his advantage, Goldust often used lewd and flirtatious mind games to anger, confuse, and distract his opponents. He utilized such tactics as groping and excessive affection towards his opponent in the midst of delivering his onslaught. To that end, one of Goldust's trademarks is his exaggerated, suggestively breathy inhalation whilst caressing his own body; this all ends in him exhaling through a vicious biting sound at his adversary, intended to startle. The character was portrayed as a drag queen obsessed with films and everything gold. Under the gimmick, he would wear a predominately gold jumpsuit (with tidbits of other colors, such as white and black); black and gold face paint; and during entrances and promos, a glittery gold robe and a platinum blonde wig over his short platinum blonde hair.

Goldust won his debut match on October 22, 1995, against Marty Jannetty at the In Your House 4 pay-per-view. He defeated the departing Bam Bam Bigelow in Bigelow's last WWF match at the Survivor Series. He then feuded with Razor Ramon, whom he stalked and sent messages to throughout late 1995. The feud culminated at the Royal Rumble on January 21, 1996, where Goldust defeated Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship due to interference from the 1–2–3 Kid. This match also marked the debut of Goldust's valet, Marlena. With her seductive, coolly unconcerned and mysterious character, Marlena complemented Goldust. Her gimmick consisted of sitting at ringside in a director's chair during Goldust's matches, advising him while smoking large brown cigars. A rematch between Goldust and Ramon at WrestleMania XII was canceled after Ramon was suspended, with Goldust instead fighting Roddy Piper in a Hollywood Backlot Brawl. At the end of the fight, Piper stripped Goldust of his ring attire to reveal him wearing women's lingerie.

Goldust defended his Intercontinental Championship in bouts against Savio Vega and The Ultimate Warrior before losing to Ahmed Johnson at King of the Ring on June 23, 1996. In August 1996, Goldust briefly gained control over Mankind and feuded with The Undertaker. His attention soon turned to Marc Mero and his then-wife Sable. Goldust and Marlena attempted to get Sable to join their team, but Mero won the feud and kept her by his side. He also had a ladder match with Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship, but lost the match.

In December 1996, Goldust entered a feud with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, when Helmsley began flirting with Goldust's valet, Marlena. This feud lead to the debut of Chyna as Helmsley's new bodyguard, who would manhandle Marlena and cause sympathy for Marlena and Goldust. This marked the first time Goldust changed into a fan favorite rather than the villainous character he was prior.

In May 1997, Goldust revealed his identity as **Dustin Runnels**, the son of Dusty Rhodes. In the summer and fall of that year, he joined other wrestlers in their conflict with The Hart Foundation, feuding in particular with Brian Pillman, to whom he lost the services of Marlena for thirty days. Just before the thirty days were up, Pillman died of heart disease hours before the Badd Blood event on October 5, 1997. In November 1997, Goldust split with Marlena and refused to cooperate with his Survivor Series teammates, which once again turned him into a heel. This led to a feud with Vader in December 1997 and the appearance of **The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust**, managed by Luna Vachon. He began mimicking celebrities and fellow wrestlers with characters such as "Chynadust", "Dust Lovedust", "Dustydust", "Hunterdust", "Flashdust", "Marilyn Mansondust", "Sabledust", and "Vaderdust" in early 1998.

By June 1998, Goldust feuded with Val Venis, who had been involved with Marlena, now going by Terri, during their separation. Now going by his real name, Dustin Runnels began speaking out (mostly in taped vignettes) on the increasingly edgy WWF product and promoting alternatives to watching the show such as reading the Bible. Runnels declared himself a born again Christian, alluding to "his" return, and walking through the crowd with signs reading "he's coming back!". While the return of Christ was clearly implied, Runnels was in fact referencing the return of the Goldust gimmick, which he reprised in October 1998 against Val Venis and then in November 1998, he began feuding with Jeff Jarrett over the attention of his manager, Debra.

In early 1999, Goldust feuded with Al Snow, upon stealing Head, Snow's mascot, and The Blue Meanie, who had recently renamed himself "Bluedust" and adopted many of Goldust's mannerisms. After Goldust defeated Meanie at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Meanie became Goldust's apprentice. After Ryan Shamrock became Goldust's valet, Meanie and Shamrock began vying for Goldust's attention. In the same time period, Goldust won the Intercontinental Championship again from Road Dogg and then lost it to The Godfather two weeks later. He would team up with Blue Meanie, having a few matches against the Hardy Boyz until Goldust left the company in May 1999.

Rhodes returned to World Championship Wrestling on the November 8, 1999 edition of *Nitro*, filming several vignettes for a fantastical, face-painted character named **Seven**. These vignettes contained ominous footage of Rhodes in full makeup standing outside a child's bedroom window. The character was dropped soon after, however. Upon returning to WCW television, Rhodes removed his costume and delivered a worked shoot in which he mocked unrealistic gimmicks as well as his time as Goldust in the WWF. After turning heel upon his return, he began wrestling as "The American Nightmare" **Dustin Rhodes**, with his nickname a reference to his father's nickname, "The American Dream".

Rhodes feuded with Jeff Jarrett before feuding with Terry Funk. He was fired by Vince Russo at Spring Stampede in April 2000 for failing to prevent Terry Funk from winning the vacant Hardcore Championship, against Norman Smiley.

He returned to WCW television in January 2001, assisting his father in his feud with Jarrett and, eventually, Ric Flair. He wrestled on the very last WCW pay-per-view, Greed on March 18, 2001. In March 2001, WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation, with the WWF neglecting to acquire Rhodes' contract.

In December 2001, Rhodes was re-signed by the World Wrestling Federation to a two-year deal. Promos immediately began airing on WWF television advertising the return of **Goldust**. On January 20, 2002, he officially returned by taking part in the Royal Rumble, reprising his Goldust character. Shortly after returning, promos began airing for a few weeks of Goldust saying that there was a certain wrestler whose "star was shining brighter" than he would like. He eventually revealed the person he was talking about was Rob Van Dam by attacking him on *Raw*, turning heel in the process. Van Dam defeated him in a singles match at No Way Out. After the loss, he moved on to the hardcore division, where he won the Hardcore Championship on nine occasions.

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 T 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 Titles.

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. 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 Goldust's contract. WWE allowed his contract to expire in December 2003.

Goldust returned to World Wrestling Entertainment on October 31, 2005, as a heel, as Jonathan Coachman enlisted him and Vader to attack Batista. Goldust and Vader unsuccessfully interfered in a Street Fight between Batista and Coachman on behalf of Coachman at Taboo Tuesday. Following the event, Goldust once again disappeared from television. In January 2006, Goldust took part in the Royal Rumble match and was assigned once again to the *Raw* brand until he was released from his WWE contract on June 14, 2006. He made a short appearance at WrestleMania 22 to give Booker T advice on his match against The Boogeyman.

On October 26, 2008, he returned to the WWE at Cyber Sunday as part of the three choices (the other two being Roddy Piper and The Honky Tonk Man) that the fans could choose to face Santino Marella for the Intercontinental Championship. After Honky Tonk Man was chosen and won via disqualification, Goldust and Piper entered the ring and the three candidates fought Marella, afterwards celebrating together in the ring. The following night on *Raw*, Goldust appeared again with Piper and the Honky Tonk Man as guest commentators for Marella's match with Charlie Haas. The match ended when Goldust and Piper distracted Marella so that Honky Tonk Man could smash his guitar over Marella's head.

Goldust appeared on the celebration of the 800th episode of *Raw* on November 3, 2008, dancing alongside his father Dusty Rhodes, Lilian Garcia and several other wrestlers. A noticeably slimmer and quicker Goldust finally made a full-time return on the *Raw* roster once again on the November 24, 2008 episode of *Raw*, where he defeated Santino Marella. Goldust participated in the 2009 Royal Rumble match and stared down his real-life half-brother, Cody Rhodes, but was eliminated by him later. Goldust participated at WrestleMania XXV as a lumberjack during the WWE Tag Team Championship unification match between The Colóns and John Morrison and The Miz.

On the May 25 episode of *Raw*, Goldust teamed up with Hornswoggle in a tag team match, where they defeated Festus and The Brian Kendrick. Goldust then teamed with Hornswoggle on multiple occasions, mainly feuding with Kendrick, where they had many matches both on *WWE Superstars* and *Raw*.

The team of Goldust and Hornswoggle came to an end on June 29, 2009, when Goldust was traded to the *ECW* brand via a 15-man trade. His debut match for the brand came on the July 14 episode of *ECW*, in which he lost to Zack Ryder. In the following weeks, he started a feud with Sheamus, leading to his first televised singles win in several months on *Superstars* against Sheamus, pinning him using an inside cradle. After several weeks of feuding, Sheamus defeated Goldust in a no disqualification match on the September 1 episode of *ECW on Syfy* to end the feud.

Following this loss, he garnered his first number one contender's match for the ECW Championship on the September 15, 2009, episode of *ECW on Syfy* in a 10-man battle royal where he was the seventh participant eliminated and Zack Ryder earning the title shot in the end. The September 29, 2009, episode of *ECW on Syfy* saw Goldust win his first match on *ECW* in an eight-man tag team match where Yoshi Tatsu pinned William Regal to score the win for their team. On the November 10 episode of *ECW on Syfy*, Goldust won his first televised singles match on the *ECW* brand by pinning Paul Burchill. Goldust participated in an "ECW Homecoming" match on the December 22 episode of *ECW on Syfy* to determine who got an opportunity to challenge Christian for the ECW Championship, but was defeated by Vance Archer.

In early January, he teamed with Yoshi Tatsu and began a feud with ECW newcomers Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft. The duos exchanged victories in singles and tag team competition until the feud came to an end on the February 9 episode of *ECW*, when Goldust and Tatsu defeated Barreta and Croft in a match to determine the number one contenders to the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. However, Goldust and Tatsu failed in capturing the titles on the final episode of *ECW on Syfy*. The team of Goldust and Yoshi Tatsu came to an end when Tatsu signed with the *Raw* brand after *ECW on SyFy* was canceled.

On March 3, 2010, Goldust joined the *SmackDown* brand. He made his debut for the brand on the March 4 episode of *Superstars* in a losing effort against Chris Jericho. The following week on *Superstars*, he won his first match as a *SmackDown* star after defeating Mike Knox using his finishing move, the Final Cut, as well as beating William Regal also using the Final Cut soon afterwards. He appeared in the 26-man battle royal dark match at WrestleMania XXVI, but failed to win, although his past ally Yoshi Tatsu won.

As part of the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft, Goldust was drafted back to the *Raw* brand. On the May 3 episode of *Raw*, Goldust made his re-debut for the brand in a backstage segment with the guest host for that week, Wayne Brady. In late September, a mysterious stalker was sending messages to Maryse and Ted DiBiase Jr., but it was unsure who they were aimed at. On the October 4 episode of *Raw*, Goldust was revealed as the mystery stalker, but the messages were not directed to Maryse, but at DiBiase's Million Dollar Championship, which he then took.

During the season two finale of *NXT* on August 31, 2010, it was announced that Goldust would take part in NXT's third season as a Pro with Aksana as his Rookie. On the October 12 episode of *NXT*, Goldust proposed to Aksana, who was facing deportation from the country, so she could stay in America. On the October 18 episode of *Raw*, DiBiase tried to reclaim his Million Dollar Championship after Goldust's match with Zack Ryder by attacking him, but he was unsuccessful in retrieving his belt. At Bragging Rights, DiBiase defeated Goldust, but Goldust still left with the title after Aksana distracted DiBiase long enough for Goldust to hit his finisher on him. Goldust and Aksana were married on the November 2 episode of *NXT* with father Dusty Rhodes and real-life half-brother "Dashing" Cody Rhodes in attendance. Immediately afterwards, Aksana slapped Goldust and walked out on him. The following Monday on *Raw*, Aksana stole the Million Dollar Championship belt during Goldust's match with Ted DiBiase. The following week on *Raw*, Goldust managed to steal the Million Dollar Championship belt back from Aksana and then returned it to Ted DiBiase Sr., and on *NXT* he asked Aksana for a divorce after she was eliminated.

On December 7, 2010, it was reported that Goldust had suffered a shoulder injury. He underwent surgery to repair the injury on December 10 and, as a result, was expected to be out of action for five to six months. On the April 11, 2011, episode of *Raw*, he was seen (without makeup) hugging Edge after his retirement speech. On July 11, Goldust began working backstage as a producer. On the November 29 episode of the *SmackDown Live Holiday Special,* Goldust made his surprise return on a backstage segment with his father Dusty Rhodes. On the December 12 episode of the WWE Slammy Awards, he appeared to announce the Slammy for A-Lister of The Year with Vickie Guerrero. On the December 30, 2011, episode of *SmackDown*, Rhodes appeared in a suit and no make up, to defend Booker T and confront his half brother, Cody Rhodes. Rhodes made an appearance on the April 9, 2012 edition of *Raw* where he, along with numerous other WWE officials and superstars, were attempting to break up a brawl between Brock Lesnar and John Cena. On May 6, 2012, WWE acknowledged Goldust's departure from the company.

He returned to WWE as Goldust at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2013 as the eighth participant in the Rumble match. He was eliminated by his half-brother, Cody Rhodes, teasing a possible feud. but Goldust later confirmed that his return was a one night only deal.

When Cody was fired for speaking out against chief operating officer Triple H and then losing to WWE Champion Randy Orton, Goldust returned on the September 9 *Raw* to face Orton in a match to get his half-brother Cody Rhodes rehired, but was defeated. Following this, Goldust's father Dusty Rhodes returned to WWE to ask Stephanie McMahon for Cody to be rehired. After much dialogue in which The Shield and Big Show interrupted, Stephanie McMahon gave Dusty two choices, which were to get knocked out by an unwilling Big Show or get "mauled by The Shield." Big Show then knocked Dusty out and stayed with Dusty while the paramedics arrived. In return, the Rhodes brothers gatecrashed *Raw* by attacking the Shield. At Battleground, Cody and Goldust won their jobs back when they defeated the WWE Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in a non-title match. The Rhodes brothers heaped more misery on the Shield by winning a no disqualification match on the October 14 *Raw* (with the help of Big Show) to capture the WWE Tag Titles, marking Goldust's first title in WWE in nearly 11 years. By this point, many longtime Goldust mannerisms such as wearing a robe and platinum blonde wig to the ring were dropped in exchange for wearing a jacket similar to his brother; additionally, Goldust would now speak with his normal voice. At Hell in a Cell, the Rhodes brothers' first successful title defense came with winning a triple threat match against the Usos and Rollins and Reigns. At Survivor Series, Goldust alongside his half-brother Cody, participated in the traditional Survivor Series tag team match, where Goldust survived till the final two alongside Rey Mysterio. However, he was eliminated by Roman Reigns and his team lost. At TLC: Tables Ladders and Chairs, the Rhodes Brothers retained the titles in a fatal four-way elimination match against Curtis Axel and Ryback, The Real Americans and Big Show and Rey Mysterio, but they lost the titles to The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) at the Royal Rumble. Later in the Royal Rumble match, he would accidentally eliminate Cody Rhodes. After continuing to team together for months, Goldust and Cody broke up in June, after mounting losses. Cody prompted Goldust to find a new partner to replace him.

On the June 16 episode of *Raw*, Cody debuted a new character, Stardust, wearing face paint and a bodysuit and adopting mannerisms similar to those of Goldust. At Money in the Bank, Goldust and Stardust defeated RybAxel (Curtis Axel and Ryback). Goldust and Stardust then appeared in backstage segments, speaking of a "Cosmic Key". On the August 25 episode of *Raw*, Goldust and Stardust defeated The Usos in a title match via count-out, but, as a result, they did not win the titles. The duo would then attack the Usos out of frustration, turning heel in the process. They confirmed their heel turn after attacking El Torito the following night on *Main Event*, having defeated Los Matadores in their tag team match. At Night of Champions, they won the WWE Tag Team Championships once again by beating The Usos. At Hell in a Cell, they retained their titles by beating The Usos. At Survivor Series, they lost the titles to The Miz and Damien Mizdow. They had a rematch for the tag team titles the following night on *Raw*, but were unsuccessful.

On the February 2, 2015 episode of *Raw*, after being defeated by The Ascension, Stardust would start to show his frustrations toward Goldust. On the February 16 episode of *Raw*, following a loss to The New Day members Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, Stardust would turn on Goldust by using his old finisher, Cross Rhodes on him, marking the end of Gold and Stardust, and turning Goldust face in the process. This led to a match at Fastlane, where Goldust defeated Stardust. Later that night, while speaking to their father, Dusty Rhodes, Goldust would be attacked by Stardust again. At WrestleMania 31, Goldust participated in the second annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he was eliminated by Ryback. On the March 30, 2015 episode of *Raw*, Goldust lost via submission to Rusev.

In May, Goldust announced that he would undergo surgery to address a shoulder injury and that he would be out of action for two to four months. Goldust made an appearance at NXT TakeOver: Respect without any facepaint to congratulate Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe after they won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament.

Goldust returned from injury at Survivor Series, competing in a 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match during the pre-show, teaming with The Dudley Boyz, Neville and Titus O'Neil, where they defeated the team of Stardust, The Ascension, The Miz and Bo Dallas. Goldust would continue feuding with his brother, Stardust, on *Raw* and *SmackDown* during the months of November and December. On the December 17 episode of *SmackDown*, Goldust would cost Tyler Breeze his match against O'Neil after distracting Breeze by appearing at ringside. On the December 31 episode of *SmackDown*, Goldust would be defeated by Breeze.

In early 2016, during various episodes of *Raw* and *SmackDown*, Goldust approached R-Truth and proposed they form a tag team to no avail. At Fastlane, Goldust inadvertently cost R-Truth his match against Curtis Axel. Following Fastlane, R-Truth began to apologize and attempt to form a tag team with Goldust, with Goldust rejecting. On the March 21 episode of *Raw*, Goldust came to R-Truth's aid after Truth was defeated by Bubba Ray Dudley. At WrestleMania 32, Goldust took part in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in a losing effort. On the April 11 episode of *Raw*, Shane McMahon announced a number one contenders tournament for the WWE Tag Team Championship, which included Goldust and Truth teaming together. On the April 14 episode of *SmackDown*, Goldust would tell R-Truth before their match they would not team together, with Goldust instead teaming with Fandango, where they were defeated by The Vaudevillains in the first round. On the April 22 episode of *SmackDown*, Goldust was the special referee for the match between R-Truth and Fandango, which R-Truth won. On the May 2 episode of *Raw*, Goldust faced off against R-Truth's new partner, Tyler Breeze, in a losing effort following a distraction from R-Truth. On the May 12 episode of *SmackDown*, the two teams would face each other, with Goldust and Truth refusing to fight each other, resulting in Fandango and Breeze forming an alliance and attacking Goldust and R-Truth, with Fandango subsequently allowing Breeze to pin Goldust. On the May 16 episode of *Raw*, Goldust and Truth began teaming together, where they were defeated by the newly dubbed Breezango (Fandango and Breeze). The week after on *SmackDown*, The Golden Truth started a losing streak, losing to the likes of Breezango and The Dudley Boyz. Golden Truth earned their first victory on the Money in the Bank pre-show after defeating Breezango.

In the 2016 WWE Draft, Goldust, along with R-Truth, was drafted to *Raw*. The Golden Truth later entered into a feud with The Shining Stars. On the July 25 episode of *Raw*, The Golden Truth would enter the ring during a tag team match between Enzo and Cass and The Shining Stars, playing Pokémon Go! over a number of months. The Shining Stars would attempt to persuade R-Truth into purchasing a one-way ticket to Puerto Rico which saw Goldust continually butt in and save R-Truth from being conned. On the August 1 episode of *Raw*, The Golden Truth would be defeated by The Shining Stars. On the October 17 episode of *Raw*, The Golden Truth were joined by Mark Henry in their feud against the Shining Stars. They would go on to defeat The Shining Stars and Titus O'Neil in an 8-man tag team match on the same episode of *Raw*. On the October 31 episode of *Raw*, Goldust would compete in a battle royal with the winner being added to Team *Raw* at Survivor Series. Goldust was unsuccessful, with Braun Strowman winning the battle royal and joining Team *Raw* in the process. The Golden Truth were later announced as members of the 10-man Survivor Series *Raw* tag team, but later lost their spots a week later when it was revealed R-Truth had sold their spots on the team to the Shining Stars for tickets to Puerto Rico. On the November 7 episode of *Raw*, The Shining Stars defeated The Golden Truth to join Team *Raw*. On the November 28 episode of *Raw*, Goldust attacked Braun Strowman after his victory over R-Truth. Sami Zayn would then run into the ring and help in attacking Strowman. At *WWE Tribute to the Troops* on December 14, The Golden Truth competed in a fatal four-way tag team match to determine the #1 contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship against Cesaro and Sheamus, Gallows and Anderson, and The Shining Stars, which was won by Cesaro and Sheamus.

On the March 27, 2017 episode of *Raw*, the Golden Truth was confirmed for the fourth annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33, however neither one of them was successful in winning. On the April 17 episode of *Raw*, The Golden Truth were going to compete against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, but were attacked backstage by Braun Strowman, leaving Enzo Amore and Big Cass to take The Golden Truth's place in the match.

On the May 8 episode of *Raw*, The Golden Truth participated in the tag team turmoil match for the number one contenders spot against The Hardy Boyz, but lost to Cesaro and Sheamus. On the May 15 episode of *Raw*, R-Truth apologized to Goldust for "letting the team down". Goldust replied by saying they "win and lose as a team". However, later that night, Goldust attacked R-Truth before a match against Gallows and Anderson, turning heel for the first time since 2015, and breaking up The Golden Truth.

On the May 22 episode of *Raw*, a vignette was aired with Goldust, stating that he was in the director's chair and that "the Golden Age is back", starting a feud with R-Truth. On the July 10 episode of *Raw*, Goldust defeated R-Truth, concluding their feud. On the August 28 episode of *Raw*, Goldust participated in the 15-man battle royal for a shot at the Intercontinental Championship. Goldust was unsuccessful though, as he was eliminated by Luke Gallows.

On the September 11 episode of *Raw*, Goldust faced Bray Wyatt in a losing effort. After the match, Wyatt used a towel to remove his facepaint, saying he was "just a man", as a shot towards the face and body paint Wyatt's rival Finn Bálor would use. The next week on *Raw*, under his real name and without his signature facepaint (although still using Goldust's theme and ring attire), Rhodes faced Wyatt once again in a losing effort. Bálor ran down to help Rhodes after the match when Wyatt continued to attack him. Rhodes, however, resented the help and attacked Bálor during a confrontation backstage on the September 25 episode of *Raw*. He had a match against Bálor later that night, but was defeated. At Starrcade, he competed as "The Natural" **Dustin Rhodes**, defeating Dash Wilder with the bulldog.

On the January 1, 2018 episode of *Raw*, Rhodes, now back as **Goldust**, teamed with Cedric Alexander to defeat Drew Gulak and Ariya Daivari. A rematch took place on the January 2 episode of *205 Live*, a show usually reserved for competitors under 205 pounds. At the Royal Rumble, Goldust entered the Royal Rumble match at number 29, but was eliminated by Dolph Ziggler. In January, Goldust was announced as a competitor in the *WWE Mixed Match Challenge* alongside Alicia Fox. Fox was replaced by Mandy Rose after an injury, and Goldust and Rose lost in the first round to Jimmy Uso and Naomi on February 6. On the March 5 episode of *Raw*, Goldust would confront and attack John Cena during a promo, stating he would "shatter his dreams", but was subsequently defeated by Cena that same night. On the April 2 episode of Raw, Goldust cut a backstage promo where he announced his participation in the upcoming André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal match at WrestleMania 34, and lost a match to "Woken" Matt Hardy that same night. At WrestlMania 34, Goldust participated in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he eliminated R-Truth. At the Greatest Royal Rumble, Goldust entered at number 18 and lasted ten minutes before being eliminated by Bobby Roode. In July, Goldust underwent surgery on both knees. On April 21, 2019, Goldust was granted his release from the company once more.