Dustin Rhodes Shares Inspiration For Original Gimmick, Had To Shift To ‘Fill His Own Shoes’

Dustin Rhodes wanted to be just like his dad.

As the son of Dusty Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes had some big shoes to fill. As the child of one of the greatest of all time, he had huge expectations placed on his shoulders from a young age.

The AEW star became most famous as Goldust, which was a character that could not have been further away from his father’s persona. It was in the WWE as Goldust that he learnt how to fill his own shoes, not his dad’s.

Dustin Rhodes spoke to Chris Van Vliet about his career in wrestling. Van Vliet asked him what the inspiration for his original wrestling character was. Dustin revealed he wanted to be an ’80s cowboy like his dad, but that he soon learned he’d never fill his father’s shoes.

“Just ’80s Cowboy. You know, that’s kind of how I saw my dad. He was always this cowboy, you know? Big Dust, always a cowboy. Always a hat on, the boots and stuff like that. And it’s kind of what I wanted to do. I wanted to be just like him.”

“But that’s impossible. You know, it took me years to figure that out. And finally realized that, you know, I can’t fill my Dad’s shoes. I can’t, you know, not even close. So I had to… that’s when the Goldust thing came along. And you know, it opened my eyes to, ‘Hey, maybe I need to fill my own shoes.’ And it did. And it was something completely, completely different than what I am.”