• Eric Bischoff Calls AEW Star A True Method Actor
Reflecting on Dustin Rhodes’ transformation into Goldust, Eric Bischoff praised the WWF veteran for his complete commitment to one of wrestling’s most daring characters.
Bischoff admitted he wasn’t a fan of the gimmick at first, finding it hard to reconcile with the Dustin Rhodes he knew from WCW.
“At first, I hated it,” Bischoff said on his 83 Weeks podcast. “It didn’t feel like Dustin at all. It was so far from who he was as a performer.”
But over time, Bischoff grew to respect how deeply Rhodes embraced the role.
“He became Goldust. He lived that character. That’s method acting,” Bischoff said. “He took something outrageous and made it work – and that takes real talent.”
Bischoff even revealed that he had planned to bring Rhodes back to WCW as The Natural after Dustin’s 1995 firing, but it never materialized.
Dustin Rhodes currently works in AEW.
• Steve Austin Reveals Which Legend Got Him Hooked To Wrestling At Age 7
On the Dirty Mo Media podcast, Steve Austin described the exact moment wrestling grabbed hold of him – and it all started with Dusty Rhodes.
At 7 or 8 years old, Austin discovered Houston Wrestling:
“I was flipping channels and I saw Dusty Rhodes bleeding his a$$ off. Somebody had the iron claw on him… it was a smoke-filled arena… security guard had a pistol on his side.
I said, ‘Mom, why don’t the security guard go help Dusty?’… but he was in on the gig. I was hooked.”
Dusty Rhodes remained one of his all-time favorites:
“I consider Dusty to be one of the greatest of all time. Dusty could work his a$$ off. He could sure talk.”
• D’Lo Brown Reveals How He Survived The Famous Nation Of Domination “Firing”
One of the most memorable moments in the Nation of Domination’s run was the now-iconic firing angle, where Farooq (Ron Simmons) removed every member from the group – except D’Lo Brown.
On the Muscle Memory podcast, D’Lo explained what really happened.
“I only got to stay because Ron realized that I was going to contribute to the group.”
For D’Lo, who was still relatively new, the moment was career-changing.
And his emotional reaction on TV was not an act.
“The emotions you saw in me were real. It was affirmation of the work I had been doing at house shows and backstage.”
But The Nation wasn’t great because of storylines – it was great because of genuine brotherhood. D’Lo said the group’s backstage chemistry was incredibly rare:
“None of us were jealous of the other. Each one was there to help the other get over and connect. When the cameras were off and it’s 3 AM and we’re driving 300 miles, The Nation was still in full effect.”
Ron Simmons often reminded him: “Wrestling isn’t always like this.”
