Dustin Rhodes is currently in his 36th year as an active pro wrestler, with a long list of titles and accolades to his name. At one time, though, Rhodes had anxiety over the prospect of never stepping out of his father's shadow. Speaking on the "Unbreakable" podcast, Dustin revealed how the Goldust character helped him overcome his insecurity about being the son of Dusty Rhodes.

"I needed to be a little different, but I didn't know that until I went to WWE for the first time," Rhodes said. "Vince McMahon created this Goldust character. It was scary. It was just something I had never done before."

Goldust thrived on making people uncomfortable with his over-the-top sexuality, and it took some time for Rhodes to get onboard, as he was mostly used to playing a straightforward cowboy character. Once things began to click as Goldust, however, it helped him take his career to the next level.

"I didn't know what I was going to do, and it took awhile to figure it out. But once I did, and I stepped outside of my comfort zone, that's when the magic started happening, and I stepped into my own shoes and did something on my own," Rhodes continued.

Honing in on Goldust allowed Rhodes to define himself outside of his father's identity, and he knew he'd be able to separate himself from the image of Dusty Rhodes for the rest of his career. After bringing Goldust to life in 1995, he would go on to have multiple runs with WWE as well as stints in WCW and TNA. Rhodes joined AEW in 2019 and has been with the promotion ever since, wrestling under his real name.