Goldust was the best TV worker in 2002

[EnviousStupid]

Last year, a friend of mine made a video covering the best matches and wrestlers he saw from 2002 (watch here) and it compelled me to go back and reevaluate what I had seen from that time period; mostly some big PPV bouts with The Rock, Brock/Taker HiaC, and a dozen or so matches featuring the Smackdown Six. Most of it still holds up in my view, but I didn't stick to just the Smackdown side of WWF/E and ended up skimming through what looked appealing on the Raw brand. That led me to the belief that, in a year where all-time greats like Rey Mysterio & Eddie Guerrero were in their primes, getting plenty of time and quality matchup almost every week, Goldust was clearly the best TV worker the company had.

I wanted to dig deeper into Goldust's body of work in 2002, covering the available matches he had on television in ways that can hopefully highlight what a terrific wrestler Dustin was at turning shitty circumstances into something wonderful.

[EnviousStupid]

vs. Rikishi, WWF RAW (11.02.2002)

Goldust's first official match since returning to WWF would be in that year's Royal Rumble match. Following that, a series of vignettes and promos featured Goldust referring to a wrestler as his "rising star". On the February 4th episode of Raw, this turns out to be RVD, who would get attacked and kicked in the dick by Goldust, establishing the returning star as a heel.

This is important to note, because Goldust's first TV match of the year would go for a total of 93 seconds, before RVD causes a disqualification and beats on the golden hero. Still, what little we have here shows promise. Goldust's punches and slaps are great, comes across motivated in how he keeps the action moving while in control. He even takes a corkscrew bump off a clothesline that did not look rehearsed at all (fun fact: he's 6'4). It ain't much, but what we do have show signs of promise. Later on Raw, it's announced that Goldust will face RVD at No Way Out.

Full match available here

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vs. Tajiri, WWF Smackdown (14.02.2002)

This goes a whole 2 minutes! He's also against a completely different kind of wrestler in Tajiri, and easily matches him when it comes to speed and technique early on. They also manage to implement some fun comedic bits into the work while they have TV time. Tajiri rushes to applying his signature Tarantula hold and tries a Moonsault that Goldust moves away from, then unloads with some great slaps in the corner. For some reason, Torrie slapping a wrestler doesn't result in a DQ. Goldust hits a Neckbreaker that Cole calls the Curtain Call, holding onto a tight pin for the victory. Goldust stalks Torrie into a corner before RVD intervenes with a Wheel Kick and Frog Splash. This will be a long project.

Full match available here

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vs. Rob Van Dam, WWF No Way Out 2002 (17.02.2002)

This isn't a TV match but given Goldust has had less than 5 minutes of in-ring action so far, I'm willing to see the payoff for what little booking they've gien him so far. It'd also be nice to see what he's capable of with a respectful amount of time, even if against much lesser talent. This is actually a great example of how he can excel in spite of his opponent not being up to task. His slaps sound amazing, and he gets quite creative with the early portions of his heat segment; at one point wrenching Rob's neck and back over a ringpost. Goldust homes in on targeting the lower back, making it all look vicious whilst maintaining that sense of mystique over his character and motivations at the time. There's even a fun moment of comeuppance to the feud when Goldust is inadvertedly crotched over RVD's knees. I tend to admire details like this in the layout of a match, and I'm willing to credit it entirely to Goldust, given that Rob doesn't sell any of the damage done to his back once the comeback starts. Finishing stretch is fine even though Rob doesn't try anything flashy and he predictably wins with the Frog Splash.

Part 1, Part 2 (not-so-great quality)

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This isn't the start that I had hoped for, but it is closer to what I should have expected. WWF at this time is loaded with talent after the WCW purchase and in the leadup to Wrestlemania 18. He was always going to be put in this sort of position as enhancement to wrestlers further up the hierarchy that need something to do. Fortunately, 2002 is a year of great change, so don't expect him to be floating around in limbo for much longer.

“You’re going to be all right. You just stumbled over a stone in the road. It means nothing. Your goal lies far beyond this. Doesn’t it? I’m sure you’ll overcome this. You’ll walk again… soon.”

[EnviousStupid]

w/ William Regal vs. Edge & Rob Van Dam, WWF Raw (18.02.2002)

This is the most promising so far on paper. Still much too short at under 4 minutes, but there's some fun action to see here. The heels isolate RVD and while it's not great, it's quick enough to not grow dull. Goldust bumps well for Edge's offense the few times they interacted, but I didn't take away much from this that showcases what Goldust can do. It's primarily about building to Regal and RVD for the IC title at Wrestlemania. Regal taps to the Edgucator and then Goldust takes a Spear after the match. Shoutout to Lawler on commentary saying Goldust/RVD at No Way Out went 30 minutes when it didn't even go half as long.

Full match available here

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vs. Maven [c] - Hardcore Title Match, WWF Smackdown (28.02.2002)

Hardcore time! Most of the matches I've seen for this title are hoots, so my expectations are higher than usual. Start off with Goldust immediately beating on Maven, then slowing it down as he bring weapons into the fray, allowing for moments where Maven can eventually pull off the upset. Aside from that, Maven doesn't do much at all, but Goldust is good enough at working in control to make up for that. His standing Gourdbuster looked particularly nasty here. Not something I would recommend, but nothing to really complain about. Enjoyable!

Full match available here

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vs. Tazz - Hardcore Title Match, WWF Raw (04.03.2002)

Goldust now holds the title after winning it from Maven later on that last episode of Smackdown. Tazz comes down the ring with a ref while Goldust was in the middle of a promo, and they just jump right into things. It's full of great slaps, strikes and suplexes, with Goldust bumping huge for Tazz's offense. He finally gets to hit Shattered Dreams in an official match! Tazz gets hold of a Tazzmission to an audible pop, but Goldust is able to reach a trash can lid and knock him out for the win. Another fun one! If they're only going to give wrestlers 2-4 minutes of TV, at least they get to work these kinds of matches. Recommended

Full match available here

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vs. Rob Van Dam - Hardcore Title Match, WWF Smackdown (06.03.2002)

This is roughly 10 minutes shorter than their PPV match and it's definitely for the better. RVD is a lot more suited to these shorter, spot-oriented layouts that the Hardcore title is wrestled under. He tries to rush Goldust early with a Tope but winds up eating shit when he goes high-risk a second time. This is also the first time I can recall seeing golden-tinted weapons found under the ring. Once again, 3 minutes of killer action, mostly from hitting each other with trash cans. RVD has a neat counter to Shattered Dreams that took me completely by surprise. Regal is on commentary and winds up distracting Rob long enough to Goldust to win with a rollup. Recommended

Full match available here

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vs. Al Snow - Hardcore Title Match, WWF Raw (11.03.2002)

Goldust throws a ton of weapons into the ring and attacks Al on the ramp. This one comes off a more frantic and immediate kind of fight, probably because it's barely over a minute long. Al blinds the champ with a fire extinguisher before hitting a Snow Plow onto a trash can to win the title. Maven wins the title the very next day on Smackdown. Nothing else to say about this one.

Full match available here

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vs. Maven [c] - Hardcore Title Match, Wrestlemania X-8 (17.03.2002)

Cool to see Goldust have an official match at Wrestlemania! He's more creative with his offense here than previous Hardcore title matches, but it runs more of less the same story and issue as their last match together. Goldust is good at holding up his part, Maven less so. Unfortunately, the match ends with Spike Dudley pinning Maven after a double KO spot, with Goldust along with Crash Holly chasing him through the crowd

Full match available here

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vs. Booker T vs. Bubba Ray Dudley [c] - Hardcore Title Match, WWF Raw (08.04.2002)

This is scheduled originally as Booker T vs Bubba Ray Dudley, but it's also the last time for the year the Goldust wrestles in a Hardcore Title match, so I want to include it here. The dance battle right beforehand is well worth the watch alone. As far as the match goes, it's pretty tame on the hardcore stipulation; Bubba does regular moves for some reason and never tries using the weapons he throws into the ring. Goldust runs down once a table is set up and tries to win the title, only to get powerbombed through said table for his troubles.

Full match available here

[justinsdrown]

He was one of my favorites growing up. I was 14 in 2002. I’m working my way through an attitude era rewatch and I’ve always enjoyed Goldust. He’s definitely a great.

[CurtainJerker]

Interesting...will have to watch these 2002 matches. Dustin was amazing in WCW, liked his tag run with Stardust and his AEW work, but felt his 90s Goldust stuff was not good in the ring due to the character directives.

[Mr JMML]

They called him The Natural for a reason.

On 6/22/2023 at 1:16 AM, CurtainJerker said:

Interesting...will have to watch these 2002 matches. Dustin was amazing in WCW, liked his tag run with Stardust and his AEW work, but felt his 90s Goldust stuff was not good in the ring due to the character directives.

 

[EnviousStupid]

Guess who's back, back again. 

vs. Tajiri, WWF Jakked (25.02.2002)

This is a bit of an oddity as it's broadcasted on March 2nd, after Goldust had won the Hardcore title the last episode of Smackdown, so he's recognised on commentary as champion despite not coming out with the belt. As for the match, it's not too different from their one I covered in an earlier post. Bit more fun with taunting early on, some work over the back from Goldust, but the broad strokes are roughly the same. Tajiri taking control of the match 10 seconds after taking a top-rope Bulldog was egregious, though the match is only a few minutes long and they don't establish much of a hook or story in that time. Goldust wins after a series of counters leads to a Curtain Call Neckbreaker. A tad lower than their Smackdown match, but I don't expect much more when they're given just 2 minutes on a C-show.

Full match available here

**Between this match and Goldust regularly teaming with Booker T, there's more than a handful of singles matches he has on episodes of Sunday Night Heat. Unfortunately I can't seem to find them available online, but if they do show up, I'll try and make sure to cover them later**

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w/ Booker T vs. The Hardy Boyz, WWF RAW (15.04.2002)

Starts off as a brawl that quickly shifts to Booker working a heat segment on Matt. Most of Goldust's time in the ring is spent taking hits from both Hardy Boyz, though he does manage to pick up the victory after one of Booker's Harlem Sidekicks. Commentary points out how weird it is to see Booker T and Goldust as a team, but there are moments of natural chemistry between them early on that can be seen as signs of a promising new duo. This is also the match where Brock ends up hitting an F5 on Matt onto the stage, building up to their PPV match which obviously takes precedent over a random TV tag.

Full match available here

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w/ Booker T vs. Bubba Ray Dudley & Spike Dudley, WWF RAW (22.04.2002)

This is awesome. Spike dives over the ropes and the match officially starts with a flurry of fun offense from Bubba; punches, elbows, slaps, even a fucking Mongolian Chop to pop me. Goldust also feeds into and bumps off of it all so well. Then once Spike tags in, he's able to use his speed and manoeuvre around Goldust to maintain the advantage, only losing that when Booker T gets a cheap shot in. The match is a really good example of how great Goldust can work as a base, regardless of the size of his opponents. The unlikely couple pull off another victory when Goldust attacks Bubba while looking for a table, allowing Booker to hit Spike with the Scissors Kick. Steven Richards run out afterwards to attack Bubba, only to get Powerbombed through a table for it. Recommended.

Full match available here

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vs. Spike Dudley [c] - WWF European Title Match, WWF RAW (29.04.2002)

It's under 2 minutes and all Goldust, which was probably for the best as both Spike and the referee were messing up. There was a neat idea with Goldust having an answer to Spike's speed this time around and cut-off any chances of a comeback. Sadly, it's never able to be properly fleshed out, as Booker T comes out to hit him with a Harlem Sidekick and Spike capitalizes off of that to retain. Hate this booking.

Full match available here