So did the Stardust character fail?

[MartialHorror]

When Stardust and Goldust first started having their segments together, the audience seemed to like them. However, I noticed that whenever the audience laughed, it was at Goldusts reactions to Stardust instead of Stardust himself. But WWE kept building and building this tag team with their vignettes and the audience reactions tended to become more and more mild.

Last week they fought the Uso's and the audience seemed dead. I have no idea what WWE management or maybe the wrestlers themselves were thinking to have a 'face vs face' match and have none of the high spots which usually accompany such a clash in order to keep fans interested...but it happened and it was boring. This RAW rematch was better, but the audience still seemed more confused and excited. Now it appears the Rhodes' brothers have turned heel and...is this a good idea?

At least Goldust has a history of villainy, so him turning into the villain can work as long as they go back to how the character used to be (creepy, underhanded and...molesty?). But Stardust seemed designed to make us laugh, which he won't be allowed to do if we're supposed to be rooting against him. The fact that they'd turn heel this quickly suggests that maybe WWE is considering the gimmick a flop and is desperately trying to salvage the situation by turning him heel.

There is a possibility that the Dust Brothers aren't really turning heel and were just playing the parts for that night (The Uso's pretty much did this on Smackdown) and they might resume being faces once the feud is resolved. But am I missing something? Or does this sudden twist suggest that Stardust is a failed experiment?

 

[WarroBODFan]

I don't feel it's a failed experiment, as I don't feel they've really done much with him in the first place apart from getting a few wins over Rybaxel. They've not gone into any depth with why he's become Stardust other than he was tired of having a losing streak as Cody. It's hard to get invested into a guy who literally has nothing that sets him apart from being a Goldust twin speaking personally, so I think a heel turn could actually be the experiment. But even then, it doesn't seem to me like they're building Stardust any differently and giving him anything that sets him apart from Goldust.

I've been hoping for a while that they turn Cody heel and have him feud with Goldust, and they were teasing some sort of breakup before the Stardust debut, but it doesn't seem like anything like that will happen for the time being, if ever. I think it was being speculated that Cody and Goldust would feud heading into WM30, Goldie would put Cody over and then sail off into the sunset, but it doesn't seem like Goldie is going anywhere anytime soon!

Lets see how they do as heels, hopefully it'll be entertaining.

 

[Nitro Nath]

For me it's a fail. I have never been a big fan of gold dust, and this clone version of him that Cody is doing was I think always destined to fail in the long term.

Cody did embrace it though so I give him credit for that.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

He's still on tv every week. The character hasn't been given much development - yet - other than some cryptic tweets. You can't declare something a fail until the idea has run its course

 

[TDFG]

I don't think they've failed, I don't think it's a feud that catches the fans interests or imagination & both teams are suffering because of it.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Honestly had they built up more to this Stardust gimmick then I would definitely say it would be a success especially if they had built up Stardust as a singles competitor eventually then teaming him up with Goldust then yes it would not be considered a fail at all in any way

 

[Mustang Sally]

I believe Creative intended to turn them heel all along; WWE's thinking proceeding along the lines of: Better to be weird and evil than weird and good. It could be management just wanted to get us used to Cody in such a radical departure from his regular, vanilla persona.

Okay, so now we go. Since any tag team that performs in the ring is close to the tag title, we didn't have long to wait for the Dusty Brothers to get theirs, right? I thought they'd win the belts last night, if for no other reason than the fact the Uso's have held it long enough.

That no titles changed hands last night could be a sign that WWE plans to make a series out of it, with the Dusty's winning and losing the belts, but serving as a long-term tag team.

I don't think the Stardust character is a failure; WWE plainly has wanted Cody to succeed for many years.....and this is the first time I'm truly interested in him as a character.

Meanwhile, Goldust is Goldust. I was recently watching his WM12 battle in the parking lot against Roddy Piper (for $9.99 on the WWE Network!), and I swear Dustin looks better in the ring now than he did in his 20's.

When they finally got around to making "another" Goldust, that they chose his real life brother to play the role makes sense to me.

It's all good.

 

[L@RISANO]

Don't think so,tbh.

Turning them heel was logical as the LIVE crowd seem to connect with the Usos pretty well compared to the Dusts.

Also, the Usos needed a new feud and this heel turn has been done to allow a fresh feud for the Tag Belts, and also gives the Dusts a new role going forward...

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Loving this heel turn of Goldust and Stardust because it actually makes them a much more credible threat towards the WWE Tag Team Championships but also builds them up as a credible threat to dethrone The Usos considering The Usos have been champions for quite a while now

 

[WBL]

I'm just happy that nowadays, there seems to be something joining together major tag teams. That they feel like teams, and not just two random stars thrown together. The Usos are brother, Gold Star dress and act alike, Harper and Rowan both dress and act similar... for a while, when it was just two people randomly getting the belts, it didn't feel like booking gave a crap about them.

 

[Mudlup50]

I'm surprised no one said this but I thought the audience last night was out of everything aside from the main event and random chants. If you listen when the announcers shut up their's nothing behind them. So I don't blame Stardust or Goldust or the Usos...I blame the audience. The show was decent and the Dust brothers segment helped a lot in my opinion. They're finally wrestling and dare I say they might be tag champs soon enough.

 

[kadroan]

I don't think Stardust failed. I believe they turned them heel at the right time. Goldust and Stardust was getting stale. They only can beat Rybaxel so many times before they get a title shot.

It just took too long so they got stale but turning them was the best thing they could have done for Stardust. He's so underrated. It's going to be interesting to see what Stardust can do to draw heat since he's not using the Cody Rhodes character anymore