Source: The News and Reporter of Chester County
When Gold Dust makes his appearance tonight at the APW Arena, he will certainly pick up a paycheck.
But that’s not why he’s coming.
“Money has never been that big a deal to me,” he said. “That’s not why I do it. It’s a love of wrestling and the fans that makes me feel good.”
Gold Dust said his fondest memories are not of his stints in WWE or WCW, but rather when he first started out in the late 1980s, and made $20 a night.
“If we sold pictures we could make a little more than that,” Gold Dust said. “It was enough for gas and beer money.”
Gold Dust said occasionally he and some friends would go to Nassau for shows, where they made $40 a night.
Fans helped him out, though, and he saw it as his chance to learn the ropes, so to speak.
When he first appeared in the NWA, it was fellow wrestlers who helped him out. He learned under the watchful eyes of Barry Windham, Ricky Steamboat and Bobby Eaton.
“It was awesome, I learned from the old-school legends,” Gold Dust said.
Rather than take advantage of being the son of wrestling superstar (Dusty Rhodes), Gold Dust made his own way. He was a major star in the NWA, WWF and WCW. He had big crowds to play in front of then, but he said that didn’t matter to him.
“If it’s 12 people or 90,000, I’m doing the same thing,” Gold Dust said. “I’m doing my best to entertain the audience.”
His love of entertaining a crowd, no matter where they are or many of them there are, may explain why he’s moved around so much. Gold Dust said he quit WWE/WWF three times and was fired three other times. His opinion of Vince McMahon, and the way he treats his talent is not high.
So, Gold Dust is now wrestling when he wants to on the independent circuit. He wants to give Chester wrestling fans a great show tonight.
“It’s big for the kids to see,” Gold Dust said. “There’s certain moves they like that I’ll do for them. But it seems like there’s always one person sitting on the front row who is disinterested, they probably only came to bring their kids. My goal is to have them standing up and yelling. I want to give them an old-school show that they can really enjoy.”
This will be Gold Dust’s first visit to Chester. His objective while he’s in town should be obvious.
“I want to give the fans a great match to watch,” Gold Dust said. “I want to do the best I can for the people. I wouldn’t be here without them.”
The show begins at 8 p.m. tonight at the APW Arena on the Bypass behind Scooters.
