Bob the Drag Queen reflects on WWE legend Goldust and why pro-wrestling is ‘inherently kind of gay’
Bob the Drag Queen (Getty)
Drag icon and self-professed WWE fan Bob the Drag Queen spoke the absolute truth when she said wrestling is “kind of gay.”
The season eight winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race spoke about her love for all things wrestling during a Tuesday (31 January) episode of the podcast StraightioLab.
She specifically spoke about her love for WWE legend Dustin Rhodes, formerly known as Goldust, and why he is a “great example” of how queer wrestling really is.
“Wrestling is inherently kind of gay,” she said. “There are some really great iconic wrestlers who spoke to my gayness as a young child. Goldust is a really great example.
“Goldust was a wrestler that was basically, I don’t even want to say he was acting gay, the whole bit was he was never gay, he had girlfriends. He was kind of like Prince.”
Goldust first debuted in the WWE in 1995, when it was still known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
After switching between various wrestling promotions, Rhodes returned to the WWF dressed in a gold and black leather suit, wearing golden face paint, sporting a blonde wig, and was nicknamed “the Bizarre One” due to his often creepily flirtatious demeanour.
Rhodes found huge success with the character and used it as an opportunity to push incredibly wacky and strange storylines.
His willingness to push the boundaries outside of the traditionally masculine wrestler stereotype inspired Bob as a child, who said she was “emotionally attached” to wrestling.
“He was this extremely effeminate straight man who was wrestling,” she said. “Tell me this is not Gottmik. Tell me this person would not be on Dragula.
“Goldust was insane. Goldust was a really wild, revelatory moment for me as a young gay person watching wrestling.”
It wasn’t just Goldust’s undeniably queer showmanship that won Bob the Drag Queen’s heart in the squared circle, wrestler Mick Foley was also one of her favourites.
Foley is best known for his spectacular three alter-egos – Cactus Jack, Dude Love, and Mankind – who, each week, would tear up the ring in brutal and often dangerous matches that would, more often than not, leave him beaten and bruised.
But for all his extreme antics, Foley is widely considered to be one of the most respected wrestlers in the business, having won the WWE world championship three times.
“Mick Foley was a schleppy-looking, average run-of-the-mill guy, but he was the everyman of WWE,” Bob said. “He was like, ‘if I can do it, you can do it.’
“If Mick Foley can be one of the most famous entertainment athletes, then I could f**king do anything. When he quit wrestling I literally cried.”
