Having Goldust lose his signature paint and do battle with Bray Wyatt wasn't what WWE originally had planned for the veteran.

There was a point over the past few months where it felt like Goldust was entering into somewhat of a career rejuvenation. It was pretty impressive considering how long he has been in the business. The break-up of him and R-Truth had a large chunk of the WWE Universe interested in him again, but all of a sudden the storyline just fizzled out.

Since then, we haven't really seen much more of Goldust until the last few weeks. The former Intercontinental Champion battled Bray Wyatt on Raw, and after he suffered defeat to The Eater Of Worlds, Wyatt went about wiping Goldie's signature paint from his face. One week later, Goldust was awarded a rematch but this time without the paint. He lost again, but it was a much more spirited performance from the Bizarre One.

via wwe.com

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This bit-part role in the feud between Bray Wyatt and Finn Balor allegedly wasn't the original plan for Goldust, however. According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, coming out of his breakup with R-Truth there were actually very different plans for Goldust. In the build to SummerSlam Goldust teased revealing his latest masterpiece. At the pay-per-view, the reveal was supposed to take place, but it never did. Apparently, it was supposed to have been a protege that would have been handpicked to work alongside the veteran.

Goldust has had an incredibly long career and been one of the most unique stars WWE has ever seen. The man behind the paint, Dustin Rhodes, first debuted the character on WWE television in 1995, so it's a real credit to his and the character's longevity that they're still on Raw now over 20 years later. Despite that long run though, the son of Dusty Rhodes has never reached the very top of the pro wrestling pyramid, hitting a wall at the Intercontinental Championship level.

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Fans really seemed to enjoy seeing Goldust roll back the years during his short feud with R-Truth, so it's a mystery as to why WWE didn't push forward with a fresh angle involving the character. What's more frustrating, is considering how long Goldust has been around, you'd have to think that his next push could be his last if this recently nixed one wasn't already the last opportunity he was really going to have with the company.