- Cody And Brandi Rhodes As The New Goldust And Marlena (2014)
With my story line of Kaitlyn coming between best friends Rhodes and Sandow having died a premature death, I later pitched another variation of Rhodes being caught between his girl and someone close to him. This time, the conflict involved Rhodes’ real-life wife, Brandi (who was then known as WWE ring announcer Eden Stiles), and his brother, Goldust.
It already had been decided by McMahon that Rhodes was going to transform into a new character known as Stardust, who would wear face paint and ring attire similar to Goldust’s. The question was how we were going to get there.
Rhodes and Goldust were a babyface tag team at the time, and I suggested we play off the fact the veteran Goldust was getting a bigger reaction from the crowd than his younger brother. Feeling that Goldust is hogging the spotlight, Rhodes turns on him and becomes Stardust.
It’s revealed Brandi was the one who planted the seed in her husband’s mind that his brother was using him to stay relevant and keep him from becoming the star of the team. Brandi’s plan is for Stardust to become bigger than Goldust ever was, and she adopts a look and mannerisms that are reminiscent of Goldust’s former wife/valet, Marlena.
McMahon instead chose to have Rhodes and Goldust go on a losing streak, which led to Rhodes saying his brother deserved a better partner than him. Rhodes conducted a search for a new partner for Goldust before ultimately having an epiphany that the man for the job was him as Stardust.
Stardust eventually turned on Goldust, but Brandi wasn’t involved, and McMahon pulled the plug on the feud after just one pay-per-view match.