Stardust vs. Goldust Feud Is Too Little, Too Late

In the 2009 Royal Rumble, a young Cody Rhodes dumped his brother Goldust over the top rope. Unfortunately, an ensuing WrestleMania match between the upstart member of Legacy and his brother didn't happen.

In the 2013 Royal Rumble, Rhodes was surprised again by his flamboyant sibling. Once again, Rhodes did away with him.

Still no WrestleMania match.

By late 2013, the two reconciled. For a cup of coffee, they were the hottest act across all of WWE programming. The wheels began to fall off when they lost the tag team championships to the New Age Outlaws at the 2014 Royal Rumble.

Later that night, it was Goldust who eliminated Rhodes in the Royal Rumble match. This would again amount to nothing.

The 2015 Royal Rumble was more of the same from these two. Now the intergalactic tag team of Gold and Stardust, Stardust blatantly attempted to eliminate Goldust but to no avail.

The two-year partnership between the Rhodes brothers only continues to deteriorate. Per storyline, Rhodes dived so deep into the Stardust character he lost his sense of self. Even the bizarre Goldust, who is somehow playing the straight man, can't bring him back.

In fact, any mention of the name "Cody" channels resentment. With tension building each week, a pay-per-view-caliber feud between the Rhodes brothers is finally on the horizon.

Unfortunately, that window slammed shut.

With so many false starts and stops, any momentum this feud once had is gone. Back when Rhodes was human, the idea of the thoroughbred athlete against his freak brother was a story that wrote itself.

That carrot was dangled around for years in the Royal Rumble match, indicating a potential followup at WWE's biggest show.

Even Goldust himself lobbied for the match, per Arda Ocal of the Layfield Report (h/t Prowrestling.net).

With so many years and no Rhodes-Rhodes WrestleMania match, a program between Gold and Stardust is damaged goods.

Just look at them. Stardust is a schizophrenic shell of himself. Goldust is the sympathetic sibling in a bodysuit who is to be taken seriously.

If WWE moves forward with a match between Gold and Stardust, it will live below expectations of years past. They had their chance to capitalize on this feud.

It came and went.

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