Had Dustin Rhodes been given the gimmick of Black Reign 12 years ago when he returned to the WWE instead of becoming the androgynous Goldust, who knows if the gimmick might've actually worked. As Goldust, Rhodes has enjoyed the most success of his career. Without the makeup of either character, Rhodes comes across as too "just plain folks" to the casual fan, lacking the charisma of his father Dusty.

Black Reign was unleashed in TNA earlier this year, and enjoyed some early success. While Judas Mesias was on the disabled list, Reign was pressed into service for a short feud with Abyss. The idea made a great deal of sense, and had TNA's inept creative staff had the foresight to keep James Mitchell, Mesias' manager, with Reign for the duration, Reign might be more of a major player in TNA. Rightfully, Mitchell should be managing Mesias, Reign, and Rellik as a Monster Squad sort of stable, but apparently, Mitchell had his fill of tag teams a few years ago, and didn't want to go there again. Instead, Reign is an island unto himself, the scarred side of a two-headed coin that would have Dustin's likeness.

Dustin has tried twice in the last three weeks to convey a simple message. He knows nothing about what Reign has done in TNA, and as he tried to sell to Frankie Kazarian and the TNA fans tonight, he had come to TNA looking for work. Mike Tenay's reaction wasn't so much of shock or disbelief, but rather skepticism, which undercuts the gimmick. I don't know if it's Dutch Mantel, Vince Russo, or Rhodes himself who came up with Black Reign, but whomever it was based the gimmick on an age old literary classic, Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde". Unlike the meek Henry Jekyll, Rhodes is more than capable of defending himself. That creates possibilities for a feud with Kazarian. We know Rhodes & Kazarian will meet in the ring, be it on next week's Impact or at Final Resolution on Jan. 6, but what we don't know is if Rhodes will compete as himself or as Black Reign.

If you're a comics fan like me, you can refer back to the early days of the Incredible Hulk in the 60's. Stan Lee used the same basic concept with Hulk and his alter ego, Dr. Bruce Banner. Then, Banner had no idea what Hulk did when he was on a rampage. Today, of course, is a different story, given how much about Hulk has changed in nearly 45 years. Because Russo has already sabotaged the gimmick by having Tenay question the validity of Rhodes' remarks earlier tonight, it means Rhodes has a tougher road to travel to make Reign as successful as Goldust was in WWE.

Another time, another place, and maybe Black Reign would've defined the career of Dustin Rhodes. Instead, he gets lost in the shuffle in a promotion that has too many gimmicks and not enough time for all of them to get over. It's not Dustin's fault, but the players are in place to undo the damage already done.