AEW Favourite Adjusts His Retirement Plans
Despite previous comments, this AEW favourite won't be hanging up his boots just yet.
Despite stating last year how he only has one year of his in-ring career left, Dustin Rhodes has now walked back on those plans and sees himself as, hopefully, having up to four more years of competing in the squared circle.
The topic of the Natural's retirement came up during a recent appearance on the Sports Guys Talk Wrestling podcast - as picked up on by Fightful - with the second-generation star explaining how he will not be calling time on his legendary career just yet.
As Rhodes put it:
"The older I get, the harder [the idea of a final match] gets. The thing about me is my work ethic. I work hard, and every time that red light is on I try to do my very best. So far, being here for the five years that I have, in my 50s, I'm doing amazing. I've not had one bad match. It's been pretty cool to think back of all the good matches I've had in AEW. I've wrestled everybody. It's unbelievable.[Retirement] has been on my mind. Last year, I said I got one year left, and I'm going past that. I don't want to say that again, because you never say never, right? I see myself, two to four more years, if my legs allow me to. If Tony Khan is gracious enough to keep me around and keep me on television, that's great. Whatever I can do to help. I love producing, too, so that's also what I can fall back on."
As alluded to in those comments, Dustin Rhodes has been with AEW since April 2019, joining the fledgling promotion ahead of facing his brother Cody in a stunning, brutal bout at Double or Nothing one month later.
A 36-year veteran, the 54-year-old Dustin also works as an AEW coach and has his Rhodes Wrestling Academy in Liberty Hill, Texas. And as the former Goldust noted, he's had some fantastic matches in this AEW run - putting on good to great to excellent matches with the likes of Cody, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Mr. Brodie Lee, Lance Archer, Claudio Castagnoli, the Young Bucks, and, most recently, Christian Cage.