The idea that Dustin Runnels can be a contributing member of the WWE roster in 2014 isn't amazing because he's 44 years old. Rather, it's amazing because he's someone who's been able to save his life from numerous embarrassing moments, including a domestic abuse charge in April, 2005. The facts of the case as compared to Runnels' 2014 state are actually quite telling, and a great story of snatching redemption from the jaws of embarrassment: "In the wee hours of the morning on April 25th Dustin made a very bad choice and assaulted his girlfriend at the HardRock Hotel. While that is a horrible act alone...it was made reprehensible due to the fact that (her daughter) Dakota was witness to it in both visual and audible ways. She ended up going to the hospital with Dustin's girlfriend and called me collect from the ER. I cannot tell you how helpless I felt as a mother to be 2 hours away from her at that moment! I have not ever made a public statement about Dustin that was negative in any way and have always spoken positively to Dakota about her father...however he has set a new precedent because of what he has exposed her to therefore I will no longer cover for him. I never wanted Dakota to see this part of her father for fear that as she got older she would see such behavior as acceptable. It is not now and will never be acceptable! While I am a private person and do not like my personal life exposed I realize that I must now speak about this travesty. Years of lies and abuse have been swept under the rug and would have stayed there had this and other things not occurred in public. Dustin should not blame any of this on anyone else as he has done in years past. He has to stand up and be accountable for his actions or be completely disrespected by his child and others around him. I do not wish anything bad for Dustin...just the opposite. I have been supportive of him even when he was terrible to me. I hope that he gets help and changes his life for Dakota's sake. This doesn't have to be a horrible ending, I hope it will be a wonderful beginning of truth, hard work and showing love not just saying it!
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
