10 Surprising Wrestlers Retiring Sooner Than You Think

9. Dustin Rhodes

The Young Bucks DONE
AEW

Dustin Rhodes isn't talked about as an architect of All Elite Wrestling.

He should be.

He didn't, like the Elite, develop such a massive following that he forged a new path to stardom trailing around the monopoly. Unlike Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley, he wasn't a massive WWE name whose very exit indicated that AEW was legitimate, WCW-adjacent competition. It wasn't as if Jericho or Mox would have jumped to Ring Of Honor in 2019.

Rhodes however delivered a performance for the ages at the inaugural Double Or Nothing, one so literally soaked with emotion that the match, his unforgettable war against brother Cody, reminded the audience over the course of 22 spellbinding minutes what they'd missed from WWE for so long: torturous drama that led elegantly to a euphoric, feel-good conclusion.

Rhodes was a fantastic TV character in Dynamite's early phase - a massively respected veteran scalp who, with his Canadian destroyer, did as much as Tony Schiavone to endorse modern trends - and even as late as 2022 worked a timelessly great match with CM Punk.

Subsequent, cursed efforts against Lance Archer and Claudio Castagnoli underscored Dustin's old age for the first time, and they might have illuminated something to the man himself; at a recent Great Lakes Championship Wrestling event, he announced that he'd step into the ring for the last time this year.

At a minimum, the main event of Dynamite, and several minutes after the bell, must be dedicated to the moment.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!