Dustin Rhodes To Undergo "Very Invasive Major Surgery" (AEW News)

AEW's Dustin Rhodes reveals he's set for a spell on the sidelines.

by Andrew Pollard
AEW Collision Dustin Rhodes Kyle Fletcher
AEW

Having lost the TNT Title to Kyle Fletcher on this past week's Collision, AEW's Dustin Rhodes seems set for an extended period on the sidelines.

Taking to X, the Natural updated his fans to let them know that he needs a "very invasive major surgery" and that he's set for MRIs and cat scans this coming week. While he blamed this on Fletcher, Rhodes would make a follow-up post that simply said "Not a work".

As for the specifics of this surgery, Fightful Select reports that, from those they've spoken to about this situation, Dustin requires double knee surgery, with him not expected to be back between the ropes until some point in 2026.

While Rhodes lost the AEW TNT Title to Kyle Fletcher, he is still technically one-half of the ROH Tag Team Champions with Sammy Guevara, and one-third of the ROH Six-Man Champions with the Von Erichs. As Fightful puts it, the fate of those ROH titles are "unknown" right now.

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Of course, the main priority at this time is for Dustin Rhodes to get done whatever he needs to get done, and then focus on his rehab and recovery.

From all of here at WhatCulture Wrestling, all the best to Dustin at this time.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.