Every Former WWE Superstar And Their Grades Since Joining AEW
4. Dustin Rhodes (Goldust)
Grade: B-
Despite only an 18 months age difference, Dustin Rhodes and Chris Jericho arrived in AEW with very different sets of expectations. Jericho was arriving in the new promotion following yet another brilliant character re-invention in New Japan, while Dustin had been trying to keep his in-ring career alive in WWE, competing for TV time with younger talent. If Jericho's expectations were tempered because of his age, Rhodes was merely expected to have a proper match with brother Cody, put him over, and then move on to a production role.
Who could have possibly guessed that Rhodes would have a five-star match in AEW before Jericho?
No one expected the Rhodes Brothers to put on a five- star, masterpiece at Double Or Nothing. This match alone has done more than enough to earn Rhodes his B- grade. Sure, his matches against Kip Sabian, Jake Hager, and Sammy Guevara have been... well, just fine. They haven't been anything to write home about, but they've been about what you should expect from a legend wrestling in the high flying, acrobatic, AEW ring.
The beatdown suffered at the hands of Lance Archer in the TNT Championship Tournament semi-finals demonstrated that Rhodes is willing to play a secondary role in order to further someone else's storyline. That may be where AEW can best utilise him at this point in his career, but he has already left his mark on the upstart promotion with that match at Double Or Nothing.