Dustin Rhodes

Early life

Runnels is the son of Virgil Runnels, better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (1945–2015), and his first wife Sandra. His parents divorced when he was 6 years old. Growing up he spent a majority of his time in Austin, Texas with his mother and would visit his father during vacations in Florida. During his junior and senior years of high school Runnels moved in with his father in Charlotte, North Carolina. Runnels played football in high school, and wanted to compete in college however after not having the grades to do so his father then introduced him to the wrestling business.

His half-brother is fellow wrestler Cody Rhodes. He has a sister named Kristin Runnels Ditto, who is a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, and a half-sister named Teil Gergel.

Professional wrestling career

Championship Wrestling from Florida (1988)

Runnels made his professional wrestling debut on September 13, 1988, as "Dustin Rhodes", defeating Bob Cook in a match for the Tampa-based Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) promotion. In September, he would defeat Rex King and Scotty the Body (the future Raven) in house show matches. He was defeated by Jim Backlund in a "Loser Leaves Town" match on November 30, 1988.

Jim Crockett Promotion (1988–1989)

In December 1988, Runnels debuted in Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). Rhodes teamed with Kendall Windham in an undercard tag team called the Texas Broncos that saw success against the Cruel Connection and The Commandos. Their first defeat came against The Original Midnight Express at a house show on December 10, 1988, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rhodes's first singles match came two days later at a television taping in Atlanta, Georgia when he defeated Trent Knight. Rhodes's run lasted only a few months, as he exited the company two months after his father. After suffering a loss to Butch Reed during a dark match for an NWA Main Event taping in The Omni on February 12, 1989, Rhodes closed out his run with a win over Trent Knight in Walterboro, South Carolina on February 24, 1989.

Professional Wrestling Federation (1989)

After departing the NWA, Rhodes rejoined the CWF, which had been renamed the Professional Wrestling Federation in March 1989 after Runnels' father, Dusty Rhodes, began wrestling there. He made his return on March 4, 1989, in Titusville, Florida, defeating Commando Boone via disqualification. Seven days later he achieved the biggest win of his career at this point, defeating Terry Funk via disqualification in Tampa.

On May 9, 1989 he captured his first ever championship, teaming with Mike Graham to defeat Southern Force (Bobby Jaggers and Black Bart) to win the PWF Tag Team Championship. Fourteen days later, Runnels captured the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship from Al Perez on May 23, 1989, holding it for a month and successfully defending it against the Big Steel Man and The Terminator. He was defeated for the NWA Florida Championship on June 27 by former Texas Bronco partner Kendall Windham in Tampa, Florida.

All Japan Pro Wrestling and United States Wrestling Association (1989–1990)

In March 1989, Runnels toured Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in its annual Champion Carnival, under the name "Dusty Rhodes Jr.". He returned to AJPW for further tours in the spring and summer of 1990. Runnels began wrestling in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in July 1989. There, he feuded mainly with Tony Anthony for Anthony's CWA Heavyweight Championship but never won the title. On October 2, 1989 he entered a tournament to crown the USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion, where he defeated Mike Davis, Chris Champion, and Kevin Dillinger in successive rounds before losing to Tony Anthony in the finals. He left the USWA in the spring of 1990.

World Wrestling Federation (1990–1991)

In the spring of 1990, the World Wrestling Federation embarked on a wave of signings of young talent, bringing in Pat Tanaka, Paul Diamond, and Shane Douglas. Dustin Rhodes was added to that list, as he made his debut for the WWF in a dark match on April 24 in San Antonio, Texas at a Wrestling Challenge television taping, defeating Black Bart. He began full time competition for the company that summer, competing at first exclusively on the house show circuit. He made his debut on July 15, 1990 at an event in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was defeated by Haku. As the summer progressed, Dustin would dominate opening card performers like Bob Bradley, The Brooklyn Brawler and Buddy Rose but in turn would be defeated by Haku, Hercules, Paul Roma, and Akeem.

Runnels made his television debut in September. Wrestling as "Dustin Rhodes", his first match was against Paul Diamond on WWF on MSG Network on September 21, 1990. On the October 22 episode of Prime Time Wrestling, he was shown in the crowd, watching his father take on Randy Savage. During the match, Ted Dibiase and Virgil - who were feuding at the time with Dusty, attacked the younger Rhodes leading his father to abandon the match to make the save. Dustin would then challenge Dibiase to a match, with the heel saying that he could not last ten minutes in the ring with him. On the November 3, 1990 episode of Superstars, Rhodes defeated Ted DiBiase in a televised ten-minute challenge match.

On the same night at a house show in August, Georgia, father and son teamed for the first time and defeated Dibiase and Virgil. On the December 8 episode of Superstars, Dibiase attempted to acquire the services of Dustin. Rhodes rejected the offer and was attacked by Dibiase and Virgil, leading to another father and son matchup against the two. This time it would be on PPV, with Dustin making his PPV debut. On January 19, 1991, at the Royal Rumble, Rhodes and his father Dusty lost to Ted DiBiase and Virgil in a tag team bout, and both left immediately after.

World Championship Wrestling (1991–1995)

In February 1991, Runnels made his return to Jim Crockett Promotions - since renamed World Championship Wrestling - wrestling as "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes. His return match came on February 4, where he defeated Rip Rogers on the February 16 episode of World Championship Wrestling. He feuded with Larry Zbyszko until April 1991, when he refused to join Alexandra York's York Foundation, thus beginning a feud with Foundation member Terrence Taylor.

In late 1991, Rhodes formed a tag-team with Barry Windham and began pursuing WCW World Tag Team Champions the Enforcers (Zbyszko and Arn Anderson). The pair received a title shot at Clash of the Champions XVII, but Windham was (kayfabe) injured prior to the event by the champions when they slammed a car door on his wrist. A returning Ricky Steamboat was chosen to partner Rhodes, and the makeshift duo won the WCW World Tag Team Championship. They lost the title on January 16, 1992, to Arn Anderson and fellow Dangerous Alliance member Bobby Eaton.

On a taped edition of WCW Saturday Night on September 2, 1992, Rhodes teamed with Windham to defeat Steve Williams and Terry Gordy for the unified WCW World Tag Team Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship (their NWA title reign is not recognized by NWA); the match would air on October 3. They held the belts for around two months before losing them to Steamboat and Shane Douglas on the November 18 edition of Clash of the Champions XXI. Windham turned on Rhodes after the match when Rhodes refused to pin Steamboat after an accidental low blow.

In January 1993, Rhodes reached the final of a tournament to decide the number one contender for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. The champion, Rick Rude, was stripped of his title that same month, meaning the tournament final would be for the title. Rhodes faced his old partner Ricky Steamboat to win his first United States Heavyweight title. He successfully defended the title the following month at SuperBrawl III against Maxx Payne. Rude returned that April and quickly challenged Rhodes. Their first encounter resulted in a controversial double pin, with Rude initially being awarded the title. The championship was held up two weeks later. After a 30-minute Iron Man Match ended in a 1–1 draw at Beach Blast on July 18, a best-of-three series was set between the two on WCW Saturday Night; Rhodes lost the first match on August 28, but defeated Rude twice on September 4 and 11 to claim his second United States Heavyweight Championship.

World Wrestling Federation (1995–1999)

World Wrestling Federation chairman Vince McMahon called Runnels and offered him the gimmick of "Goldust" McMahon mentioned "androgynous" several times in pitching the character; Runnels, wanting a separate identity from his father at the time, promptly accepted without knowing what the word "androgynous" meant, then promptly looked it up in the dictionary after getting off the phone with McMahon and shocked to see what it meant said to himself "What did I get myself in to?" Runnels himself admitted that the first few months of the gimmick were uncomfortable for him as it did not match his personality at all, but decided to work with what was given to him and "run with it".

Goldust was nicknamed "the Bizarre One" because of his somewhat spooky, mysterious, bashful presentation yet sexual suggestiveness turned aggressions. In communications, Goldust frequently took to comical flirtation while maintaining a bashfully deadpan and monotone delivery and presence. Using in-ring psychology to his advantage, Goldust often performed lewd and flirtatious mind games to anger, confuse, and distract his opponents. He engaged in such tactics as groping and excessive physical affection towards his opponent in the midst of delivering his onslaught. To that end, one of Goldust's trademarks was his exaggerated, suggestively breathy inhalation whilst caressing his own body; this display ended in him exhaling through a startlingly vicious biting sound directed at his adversaries (also said between his catchphrase of "You will never forget the name of... Goldust.") The character was portrayed as a drag queen obsessed with films and everything gold, which is a parody of the Oscars statuette. Adding to this aspect of the gimmick, Goldust often quoted or made references to classic Hollywood films during his promos. Under the gimmick, Runnels wore a predominately gold jumpsuit (with tads of other colors, such as white and black); black and gold face paint; and during entrances and promos, a glittery gold robe and a platinum blonde wig over his short platinum blonde hair.

After wrestling a dark match on August 29, 1995, at a WWF Superstars taping in a loss to Razor Ramon, Runnels made his televised return to the WWF under the Goldust persona in August 1995. He would defeat Bob Holly at In Your House 3 in a dark match. Goldust won his television debut match on October 22, 1995, against Marty Jannetty at the In Your House 4 pay-per-view. He defeated the departing Bam Bam Bigelow in Bigelow's last WWF match at the Survivor Series.

World Championship Wrestling (1999–2001)

Runnels returned to WCW on the November 8, 1999, edition of WCW Monday Nitro, filming several vignettes for a fantastical, face-painted character named Seven. These vignettes contained ominous footage of Rhodes in full makeup standing outside a child's bedroom window. The gimmick was reported to have been based on "The Strangers" from the 1998 film noir Dark City. The character was dropped after Turner Standards and Practices expressed concern that this gimmick could be misinterpreted as a child abductor. Upon returning to WCW television, Rhodes removed his costume and delivered a worked shoot in which he mocked unrealistic gimmicks as well as his time as Goldust in the WWF. After turning heel upon his return, Runnels began wrestling as "The American Nightmare" Dustin Rhodes, with his nickname a reference to his father's nickname, "The American Dream". "The American Nightmare" moniker would later be used by Runnels' half brother, Cody Rhodes.

Rhodes feuded with Jeff Jarrett before feuding with Terry Funk. He was (kayfabe) fired by Vince Russo at Spring Stampede in April 2000 for failing to prevent Terry Funk from winning the vacant WCW Hardcore Championship, against Norman Smiley.

Runnels returned to WCW television in January 2001, assisting his father in his feud with Jarrett and, eventually, Ric Flair. He wrestled on the final WCW pay-per-view, WCW Greed on March 18, 2001. In March 2001, WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation, but the WWF did not initially acquire Runnels' contract.

Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling (2001–2002)

In July 2001, Runnels, while still under contract to AOL Time Warner, began wrestling for his father's newly created Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion, winning the promotion's Heavyweight Championship.

He would team up with his father. Competing as Dustin Rhodes, he captured the TCW Heavyweight Championship from Scotty Riggs on January 26, but vacated the title immediately afterwards after it was confirmed that he would be returning to WWF. Following his return to the WWF at the 2002 Royal Rumble, he made two more appearances with TCW, the first in a six-man tag team match with his father Dusty and Ron Studd against Riggs, Fake Goldust, and Jason Sugarmann, and the second in a singles victory over Steve Corino.

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (2001–2003)

In December 2001, Runnels accepted a buyout from his AOL Time Warner contract and was re-signed by the World Wrestling Federation to a two-year deal. Promos immediately began airing on WWF television advertising the return of Goldust. On January 20, 2002, he officially returned by taking part in the Royal Rumble, reprising his Goldust character. Shortly after returning, promos began airing for a few weeks of Goldust saying that there was a certain wrestler whose "star was shining brighter" than he would like. Goldust eventually revealed the person he was talking about was Rob Van Dam by attacking him on WWF Raw, turning heel in the process. Van Dam defeated Goldust in a singles match at No Way Out on February 17. After the loss, Goldust moved on to the hardcore division, where he won the WWE Hardcore Championship on nine occasions.

When the World Wrestling Federation was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment and the roster was divided into two brands, Raw and SmackDown!, Goldust was assigned to the Raw brand, where he formed a tag team with Booker T. The duo engaged in numerous comedic vignettes, on one occasion hosting a segment titled Booker T and Goldust at the Movies and delivering reviews of The Scorpion King, a film starring The Rock. In May 2002, Booker T joined the New World Order (nWo), with Goldust's request to join the faction rejected. In June 2002, Booker T was ejected from the nWo by Shawn Michaels, sparking a feud between the nWo and Booker T and Goldust. Booker T and Goldust went on to compete in the tag team division, winning the World Tag Team Championship at Armageddon before being forced to split up on the February 3, 2003, episode of Raw by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff for failing to win back the World Tag Team Championship.

Following the dissolution of the tag team, Goldust contracted a stutter and Tourette's-like symptoms, upon receiving a shock from a Round Tube during an attack at the hands of Batista and Randy Orton. Goldust appeared in character on The Howard Stern Show in March 2003. Goldust appeared sporadically thereafter, forming a tag team with Lance Storm in August 2003. In fall 2003, Booker T began receiving mysterious, haunting messages for a few weeks from somebody. The messages only said "I remember". It was rumored that the messages would be from Goldust, which would have begun a feud between the two. Suddenly, the angle was never mentioned again on television and the company announced on their website that they would not be renewing Rhodes's contract. WWE allowed Runnels' contract to expire in December 2003.

NWA Total Nonstop Action (2004–2005)

On February 4, 2004, Runnels debuted in NWA Total Nonstop Action (NWA TNA) as "The Lone Star" Dustin Rhodes, unsuccessfully challenging Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. On February 18, Runnels and El Leon defeated Kevin Northcutt and Legend in a tag team bout. In December 2004, he returned to TNA, once again wrestling as Dustin Rhodes. On the January 7, 2005, episode of Impact!, Rhodes and Jeff Hardy defeated Kash and Dallas. On the January 14 episode of Impact!, Rhodes defeated Chris Candido. At Final Resolution on January 16, Rhodes defeated Kid Kash. On the February 11 episode of Impact!, Rhodes and America's Most Wanted defeated Kid Kash, Dallas and Raven in a six-man tag team match. At Against All Odds on February 13, Rhodes lost to Raven but got payback at Destination X on March 13 when he defeated Raven in a bullrope match. He then entered a feud with Bobby Roode and at Lockdown on April 24, Rhodes defeated Roode in a 2 out of 3 falls Prince of Darkness cage match. His TNA contract expired in April 2005 and he chose not to renew it, leaving TNA.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–2006)

Runnels returned to World Wrestling Entertainment on October 31, 2005, as a heel and back under the Goldust attire, as Jonathan Coachman enlisted him and Vader to attack Batista. Goldust and Vader unsuccessfully interfered in a street fight between Batista and Coachman on behalf of Coachman at Taboo Tuesday on November 1. Following the event, Goldust once again disappeared from television. In January 2006, Goldust took part in the Royal Rumble match and was assigned once again to the Raw brand until he was released from his WWE contract on June 14, 2006, for no-showing an appearance. Runnels made a short appearance at WrestleMania 22 to give Booker T advice on his match against The Boogeyman where he insinuated that the only way he could beat The Boogeyman was to put worms in his anus.[whose anus?]

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2007)

On January 28, 2007, it was announced that Rhodes would appear at the February 17, 2007, All Japan Pro Wrestling show in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. On February 15, Rhodes, identified as Gold Dustin, appeared at ringside during a match involving The Great Muta, resulting in a brawl between Rhodes and The Great Muta. On February 17, Rhodes and Jinsei Shinzaki were defeated by The Great Muta and Yoshihiro Tajiri in a tag team bout.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007–2008)

On July 15, 2007, Rhodes returned to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at Victory Road and aligned himself with Christian Cage by helping him defeat "Wildcat" Chris Harris. In an interview on TNA Impact! conducted by Mike Tenay, Rhodes discussed accusations of having a split personality and stated that he was going to embrace it and let it out. TNA presented the interview as being an emotional breakdown on the part of Rhodes. On August 12 at Hard Justice, Rhodes debuted his new ring name, Black Reign, and a "new, darker and bizarre look". At Hard Justice, Harris defeated Black Reign via disqualification when Black Reign attacked several referees. The next week, the gimmick was explored even further, saying that Rhodes constantly switched between Rhodes and Black Reign. He was featured at Bound for Glory on October 14 in a Monster's Ball match against Rhino, Abyss, and Raven, which he lost. Black Reign challenged Abyss to a "Shop of Horrors" match at Genesis on November 11 and lost. At Genesis, Black Reign's new partner, Rellik, made his debut after attacking Abyss. At Turning Point on December 2, Abyss and Raven defeated Black Reign and Rellik in a "Match of 10,000 Tacks". Originally, this match was signed to be Abyss and Rhino versus Rellik and Black Reign but, due to an injury, Rhino was replaced by Raven for this match.

On Impact!, he helped Rellik beat up Kaz. Later the same night, he appeared for an interview, as Dustin Rhodes, without his Black Reign make-up and stated that his "alter ego" has been scaring him since when he was a little kid. His interview was interrupted by the furious Kaz. This led to a match between the two at Final Resolution on January 6, 2008 where Kaz won. Reign and his partner Rellik then began feuding with Super Eric. At Destination X on March 9, Black Reign and Rellik faced Eric Young and Kaz in a losing effort. At Lockdown on April 13, Black Reign and Rellik competed in a Six Team Cuffed in the Cage match which was won by Kaz and Super Eric. After three months of not showing up on television, Black Reign's profile was removed from the TNA roster page and he was released from his TNA contract.

WWE (2008–2012)

On October 26, 2008, Runnels returned to WWE at Cyber Sunday under his Goldust persona as part of the three choices (the other two being Roddy Piper and The Honky Tonk Man) that the fans could choose to face Santino Marella for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. After Honky Tonk Man was chosen and won via disqualification, Goldust and Piper entered the ring and the three candidates fought Marella, afterwards celebrating together in the ring. The following night on Raw, Goldust appeared again with Piper and the Honky Tonk Man as guest commentators for Marella's match with Charlie Haas. The match ended when Goldust and Piper distracted Marella so that Honky Tonk Man could smash his guitar over Marella's head.

Goldust appeared on the celebration of the 800th episode of Raw on November 3, 2008, dancing alongside his father Dusty Rhodes, Lilian Garcia and several other wrestlers. A noticeably slimmer and quicker Goldust finally made a full-time return on the Raw roster once again on the November 24, 2008, episode of Raw, where he defeated Santino Marella.

Goldust participated in the 2009 Royal Rumble match and stared down his real-life half-brother, Cody Rhodes, but was eliminated by him later.

On June 29, 2009, Goldust was traded to the ECW brand via a 15-man trade. His debut match for the brand came on the July 14 episode of ECW, in which he lost to Zack Ryder. In the upcoming weeks, he started a feud with Sheamus leading to his first televised singles win in several months on Superstars against Sheamus pinning him using an inside cradle. After several weeks of feuding, Sheamus defeated Goldust in a "No Disqualification" match on the September 1 episode of ECW on Syfy to end the feud.

Following this loss, he garnered his first number one contender's match for the ECW Championship on the September 15, 2009, episode of ECW on Syfy in a 10-Man Battle Royal where he was the seventh participant eliminated and Zack Ryder earning the title shot in the end. The September 29, 2009, episode of ECW on Syfy saw Goldust win his first match on ECW in an eight-man tag team match where Yoshi Tatsu pinned William Regal to score the win for their team. On the November 10 episode of ECW on Syfy, Goldust won his first televised singles match on the ECW brand by pinning Paul Burchill. Goldust participated in an "ECW Homecoming" Match on the December 22 episode of ECW on Syfy to determine who got an opportunity to challenge Christian for the ECW Championship, but was defeated by Vance Archer.

Return to the independent circuit (2012–2013)

Runnels returned to professional wrestling on April 11, 2012, in Port St. Lucie, Florida, for Championship Wrestling Entertainment's event "WrestleFest", defeating JD Maverick in the main event. He then wrestled on July 14, 2012, in Hollywood, Florida, for the NWA Ring Warriors (part of NWA territories) promotion as Goldust, losing to Vordell Walker via disqualification when "Iceman" Buck Q interfered in the match. Runnels appeared for the Dreamwave Wrestling on September 15 in LaSalle, Illinois. Runnels continued to use the Goldust name outside WWE. Runnels appeared on Mr. Chainsaw Pro Wrestling's Battle Ground 5 event on May 18, 2013, in Kalkaska, Michigan, and billed as Dustin "Goldust" Rhodes.

WWE (2013–2019)

Runnels returned to WWE as Goldust at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2013, as the eighth participant in the Rumble match. He was eliminated by his half-brother, Cody Rhodes, teasing a possible feud. but Goldust later confirmed that his return was a one night only deal.

When Cody was (kayfabe) fired for speaking out against chief operating officer Triple H and then losing to the WWE Champion Randy Orton, Goldust returned on the September 9 Raw to face Orton in a match to get his half-brother Cody Rhodes rehired, but was defeated. Following this, Goldust's father Dusty Rhodes returned to WWE to ask Stephanie McMahon for Cody to be rehired. After much dialogue in which The Shield and Big Show interrupted, Stephanie McMahon gave Dusty two choices, which were to get knocked out by an unwilling Big Show or get "mauled by The Shield." Big Show then knocked Dusty out and stayed with Dusty while the paramedics arrived. In return, the Rhodes brothers gatecrashed Raw by attacking the Shield. At Battleground, Cody and Goldust won their jobs back when they defeated the WWE Tag Team Champions, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in a non-title match. The Rhodes brothers heaped more misery on the Shield by winning a no disqualification match on the October 14 Raw (with the help of Big Show) to capture the tag titles, marking Goldust's first title in WWE in nearly 11 years. By this point, many longtime Goldust mannerisms such as wearing a robe and platinum blonde wig to the ring were dropped in exchange for wearing a jacket similar to his brother; additionally, Goldust would now speak with his normal Texan voice. At Hell in a Cell, the Rhodes brothers' first successful title defense came with winning a triple threat match against the Usos and Rollins and Reigns. At Survivor Series, Goldust alongside his half-brother Cody, participated in the traditional Survivor Series Tag Team match where Goldust survived till the final two alongside Rey Mysterio. However, he got eliminated by Roman Reigns and his team lost. At TLC: Tables Ladders and Chairs, the Rhodes Brothers retained the title in a fatal-4-way elimination match against Curtis Axel and Ryback, The Real Americans and Big Show and Rey Mysterio, but they lost the title to New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) at the Royal Rumble. Later in the Royal Rumble match, he would accidentally eliminate Cody Rhodes. After continuing to team together for months, Goldust and Cody broke up in June, after mounting losses. Cody prompted Goldust to find a new partner to replace him.

On the June 16 episode of Raw, Cody debuted a new character, Stardust, wearing face paint and a bodysuit and adopting mannerisms similar to those of Goldust. At Money in the Bank, Goldust and Stardust defeated RybAxel (Curtis Axel and Ryback). Goldust and Stardust appeared in backstage segments, speaking of a "Cosmic Key". On the August 25 episode of Raw, Goldust and Stardust defeated The Usos in a title match via count-out, but, as a result, they did not win the title. The duo would then attack the Usos out of frustration, turning heel in the process. They confirmed their heel turn after attacking El Torito the following night on Main Event, having defeated Los Matadores in their tag team match. At Night of Champions they won the WWE Tag Team Championships once again by beating The Usos. At Hell in a Cell they retained their title by beating The Usos. At Survivor Series they lost the title to The Miz and Damien Mizdow. They had a rematch for the tag team titles the following night on Raw, but were unsuccessful.

All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2019–present)

On April 20, 2019, it was revealed on "Road to Double or Nothing" that Rhodes would face his real life half-brother, Cody, at All Elite Wrestling (AEW)'s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. At Double or Nothing on May 25, Runnels, under his old gimmick as "The Natural", failed to win. Post-match, the brothers embraced after the announcement they would reunite to face The Young Bucks at the Fight for the Fallen event on July 13. On August 2, 2019, it was announced that Dustin Rhodes had signed a multi-year deal with All Elite Wrestling as wrestler and coach. On the premiere episode of AEW Dynamite on October 2, Rhodes returned to TNT for the first time in over 18 years, Rhodes, The Young Bucks and his half-brother Cody were attacked by The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Santana and Ortiz, Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager). On the October 22, 2019, episode of AEW Dark, Runnels picked up his first victory, by pinning Cima, in an 8-Man Tag Team Match. On the October 23, 2019, episode of Dynamite where he helped his brother Cody and MJF attack Chris Jericho and his stable The Inner Circle. Runnels' feud with The Inner Circle concluded when he lost to Jake Hager in Hager's AEW debut match at Revolution. On the Road to Double or Nothing special, Rhodes announced that if he were to lose to Kip Sabian in the first round of the TNT Championship tournament then he would retire. On the April 22, 2020, episode of Dynamite, Rhodes defeated Kip Sabian to win the quarterfinals match and advance to the second round of the TNT Championship Tournament. The second round saw him facing "The Murderhawk" Lance Archer, with Rhodes losing the match. During the May 20 broadcast of Dynamite, Shawn Spears insulted Rhodes and his family during a segment, setting up a match between the two at the Double or Nothing on May 23, 2020. During his Double or Nothing return match, Rhodes ripped Spears' clothes and won via pinfall after hitting the Final Reckoning (Curtain Call). Rhodes and Q. T. Marshall who first teamed as "The Natural Nightmares" on February 19, unsuccessfully challenged for the AEW World Tag Team Championship against Kenny Omega and Adam Page on the June 17 Dynamite. To avenge Cody losing the TNT Championship to Brodie Lee, Rhodes and Marshall teamed with Matt Cardona and Scorpio Sky at All Out, defeating The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson). After the match, Rhodes challenged Brodie for the TNT Championship on the following Dynamite, which he lost.

On the November 11, 2020, episode of Dynamite, the "Natural Nightmares" teamed up again to defeat The Butcher and the Blade in a bunkhouse match. On the December 9, 2020, episode of Dynamite, Rhodes defeated 10 by pinfall. At AEW Battle of the Belts on January 8, 2022, Rhodes lost to Sammy Guevara in an Interim AEW TNT Championship title match. In early 2023, Rhodes began a tag team with Keith Lee, dubbing themselves "Naturally Limitless". In their first match as a tag team, they defeated Mogul Affiliates (Swerve Strickland and Parker Boudreaux) on the March 3, 2023 episode of Rampage, and they continued to team together throughout the year. On the July 1, 2023, episode of AEW Collision, Rhodes competed in the Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament, losing to Powerhouse Hobbs in the quarterfinals of the tournament. At AEW Worlds End in December 2023, Rhodes lost to Swerve Strickland, substituting for the injured Keith Lee.

Other media

Rhodes appeared in Black Moth Super Rainbow's video for "Hairspray Heart", from their album Cobra Juicy.

Personal life

Runnels was previously married to Terri Runnels. They have a daughter together. The couple divorced after six years of marriage on October 18, 1999. The two became grandparents in 2023. Runnels also has a stepchild.

In a 2016 Facebook post, Runnels reported that his stepchild, who is transgender, had been attacked by three men, condemning anti-transgender attitudes as "hateful crap". He later reiterated his opposition to transphobia in a 2020 Twitter post.

Runnels' autobiography, Cross Rhodes: Goldust, Out of the Darkness, was released on December 14, 2010. In the book, Runnels mentioned that he was married a second time to an unnamed woman. "I also had a short-lived and highly volatile second marriage. We only dated for a few months, then, one day, we just went to the justice of the peace and did the deed." He was referring to Milena Martelloni, whom he married on December 18, 2002; they divorced in 2003. Runnels married his third wife, Ta-rel Marie Roche, on June 22, 2012.

Runnels has an English Mastiff named Beast that has won multiple dog show prizes including a third place finish at the 2026 Crufts tournament in the working group open category.

Championships and accomplishments

All Elite Wrestling

AEW TNT Championship (1 time)

American Combat Wrestling

ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Championship Wrestling from Florida

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

FCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mike Graham

Coastal Championship Wrestling

CCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Professional Wrestling Federation

PWF Florida Championship (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Comeback of the Year (2013)

Match of the Year (2019) – vs. Cody at Double or Nothing

Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1991)

Ranked No. 11 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1996

Ranked No. 126 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

Ring of Honor

ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sammy Guevara

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Marshall Von Erich and Ross Von Erich