Dustin Rhodes

Real name: Dustin Patrick Runnels
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 260 lbs.
Date of birth: April 11, 1969
From: Austin, TX
Pro debut: September 13, 1988
Trained by: Skandor Akbar
Finishing move: Blackout

Biography

– Runnels is the real-life son of ‘The American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes and brother to Cody Rhodes
– He started his career by adopting his father’s wrestling name, becoming Dustin Rhodes
– In early 1989, Rhodes toured Japan, wrestling as ‘Dusty Rhodes Jr’
– On May 9, 1989, Rhodes & Mike Graham defeated Southern Force (Bobby Jaggers & Black Bart) to win the FCW Tag Team Titles
– On May 12, 1989, Rhodes & Graham retained the titles against Black Bart & Tony Anthony
– On May 23, 1989, Rhodes defeated Al Perez to win the FCW Heavyweight Title
– On June 18, 1989, Rhodes defeated The Terminator to retain the FCW Heavyweight Title
– In early 1990, Rhodes returned for a second stint in Japan
– In July 1990, Rhodes began competing for the WWF, but left immediately following the 1991 Royal Rumble event, at which he and his father were defeated by Ted DiBiase & Virgil
– In February 1991, Rhodes joined WCW
– At WrestleWar ’91, Rhodes defeated Buddy Landel
– At SuperBrawl ’91, Rhodes defeated Terrance Taylor
– At The Great American Bash ’91, Rhodes teamed with Steve Armstrong & Tracy Smothers to defeat The Fabulous Freebirds (Badstreet, Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes) in an Elimination Match
– On August 5, 1991, Rhodes, Big Josh & Tom Zenk defeated The Fabulous Freebirds to win the WCW 6-Man Tag Team Titles
– One week later, Rhodes, Josh & Zenk defeated The York Foundation (Richard Morton, Terrance Taylor & Thomas Rich) to retain the WCW 6-Man Tag Team Titles
– On October 8, 1991, Rhodes, Josh & Zenk defeated The York Foundation to retain the WCW 6-Man Tag Team Titles
– At Halloween Havoc ’91, Rhodes fought WCW Television Champion Steve Austin to a time-limit draw
– At Clash of the Champions XVII, Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat defeated The Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) to win the WCW Tag Team Titles
– At Starrcade ’91, Rhodes entered the Lethal Lottery Tournament. He teamed with Richard Morton to defeat El Gigante & Larry Zbyszko, but came up short in the BattleBowl
– At NJPW Starrcade ’92 in Tokyo Dome, Dustin & Dusty Rhodes defeated Kim Duk & Masa Saito
– At SuperBrawl ’92, Rhodes & Barry Windham defeated Larry Zbyszko & Steve Austin
– At WrestleWar ’92, Sting’s Squadron (Sting, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff & Ricky Steamboat) defeated The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Steve Austin, Larry Zbyszko, Rick Rude & Bobby Eaton) in a WarGames Match
– At Beach Blast ’92, Rhodes, Barry Windham & Nikita Koloff defeated The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Steve Austin) with Ole Anderson as special guest referee
– On September 21, 1992, Rhodes & Barry Windham defeated Terry Gordy & Steve Williams to win the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Titles
– At Halloween Havoc ’92, Rhodes & Windham fought Steve Austin & Steve Williams to a time-limit draw to retain the NWA & WCW Tag Team Titles
– At Starrcade ’92, Rhodes entered the Lethal Lottery tournament. He and Vader defeated Kensuke Sasaki & The Barbarian, but he came up short in the BattleBowl
– On January 11, 1993, Rhodes defeated Ricky Steamboat to win the vacant WCW United States Title
– At SuperBrawl ’93, Rhodes defeated Maxx Payne by DQ to retain the WCW United States Title
– The following night, Rhodes retained the title against Bill Irwin
– At Beach Blast ’93, Rhodes fought Rick Rude to a draw in an Iron Man Match. As a result, the WCW United States Title is vacant
– On August 30, 1993, Rhodes defeated Rick Rude to win the vacant WCW United States Title
– At Fall Brawl ’93, Rhodes, Davey Boy Smith, Sting & The Shockmaster defeated Kane, Kole, Vader & Sid Vicious in a WarGames Match
– On October 4, 1993, Rhodes defeated Pat Rose to retain the WCW United States Title
– At Halloween Havoc ’93, Rhodes defeated Steve Austin to retain the WCW United States Title
– At Clash Of The Champions XXV, Rhodes defeated Paul Orndorff to retain the WCW United States Title
– At the BattleBowl PPV, Rhodes teamed with King Kong to defeat Awesome Kong & The Equalizer, but again fell short in the BattleBowl itself
– At Clash Of The Champions XXVI, Rhodes fought WCW Television Champion Lord Steven Regal to a time-limit draw
– At SuperBrawl ’94, Rhodes, Brian Pillman & Sting defeated Paul Orndorff, Rick Rude & Steve Austin in a ThunderCage Match
– At Slamboree ’94, Rhodes defeated Bunkhouse Buck in a Bullrope Match
– At Fall Brawl ’94, Dusty Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags defeated Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck, Colonel Robert Parker & Terry Funk in a WarGames Match
– At Halloween Havoc ’94, Rhodes defeated Arn Anderson
– At Uncensored ’95, Rhodes and his opponent The Blacktop Bully both bladed in a King of the Road Match. Blood was against WCW policy at the time and both were fired as a result
– In August 1995, Runnels returned to the WWF under the guise of ‘Goldust’, a sexually ambiguous, bizarre character
– At In Your House 4, Goldust defeated Marty Jannetty
– At Survivor Series ’95, Goldust defeated Bam Bam Bigelow
– At Royal Rumble ’96, Goldust defeated Razor Ramon to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
– On February 20, 1996, Goldust defeated Hakushi to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title
– On March 10, 1996, Goldust defeated Alex Porteau to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title
– The next day, Goldust retained the title against Fatu on Raw
– At WrestleMania XII, Goldust fought Roddy Piper to a no-contest in a Hollywood Backlot Brawl
– At In Your House 8, Goldust defeated The Undertaker in a Casket Match to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title
– On April 1, 1996, Goldust defeated Savio Vega to win the vacant WWF Intercontinental Title
– At Summerslam ’96, Goldust defeated Marc Mero
– On April 12, 1997, Goldust made a surprise appearance at the NWA Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show, defeating Derek Domino
– At King of the Ring ’97, Goldust defeated Crush
– The next night on Raw, Goldust fought WWF European Champion The British Bulldog to a double countout
– At Summerslam ’97, Goldust defeated Brian Pillman
– In late 1997, Runnels began competing as ‘The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust’
– On the April 27, 1998 episode of Raw, Goldust fought WWF Champion Steve Austin to a no-contest with Gerald Brisco as special guest referee
– During Raw on May 11, 1998, Runnels burned his Goldust outfit and began competing under his real name
– At In Your House 25, Runnels revived the Goldust character and defeated Val Venis
– At In Your House 26, Goldust defeated Jeff Jarrett in a Striptease Match
– At In Your House 27, Goldust defeated Bluedust
– On March 29, 1999, Goldust defeated Road Dogg to win the WWF Intercontinental Title
– In late 1999, Runnels returned to WCW as ‘Seven’ though would drop the character upon his TV debut and return to competing as Dustin Rhodes
– At Uncensored ’00, Rhodes defeated Terry Funk in a Bullrope I Quit Match
– At Greed ’01, Dusty & Dustin Rhodes defeated Jeff Jarrett & Ric Flair
– After WWF purchased WCW, Rhodes’ contract was not initially picked up, but he signed a deal in December 2001
– Goldust officially returned to WWF action at the 2002 Royal Rumble
– On January 26, 2002, Rhodes defeated Scotty Anton to win the TCW Heavyweight Title
– On February 26, 2002, Goldust defeated Maven to win the WWF Hardcore Title. Over the next month, he would defend the title against Rob Van Dam and Tazz
– On April 6, 2002, Goldust defeated William Regal to win the WWF Hardcore Title but lost it to Raven later the same day
– The next day, Goldust again defeated Regal for the WWF Hardcore Title but again lost it back to Raven
– On April 12, 2002, Goldust defeated Spike Dudley to win the WWF Hardcore Title but lost it to Bubba Ray Dudley later that day
– The next day, Goldust again defeated Spike to win the WWF Hardcore Title only to lose it to Bubba Ray
– On April 19, 2002, Goldust defeated Bubba Ray Dudley to win the WWF Hardcore Title but lost it that same day to Raven
– The next day, Goldust again defeated Bubba Ray Dudley to win the WWF Hardcore Title but again lost it to Raven
– On May 1, 2002, Goldust defeated Tommy Dreamer to win the WWF Hardcore Title but lost it that same day to Steven Richards. This was Goldust’s 9th and last reign and, incredibly, less than 3 months had passed since his first
– At Unforgiven ’02, Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, Goldust & Kane defeated The Un-Americans (Christian, Lance Storm, Test & William Regal)
– At Armageddon ’02, Booker T & Goldust defeated Christian & Chris Jericho, Lance Storm & William Regal and The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von) in an Elimination Match to win the World Tag Team Titles
– At Insurrextion ’03, Goldust defeated Rico
– In December 2003, Rhodes’ contract with WWE expired
– In 2004, Rhodes began competing semi-regularly for TNA
– At Final Resolution ’05, Rhodes defeated Kid Kash
– At Destination X ’05, Rhodes defeated Raven in a Bullrope Match
– At Lockdown ’05, Rhodes defeated Bobby Roode in a Prince of Darkness Cage Match
– In October 2005, Goldust returned to the WWE, though wouldn’t be seen on television until the 2006 Royal Rumble
– On June 14, 2006, Goldust was released by WWE once again
– On April 7, 2007, Rhodes defeated Bruno Sassi to win the vacant CCW Heavyweight Title
– On June 9, 2007, Rhodes defeated The Super Destroyer to retain the CCW Heavyweight Title
– On June 27, 2007, Rhodes defeated Bruno Sassi to retain the CCW Heavyweight Title
– On July 12, 2007, Rhodes again defeated Bruno Sassi to retain the CCW Heavyweight Title
– In the summer of 2007, Rhodes returned to TNA as Black Reign, essentially a darker version of his Goldust character
– On September 29, 2007, Rhodes defeated Dok Rivers to retain the CCW Heavyweight Title
– On December 14, 2007, Rhodes defeated Gangrel to retain the CCW Heavyweight Title
– On February 8, 2008, Rhodes defeated Dok Rivers in a Bullrope Match to retain the CCW Heavyweight Title
– In October 2008, Goldust returned to WWE, officially re-debuting at the Cyber Sunday PPV
– On December 7, 2010, Goldust suffered a shoulder injury. He would not return to action after his recovery, taking a backstage role instead
– On May 6, 2012, Runnels was released from his role with WWE
– At the 2013 Royal Rumble, Goldust again returned to WWE for one night only
– On September 9, 2013, following Cody Rhodes’ storyline firing, Goldust competed in a match with Randy Orton in an attempt to reinstate his brother, but was defeated by Orton
– At Battleground ’13, Rhodes & Goldust defeated The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) to win back their jobs with the company
– On October 14, 2013, Rhodes & Goldust defeated The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) in a No-DQ Match to win the WWE Tag Team Titles
– At Hell In A Cell ’13, Rhodes & Goldust defeated The Shield (Rollins & Reigns) & The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) in a Triple Threat Match to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
– At TLC ’13, Rhodes & Goldust defeated The Real Americans (Jack Swagger & Antonio Cesaro), Rybaxel (Ryback & Curtis Axel) and Rey Mysterio & The Big Show in an Elimination Match to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
– At Money In The Bank ’14, Goldust & Stardust defeated Rybaxel
– At Night Of Champions ’14, Goldust & Stardust defeated The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) to win the WWE Tag Team Titles
– At Hell In A Cell ’14, Goldust & Stardust defeated The Usos to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
– In February 2015, Stardust turned on Goldust, ending the partnership
– At Fastlane ’15, Goldust defeated Stardust
– In May 2015, Goldust announced that he required surgery on an unspecified shoulder injury and would be out for up to 6 months
– On the Survivor Series ’15 pre-show, Goldust returned to action and teamed with The Dudley Boyz, Titus O’Neil & Neville to defeat The Cosmic Wasteland (Stardust, Konnor & Viktor), Bo Dallas & The Miz
– In a dark match prior to WWE Roadblock, Goldust defeated Viktor
– On the Money In The Bank ’16 pre-show, The Golden Truth (Goldust & R-Truth) defeated Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango)
– In the 2016 WWE draft, The Golden Truth were allocated to Raw
– Goldust was voted into the GERWECK.NET Hall of Fame on November 1, 2017
– On May 15, 2017, Goldust turned on R-Truth, ending their team and starting a feud between the two
– At WWE Starrcade, ‘The Natural’ Dustin Rhodes defeated Dash Wilder
– In July 2018, Rhodes was forced to undergo knee surgery
– In March 2019, it was reported that Rhodes’ WWE contract had expired. Rhodes himself confirmed the departure in April, stating that he had asked for his release
– On April 20, it was announced that Rhodes would be facing his brother Cody at AEW’s debut Double or Nothing event
– Rhodes fell to his brother at Double or Nothing, but was confirmed as a full-time roster member going forward, whilst also working as a trainer for the promotion
– At Dynamite’s 2020 Anniversary special, The Brotherhood (Cody & Dustin Rhodes) defeated The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr & Rey Fenix)
– At Double Or Nothing 2020, Rhodes defeated Shawn Spears
– At All Out 2020, Rhodes, QT Marshall, Scorpio Sky & Matt Cardona defeated The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson & Colt Cabana)
– At Holiday Bash 2020, Rhodes defeated Evil Uno
– At the 2023 Rampage Slam Dunk special, Rhodes defeated Swerve Strickland