Dustin Rhodes talks career, new wrestling school, not being ready to retire, more

[Chris]

Why Dustin Rhodes Still Bleeds for Professional Wrestling

Thirty-six years into a career that began before many of his opponents were born, the Austin native isn’t close to hanging up his tights.

www.texasmonthly.com

Here's various quotes, context is usually pretty clear, article has a lot of Texan fluff

“The passion has come back to me since AEW,” he told Texas Monthly. “It went a little thin towards the end in WWE, and I lost my way because I wasn’t being utilized. I did everything I could possibly think of and had worked with just about everybody. But coming here really opened my eyes. Since day one, it’s been an awesome experience, and we’re just continually growing and trying to get better.”

Not every night is going to be one of those top-notch magical nights where the stars align and everything goes perfect,” he said. “But you can have many of those moments over your career if you just continue your growth, continue studying, and not be scared to step outside of your comfort zone. That’s another big thing that I’ve learned since Goldust. I was terrified to do that character, and it felt way out of my league. But it’s when I was scared that the magic happened. Just take a chance. You might surprise yourself.”

“At the beginning, I wanted to be just like my father because he was a god to me,” he said. “I wanted everything he had. Getting into the business as the son of somebody who is such a polarizing figure, people sometimes think [the opportunity] was handed to me, and it wasn’t. Those first couple years, he sent me to Florida and I made twenty dollars a night for two years—just paying my dues, working in front of a dozen people. It took me about six years in the business to figure out that I couldn’t fill my father’s shoes. It’s impossible. But what I can do is take my new pair of shoes, and create something from what my dad created.”

“I knew Terry [Funk] my whole life and I learned a lot of lessons from working with him,” Dustin said. “The first time I worked with him, we didn’t say much because he would just react. He taught me that sometimes it’s okay to switch off the train track that you’re on and take a different route, and do things that aren’t planned, because it’s organic. Those organic moments that you weren’t even thinking about in the back are what people remember, because they can feel that it’s not planned.”

“I still like to paint my face, which is why I do half,” he said. “So you get Dustin Rhodes, and then you get a little bit of my past.” It’s his way of recognizing both sides of himself—the over-the-top performer who will do anything to entertain a crowd, and the real human being who has overcome tremendous adversity.

“To me, Texas is really the greatest country,” he said. “Us Southerners love wrestling—especially Texans. Our grannies loved it, and our granddaddies loved it. The wrestling landscape has changed dramatically, but people still want a good story, and I think there’s a place for psychological storytellers like myself who can get the audience intertwined and wrapped up in what I’m doing.”

“I love the violence,” he confided. “I can just try to explain it like this: When you bleed, it makes things more electric. People see it and they’re shocked, and I want that. I treat everything like a cinematic experience. I call [wrestling] a violent ballet. Some people don’t like to call it a dance, but I do. It’s all about the timing.”

“I’ve realized I’m a really good teacher, and I’m proud of myself for that,” he said. “I love when I see these young kids, like in our women’s division, who work with me every single week. Before we’re even supposed to be at the building, they’re training with me. And when I see them go out and do something in a match that I taught them and it works, that’s the greatest payoff. To see them succeeding and getting better is truly amazing. It has nothing to do with money. This is me giving back to the business.”

“I always wanted a wrestling school, but there was just never time to do it,” he said. “I’ve finally had time to open up and we’re about three years in business right now and pumping out really good students. I teach them a lot of things that other schools don’t teach.” But true to the secretive nature of professional wrestling, Dustin would rather keep those tricks of the trade in the family: “I’m just going to keep those things private because I don’t want anyone else to start teaching them.”

“I always think I can give a little bit more, because I’m still passionate. Here I am, fifty-five years old, and I’m hanging with the kids and putting on some tremendous matches. I don’t think I’ve had a bad one since I’ve been in AEW, to be honest. It’s shocking to me that I’m still able to do it and that I’ve had a plethora of meaningful matches here in my fifties. Yes, my body is beat up, and I hurt, but I rehab all the time. I’m in the gym every single day, no matter what.”

“I truly believe that if you sit, you’re gonna die,” he said. “If you keep moving, you’re gonna be okay. It’s a thing I say every day—keep stepping. If I can reach people to just get that in their head, to keep moving forward instead of living in the past, I think that’s a positive thing.”