Dustin Rhodes Announces 2023 Is His Last Year In Wrestling
"The Natural" will finish up a legendary career
AEW star Dustin Rhodes announced that 2023 will be his last year in professional wrestling, making the announcement at GLCW's Blizzard Brawl in Waukesha, WI on Saturday night.
Rhodes stated in November that he had about a year left on his AEW contract. He last wrestled on a set of AEW Rampage tapings on August 24, unsuccessfully challenging Claudio Castagnoli for the ROH World championship.
Rhodes has only wrestled in five matches in 2022, but also works backstage as a coach, and trains hopefuls at the Rhodes Wrestling Academy.
Rhodes tweeted in October, "Man, old age has caught up to me guys. As much as I push myself beyond my limits, I can honestly say, I am doing some heavy thinking about the next step. We all think we can go forever with new batteries, but TIME comes for all of us. Kinda scared tbh. #KeepSteppin"
The 53-year old Rhodes made his professional debut in September 1988. The second-generation star held championship gold in both WCW and WWE, creating the memorable Goldust character in the latter organization.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.
