Dustin Rhodes
Dustin Patrick Runnels is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling, in which he performs under the ring name Dustin Rhodes and is a former AEW TNT Champion. He also appears in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor, where is a member of the Sons of Texas stable. In ROH, Rhodes is a former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions alongside Sons of Texas stablemates Marshall and Ross Von Erich.
He is best known for wrestling in the World Wrestling Federation/WWWF from 1995 to 2019, under the ring name Goldust. A second generation wrestler, he is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of Cody Rhodes. He is also known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Between WWE, WCW, ROH, and AEW, Runnels has won 26 total championships. In WCW, he was a two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, a one-time WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Champion, and a two-time WCW World Tag Team Champion. In the WWF/WWE, he is a three-time WWF Intercontinental Champion, nine-time WWE Hardcore Champion, one-time World Tag Team Champion, and two-time WWE Tag Team Champion. He won his first AEW championship, the TNT Championship, in July 2025 at All In, after having been one of the first talents since the company's inception in 2019.
Runnels has also appeared in the Sixth most Royal Rumble matches, at 13. Runnels headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and WCW during the 1990s.
Professional wrestling career
Championship Wrestling from Florida/Professional Wrestling Federation (1988–1989)
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 promotion. The promotion was renamed the Professional Wrestling Federation in February 1989 after Runnels' father, Dusty Rhodes, began wrestling there. Runnels captured the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship from Al Perez on May 23, 1989, holding it for a month.NWA (1988–1989)
In December 1988, Runnels debuted in National Wrestling Alliance. 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 initial WCW 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 initial WCW run with a win over Trent Knight in Walterboro, South Carolina on February 24.Japan and Memphis (1989–1990)
In March 1989, Runnels toured Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling in its annual Champion Carnival, under the name Dusty Rhodes Jr. He returned to AJPW for a ten and a twenty-day tour in the spring and summer of 1990. Runnels began wrestling in the United States Wrestling Association in July 1989. There he feuded mainly with Tony Anthony for Anthony's CWA Heavyweight Championship but never won the belt. He left the USWA in the spring of 1990.World Wrestling Federation (1990–1991)
Runnels debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in late 1990, wrestling as Dustin Rhodes. His first match in the WWF was against Paul Diamond on WWF on MSG Network on September 21, 1990. In November 1990, Rhodes defeated Ted DiBiase in a televised ten-minute challenge match. 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.WCW (1991–1995)
Teaming with Barry Windham (1991–1992)
In February 1991, Runnels made his debut in World Championship Wrestling, wrestling as "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes. 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 Tag Team champions The Enforcers. The pair received a title shot at Clash of the Champions XVII, but Windham was 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 belts 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 ; the match would air on October 3. They held the belts for around two months before losing them to Steamboat and Shane Douglas in a memorable match 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.
United States Heavyweight Champion (1993–1995)
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 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.
At Fall Brawl, Rhodes teamed with Sting, Davey Boy Smith and The Shockmaster to defeat Big Van Vader, Sid Vicious and Harlem Heat in a WarGames match. Rhodes lost the title to Steve Austin in a Two out of three falls match at Starrcade, after losing both falls.
In March 1994, Rhodes started feuding with Bunkhouse Buck and Col. Robert Parker. After Parker introduced Arn Anderson and Terry Funk as adversaries for Runnels, Runnels responded by bringing his father, a former enemy of Funk, back into the ring to team with him again against Parker's Stud Stable. In December 1994, Parker introduced another opponent for Rhodes, The Blacktop Bully. At the Uncensored pay-per-view on March 19, 1995, Rhodes lost to The Blacktop Bully in the only King of the Road match in the company's history. The match, which was filmed several days earlier, resulted in both Rhodes and The Blacktop Bully being fired from the company, as the two had bladed during the match after being instructed to by one another, which was against corporate policy at the time in WCW.
Return to WWF (1995–1999)
Debut of Goldust (1995–1997)
In August 1995, Runnels returned to the WWF, wrestling as a then-villain Goldust, 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. 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 ; 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.Years later, Runnels stated that Vince McMahon called him and offered him the gimmick and mentioned "androgynous" several times; 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 didn't match his personality at all, but decided to work with what was given to him and "run with it".
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. He then feuded with Razor Ramon, whom he stalked and sent messages to throughout late 1995. The feud culminated at the Royal Rumble on January 21, 1996, where Goldust defeated Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship due to interference from the 1–2–3 Kid. This match also marked the debut of Goldust's valet, Marlena, portrayed by his then wife Terri. With her seductive, coolly unconcerned, mysterious character and fully gold-colored wear, Marlena complemented Goldust. Her gimmick consisted of sitting at ringside in a director's chair during Goldust's matches, advising him while smoking large brown cigars. A rematch between Goldust and Ramon at WrestleMania XII was canceled after Ramon was suspended, with Goldust instead fighting Roddy Piper in a Hollywood Backlot Brawl. At the end of the fight, Piper stripped Goldust of his ring attire to reveal him wearing women's lingerie; Runnels revealed in 2018 that it was his idea just three days before WrestleMania XII to wear a slip and thong underneath his ring attire and to have Piper strip him down, getting the approval from McMahon.
Goldust defended his Intercontinental Championship in bouts against Savio Vega and The Ultimate Warrior before losing the title to Ahmed Johnson at King of the Ring on June 23, 1996. In Summer 1996, Goldust briefly gained control over Mankind and feuded with The Undertaker. His attention soon turned to Marc Mero and his then wife Sable. Goldust and Marlena attempted to get Sable to join their team, but Mero won the feud and kept her by his side. He also had a ladder match with Shawn Michaels at internet pay-per-view Xperience for the WWF Championship but lost the match.
In December 1996, Goldust entered a feud with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, when Helmsley began flirting with Marlena. This feud led to the debut of Chyna as Helmsley's new bodyguard and marked the first time Goldust became a fan favorite.