On Tuesday, Dustin Rhodes made it very clear that he’s not interested in a return to WWE.
The current AEW star said that not only is he happy where he is now, but goes on to say he “never got a raise” while working for WWE, and that the company didn’t reward him otherwise for his efforts.
The son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, and brother to current WWE main eventer Cody Rhodes, famously portrayed the androgynous (and golden) Goldust character beginning in the late 1990s. He returned to the company
sporadicly in the 2000s with the gimmick, even teaming at one point with a Stardust character that his brother would rather forget.
He first appeared in AEW in 2019 shortly after his WWE contract expired, though he is currently sidelined following double knee replacement surgery.
The topic of a return to his old character was broached when a fan wrote on X (Twitter): “Bring Goldust back to WWE immediately.”
“Nope! I never got a raise there,” Rhodes wrote in response to the comment.
While he acknowledged how much being Goldust meant to him, he said he was done with the character while also indicating he felt he was underutilized in WWE.
“What, you want me sitting the bench doing nothing? That ain’t me anymore,” Rhodes wrote on X. “I have done the best work of my career with @AEW. I love the character Goldust, but he ran its course.“
He added, “I did what I was told and it got me nowhere. No thanks.”
Dustin reiterated his fondness for Goldust when another person posted it was one of his favorite wrestling personas.
“Don’t give [sic] me wrong I love the character and brought it to life and had fun doing so,” the wrestling legend wrote.
Rhodes later posted a testy reply to a fan who disputed his assertion that he never got a raise at WWE.
“Don’t f***ing tell me what’s true and not true you weren’t there you’re f***ing idiot,” he snapped.
When another person commented that he hoped Rhodes wasn’t bitter for his time at the company, Dustin simply responded: “Have no time to be bitter.”
If Dustin changed his mind about a WWE return, he would first have to get out of his AEW contract. In December 2024, he announced he had he had recently signed a multi-year deal with Tony Khan’s promotion. The Dallas Morning News in July 2025 reported the deal was for six years.
What do you think? Would you like to see another Goldust run in WWE, or do you prefer that Dustin stay where he says he’s happiest? Let us know in the comments.
