AEW's Dustin Rhodes Discusses Pro Wrestling's 'Renaissance'

Nearly 36 years into his wrestling career, AEW's Dustin Rhodes has lived through the peak of wrestling's popularity during the 1990s, and its subsequent decline in the 2000s. Now, with the wrestling business seemingly on the rise, Rhodes believes we are in another golden age of wrestling, as he discussed while appearing on "Insight With Chris Van Vliet" earlier this week.

"It is like a renaissance, isn't it?" Rhodes said. "It's cool man. You know how it goes in cycles, and I think we're on an upcycle right now, and it's an incredible business for everybody. Everybody is kicking is ass. Everybody is strong; AEW is strong, WWE is strong. You look at TNA coming back, it's incredible to watch, right? People love to be entertained. They want to be taken out of their day [for] two to three hours, however long the show is. Whatever they're going through, good, bad, whatever, they get away. They want to watch us and that's our job to take them out of that and entertain them."

Rhodes is especially proud that the boom in wrestling is being led by his younger brother, Cody Rhodes, even if he's still a bit caught off guard by it all being kicked started by Cody leaving AEW to return to WWE back in early 2022.

"I didn't [expect him to leave], actually, I didn't," Rhodes said. "But I know some stuff that went on, and I think it was just his time. He made a smart decision, made a very smart decision. Look at it now. He's the man here, so it's incredible, an incredible journey from him leaving the first time in WWE and saying he's betting on himself and taking the ball and running with it. He created something really cool. That's awesome."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription