Why It Bothers Bully Ray To Hear AEW Star Dustin Rhodes' Career Is 'Winding Down'

Dustin Rhodes has still got it. After capturing the ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship with Ross and Marshall Von Erich, the 55-year-old has proven he has more to give the wrestling business. But despite the recent feel-good moment in Arlington, Bully Ray of "Busted Open Radio" thinks there's an invisible hand guiding Rhodes towards retirement, perhaps sooner than he'd prefer. 

"It actually bothers me. Because I don't think Dustin Rhodes' career winding down is because Dustin wants his career to wind down," Bully said. "You can tell that he is still extremely passionate about being in the ring. And every time Dustin is in the ring, he turns in a great performance ... I am not an ageist in wrestling. If you can go, you can go. If you're over, you're over. If you can get other talent over, even better." Rhodes has flip-flopped several times on retirement. At one point he announced 2023 as his final year in the ring, but then reconsidered, saying he could see himself wrestling "two to four more years." Bully thinks Rhodes seesaws based on lack of opportunity rather than any physical limitations.

"I think Dustin has been put in a position where he has not been utilized enough, and maybe in his mind now, because he doesn't get utilized, it's like, 'All right, maybe my better days are behind me. Maybe I'm not wanted as much anymore.'" Bully said there's plenty of value left in the Rhodes name itself, and AEW would be foolish not to capitalize on it while they still can. "I would be taking advantage of Dustin, especially just because of the Rhodes name," he said. "Nothing about what I see from Dustin, hear from Dustin, the shape he's gotten himself into, his work rate, leads me to believe that this guy truly wants out of the ring."