Goldust: Former WWE Star opens up on his WWE Release. Says he felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulder and AEW reignited his passion for wrestling.
Dusty Rhode, formerly known as Goldust in the WWE, recently made his debut for AEW in an emotional match against his brother. The match was called the match of the night by many fans and critics alike. A bloodied Dusty and his brother Cody embracing each other after the match will remain a wonderful memory for the fans. In an interview with Chris Jericho, on his Talk is Jericho Podcast, the Former WWE star said that he would never want to wrestle Cody again because he doubts that he will ever top that match.
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In the same interview, Dustin/Goldust spoke about his release.
He said:
“I was tired and to me it was like I was deflated. A lot. Terribly. I wanted out. I wanted to go because I really wanted to follow my other dream, which is acting. And I’ve done a few low-budget independent films. I’ve got a couple more on deck. It’s like, I wanna try something else. I’ve done this for so, so long, 31 years, and I love it and it’s my first love, but I wanna have some freedom to do some other things.”
“I went in and I had a meeting with them and I said, ‘Look. I’m done. I’m tired.’ And I did not care. This was one of those moments where I did not care what they did, what they said, I wanted out. It was emotional, I did cry. When they finally did give me my release, we agreed that, ‘Yes, we’re gonna give you your release and we’ll pay you up to your injury’s done.’ Because I just came off those double knee surgeries. ‘And we’ll give you the 90 days and we’ll pay you through that.’ And I’m like ‘okay, that’s fine, no problem.”
“I get out of that meeting, I’m in the car and I’m driving back to the hotel in New York to fly out and I get a call back from Hunter and we’re just talking just a little bit. Some tears are coming and it’s emotional and he was thanking me for everything that I’d done for them and for him, because I’ve known him a long, long time. I hung up the call and all was well…and then the legal battle started, and I just let my attorneys take it over. It took forever and I know it was a long process.”
His WWE release and AEW
He revealed that he felt a weight lifted off of his shoulders when he finally got his release and immediately felt happy. Dustin/Goldust credited AEW for reigniting his passion and love for wrestling.
“I hadn’t been happy in a while, you know? I lost my passion in a sense for our business, and that’s terrible man. That’s horrible. And something like Double or Nothing happens, and my passion and love for the business was reignited. It was incredible because I frickin’ love talking about it now. I’m excited about AEW and what the future holds and what they are going to do because they are going to be great, man. Dang, it’s a special time and all those kids I saw for the first time; a lot of them I knew.”
“A lot of the production crew I knew, but a lot of the kids, man, they’re so happy. You can tell that they’re hungry and that’s important. These guys are showing up to work and they’re excited about creating something that is brand new right out of the shoot and knocking it out of the park. And they’re passionate and they’re hungry. I see that and all these kids, man, it was just… It was unreal. It’s a special, special time to be in the wrestling industry and AEW; they’re riding on the tip of a lightning bolt and it’s gonna be kickass.”
(h/t 411 Wrestling)
