Dustin Rhodes wants to give back to the business that has given him so much.
Dustin still remains as relevant as ever in the mainstream wrestling scope as he continues to showcase his time-defying abilities in an AEW Dynamite ring, but being an influential force backstage also further intrigued him in fulfilling his long desire to open up his own wrestling school. Just last Friday, The Natural revealed that his Rhodes Wrestling Academy is open for business and accepting applications.
In an new interview with WrestleZone’s Dominic DeAngelo, Dustin gave some details regarding how his ambition to teach became something tangible in his own backyard of Texas.
“I’ve had a dream to have a wrestling school for quite some time. I kind of semi had one with my father, but I really wanted one because I think I owe that to the younger kids coming up,” he said as he mentioned earlier how he helps coach the women wrestlers backstage at AEW. “It is something that I want to pass on and that is my knowledge of the sport, my knowledge of the how and when to do certain things and the proper way to get there and I think there’s a lot of great schools out there, but now you have my school and I hope to do the very best I can, but I have my name on that and I’m not going to let this fail, you know what I mean? And if I fail, I fail it on my own.”
Dustin has incorporated his father’s mantra of “Keep Steppin'” into his daily life and attitude, and plans to bring that ideal when starting up the academy.
“I’m gonna make things happen, you have to stay positive about it and work your ass off for things to happen. They don’t just happen, you know? They don’t just fall in your lap. Good things just don’t fall in your lap. Money doesn’t just come to you and fall off of trees, right? So you gotta put work and effort into everything that you do if you want to see a successful thing and I want this school, Rhodes Wrestling Academy to be very, very successful and it will. It will grow and it’s gonna be great.”
Had a ton of applications today for https://t.co/VIMAfPhU8u. I am evaluating each one, as there are limited spots for camp 1 in January. Thank you for your patience. If you can dream it, you CAN achieve it. Apply today! https://t.co/2olAyIyOz9
— RhodesWrestlingAcademy (@AcademyRhodes) September 19, 2020
“If somebody wants to go to a pro wrestling school and you hear that a ‘Rhodes’ is opening a wrestling school, man, wouldn’t you want to be a part of that with my knowledge, with so long in the business and the lineage of our family and our history and the work that I’m doing right now? I would. I would want Dustin Rhodes to train me, all over again, you know?”
Aside with help from his wife, Ta-rel, it’s going to be just Dustin manning the ship and he plans to be extremely thorough in his training process.
“Right now it’s all hands-on training from me. They’re gonna be three months camps, starting in January. Probably around January 8. It’s going to be our first camp and we’ll go for three months so you’re gonna learn a lot, but you’re going to learn the proper way. You’re going to learn the right way to do things, the wrong way to do things. I’m gonna teach you everything, very specific with my teaching.”
You can take a further look at Rhodes Wrestling Academy by going here.
(Transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo of WrestleZone)
Plenty more transcriptions to come from this fascinating interview, including how he doesn’t plan to retire anytime soon, his ongoing career in acting, and a very thoughtful discussion on depression.
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