AEW Star Lays Out Retirement Plan

An AEW veteran has three years left in the ring.

At Revolution 2024, Sting set new standards for wrestling retirement matches. Instead of going out on his back as a shadow of his former self as is often the case, The Icon walked out with his head held high as one-half of the AEW World Tag Team Champions after one of the wildest matches of his lengthy career.

One man who has an association with Sting stretching back to the early 1990s is Dustin Rhodes. The 55-year-old star began his career in 1988 and regularly shared the ring with Sting between 1991 and 1995.

So it’s perhaps unsurprising that Rhodes has been wondering about his own retirement, even if he signed a new multi-year contract with AEW in late 2024.

AEW Star Dustin Rhodes Will Retire In Three Years

In a new interview with Tim & Eli on Battleground, Rhodes revealed that not only has he thought about retirement, he knows exactly how he wants to say goodbye. The star admitted that while he might not be on the same level as Sting, his retirement match has set the blueprint for his own farewell.

“I have. I keep it close to the vest about my opponent. I have had this planned the last couple of years of who I want to finish up with. That’s going to take place in three years. It’s going to be tough to step away.

By no means am I anywhere on Sting’s level, but I want that same kind of out. I think I’ve earned it. To finish it off on a pay-per-view and cut a heart-wrenching emotional promo after is what people like. It’s not like the old days. I want to win. I want to win that last match. I don’t want to lose. It means a lot to me, and I have been putting a lot of thought into it.

I would say probably about three years. Things change. We’ll see where they take us. It’s hard enough to even say, ‘It’s almost time, Dustin.’ That’s tough. It’s been part of my life for so long. It’s going to be very emotional.

Getting out of the business is a big step because you’re changing something you’ve done for long. What do you do? You have to find things to do in the interim to keep your mind right.

I’ll be coaching and still producing, which I’m doing right now anyway. I love that. Passing all my knowledge to the young kids, that’s the payoff. When I teach them something and they go out and do it and it works. That’s the payoff, me passing on my knowledge and experience to the younger generation,”

Rhodes will return to the ring on the February 12 edition of Dynamite against former World Champion MJF.

In contrast to Rhodes, fellow veteran and AEW star Chris Jericho said he’s got no plans to retire, and lacks the ego for a full-blown retirement tour or match like John Cena and Sting. Jericho said he’s prepared to “go with the flow” rather than try to put a definitive end to his career.

H/t to Fightful