The Rhodes Family

The Rhodes family is one of the most crucial families in the world of pro wrestling. It mainly comprises three individuals - Dusty Rhodes, and his two sons Dustin and Cody Rhodes. The three have played very big roles in the pro-wrestling industry.

Dusty Rhodes is credited as one of the smartest brains in the industry. Rhodes is the pioneer of many gimmicks for the work he did in his era. His son Dustin Rhodes played the iconic role of Goldust, an androgynous superstar who quickly rose to fame. Further, the character Goldust is considered to be one of the major reasons for the onset of the Attitude Era, perhaps the biggest era of pro wrestling.

Speaking of Cody Rhodes, the man might have already surpassed his father and his brother. Rhodes played a crucial role in helping build AEW, the only promotion after WCW to give serious competition to WWE. He then left AEW and re-joined WWE, where he also headlined WrestleMania following the return.

Apart from the three Rhodes, the family also comprises of Brandi Rhodes, Cody Rhodes’ wife and Ta-Rel Marie, Dustin Rhodes’ wife.

The Rhodes Family Tree

“The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes

Dusty Rhodes (real name - Virgil Riley Runnels Jr.) was born on October 11, 1945 in Austin, Texas. He played football and baseball in school and did not have any prior wrestling experience when he started working for Tony Santos’ pro-wrestling promotion in 1967. Once he stepped into that squared circle, there was no looking back for Dusty Rhodes.

He competed for about seven years in the indies before being called by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1974 and then Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985. Following a four-year stint on the latter, Rhodes finally joined WWF in 1989. However, his tenure was short-lived as he returned to WCW and ECW in 1991 and stayed there until the folding of both companies in 2001.

Thereafter, Dusty Rhodes appeared in the indies and on TNA until 2005, when he came to WWE. From 2005 to his unfortunate demise on June 11, 2015, Rhodes stayed loyal to WWE. During his second stint with the promotion, Rhodes acted as a creative consultant, trainer, on-screen figure, and off-screen mentor. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 by his two sons.

Rhodes had two marriages. His first wife was Sandra McHargue (m. 1965 to 1975), with whom he shared two children including Dustin Rhodes. He later married Michelle Rubio (1978) and had two children including Cody Rhodes.

In his later years, The American Dream suffered from kidney disease. Upon his passing, Rhodes was given a traditional ten-bell salute on Monday Night RAW and then NXT. Later that year, WWE introduced a tag team tournament for NXT which they named The Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic.

“The Natural” Dustin Rhodes aka Goldust

Dustin Rhodes (real name Dustin Patrick Runnels) was born on April 11, 1969 in Dallas, Texas. He was the son of Dusty Rhodes and Sandra McHargue. Rhodes followed in his father’s footsteps and joined pro wrestling. He made his debut at Championship Wrestling from Florida in 1988 and joined WCW later that year.

In 1990, he joined his father in WWE and both stars left the promotion to return to WCW in 1991. However, while Dusty Rhodes stayed outside WWE until 2005, Dustin Rhodes returned to the company as early as 1995. His return would prove to be a career-changer for him and an era-changer for the whole industry.

Soon upon his return, Dustin Rhodes transformed into Goldust. As Goldust, he won the WWE Intercontinental Champion while also defeating The Undertaker. Further, this character is considered to be one of the reasons why WWE transitioned into the Attitude Era.

Following the Attitude Era, Rhodes switched between WWE and other promotions multiple times. He had a last run with WWE up until 2019 where he also formed a memorable Golden Truth tag team with R-Truth. Following this stint, he joined AEW in 2019 and has remained there since then.

“The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes (Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes) was born on June 30, 1985 in Georgia, USA. He was born Cody Garrett Runnels but he added Rhodes legally to his name during his teenage years. Rhodes joined WWE’s developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2006 and was called up on Monday Night RAW the next year in 2007.

He would then go on to be a member of The Legacy, a faction of second-generational wrestler also involving Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase Jr. The group stayed together for about three years up until 2010, following which he transitioned into another gimmick. He became to be known as Dashing Cody Rhodes, and won the Intercontinental Championship in 2011, where he introduced the popular white strap title belt.

In the next two years, he teamed up with his half-brother Dustin Rhodes and also became the Tag Team Champion. In 2014, he was re-branded into Stardust, which eventually became a reason for his departure in 2016. He competed on ROH and the indies for the next two years and became a big name there.

In 2018, when wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer answered that no promotion other than WWE could sell more than 10,000 tickets, Cody Rhodes replied by organizing an event with his friends that sold more than 10,000 tickets within 30 minutes. Following the immense success of this event All-In, Rhodes, his friends and Billionaire Tony Khan created a promotion in 2019 known as All Elite Wrestling, where Rhodes worked as an EVP.

Rhodes had a great run in AEW and was one of the biggest name there. But, to everyone’s surprise, he left AEW in 2022 and returned to WWE. Since his return, he has beaten Seth Rollins thrice, and Brock Lesnar twice and has also headlined WrestleMania.

Brandi Rhodes

Brandi Rhodes (Brandi Alexis Runnels) was born on June 23, 1983 in Michigan, USA. She is an actor, pro-wrestler and businesswoman. She began her pro-wrestling career in 2011 where she started in FCW and also worked as a ring announcer for SmackDown and NXT.

She worked sporadically for WWE up until 2016. She married Cody Rhodes in 2013. In 2016, the couple left WWE for the indies and helped build AEW in 2019. At AEW, Brandi Rhodes worked as the Chief Brand Officer of the company. The two left AEW together in 2022. However, Brandi Rhodes has not signed a contract with WWE.

Championships and Accomplishments