WWE News: Dustin Rhodes thanks fans at Starrcade with emotional message for Dusty Rhodes

What's the story?

WWE bringing back Starrcade was always going to bring out a lot of memories for old school wrestling fans as the mega event returned after a long gap of 17 years, although just as a live event.

One of the pioneers of the then pay-per-view, the late Dusty Rhodes, was also honoured not only by the fans at the show but by his son, Dustin Runnels (Goldust) also had am emotional message to share.

In case you didn't know...

Starrcade was the largest annual event for NWA/WCW and was traditionally held during Thanksgiving, however, it became a December event in its final years and the last edition was held in 2000.

Many expected the 2017 edition to be a pay-per-view or even a streamable event, however, the WWE kept it as a live show with a few social media releases from Greensboro.

The heart of the matter

This Starrcade mostly had current WWE superstars in the ring with SmackDown Live using up its roster but there was a treat for the fans as Dustin Runnels did not take up his Goldust persona and wrestled as Dustin Rhodes.

EXCLUSIVE: @Gbocoliseum was greeted to a familiar face as "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes emerged to face @DashWilderWWE at #WWEStarrcade! pic.twitter.com/L7HxNAyn02

— WWE (@WWE) November 26, 2017

He was up against Dash Wilder and picked up the victory via his old finisher, the Bulldog, in front of thousands of cheering fans but he did have a message for them before heading backstage.

The WWE star started off by saying that he loved his father and that he could not explain what it meant to be in the ring as ‘Dustin Rhodes’.

Dustin also added that he had watched a number of Starrcade events from way back in the stands and is now competing in a WWE event. He also thanked the fans for loving and honouring the Rhodes family name as the crowd chanted Dusty’s name.

Special moment for @Goldust The Natural!!! #WWEStarrcade pic.twitter.com/3tBi000DGB

— Joe in wis (@joecs1220) November 26, 2017

What's next?

The main event at Starrcade was a match between AJ Styles and Jinder Mahal but everyone would have been extra pleased with how the WWE did honour Dusty’s legacy as the Titantron also showed clippings of ‘The American Dream’ after Dustin won the match.

Author's take

Dusty is a legend in the wrestling business and the WWE did miss a trick by not bringing back Starrcade a little sooner. However, they could have made it a grander event had they broadcast it as a pay-per-view and not a live event.

It was nice to see Dustin also get a run as his original character and not Goldust and getting the chance to thank the fans for all their love and support was certainly the best thing for him and a touching way to honour Dusty.