Since coming to AEW in 2019, Dustin Rhodes has been a player/coach for the company. Dustin, 51, is winding his career down but showed at Double or Nothing 2019 that he still has something left in the tank in the ring. Behind the scenes, he has plenty of knowledge to pass on having been in the business since birth.
Speaking to Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Rhodes discussed the advice he's passed along to the new generation of talent in AEW.
"I worked with MJF on his promos a lot. He is very good and doesn’t need a whole bunch of coaching. He knows how to talk. He just needs direction. For him to put in his tagline was very important where in these promos he says, “I’m better than you.” He did a couple without saying that toward the beginning. I told him he needed to hit his tagline. He started doing that, and the people started recognizing it ... Jimmy Havoc has come a long way when he started here with his promos. He asked me for advice on certain things and to get more out of it — feeling the crowd, letting them react."
He continued, "Britt Baker has really come a long way. Her promos at the very beginning were not very good. Cody has taken a stance on helping her with her promos, and I have watched her gain confidence in talking in front of a camera. I teach her on the side that her facial expressions are very important when conveying certain words. Let the words breathe, give the crowd a scowl, whatever it is. Her timing in promos and her work is getting a lot better. Darby Allin is incredible. He is reckless, crazy. If I did half the things he did, I’d be in the hospital. He is incredible to watch. He is young. It will catch up to his body at some point. But he is important to where we are at right now, and he is doing a great job at it."
Dustin put his career on the line last Wednesday on AEW Dynamite in the quarterfinals of the AEW TNT Title tournament against Kip Sabian. Dustin was victorious in the bout and will now move on to face Lance Archer in the semi-finals.
