Who Is AEW Star Dustin Rhodes' Wife?

Wrestlers may be wrestling longer into their lives than ever before, but few have had the success Dustin Rhodes has found later in life. The 56 year old seemed to be entering the twilight of his career when, at 50 years old, he joined AEW soon after it opened its doors in 2019, seemingly to have a match with his brother, Cody Rhodes, before riding off into the sunset. Six years later, Rhodes is not only still wrestling, but still going as strong as ever. Not only is he approaching a year as one-half of the Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions with Sammy Guevara, and one-third of the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions with Marshall and Ross Von Erich, but Rhodes has even won AEW gold, capturing the TNT Championship at All In, his first major singles championship since holding the WWE Intercontinental Title in 1999.

It has been a long 25 year journey for Rhodes back to winning singles gold, one that has been fraught with real life struggles. Rhodes has made it no secret that he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction before finally achieving sobriety 17 years ago, which he's maintained to this day. At the height of his substance abuse issues, Rhodes also had other strife with his personal life, including two failed marriages, one to former WCW and WWE star Terri Runnels in the 90s, and a second in the early 2000s. But as Rhodes followed his personal motto, "keep steppin," in route to sobriety, he also managed to find peace in his personal life, marrying his third wife, Ta-Rel Marie Runnels, in June 2012, remaining married to her since.

While Rhodes has largely been an open book, his marriage to Runnels has largely remained private, which of course has led to some wrestling fans wanting to know more about Runnels. And for the most part, Runnels lives her life out in the open, remaining active on social media. While Rhodes and Runnels have been married now for over 13 years, Rhodes' has indicated the couple had been together even longer than that. When describing the moment of clarity that led to him calling his father, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, for help getting sober, Rhodes credited Runnels with helping him off the couch and carrying him up the hill from their home, in order for him to find service to call his father.

Unlike many wrestling spouses, however, Runnel's involvement with wrestling doesn't appear to end with just being married to Rhodes. Evidence on her Facebook page suggests that Runnels is, alongside her husband, one of the owners of the Rhodes Wrestling Academy, the wrestling school and promotion Rhodes founded in Leander, Texas two years ago. While the Academy has mostly gained its reputation as a wrestling school, with Rhodes serving as a head trainer, it has produced nearly twenty wrestling events since its formation, most recently on July 20, featuring indie talent such as Vert Vixen and Maya World. Among the trainees at the academy have been Wayne and Wyatt Rhodes, Rhodes' nephews.