Dustin Rhodes Opens Up About Horrific Blading Accident In AEW
In an apperance on the Way of the Blade podcast to discuss his AEW Double or Nothing match with brother Cody Rhodes, AEW star Dustin Rhodes talked about blading during the match. Dustin Rhodes' nasty cut is remembered as one of the highlights of the match, and he admitted that he cut too deep and hit a vein, which nearly had a negative impact on his performance. Rhodes attributed being out of practice due to WWE not allowing blading for why he cut himself too deep.
"We didn't do that in WWE, unless you got busted open by the corner of the post or something for real. It was a hardway bleeding," Rhodes said. "It had been a long time and I was out of practice, let's put it like that. I went deep, I hit a vein and it was excessive. I was actually scared at one point, and Cody looked at me and said 'are you okay?' I said 'yeah, I'm fine.' But I'm looking down, and I've looked at the pictures from some of the photographers that took the shots. And they've caught it in mid stream where the thing is shooting out, and it's dripping out of my head. And it's constant; it did not stop. It would not stop and I'm like 'holy shit.' At one point, where I gave Cody a top rope superplex, we almost fell. We almost fell, and it was because I was dizzy and it was slippery up there. It was like 'we've got to go now.' If I had waited another second, I would've superplexed him onto the rope, so we would've landed kind of diagnonal onto the ropes. And it wouldn't have been good. It might've created some problems."
As Way of the Blade focuses on bloody matches, Dustin Rhodes was asked if he happened to remember the first time he ever bled in a match. Rhodes not only remembers when it happened, but recalled the occasion in vivid detail.
"My first time was in 1988. It was with, do you remember Mark Starr? Yeah, he was there. It was Florida Championship Wrestling and we were in the Sportatorium in Tampa. And they have a door that has bars on it. We ran the whole shows there at the Sportatorium, they had the little bleachers around the ring. And my first time ever (bleeding), I got thrown into the door, which opened up to fall outside. I hit it there for the first time, and I don't really remember if it hurt or what or anything like that. It doesn't really hurt much to me, cause I don't feel anything anymore in my head. It's so hard. I just remember it. I remember the first time feeling really connected to pro wrestling, because they looked at me. And I'm going to say it, red on the head is green in the pocket.
"I do believe that even today, when used properly now, not excessively all the time at every single show. When used properly, it is a huge drawing tool. It brings in a lot of revenue and business for the following week or the next month or whatever it is. And when used properly, it's really good for the company, or any company for that matter. And I do remember it. It was fun and I felt a connection to the fans for the first time I believe. And I just rememeber it like it was yesterday. Mark Starr, me and him, boom, Sportatorium, 1988. It might've been 89, you know, I'm not sure."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Way of the Blade and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription