Cody Rhodes and Goldust (also known as Cody and Dustin Rhodes, The Brotherhood, The Rhodes Brothers, and Gold and Stardust) were an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes. They are best known for tenure in WWE and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Cody and Dustin are real life half-brothers and were once managed by their father, wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes. They were a sub-group of The Elite.
The tag team was formed when Cody was fired from the WWE after losing to Randy Orton in a match prompted by Cody's questioning of the company's chief operating officer Triple H's authority. The following week, Goldust fought Orton in an attempt to have Cody rehired, but was also fired after he lost. Dusty attempted to convince The Authority to rehire his sons. Eventually, Triple H and his wife Stephanie McMahon decided that the half-brothers would face the two members of The Shield, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, at Battleground, but stipulated that if Cody and Goldust lost, they would never work in the WWE again and Dusty would lose his job as a trainer at the Performance Center. This match marked the debut of Cody and Goldust as a tag team and their victory over Reigns and Rollins led to an immediate return of their jobs. However, after almost eight months, they were disbanded at Payback due to the number of times Cody and Goldust lost. Cody suddenly returned to revive the tag team in June 2014 on Raw under his new gimmick as "Stardust".
They became two-time WWE Tag Team Champions. The first being in October 2013 after they captured the title in a no disqualification match against The Shield (Reigns and Rollins) with help from Big Show on Raw as Cody Rhodes and Goldust, and on 21 September 2014 when they defeated The Usos at the Night of Champions event as Gold and Stardust.
Following the creation of the promotion All Elite Wrestling, where Cody and Dustin serve as in-ring talent (and Cody as a founder and an executive vice president), the Rhodes brothers continued to stay associated and expanded their group to include Cody's real life wife Brandi, WWE Hall of Famers Arn Anderson and Diamond Dallas Page, and close friend Q. T. Marshall, and are collectively known as Nightmare Family (taken from Cody's nickname, "The American Nightmare"). On October 30, 2020, Cody announced on Twitter that Billy and Austin Gunn had joined the group, as well as Lee Johnson. On February 8, 2021, Cody announced on Twitter that Aaron Solow and Nick Comoroto had joined the group.
Contents
History
WWE
In 1995, Dustin Runnels, the son of WWE Hall of Famer Virgil Runnels (better known as Dusty Rhodes), was re-signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), as it was then known. He was then given the character of Goldust, a somewhat spooky and mysterious persona with sexually suggestive mannerisms, later nicknamed "The Bizarre One". Vince McMahon, the promotion's chairman, described it as "androgynous". In his period of time with the WWF, Goldust went on to become a three-time Intercontinental Champion, a nine-time Hardcore Champion, and a one-time World Tag Team Champion with Booker T. However, his contract expired in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), as it is now known, and he refused to renew it in December 2003. In 2008, Runnels returned to WWE as Goldust at Cyber Sunday. After a four-year stint in WWE, he was released in 2012.
His half-brother Cody Rhodes is also fathered by Dusty Rhodes. Cody began wrestling in WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in June 2006. On 2 July 2007, Cody made his television debut in a backstage segment with his father Dusty and Randy Orton, where Orton introduced himself to Cody and disrespectfully slapped Dusty. On 9 July, Rhodes slapped Orton in return and, the following week, Cody faced Orton in his debut WWE match, but lost. In the following years, he would become a two-time Intercontinental Champion and a four-time Tag Team Champion (three World Tag Team Championships and one WWE Tag Team Championship) with Hardcore Holly, Ted DiBiase Jr. (as part of the Legacy group), and Drew McIntyre.
In January 2009, Goldust participated in the annual Royal Rumble match and stared down Cody who ultimately eliminated him. Goldust married Aksana on 2 November 2010 on NXT, with Dusty and Cody in attendance. In 2013, Goldust was a surprise entrant for the Royal Rumble match on 26 January and was once again eliminated by his half-brother. Although he hinted at a possible feud with Cody, he later confirmed in an interview that his return was a one night only deal.
On the September 2, 2013 episode of Raw, Cody Rhodes was fired from WWE after losing to WWE Champion Randy Orton in a non-title match, which Rhodes was forced into after he questioned the company's chief operating officer Triple H's authoritarian rule. Goldust returned the following week and similarly lost to Orton in a non-title match, thus failing to get his half-brother rehired. Eventually, their father Dusty Rhodes returned to Raw in an attempt to convince Stephanie McMahon to give his sons their jobs back. Instead, McMahon propositioned that Dusty could choose either one of his sons to receive a job, but not both. Dusty refused and Big Show knocked out Dusty as per McMahon's orders. In return, the Rhodes Brothers ambushed Triple H's henchmen the Shield on Raw. The next week, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon (later known as the Authority) offered the brothers their jobs back if they could defeat The Shield's Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns (the WWE Tag Team Championship) at Battleground. If they lost, they would never work in WWE again and Dusty would lose his job as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. All three members of the Rhodes family were then attacked by The Shield, including United States Champion Dean Ambrose. On 6 October at Battleground, the Rhodes Brothers made their debut match as a tag team with Dusty in the corner and defeated Rollins and Reigns to earn their jobs back. Various WWE wrestlers and agents came out to celebrate with the Rhodes family, including Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, and Dave Finlay.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2020)
After facing each other in a grueling match at AEW Double or Nothing, Cody asked his brother, now going by his original ring name Dustin Rhodes, to team up with him at Fight for the Fallen to go up against The Young Bucks. On the January 8, 2020 episode of AEW Dynamite, Rhodes Brothers teamed up to take on Lucha Brothers.
Throughout 2020, The Nightmare Family would become a stable who mostly supports Cody Rhodes in big matches while also teaming amongst themselves, the group consists firmly by Cody Rhodes, his wife Brandi Rhodes, his brother Dustin Rhodes, his manager/coach Arn Anderson, Q. T. Marshall, Lee Johnson and The Gunn Club. Diamond Dallas Page is also a part-time member.
Championships and accomplishments
WWE
WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times)
Slammy Award
Tag Team of the Year (2013)