Val Venis has seen Dustin Rhodes getting hammered over his response to an anti-Islam Twitter post, and he doesn’t think Dustin deserves it. According to Venis, Rhodes simply wandered into a political fight he knew almost nothing about and had “no clue” what he had stepped into.
The former WWE Superstar took to Twitter as the fallout surrounding The Natural continued and immediately cleared him of any blame.
“I don’t believe Dustin Rhodes is at fault. I don’t ever remember Dustin having any knowledge outside of the very basics regarding political realities and societal issues.”
The controversy started when Rhodes responded with “❤️🤘🏼” to a post featuring a woman with a handgun and a caption challenging Islam. Rhodes later apologized and said he hadn’t read the caption at all—he simply liked the firearm in the picture.
Venis believes him. But he also went after Mustafa Ali while defending Rhodes, accusing Ali of bringing “cancel culture” into the situation.
“He accidentally stepped his foot into a post that was clearly a political issue post, and was caught off guard by Mustafa Ali leaning into his programmed cancel culture tool box and tapping Dustin on the skull with the cancel hammer.”
Venis doesn’t believe there was some deeper political message behind Rhodes’ response. In his version of events, Dustin saw a post, reacted to it without understanding what he was stepping into and suddenly found himself buried online.
“Dustin had no clue really what happened. He is just trying to keep peace and wrestle. Probably a good idea.”
Then Venis had something to say to everyone still going after him. He then added a much simpler assessment of Dustin Rhodes.
“For those running Dustin down, just remember folks, Dustin is an entertainer who puts his heart and soul into his performances. Pro Wrestling is literally his life. Politics is not his area of expertise. Dustin has always been a really good dude who has put forth his life for Pro Wrestling and the fans. God bless Dustin Rhodes!”
Rhodes has already said his response had nothing to do with the anti-Islam message and apologized for reacting without reading it. Venis isn’t asking for anything more.
As far as he’s concerned, Dustin Rhodes accidentally stepped into a political controversy, didn’t understand what was happening and should be allowed to get back to what he actually knows—professional wrestling.
Do you agree with Val Venis’ defense of Dustin Rhodes, or do you think Rhodes still deserves criticism for responding to the original post? Let us know in the comments.
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