Rhino Welcomes Heath To The ECW Arena
Impact Wrestling comes to Philly for TV tapings from March 18-19.
Credit: Impact Wrestling
Rhino is no stranger to the mean streets of Swanson and Ritner.
The former ECW World Heavyweight Champion (the last before WWE resurrected the title) returns to the 2300 Arena for two nights of Impact Wrestling TV tapings from March 18-19. While it’s something of a homecoming for the “Manbeast,” it’ll be his tag team partner Heath Slater’s first time competing in the hallowed (bingo) hall.
“He’s a real kind person and a kind soul,” Rhino told The Wrestling Estate. “There’s a real friendship there. He’s a family guy and knows how to wrestle hard for the fans. He’s a guy you can walk up to, say hi and have a beer with. He’s the kind of guy you’d like to have a beer with. I’m a people person, he’s a people person and we love what we do in the ring. Maybe we’ll tag up and make some history, win the Tag Team Titles next weekend.”
Last weekend wasn’t kind to the duo. At Sacrifice, Heath came up short against Impact World Champion Moose, and Rhino lost to Eddie Edwards after being cracked over the head with a kendo stick from Steve Maclin. It was a tough loss for Impact Wrestling, as Edwards represents Honor No More, a group of former Ring of Honor wrestlers staking their claim after their promotion went on hiatus in the fall. Edwards, a triple crown winner in Impact, recently turned his back on the company to lead the invaders.
“I wrestled him in Ring of Honor and he actually gave me 12 staples in the back of my head,” Rhino says. “He powerbombed me on a chair. We were driving home right after that and I had to stop at the hospital. I didn’t hold anything against him.”
In an “only in pro wrestling” story, Edwards’ attack actually led to a sweet moment between Rhino and his daughter, who was 6 years old at the time. She was staying with her cousins while he was on the road, and he couldn’t wait to see her. In addition to suffering the nasty injury, a buddy of his had just passed away after a long battle with cancer.
“It was a long day, and I just needed a hug,” Rhino says. “I showed the kids my staples, and my daughter got up and said, ‘That’s my daddy. He’s cool, he’s got staples.’ I ended up getting that hug.”
His daughter is now 19 years old, and her father is still Goring everybody in sight. Rhino says she thinks it’s cool because she knows his passion. After all, the Michigan native has been competing for more than a quarter century. Honing his craft on the indie scene during the second half of the ‘90s, including a run in Austria and Germany for the legendary Otto Wanz, the powerhouse caught the eye of Paul Heyman, who unleashed him in ECW. Just two months after the promotion closed its doors, Rhino signed with WWE, quickly winning the Hardcore Championship before a brief feud with Chris Jericho.
His ascension to the main event was curtailed due to a couple herniated discs in his neck. After surgery and recovery, Rhino returned to action 16 months later, teaming with Chris Benoit before turning on him and chasing the United States Championship. In the spring of 2005, WWE released him, but he joined Total Nonstop Action (TNA, now known as Impact Wrestling) by the summer. Immediately a threat like in his ECW days, Rhino steamrolled the competition and became the NWA World Heavyweight Champion at Bound For Glory 2005.
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Ten years later, the “Manbeast” returned to WWE, this time in its developmental brand NXT. In 2016, he was brought up to SmackDown to form an unlikely alliance with Heath. They became a popular pair, winning the resurrected SmackDown Tag Team Titles and attempting to breathe some life into the floundering division.
In July 2019, Rhino allowed his contract to expire. As told on the Talk’n Shop podcast, WWE offered him more money than he had ever received to resign, but he wasn’t being used enough. Preferring to hit the road and tour the indies, the veteran has done just that while working for Impact Wrestling.
“It’s not about me – it’s about helping the other talent succeed,” Rhino says. “Helping them find their way, find their niche or fine tune them. Even just telling them stories about the ‘90s or ECW or WWE back in the early 2000s. A lot of times, it’s the same questions I asked guys when I was coming up. ‘Hey, how was it traveling with this person or that person?’ You might pick up something that might spark something or learn a move or something that will help your in-ring persona. There’s a lot of great talent all over the place, and I can only give them the tools.”
Rhino cited Chicago, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Ontario as hotbeds for wrestling talent. Of course, The Wild Samoans also have a knack for producing future stars. One emerging grappler that he mentioned in particular was Nate Bock, known as the “Wildcard from the West Coast,” and a student of Scott D’Amore, executive vice president of Impact Wrestling.
Spending more time between the ropes wasn’t the only reason Rhino turned down another WWE offer. In 2018, purchased a marina in Monroe, MI, which he christened Big Daddy’s Boat Yard. He’s even held events there for his independent promotion Insane Wrestling Revolution, which features fellow Impact names Trey Miguel and Madman Fulton.
“Because of the pandemic, more people were out on their boats,” Rhino says. “It was nice because you see them creating memories. I remember growing up, we didn’t have money, but my dad always had this old, wooden boat. We would all go work on it and go out on it. We never went on vacation – it was one or the other. Do you want to go on vacation for a week or have a boat for the summer?
We learned two things: we learned how to work on wooden boats and how to cuss while you’re working when things don’t go your way. I’ll never forget, we were trying to pull out this guardrail on the back deck. My dad pulled out a chunk of wood and I learned you can say the F word several times in a row, and for some reason, it all made sense.
It’s all about creating memories. It’s the same thing with wrestling. I’ve got people who were there watching me in the ECW Arena, and they’ll be there next weekend watching me perform again, hopefully with Heath, and they’ll bring their kids.”
Impact Wrestling comes to the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on March 18-19.
For tickets, click here.
Watch Impact Thursdays 8pm ET on AXS TV, Thursdays 8:30pm ET on YouTube (IMPACT Insiders), Thursdays 10pm ET on IMPACT Plus
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