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Rhino first made his name in ECW before he moved to WWE where he continued to wrestle till the mid-2000s. Although Rhino was never a top guy in the company, he was able to get over because of his intensity in the ring.
After his initial release from the company, Rhino plied his trade in various promotions such as TNA and NWA before eventually making it back to the WWE in 2015. However, prior to his return, Rhino thought it would never happen.
During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Rhino recalled his WWE return noting that while Triple H wanted to bring him back to the company, Vince was against it when they attempted to bring him back after his stint in TNA.
“Hunter wanted to hire me back after TNA. Vince told Hunter, ‘I like Terry as a person but he’s never going to work for us again, never.’ I heard that in 2013. Terry Taylor actually told me, I’m not sure if he was supposed to tell me or if Hunter told him. Hunter was a big fan of my work, he knows the importance of veterans working with younger talent in the ring. He said It’s not a battle I can win.”
Rhino then recalls Pat Patterson putting in a good word to Vince McMahon about Rhino but Vince McMahon seemingly seemed against the idea despite Patterson saying they needed him.
“I see Pat Patterson who has always been a fan of mine in Montreal in 2014. When you hear that it’s like ugh, but I know I can change minds. Never doesn’t mean never. So Pat goes to Vince, Steve Lombardi tells me I’m going to get a call. So, no call, Pat went to Vince, you got to hire this guy, looks great, the crowd loves him, and we need him. Nothing.”
Rhino recalled how Triple H brought him into the NXT brand booked him with Elias. He was also all praise for Triple H’s booking style.
“Vince likes everything to go through him because if it goes wrong he has no one to blame but him. Which is totally respectable, I get it, but he likes ideas. Hunter booked me for NXT and I worked with Elias before he came up with that character. I was like please remember me. Hunter knew it would work, he knows how to book stuff and how to run wrestling. If something worked, Vince would be like ok, you don’t have to run stuff by me. I’m not saying I opened the door for Samoa Joe and the other guys, they were all important for NXT. but if he had someone come out and it was a dud then it wouldn’t have gotten the leeway.”
Rhino eventually made his return to the WWE in 2015 and continued to wrestle for the company till 2019 proving that in professional wrestling, you never say never.
What do you make of Rhino’s comments? Why do you think Vince McMahon didn’t want Rhino back in WWE? Sound off in the comments section.
