Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Monday, September 5, 2005 at 6:11 PM EST

The following was transcribed by Dan "Ho-Ju" Kriegbaum:

Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Rhino, was a guest on the 09/02/05 edition of Monday Night Mayhem, which can be heard in streaming audio every week exclusively on MondayNightMayhem.com & on The AudioWrestling Radio Network -- your official home of "The Spring Break Incident" Video-On-Demand, featuring SmackDown Diva, Stacy Keibler!

The entire 45+ minute interview with Rhino is now available to hear for FREE in Real Audio! Here are highlights from the interview provided by the show's correspondent, Dan "Ho-Ju" Kriegbaum, of www.MondayNightMayhem.com.

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The interview begins with talks about last weekend's WrestleReunion II festivities, in which Rhino was a part of, in a main event tagging up with Matt Hardy against Team 3-D (formerly The Dudley Boyz). Rhino begins by commenting about the stiff chops he received at the hands, no pun intended, of Bubba Ray Dudley. Rhino then goes on to talk about being able to sit and talk with legends such as Bret Hart, and Mick Foley, among others. The Big Mosh then focuses on the tag match that was previously mentioned, and the problems surrounding it, from people in the WWE not wanting Matt Hardy to participate in the match, to Team 3-D not being able to use the name that they have used for multiple years. Rhino mentions that no matter where you go in the wrestling business, problems will always occur, and a few just happened to occur this past weekend, but they cut through the red tape and went on with the match.

A comment from Bubba Ray Dudley at Team 3-D's Q&A session from WrestleReunion, in which he compared the drive and work ethic of the wrestlers in TNA to that of those in ECW, is then mentioned by The Big Mosh, which he asks Rhino's thoughts on the comment and his thoughts on Bubba and D'Von as they start off another chapter in their wrestling career. Rhino agrees with Bubba's statement, and mentions that ECW was not 100% hardcore & crazy, like a lot of those in the business & some fans think that it was. He names wrestlers like Dean Malenko & Chris Benoit who just went out and wrestled, without a lot of chairs & tables. He then names guys like Alex Shelley & "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles who do the same type of thing now in TNA.

Speaking of TNA, The Angry Hero asks Rhino his thoughts about his match next Sunday night, September 11th, at Unbreakable against Raven for the NWA Heavyweight Championship. Rhino first off says that he's "pushing for a shopping cart to be involved," referring to the match he & Raven had at Backlash 2001, saying that he and Raven bring the best out of each other, especially when a little hardcore is involved. Rhino then says that he wants the Heavyweight Title, which is another thing that separates TNA from the WWE -- in that a group of five-ten guys are all capable at World Title shots, and it could go to any of them instead of being centered around two-three core guys that care about the World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Championship in the WWE.

The Big Mosh then refers to WrestleReunion again, with Rhino's post-match comments about him not believing that the fans would remember him, but he still always gets the chants of "Rhino, Rhino." He referred to his time in the WWE, where he was required to be at events if they were on the show or not, and how it hurt to be away from friends and family for 300 days out of the year -- but he can choose when he wants to be away now on the independent scene, in his talent, moves he can use, and when he wants to work. He also discusses various talent he would love to work with while on the independent scene, including "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown & Samoa Joe, who he will be wrestling this Saturday night (September 10th) in Jersey All Pro Wrestling.

His partner at WrestleReunion, Matt Hardy, is then talked about, with the current personal & professional stages of his career, and his recent storyline with Edge. The Big Mosh mentions Matt losing to Rob Conway, after a bad match from SummerSlam that many looked forward to -- which Rhino thinks that it's just to draw out the storyline with Edge, and not to be buried, although if he were in Matt's shoes, he wouldn't be happy.

Rhino then takes time to comment about more comparisons between WWE & TNA. One of which includes the dress code between the two, in that the WWE now has a semi-strict code on dressing up to arrive and depart from shows, while at TNA, you can arrive in a t-shirt & jeans, or pretty much whatever you want to, as clothing won't help the ratings go up. Rhino mentions that if people are looking to endorse your product, or a certain person, they'll look at the work they do in the ring, not who shows up looking the best. He also mentions that in TNA, as long as you work hard and put on a good match, the backstage could be a very fun environment, unlike the WWE, where now they can no longer bring video games to pass the time. The Big Mosh then mentions Johnny Ace, in which Rhino says he's cleared any problems he had with him and that he still thinks highly of them.

The Angry Hero then asks about Rhino's last WWE appearance to date, being the ECW One Night Stand Pay-Per-View. First off, is the unannounced match of Rhino against Sabu, which was one of the better matches of the night, and then Hero asks about the event as a whole, including the "ECW vs. WWE" battle at the end. Rhino admits that he was worried about WWE getting involved at first, says that he loved the Paul Heyman promo, and mentions that since it was under the WWE "flag," that's as close as you could get to re-living ECW. Rhino then mentions that he's looking forward to the upcoming Hardcore Homecoming shows, because it will be more like ECW, with no WWE influence. The Big Mosh then runs down some of the cities that are part of the upcoming Hardcore Homecoming tour, and states that the people putting these shows on (such as Jeremy Borash) actually care. He then asks Rhino what he wants to get out of the shows, in which Rhino answers by saying that he just wants to get something special out of it, and recreate the ECW magic.

Rhino again compares WWE to TNA, this time behind the scenes. He comments that WWE has Hollywood bookers, who are fans of wrestling, writing more drama and storylines instead of wrestling, while TNA has bookers that actually used to wrestle, and book wrestling. He states that when he watches wrestling, that's what he wants to see, and not "five minutes of talk & two minutes of wrestling, followed by ten minutes of talk & five minutes of wrestling, before a three-minute commercial break" -- which many wrestling fans could probably agree with.

The Big Mosh then mentions the only ECW that the WWE is giving respect to now, is by reusing their storylines, including the recent Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio/Dominick angle, playing off of The Sandman/Raven/Tyler Fullington (The Sandman's son), and the UPN Network employee (Palmer Canon), playing off of Don Callis' TNN "Network" character. Rhino mentions that he didn't see either of the two storylines, but he heard about them, and how horribly they were done.

The Angry Hero then asks about Scott D'Amore, the man responsible for getting Rhino into the business many years ago, and what it's like to make the full circle to being able to work with him again now in TNA. Rhino mentions his first match was in Border City Wrestling, D'Amore's promotion in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He goes on to talk about how he learned all over the world, and from guys like Terry Taylor, to get to where he is now, booking great shows for TNA. He mentions the great talent he has helped train, like Petey Williams, Chris Sabin, & Alex Shelley -- who all happen to help train at D'Amore's school now. Rhino then quotes Scott D'Amore from the Spike TV announcement conference call, in which Scott said that they all need to continue to step it up & tighten their belts to make this work, in which they are doing.

These are just some of the highlights from the interview, which also include more comparisons between TNA & the WWE, TNA & ECW, and also some humor with Rhino's two-year old daughter interrupting a few times -- to give her thoughts. Over 45+ minutes with one of the more experienced wrestlers on the scene today -- and as you can see, he had a lot to say!

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Be sure to check out the rest of this past week's slam-packed edition of The Mayhem, which also features the first interview from the hosts of the nation's longest wrestling radio show, Get In The Ring's Sir Adam & The Phantom, together in a non-GIR setting. The authors of "Mysteries Of Wrestling: Solved" along with The Big Mosh & The Angry Hero -- four explosive personalities, two different worlds, one epic show!

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Do not forget to tune in to tonight's very special edition of MNM -- Monday Night Mayhem presents: "Labor Day Live" (broadcasting live from 6-9PM ET). "The Franchise" Shane Douglas has requested to be on the program to officially kick off the upcoming Hardcore Homecoming Tour, to address the latest controversial moves by Vince McMahon, and to preview this Sunday's TNA Unbreakable PPV. In addition, former WWE superstar, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake will join The Mayhem to reflect on his career in WWE & WCW, and also to recap last night's "Hogan Knows Best" season finale.

Join The Big Mosh, The Angry Hero, & Blade for three hours of slam-packed excitement, as "The Summer Of Mayhem: Part Deux" officially comes to a close -- and we go LIVE!

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You can hear feel The Mayhem in its entirety every week -- exclusively on www.AudioWrestling.com & www.MondayNightMayhem.com.