Kenny McIntosh passed along this recap.
Rhino joined Inside The Ropes this week to talk Extreme Rising. Here are some highlights:
His start in the WWF/WWE in 2001:
“Edge, Christian and I were all buddies and I think they’d (the office) said something like they wanted me to be their brother and Edge was like, ‘No, you know, people know him as Rhino, they know we’re buddies, so just tag him along with us, use him as our muscle.’ I remember the first live promo I did and I just shit the bed. I was just so nervous. I didn’t know what they wanted me to say but y’know I then went on and wrestled on the road for a little bit in dark matches and stuff. I wrestled Steve Lombardi and he was actually the one that gave me The Gore as a finish. I used to use it in ECW as a cut off and use the piledriver for the finish. But I used to be really creative, goring people through tables and shit like that. So then I’m working with Lombardi, Brookyln Brawler on the house show loop and I hit him with the Gore and then I’d pick him up and do a TKO. So the second night he said, ‘just hit me with the Gore and pin me on that, ou pick me up for the TKO and it doesn’t get a reaction.’ I remember thinking maybe he just didn’t wanna take it, but he was right. The Gore would get a bigger reaction when I’d set up for it in the corner and ya know the rest is history. “
Vince coming out and interrupting his house show match with Tajiri in 2003:
“Before the show, he was on the house show loop that loop. So before the match he said something like ‘you can’t do anything wrong in the match, just call it out there’ blah blah blah. So Nassau Coliseum is a tough building. So we’re out there and Tajiri won’t call shit and you heard what the boss said, so we went out there and before it one of the agents told us if they chant boring, don’t do anything just sit in the hold. So you’re getting mixed instructions but I’ve worked with Tajiri like 1000 times. So we’re in the hold, they chant boring and Vince comes out telling us to go home and I’m thinking, he’s trying to kick us out the ring thinking lets see what they do, if I throw a monkey wrench into their match. I thought he was just working so I’m like ‘what are you gonna do? fire me’ So he tells Brian (Hebner) to tell Tajiri to dropkick me and go to the back and I’m like, oh shit, he’s serious. So we go to the back, I go take a shower, then I go talk to him. I think he actually felt bad. He said the fans were chanting boring and you had him in a hold. I said to him I was told by one of your agents, if they chant boring, then sit in the hold. So yeah, that was it. I actually got a very good payoff for that match. That’s why i think he felt bad about it.”
To hear the full interview where Rhino talks about getting his start, his first night in ECW, Jay Lethal, Extreme Rising and his plans for the future, head to http://www.facebook.com/theinsidenetwork