GORE! GORE! GORE! One of the final superstars created in ECW. A man who worked his way up from a squash match with Taz in June of 99 to the top of the ECW mountain as both TV and World champion in 2001 only to have the company shut down. Rhino, two time ECW TV champion, involved in several high profile angles with Sandman (who could forget Lori Fullington taking several piledrivers from the ring apron onto a table on the floor courtesy of Rhino) and winner of the ECW Heavyweight championship at the companys final Pay Per View, Guilty as Charged also stopped by to give RF VIDEO an exclusive interview. There is no stone left untouched as we ask Rhino what happened at WrestleMania 21 that cause him to have so much heat with the WWE. RF VIDEO covers Rhino’s entire career and we ask about the wild days of ECW and what happened when the ECW wrestlers were brought into the WWE fold. Rhino brings new insight into the final year of ECW, plus all the changes in the WWE after ECW folded. From headlining one of the biggest PPV events of all time, to the handling of the WCW/ECW InVasion storyline, to the death of hardcore in the WWE. From 2001-2005 Rhino saw many changes in the WWE, he then faced injury only to come back to working a new style and have Vince McMahon come out and stop one of his matches and publicly humiliate him. Rhino has had a very interesting career and in this shoot he goes into the heart of the WWE, from its writers, to the front office, not even Vince Mcmahon himself escapes the man-beast’s wrath on this shoot
Were you a fan growing up
Who did you like watching
Did you play any sports growing up
When did you know you wanted to give it a shot
Were you discouraged at all early on because of your height
How did you wind up meeting Scott D’amore
What kind of a trainer was he
What was the biggest misconception you had about wrestling before you=20
started training
What do you remember about your first matches
Thoughts on Thug Life
Edge talked a lot about the crazy Canadian road trips in his=20
book, what are your memories? Any good stories?
Early memories of Edge an=
d=20
Christian
Did you think they had it
Thoughts on Joe E Legend
What do you remember about the indy years before ECW
Were you an ECW fan before you were contacted
How were you contacted, were you contacted or did you contact them>
Did you ever have any talks with ECW before that time
Did you know anyone in ECW before you came in
How close did you stay with Christian and Edge after they went to the=20
WWE
Initial impressions of Paul Heyman
Were the other guys receptive to you in the locker room
What do you remember about your match with Chris Daniels
Early on you were kind of portrayed as a mid carder, and as a strong=20
enhancement guy after you did a job to Taz on TNN, Spike beat you in the Are=
na.=20
Was that the plan early on or were you deceived
Thoughts on Taz
Who’s idea was it to put you with Chris Candido
Chris said in a shoot interview the plan was to put the tag belts on yo=
u=20
guys but then it never happened, is that true
How crazy was the drug scene in ECW
Did you know youd be going over in the TV Title Tournament before the=20
show
At what point did Paul sit down with you and tell you he was going to g=
ive=20
you the monster push with a monster gimmick
Thoughts on Jack Victory
Thoughts on matches with Sandman and Dreamer
Was Sandman hard to work with
Thoughts on Tajiri
Thoughts on teaming with Justin Credible
Thoughts on working with New Jack
What do you remember about the whole deal with Mike Awesome
Do you still have heat with him over it
How do you think that affected ECW long term
Were you ever contacted by WCW when you were in ECW
Thoughts on working with RVD
Thoughts on Sabu
At what point did you realize there were problems in ECW
Did Paul E ever lie to you
Was it discouraging the less and less he would come to house shows>
Did you have in your mind a breaking point where if things didn’t turn=20
around by this time you had a back up plan
Who did you ride with in ECW
Any good road stories
What do you both think made ECW so successful, and at what point do you=
=20
think ECW was at its highest point? Conversely, what do you think caused ECW=
to=20
fail and what do you think other than the close itself was the lowest=20
point?
Memories of the final ECW PPV
What did it mean to you to get the ECW title
How much money were you owed by ECW
Did you ask Paul directly the future of ECW and if so what did he sayDIV>
Memories of the final shows in Arkansas
How did you know it was finally over
Could an ECW succeed today
How aware were you of Vince McMahon’s financial involvement in=20
ECW?
Do you think you were suckered by Paul Heyman
It has become public that Paul was under contract to the WWE before ECW=
=20
actually closed, what are your thoughts on that
What is the biggest misconception about ECW
Memories of the night Sandman wrestled naked
Who do think were the most overpushed guys/girls in ECW?
How do you explain the longevity of a Steve Corino as compared to=20=
some=20
of the other guys who just bounced around the indys?
Dave Meltzer wrote a lengthy piece about ECW and said that Vince McMaho=
n’s=20
deal as part of funding Paul was for Paul to steer talent towards Vince and=20=
away=20
from WCW when leaving. What do you all think of that, and can you remember a=
ny=20
instances where that happened?
Axl Rotten did a shoot where he mentioned the final years in ECW and th=
e=20
guys on top and said that those guys weren’t ECW, thoughts?
You were one of the guys that came into the WWE pretty quickly after EC=
W=20
closed. How did that happen?
How different was the Paul Heyman in WWE as compared to ECW
Did Christian and Edge go to bat for you to get into WWE
Initial impressions of Jim Ross and Vince
What were you told about how you would be used
Thoughts on working as part of a unit with Edge and Christian
How receptive was the locker room to you
Were you stigmitzed as an “ECW guy”
Thoughts on Wrestlemania 17, your first Wrestlemania
How different was life for you now that you were now a true celebrity,=20
wrestling superstar
How weird was the locker room once the WCW guys started working thereDIV>
Were the WCW guys ribbed a lot
Were you a part of the night that Buff Bagwell got beatdown by the Smac=
kown=20
guys in the ring
Fans to this day call your PPV match with Raven over the Hardcore title=
you=20
and his best match in the WWE, thoughts?
Thoughts on Raven
Was it hard to adjust to working a different style in the WWE as compar=
ed=20
to ECW
Thoughts on working with Edge at KOR
How did the team ECW angle come about
Did you like it
Thoughts on working with Steve Austin
Were there ever any considerations to calling you the ECW Champion and=20
letting you wear the belt on TV
Memories of the Invasion match up
Do you think the invasion angle was botched
How did you feel about Stephanie being the storyline owner of ECW
Thoughts on matches with Chris Jericho
Thoughts on Chris Benoit
Thoughts/memories of Wrestlemania 19
What happened with the match in Long Island that you had with Tajiri an=
d=20
Vince walked out on
Were you angry about it
Are you surprised that that story has taken on a whole life of its=20
own
How did things change for talent when John Laurenitus took over J.R.’s=20
job
Thoughts on some of the writers: Brian Gerwitz
Dave Lagana
Paul Heyman
Stephanie Mcmahon=20
How did you hurt your neck
Did any of the guys who had previous injuries give you any advice or he=
lp=20
you out
How hard was the injury mentally on you
Did it change you
Are you surprised when you hear about what happened to Test that you we=
rent=20
released when you were injured
Is it hard to avoid pain pills with the WWE lifestyle
Thoughts on your weeks in OVW
Did you find the road agents helpful or a hinderance
Were you on the “flight from hell” and if so, thoughts
Thoughts on Randy Orton
Thoughts on Brock Lesnar and how he left
Thoughts on Kurt Angle
Thoughts on Eddie Guerrero
When you were drafted to Raw last year wh=
en=20
were you notified you were going over
Do you think you had a better chance of mobility on the Raw or Smackdow=
n=20
roster
Many people say Triple H holds people down and has too much power on Ra=
w,=20
what are your thoughts on him and his reputation?
Thoughts on John Cena
Did you ever feel 100% after you came back
Memories of the WMania 21 battle royal
What happened at WM21 between you and your wife
Do you think you deserved to be fired
How did you find out you were fired
Do you think 15 years ago without the Internet you would have been=20
fired
Thoughts on newsletter and the net
Thoughts on the entire Edge, Lita, Matt Hardy situation
For six or so years you were on the road constantly, what has life been=
=20
like for you without that kind of lifestyle
Was your appearance at One Night Stand in jeopardy
When did you know you were booked on the show
Was it awkward seeing guys in management, Vince specifically and John=20
Laurenitus for the first time at Raw and Smackdown
How well were you received back at Raw and Smackdown
Was it different for you since you were only booked for a few=20
appearances
Did anyone volunteer or refuse to take the Gore
Thoughts on your match with Sabu
Was there ever any consideration to having you come out with the belt o=
n=20
the PPV
Thoughts on the entire show
Thoughts on the inclusion of WWE talent
Were you disappointed that they completely dropped the angle the next=20
night
Thoughts on the JBL-Meanie incident at ONS
Are you surprised Meanie got a job out of it
Good road stories from your time in WWE
Good rib stories
Fav matches in the WWE
Fav guys to work with and why
Least fav guys to work with and why
At what point in your career did you think you made it
Any regrets
Does it bother you when you see less talented guys being pushed at a ti=
me=20
when your released
What is your future
Do you think TNA has a future
Have you watched TNA since you started here
Is there anyone you didn’t get a chance to work with that you wished