Rhino Talks Tonight's "TNA Special", Which Impact Star Reminds Him Of Abyss
Those missing the days of chanting TNA at their television sets will have another opportunity to do that as Impact Wrestling presents a Total Nonstop Action hour-long, one-night-only special on AXS TV at 10 p.m. ET, Tuesday, March 31.
Headlining the nostalgic card is Rhino facing oVe's Madman Fulton. The veteran has been using the extended time at home due to the coronavirus to dig into the TNA archives. It's a trip down memory lane for the performer who had multiple stints with the company leading up to his latest run.
"Some of the stuffI I did before with Abyss I've enjoyed. I see a lot of Abyss in Madman Fulton," he said. "He is always moving forward. He has that forward momentum. Even if you think you've stopped him. The guy just keeps coming back. It's a reason why the fans like him. They like to hate him. They like the fact that he is a guy of action and forward momentum."
A milestone moment that comes flooding back to Rhino is winning the NWA championship from Jeff Jarrett at Bound for Glory 2005. A night that saw him compete in three grueling matches.
"That night was just chaos. The 'Monsters Ball.' I beat Jeff Hardy with a piledriver off the second rope. When I piledrived him off the second rope, I'd like to call it the Rhino Driver, his shoulder went into my quad. I had a deep bruise. My leg was hurting. You really couldn't tell, but I was limping a little bit. I pushed through the rest of the night. To win the NWA title was incredible.
"I ended up getting 15 stitches from that guitar shot. It moved very fast, which was good looking back at it. That was a turning point in my career. I had turned babyface and been babyface ever since. It's one of those things that's really cool because wrestling is a generational thing. You can take your kids and say, 'I've watched him since he started.' Now you're watching me perform essentially with your kid. That's a cool feeling knowing they have that bond, and I'm their bond."
Rhino was also a fan of the Main Event Mafia, which included Scott Steiner. He laughs to this day about the famed "Steiner Math" promo that has become a viral sensation.
"I'm guessing the numbers don't lie and the math is right. I aced algebra and didn't bother doing the math. I just listened to the promo. I know he graduated from the University of Michigan, so I'm sure the match is right. I'm not going to follow it," he said.
Steiner is also featured on the TNA special. During a taping the legendary figure suffered a medical emergency. It was a scary scene that saw him taken to the hospital fighting for his life. He has since recovered.
"I heard he is doing great. I heard he is back to normal. He is a cyborg," Rhino said. "I don't know exactly what happened. I can't really comment on it. But when I came back, the EMTs were taking him to the hospital. I talked to Johnny Swinger. He lives down there and visited him in the hospital. I think he was in the hospital for a day, maybe two at most.
"He had a commitment to do a show the following weekend. He ended up doing the show. With everything going on and all the shows being postponed until further notice. Steiner I've been on the road with him. Just being a Michigan guy. It's fun with him because he just likes to eat, work out, and then go to the show."
Rhino feels it's important to do these types of shows. For him, it's a reminder of all the magic TNA created.
"I'm all for it when we do shows like this and you see guys you haven't seen in a few years like Hernandez and Kid Kash," he said. "They'll grace the ring;. They've split a lot of blood in that ring. They sweated in that ring. They put all emotions in that ring. To come back and put it out there and mix it up, it's pretty special."
When asked if he would ever want another TNA throwback in the form of a six-sided ring, Rhino is all for it. Only on certain shows.
"Just for the simple fact that you have to have something special. If you over do it, then nah," he said. "I think for special occasions it would be really good. I was a big fan of the six-sided ring. Some people weren't. I think you either loved it or didn't. It was definitely fun because you had two more sets of turnbuckles you could run your opponents head into."
Rhino's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of a today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.