INTERVIEW #6

by Phil Speer - Credit: WWE.com
NEW YORK -- June 3, 2002

Seven months after having surgery to fuse his C-6 and C-7 vertebrae to repair a herniated disc, Rhyno came to New York City to be the superstar-host of RAW at The World, World Wrestling Entertainment's restaurant, retail store and concert hall in Times Square. Dressed in all black, Rhyno welcomed the fans and participated in a question-and-answer session with them. Moments later, he sat down in The World's green room with WWE.com and answered all of our questions.

WWE.com: You had your most recent appointment with Dr. Lloyd Youngblood on Thursday. How did that go?
RHYNO: Really well. The doctor took a peek at my lower back just to keep an eye on it. He said everything looks good. Whenever I don't stretch on a regular basis -- because I didn't stretch for three months after the surgery -- it gets a little stiff. I asked him what he thought, and he said we should do an MRI when I came down. Four months later, here I am, and he took an MRI and looked at it, and said everything looked good. I had been stretching, so that helped out. If I can do something to improve my health, to add shelf-life to my career, that's what I want to do, because obviously, like everybody else, you want your career to last as long as possible.     

WWE.com: How did the injury happen?
RHYNO: It was a few things. I remember wrestling Justin Credible during the summertime of last year. He did a leapfrog when I went for the Gore, and I hit the turnbuckle head-first. I got a major stinger there. That was a freak accident. There was other stuff. One time I was wrestling Kurt. He thought I Gored with the right shoulder, but I hit him with the left. So I hit him head-first, and he's got abs of steel. So I got a little stinger there. This time I'll just make sure everybody knows which side I Gore with. But I might change it up and Gore with the right side. Who knows?    

WWE.com: And you're doing a little bit of working out?
RHYNO: Oh yeah. I've been training for a while. Actually, I took a couple of weeks off to get some stuff done around the house. I'm an electrician now. I do drywall work. I redid the hardwood floors. You name it. So if Vince McMahon or Linda McMahon need their floors done in their house, don't call anybody. Call me. I take pride in my work (laughs).   

WWE.com: You can do that stuff without hurting your neck?
RHYNO: Well my brother carries in the sander for the floor. But basically it's like walking behind a stroller or a lawn mower. It's all right to do stuff like that. But lifting heavy equipment, I get my brother, or my wife. One of the two. So I've just working around the house, although I'd rather be (wrestling) and pay someone to do it. Plus I've got to watch how and where I spent the money. I don't want to just throw it out. I'd rather save some here and there and invest it, as opposed to just pissing it away.   

WWE.com: Is working out OK with the doctor? Or are you cheating a little bit?
RHYNO: No. No. He actually encourages it. And he says he wishes more patients would care about their bodies as much as we do. It helps the healing process. I had the pinched nerve, and it helps the muscle come back and all that.   

WWE.com: What does your workout consist of?
RHYNO: Normal workout schedule -- chest on one day, back on another, and then legs and all that. But I have to train triceps three days a week now, as opposed to just one, just to get the strength back. And then the chest I train once a week, but still I isolate the one side more on certain exercises.   

WWE.com: But the workout must be less intense than it would have been before the surgery.
RHYNO: Obviously. And I told the doctor what type of exercises and the weight, and he told me to stay at the same weight. I'm doing a lot of cardio too -- a little bit more cardio because I'm not wrestling four nights out of the week. I'd rather be wrestling four nights out of the week. But in the mornings I do cardio, and after the workout. I bumped it up a little bit more.   

WWE.com: After the surgery you were in some pain -- your hip was sore. Are you in any day-to-day pain? Is that stuff behind you now?
RHYNO: Oh yeah. I feel great. Like I said, I've been training and stretching and all that on a regular basis, so the lower back feels great. No more pain.   

WWE.com: You've said that this type of injury is more difficult mentally than physically.
RHYNO: When you love something so much and it's taken away from you, it's pretty painful. You go stir crazy, going from being on the road full time to not even on the road. The first appearance I had after the surgery was a month and a half after my surgery -- it was actually here, to host SmackDown! Not doing anything for a month, you just go crazy. Granted, they (WWE officials) want to leave you at home and let you rest up -- they don't want to haul you around the country. But I was definitely going stir crazy. But now that summertime is here and I'm keeping busy and getting stuff done around the house, the time's going by just like that. Every time I snap my fingers, it's like another day, another week, another month. Plus, two and a half months from now, I go back to see the doctor, and then I can do light ring work. And then two and a half months after that, he'll release me to go back to work.   

WWE.com: Have you talked to Lita?
RHYNO: Yeah, I actually talked to Lita right before her surgery and let her know that she was in good hands. Granted, it's unfortunate that it happened, but she's in good hands and it could be worse. I told her, "You might go a little stir crazy at home, but if you need someone to yell at, pick up the phone and call me, and I'll be the ear. But not the punching bag." (laughs)   

WWE.com: You can sympathize with what she's going through.
RHYNO: Yeah. Her situation was a little bit worse, but I can definitely relate. She had the fusion, but she had a broken neck. And the doctor was able to get everything through the front (of her neck).   

WWE.com: It seems like so many superstars are getting neck injuries lately. What do you attribute that to?
RHYNO: Obviously wrestling is very physical. You're competing in a lot of ways as far as trying to have the best body, or trying to work the hardest. There's a lot of competition involved in wrestling. I think it's more aggressive and more dangerous now compared to 15-20 years ago. Granted, it was still rough back then. But I think now as far as moves, chair shots ... The doctor said you never want to compress your spinal cord. That's very dangerous. And after time, something's going to give. And it's usually your body, not the chair. I don't think it's that the fans are demanding more, but maybe it is. Who knows though? I see Hulk Hogan do a lot of stuff that he was doing 20 years ago, and people are just going nuts for it. I've seen him come out a couple of times, and people just pop for him for what seems like 20 minutes. But most guys have to be really physical. But I don't think it's one certain thing, because if you've ever watched me wrestle, I'm not flying.   

WWE.com: Are you excited about Vengeance, which is next month in your hometown of Detroit?
RHYNO: Yeah. I'm looking to go down there and see a lot of the guys, and say hi to everybody. It'll be fun, because WrestleMania was the last time I saw everybody.   

WWE.com: And the Pay-Per-Views are the one time of the month that you can actually see everybody.
RHYNO: That's what I heard. I was talking to (the Brooklyn) Brawler, and he told me that it's quiet now at TVs, because you've got half the group, and then the next day you've got the other half of the group. It's not as busy. The locker room could seem kind of hallow (when I return), but in a way that could be better. I always enjoyed going to the house shows. They seem more laid back -- get some of the guys in a ring, and have fun, and do what you do best. There will be fewer people around and maybe a little less pressure -- although I never really feel pressure though, even at TV -- and more room to put your bags in the locker room. (laughs)   

WWE.com: It's true though. That's something a lot of people don't think about, but there were times when there was just no room in the locker room.
RHYNO: It was packed. People had to change in the hallways. But in ECW and several independent promotions I've worked for, we've actually changed outside and in bathrooms smaller than this room.   

WWE.com: Have you been able to watch WWE programming? What's that like?
RHYNO: Yeah. I find it very interesting. I'm amazed at Hulk Hogan. Obviously, the people are going to take to him, but the amount of people ... I think it's very interesting, everything he's been doing, the whole red and yellow, and the boas are a great touch. Hopefully I get to get in there with him. Right now I look at wrestling like a business, but if I ever got in there and either mixed it up with him or worked with him in a tag team match or something, I think the child would come out. I watched him as a kid. I think he's in the best shape of his life. He's obviously in much better shape than I am right now. But he looks great and he seems like a really nice guy. The child in me would really come out.   

WWE.com: Sort of like that vignette on SmackDown! when Edge put on all the Hulkamania stuff.
RHYNO: I actually didn't see that, but my buddy told me. If I miss it or I have to turn it off, I talk to my buddy. Believe it or not, it's still hard to watch, as far as missing it. Sometimes you sit there, and you miss it so much that you have to turn it off, because you get upset at yourself. And then you start beating yourself up mentally, and you feel like a loser. You feel so many different emotions.    

WWE.com: Do you have a preference when you come back -- RAW or SmackDown!?
RHYNO: Not really. I think there are a lot of good workers and a lot of people I'd like to work with on both sides. Obviously like Hogan. I've enjoyed working with Rock. I never wrestled Austin one-on-one. I teamed with him one time. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot.   

WWE.com: What do you have to say about your good friend Edge? He's definitely one of the "brand-extension MVPs."
RHYNO: Oh, I think he's doing really well. And actually I just talked to him today. I'm happy for him. Everything's working out for him too. Obviously, he works really hard -- like everybody. (Before his Hair vs. Hair Match against Kurt Angle at Judgment Day) I asked him if he was cutting his hair, and he said yeah. I lost $100. I bet someone. Never bet on pro wrestling! Anyway, he said he was getting his hair cut. I said, "Dude, your wife's gonna leave ya. Your wife is gonna leave ya." I think we've talked before, when I was still on the road, about if he ever thought about trimming his hair. And I figured if he was, he was going to do it at a Pay-Per-View. But I don't want to cut my hair. I told him, "Hell, I'll cut my hair when I retire."   

WWE.com: Rumor has it that you're taking acting classes.
RHYNO: Actually, I didn't start yet. I've just played phone tag with the guy a couple of days. But I'm interested and excited. I think it'll really help out my career and make me a main-event player. It'll only help me develop a character. When I'm back working full time, I want to put in requests to do more appearances; just work, because that's in my blood. On my days off, I'll continue to take acting classes. It'll help out.   

WWE.com: So it's really to help you perform better in WWE, and not so much because you want to get roles in moves and TV shows.
RHYNO: Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. That's basically what it's for. More or less like speech classes, because sometimes I get tongue-tied. Basically it's to help me out on the microphone. What I'd like to do is do interviews and TV shows to plug matches. Whenever I do a media day, whoever I do it with from the office always says I do a good job creating awareness for the show. I think it will help out with that too. I enjoy media days. I enjoy doing everything about this job. Like I said, the days I'm not wrestling, don't send me home. Send me here or there to do a media day, an on-sale date or whatever. I think I interact well with the fans, but I think (taking acting classes) will help me out too as far as interacting with the fans and interviews. It's a win-win situation it seems like. I'm taking advantage of the time I have off.   

WWE.com: But if WWE came to you and said, "We've got this movie role. We think you'd be great in it," is that something you'd be interested in?
RHYNO: Oh yeah. You've got to remember, I can't do this forever. I want to strike while the iron's hot -- make as much money as possible and make some good investments. I mean, I enjoy this company, and hopefully I can do stuff behind the scenes after my body can't do it (in the ring) anymore. I watch guys like (WWE agent) Pat Patterson. He's got such a mind for the business. Watching him is just amazing. He's actually given me advice on certain things. If there weren't certain people in my career that I didn't learn from, where would I be today? Fit Finlay is just amazing as a technical wrestler. Maybe I can pass something down. Who knows?