Rhyno On How WWE Treats Talent, Says Other Promotions Are "Nipping At WWE's Feet"

Recently, ECW legend Rhyno spoke to host Brady Hicks of In the Room, which airs on VOC Nation. During his interview, Rhyno stated his thoughts on the importance of wrestlers' health.

It is very clear that wrestlers' biggest concern when working for a company like the WWE is how they'll deal with any injuries that were to come along and what they'll do for them when they do have to take time off to recover. During the interview, Rhyno addressed how WWE does focus on the well-being of their wrestlers, and how far they'll go to make sure that each wrestler is safe and can continue a long term career.

"The health of the wrestlers are very important to WWE," Rhyno said.  "You'll hear people trash talk that and it's untrue.  They encourage people to bring problems to their attention.  They have standard testing equipment like EKG and Ultrasounds on the road.  They go the extra step just to make sure." 

It's not uncommon for wrestlers to make a come back or two in the business. In Rhyno's career, he has made two come backs. The first was from 2001-2005, which includes his time on ECW when it was rebooted, and the second time was from 2015-now. In the next part of the segment, Rhyno compared his first in run return and second, and how the two were very different from each other. He also stresses the importance of displaying your best self when working for the WWE, and how to avoid doing anything that could cause your career to go in a downward spiral.

"We're like one big family in WWE," Rhyno stated.  "It was fun on the first run, but as you get a little bit older, you mature too.  I try to help the guys and the girls now to try and avoid certain mistakes outside of the ring.  When a company invests time and money into making a person a start, and then they go out and do something stupid, the company will never recoup that investment.  My best advice to talent is to walk away from arguments and to stay away from bars."

With Rhyno's contract expiring as last month, he like many others, have options now as to where they want to go next. Fans were surprised when he made his return at Impact Wrestling's biggest summer pay-per-view event Slammiversary XVII during Brian Cage vs. Michael Elgin's match for the Impact World Championship. Rhyno noted that it's great how there are companies like Impact and other independent promotions that are encouraging wrestlers like him to come back.

"The good thing about it is that it's good for the talent," Rhyno said.  "Some wrestlers don't want to get on the indie scene and hustle.  There's not a lot of "big name" talent on the indie scene right now because the WWE has signed a lot of them. The indie scene is good for the wrestlers and for the fans."

Additionally, Rhyno went on to talk about how promotions like AEW, Ring of Honor, and New Japan have blossomed into big named shows these past couple of years, and how they're creating competition with the WWE that wasn't there before.

"It's very important," Rhyno exclaimed. "It fuels creativity, and when someone is nipping at your heels you tend to put your best foot forward. It makes the product better.  Sometimes when a company has such a large lead over their competitors, you don't have to throw out all you have. AEW has all the momentum in the world, Ring of Honor just sold out MSG, New Japan has a TV deal here in America now, and Impact is doing about 50 shows and live events too. They're all nipping at WWE's feet."

In the Room airs live on VOC Nation every Tuesday at 9 PM EST. You can hear the rest of Rhyno's interview on In the Room by clicking here.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit In the Room with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.