08:22:03
Rhyno
On
how he got into the wrestling business...
"Well,
(joking) I just had a few bills I needed to pay--nah. Over
in Windsor, there was a school. I thought this was something
that I wanted to do--it was a dream. I was a fan. So, I
went over and did the footwork. Found the school and started
training. It was a really good school, Can-Am Wrestling
School, and I learned a lot.
Trained
for about two and a half years. Six months after training
I had my first match, but I was wrestling and training at
the same time. Then I went over to Germany and we were working
every night, so that was your training right there. A lot
of fun.
Did
the independents for a little bit, then went to WWE--for
a dojo, a camp. Didn't get hired, went back to Germany for
about five months. Then in '99, after the second trip to
Germany, Paul Heyman--got a tryout with him, with ECW. And
Paul Heyman just loved me. I was 23 at the time and he hired
me right there on the spot. Well, I had to wait around until
3 o'clock in the morning...For him to get off of the
cell phone?...Yeah. Well, no. They were doing the pretape
stuff and all the vignettes after the show.
In
WWE, they do them before the show. In ECW, we were kicked
out of buildings because we were there til like 3 o'clock
in the morning, they'd say 'you guys gotta go. Wrap this
up and you guys gotta get out of here.'
On
walking down to K-Mart as a kid to watch wrestling on television...
"Yeah,
you know what, I was just a loser (laughs). No, where did
you hear that from? Well, I try to dig around and find
out a few things...Well, you did your homework. Yeah,
I used to. There was a K-Mart, actually it's still there--a
Super K-Mart. I brought a lot of business their way, see
(laughs). I'd get up earlier then my friends who'd sleep
in and I go down there and watch "Superstars".
Get out of the house and I like to walk. Walk, go down there,
watch the show.
After
the show, I remember grabbing the Big Slurpee and they'd
have those wrestling cups. I'd get like a big Slurpee at
their eatery and then have the wrestling cup. And I had
a ton of Andre the Giant cups. A ton of Hacksaw Jim Duggan,
a couple Macho Man's--I think my mom still has them over
at her house. They're little collector cups. And I'd just
sit there, drink that down, and watch the wrestling.
That
seems to me like a Confidential piece where Mean Gene needs
to go and find someone who still works at the Super K and
has since you were a little kid there and pretends to remember
you...
"Yeah,
pretends to remember. There's a couple of people who still
work there, believe it or not. The guy who collects the
carts has worked there ever since the store opened. I think
like 30-something years ago. I'm sure he doesn't remember
a lot, though. He would have to pretend to remember me--'He's
a good kid, that Jerry'.
On
having a more defined role in the storylines since turning
on Benoit...
"Yeah,
you know, I think you hit the nail right on the head. After
I go to Summer Slam, and take the US Title, I think me and
Chris will work down the road. I still see--there's an unwritten
chapter between him and me, even after Summer Slam. A cage
match. A submission match. I'll tell you guys now--I'm gonna
slap on him the Sharpshooter and make him tap. What do you
think about that?
I
think it's great and part of the reason is that you have
the height and build to use the Sharpshooter properly. A
lot of guys try to use that and it doesn't look right.
Yeah,
plus the legs and I work the mid-section. All the signs
point in that direction for a submission hold...Will
that perhaps take a little bit of pressure off of using
the gore, which will save your neck?
You
know what, as long as I don't hit the guy head first, as
long as I hit him with the shoulder, I'm pretty good. But,
I think everyone needs a submission hold to make, there's
more things you can do in the match. It's more exciting.
If you can't beat them with one move, you can use the other.
Like Kurt Angle--he's got the Angle Slam, although he's
never beat me with it (laughs). Talking
smack will get you in trouble...(laughs) yeah, I think
he has beat me with it. Anyways, he's got the ankle lock
and all that stuff.
Sixteen
months of rehab after neck surgery, if Kurt Angle's procedure
would have been available, would that have been an option...
"Yeah,
but looking back, that was the worst time of my life but
I got a beautiful daughter out of it. So, looking back I
wouldn't change a thing. At the time, I would have been
like 'yeah, sure' same doctor, same procedure as Kurt--but
nobody knew of him. Hopefully it holds up for Kurt. He says
his neck feels fine, but he hasn't got in the ring with
me yet (laughs). So hopefully, everything will hold up and
work out for Kurt and if I ever have to have another surgery
then I'd go with that.
Predictions
for Summer Slam (besides him winning the US Title)...
Kurt
Angle vs. Brock Lesnar: "I'm going with Kurt, he'll
remain champion."
Undertaker vs. A-Train: "A-Train, I think it's his
time to shine."
Elimination Chamber: "Oh, I'm thinking...I'm thinking
I'll do a run-in. Why not? Why stop at one title?...You
know we saw that before, it was the last ECW ppv, but that
was one heck of a night...Yeah, actually I have the
title right over here in my house. Actually in my cellar,
I don't have it hanging on the wall.
Um,
I'd have to say I'm leaning towards Goldberg, but then again,
you know what--I'm gonna say Goldberg. What do you think?...My
two guesses are Shawn Michaels or Chris Jericho...If
I was a bettin' man, I bet on Goldberg. And then I'd look
for Goldberg vs. Kane at the following ppv. I think that
would draw some really good buyrates.
Especially
with what Kane has been up to lately. He battles, I guess
one of your old friends, Rob Van Dam. I think most people
are picking Kane to win that one, despite how much they
love RVD...Yeah, I think Kane's gonna win, beat RVD.
I
would like to see Kane beat Goldberg for the Heavyweight
Title a month from now and then RVD come back and beat Kane.
On
the criticism that a lot of ECW guys haven't been in position
for title shots or it's taken longer to pay any necessary
dues:
"No,
I think it all has to do with who's going to draw, who's
going to be interesting.
Van Dam should've been Heavyweight Champion by now. I think
he's really over where some guys need the title if you're
really, really over. I think we need to see the Heavyweight
Title on Rob Van Dam. And then he can turn bad.
You
could give him pointers on that. Which role are you most
comfortable in?
As
a heel. I like working as a heel. You know, I think we could've
done a little bit more as a babyface, I think I should've
come out and gored people for a good six months up until
Summer Slam for the first match. But things are done for
a reason. I don't know the reasons, but I never pitched
that idea.
Look
at Sting, for a year he didn't wrestle. Paul had a great
idea. There was a picture, taken right before my neck surgery,
when Shane suspended me--you know, storyline. He (Paul)
said there was a great picture floating around in the office
of me with my back's to the corner and you can see everybody
in the ring.
All
of a sudden, when I come back, I can gore people--like the
Dudleys. Then after a couple weeks of doing that, replay
the tape so it's like my revenge. There's the story, now
we're off and running. That was a good idea, but that was
only like five months out of surgery and I had ten months
to go.
return
to top or back to
main transcripts
page
