Rhyno

Rhino Richards

Rhyno made four appearances in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as enhancement talent under the ring name **Rhino Richards**. Richards lost to "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan on the August 5, 1994 edition of *WCW Saturday Night*. WCW Television Champion The Renegade defeated Richards on the September 9 edition of *WCW Pro*. Richards and Johnny Swinger lost to the Nasty Boys on the September 16 edition of *WCW Saturday Night*. His final appearance was a loss to Road Warrior Hawk on the September 24, 1995 edition of *WCW WorldWide.*

In the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Rhyno lost to Henry O. Godwinn on the November 6, 1995 episode of *Monday Night Raw*. He was part of the losing team in a six-man tag team match against The Truth Commission at the June 23, 1997 *WWF Shotgun Saturday Night* taping (aired June 28). He wrestled a dark match at the June 29, 1998 *WWF Shotgun Saturday Night* taping, defeating Breyer Wellington.

Richards debuted in ECW in 1999 as **Rhino**. Rhino quickly joined forces with Steve Corino and Jack Victory. Rhino and Corino challenged Tommy Dreamer and Raven for the ECW World Tag Team Championship at Anarchy Rulz, but were defeated. In late 1999, Rhino began feuding with The Sandman, and at November to Remember, he teamed with the Impact Players to defeat Dreamer, Raven, and Sandman.

On March 12, 2000, Rhino lost to Super Crazy in the finals of a tournament for the World Television Championship at Living Dangerously. He won the title on April 22, defeating Yoshihiro Tajiri at CyberSlam. He lost the title to Kid Kash on August 26, but regained it a little over two weeks later on September 9.

Throughout mid-2000, Rhino continued to feud with The Sandman, defeating him in title matches at Hardcore Heaven and Heat Wave. In the course of the match with The Sandman at Hardcore Heaven, Rhino performed a *Rhino Driver* to the Sandman's wife and valet, Lori. At Heat Wave, Rhino attacked the couple before his match and attempted to force Lori's head into a toilet.

Rhino won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on January 7, 2001 at Guilty as Charged, defeating Sandman in a squash match immediately after The Sandman had won the title from Steve Corino in a three-way tables, ladders, chairs, and canes match. He defended the title twice afterwards, defeating The Sandman on January 12 and Spike Dudley on January 13, 2001 on the last two ECW shows before ultimately becoming both the final World Heavyweight Champion and World Television Champion due to the company folding in April.

Following the closure of ECW, Rhino signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He debuted on the March 19, 2001 episode of *Raw*, in Albany, New York, under the ring name **Rhyno** as a heel, aligning himself with Edge and Christian. Rhyno went on to help Edge and Christian defeat The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz for the WWF Tag Team Championship in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at WrestleMania X-Seven. On the April 19 edition of *SmackDown!*, Rhyno defeated Kane to win the WWF Hardcore Championship. At Backlash, he defeated Raven to retain the title. At Judgment Day, Rhyno, Edge, and Christian formed a stable with Kurt Angle known as Team RECK, with all four members reaching the semi-finals of the King of the Ring. Rhyno was eliminated from the event by the eventual winner, Edge. He won the Hardcore Championship a total of three times in mid-2001.

On the July 9 episode of *Raw*, Rhyno "invaded" the WWF along with other ECW wrestlers. The group, led by former ECW owner Paul Heyman, went on to merge with rival organization WCW later that night, forming The Alliance. At Invasion, Rhyno competed in the main event the Inaugural Brawl match; a five-on-five tag team match where Team WCW/ECW (Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Rhyno and the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) defeated Team WWF (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker and Kane). Rhyno feuded with Chris Jericho due to Jericho insulting Stephanie McMahon, the on-screen owner of ECW, on numerous occasions. One notable moment during the feud saw Rhyno *Gore* Jericho through the *SmackDown!* stage set on the August 9 episode of *SmackDown!*. At SummerSlam, Rhyno faced Jericho in a losing effort. On September 23 at Unforgiven, he defeated fellow ECW alumnus Tajiri for the WCW United States Championship. He held the title for just under a month before losing to Kurt Angle on the October 22 episode of *Raw*. As a result of his loss, Rhyno was "suspended" from The Alliance on the October 25 episode of *SmackDown!*. The suspension was an angle concocted to explain Rhyno's absence while he underwent cervical fusion surgery for two herniated discs in his neck.

Rhyno returned to WWE television sixteen months later on the February 27, 2003 episode of *SmackDown!*, aligning himself with Chris Benoit and thus becoming a face for the first time in his WWE career. Rhyno and Benoit went on to unsuccessfully challenge Team Angle for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a triple threat tag team match (also involving Los Guerreros) at WrestleMania XIX. At Judgment Day, Rhyno teamed with Spanky and Chris Benoit in a losing effort against John Cena and The Full Blooded Italians (Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli). At Vengeance, Rhyno turned on Benoit during a United States Championship match against Eddie Guerrero, thus turning heel once again. Rhyno continued to wrestle on *SmackDown!*,pursuing the United States Championship on several occasions. At SummerSlam, Rhyno competed in a fatal four-way match for the WWE United States Championship, but failed to win the title. At the Royal Rumble, Rhyno competed in the 30-man Royal Rumble match, where he entered at number six, but was eliminated by Chris Benoit. In March 2004, Rhyno was drafted to the *Raw* brand in the 2004 WWE Draft Lottery. Later that night, he faced Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. The next week on *Raw*, he turned face again by first squashing then-heel Lance Storm in a match and then forming a tag team with Tajiri. The duo challenged for the World Tag Team Championship on several occasions throughout 2004. In January 2005, on an episode of *Raw*, Rhyno lost a Royal Rumble qualifying match to Edge.

Rhyno was released from his WWE contract on April 9, 2005. He made his final appearance on WWE television at the WWE-produced ECW reunion pay-per-view One Night Stand on June 12, where he lost to Sabu.

Rhyno made an unannounced return to WWE on February 18, 2015, during the taping of *NXT*, defeating Elias Samson. After a few weeks of defeating local competitors, Rhyno explained he was in *NXT* to win the NXT Championship. On the April 15 episode of *NXT*, Rhyno faced Sami Zayn in a losing effort. On the May 6 episode of *NXT*, after defeating Bull Dempsey, Rhyno would challenge Baron Corbin to a match at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, which he lost. On the June 3 episode of *NXT*, following his loss to Finn Bálor, Rhyno would *Gore* Bálor on the stage, turning heel. On the July 1 episode of *NXT*, Rhyno would team with Kevin Owens in a losing effort against Bálor and Samoa Joe.

In September, Rhyno and Baron Corbin would compete in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, where they would defeat The Ascension in the first round and Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa in the quarterfinals. At NXT TakeOver: Respect, Rhyno and Corbin would defeat Jason Jordan and Chad Gable in the semifinals before losing to Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe in the finals. On the October 14 episode of *NXT*, Rhyno would compete in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Championship, where he was eliminated by Corbin. The following week on *NXT*, Rhyno lost to Corbin.

On the December 7, 2015 episode of *Raw*, Rhyno made a main roster appearance as a face, where he joined The Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer as part of a revamped incarnation of The ECW Originals, confronting The Wyatt Family before competing in a 16-man elimination fatal four-way tag team match, where they were eliminated by The League of Nations. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, the ECW Originals lost to the Wyatt Family in an 8-man elimination tag team tables match and in an 8-man Extreme Rules match the following night on *Raw*.

Rhyno made a surprise return on the July 6, 2016 episode of *NXT*, interrupting a match between The Hype Bros and Blake and Murphy. On the July 20 episode of *NXT*, Rhyno lost to NXT Champion Samoa Joe by submission.

On the July 26, 2016 episode of *SmackDown Live*, Rhyno returned to attack "free agent" Heath Slater with a *Gore*. On the August 9 episode of *SmackDown Live*, the two wrestled each other with the stipulation that if Slater won, he would be signed to the *SmackDown* roster; however, Rhyno defeated Slater. On the August 23 episode of *SmackDown*, Slater was offered a spot in the tournament for the newly instated SmackDown Tag Team Championship if he found a partner. After struggling to find a partner, Rhyno approached Slater and agreed to be his partner for the tournament. Rhyno and Slater defeated The Headbangers in the first round and The Hype Bros in the semi-finals to advance to the finals at Backlash, where they defeated The Usos to become the inaugural champions, while also granting Slater a contract. On the September 13 episode of *SmackDown Live*, Rhyno and Slater defeated The Ascension to successfully retain the titles in their first defense following Slater's official live contract signing. At No Mercy, Rhyno and Slater retained the titles against The Usos. At Survivor Series, Rhyno and Slater were the team captains for Team *SmackDown* in the 10-on-10 Survivor Series tag team elimination match, where they were defeated by Team *Raw*. At TLC on December 4, Rhyno and Slater's Tag Team Championship reign came to an end at 84 days after they were defeated by The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton). Two days later on *SmackDown Live*, Rhyno and Slater received their rematch, but failed to regain the titles. At Elimination Chamber on February 12, 2017, the duo were the first entrants into the tag team turmoil match for the titles, eliminating Breezango and The Vaudevillains before being eliminated by The Usos. At WrestleMania 33, Rhyno competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which was won by Mojo Rawley.

On April 10, both Rhyno and Slater were traded to *Raw* brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up. On the June 5 episode of *Raw*, Rhyno and Slater failed to win the Raw Tag Team Championship against Cesaro and Sheamus. On the October 30 episode of *Raw*, Rhyno and Slater defeated The Club in an All Hallow's Eve Trick or Street Fight. At the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018, Rhyno participated in the Royal Rumble match as the third entrant; this was Rhyno's first appearance in 14 years at the namesake pay-per-view match, but was eliminated by Baron Corbin. At WrestleMania 34, Rhyno competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was unsuccessful. On the December 3, 2018 episode of *Raw*, General Manager Baron Corbin created a match between Rhyno and Slater, where the loser would be fired from *Raw*. Rhyno lost the match and was subsequently forced to leave the brand. However, after Corbin was removed from power, he returned to *Raw* to aid Slater against an attack from Jinder Mahal on the December 24 episode of *Raw*. The following week on *Raw*, Rhyno and Slater faced Mahal and The Singh Brothers in a losing effort.

Following the December 31 episode of *Raw*, Rhyno again disappeared from WWE television. Over January and February 2019, he wrestled a handful of matches at WWE house shows. His return to programming would be in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 35, but following that he did not return to live events. On July 17, 2019, Rhyno left WWE.