Who Are You Again? Rhino Was Originally Going To Be Very, Very Different In WWE And Not In A Good Way

I’d say it turned out for the better. Wrestlers are interesting cases as there are times where you see them under a completely different persona other than their most famous one. You really are just supposed to forget the previous version and move on, which can be rather difficult to do at times. Then there are instances where you hear what should have been and are relieved that you never saw it in the first place.

One of the most important things a wrestler can have is the right name. Look at people like Hulk Hogan (he’s big and strong), Randy Savage (he’s insane) and the Ultimate Warrior (he’ll never stop fighting). You immediately get the idea of what you’re dealing with and it instantly gets you into the character. It’s not like you can go by the name of Sid Finkelstein and have the same instant success. We almost had a fairly big star get such a horrible treatment.

Rhino was recently a guest on Talk Is Jericho and spoke about the original plans for his debut. Originally, WWE wanted to Rhino to debut as Edge and Christian’s little brother with his hair dyed blond. In addition, his name would have been changed from Rhino, with various names such as Mary being a possibility. Edge and Christian disagreed with the idea and Rhino was eventually brought in as the same character he was in ECW, albeit with a different spelling of his name.

Rhino was rather successful in WWE. Check out some of his highlights:

Opinion: This would have been a horrible idea all around and thankfully WWE came to their senses. Rhino is a great example of a character where what you see is what you get. He’s not the biggest guy in the world but he can thrown the heck out of a Gore and take down anyone with the thing. There’s no need to make this more complicated than it is and what WWE was seemingly wanting to do.

What is the worst repackaging you have ever heard of? Why has Rhino lasted as long as he has? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. His latest book is KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews.

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