10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Rhyno
6. ECW Peaked Before He Got There
The answer varies from fan to fan, but most ECW loyalists will tell you that the company peaked creatively somewhere between 1995 and 1998. These were the years that forged the promotion's cult reputation. Paul Heyman had them firing on all cylinders, with their 'extreme' style of wrestling perfectly capturing the zeitgeist, giving fans a hard-edged alternative to the mainstream products peddled by WCW and WWE.
Rhyno is often pushed as an 'ECW original,' and even featured in the WWE stable of the same name, but he didn't join the promotion until 1999. Not only was this long after Heyman's takeover, but it was also outwith the company's strongest years - something you probably won't hear on WWE television anytime soon.
The bloom hadn't come off the rose completely, but for many fans, ECW had already started to lose it's appeal by the time Rhyno showed up. He was a top ECW star at a time when the company was already wobbling, and to make matters worse, his ECW Title run is generally regarded as one of the worst in company history, though his successor, Justin Credible, ultimately proved more damaging.