Tag: rhyno

WWE Main Event results: Drew Gulak vs. Lince Dorado

Posted on by James Cox

The Big Takeaway: Lince Dorado may have injured his knee in the opener against Drew Gulak, while Rhyno & Heath Slater continued their winning streak with a win against Bo Dallas & Curt Hawkins.

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Drew Gulak defeated Lince Dorado (4:38)

On the bell, Gulak charges at Dorado and they explode into action. Dorado takes most of the early going with quick springboard moves until Gulak takes him down and starts to work him over with chinlocks and armbars.

The most newsworthy part of the match, though, was about four minutes in just as they were about to go to the finish. Dorado twirled Gulak into a backbreaker, but as he did so, he landed awkwardly on his right foot and Gulak smashed into his knee.

Dorado was slightly off balance and his ankle looked to have turned over slightly. He rolled out of the move clutching his knee. He nodded to the ringside officials and the referee immediately called for the bell.

Dorado since posted on his Instagram account with a picture of his foot in a sports trainer with a comic on his lap. The caption underneath just read “Recover.” Its unclear at this stage whether the injury was an angle or if it just seemed more serious at the time.

Rhyno & Heath Slater defeated Bo Dallas & Curt Hawkins (7:01)

Hawkins’ partner this week is Bo Dallas. Dallas seems to be slowly changing his look; his beard is thicker and longer than ever and he is wearing his hair down and loose.

Rhyno and Slater take control in the early stages as Rhyno beats up Hawkins and flies off the ropes with a headbutt. Only after Slater loses out in an Irish whip does Hawkins get the chance to tag in Dallas. Dallas is able to dodge out of the way of Slater, who tumbles through the ropes to the outside as we head to a break.

Hawkins and Dallas have cut the ring in half as we return. They use a mixture of rest holds, double teams, and quick pin attempts to try to finish Slater off. Once again, even in these short tag team bouts, Hawkins’ quality as a wrestler really stands out. He hits neat suplexes and elbow drops and just makes it all look extremely easy.

Finally, Rhyno gets in and clears house. He Samoan drops Dallas, but Hawkins dives in to make the save. Slater dumps Hawkins over the top rope, but the momentum takes him with him. Rhyno turns back around and uses his spinning spinebuster for the win.

WWE Main Event results: TJP and Gran Metalik face off again

Posted on by James Cox

The Big Takeaway: With Vic Joseph from NXT leading the announce team, TJP beat Gran Metalik in the opening bout, while Rhyno and Heath Slater picked up a win against the begrudging combination of Curtis Axel and Curt Hawkins.

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TJP defeated Gran Metalik (5:25)

TJ Perkins, now “TJP,” doesn’t seem to be a perfect fit as a heel. His gimmick is perhaps more annoying than it is heelish. He comes out here against Gran Metalik and other than a curl of his upper lip, his entrance is just as it was when he first came to the main roster last year.

After a slow start, they put on some good wrestling. They previously faced off in the finals of the Cruiserweight Classic last year, where Perkins became Cruiserweight Champion.

Rest holds and TJP’s attempts to thwart any high flying from Metalik soon give way to these two reverting to type and doing what they do best.

After TJP’s suicide dive to the outside, Metalik does a beautiful ropewalking dropkick and then hits a top rope splash for a near fall. TJP rolls out of the way of a moonsault and hoists Metalik onto his shoulders and hits his Detonation Kick for the win.

Rhyno & Heath Slater defeated Curtis Axel & Curt Hawkins (7:36)

These are the kind of undercard performers it’s fun to watch before an episode of Raw. Curt Hawkins has had a string of appearances on Main Event over the last few weeks. His entrance complete with his “heaping helping of Hawkins” is the kind of stuff The Miz was attempting to get over before he was given a push. And Hawkins has the in-ring ability to match his promos.

The story of the match is that Hawkins and Axel don’t really get along but are still very effective. Slater works most of the match, with Rhyno waiting for the hot tag.

Axel and Hawkins keep blind tagging in as they tease dissension early on. But they cut the ring in half and keep Slater as the babyface in peril. The match isn’t too much to write home about as Axel and Hawkins transition from one chinlock to the next, but Hawkins is very neat and tidy and doesn’t waste too much movement.

The finish sees Slater give the hot tag to Rhyno. He nails Axel and covers him for a near fall before Hawkins makes the save.

Slater superkicks Hawkins and springboards over the top rope onto him on the outside. Inside the ring, the distraction allows Rhyno to spinebuster Axel for the win.

Tag team turmoil match set for Raw in London

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The next challengers for The Hardys’ tag titles will be decided as Raw makes its way to London on Monday night.

Kurt Angle announced a number one contender’s tag team turmoil match for the show during a backstage segment with the Golden Truth last week, though no other participants were revealed at the time.

WWE.com has since posted that Cesaro & Sheamus, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Enzo Amore & Big Cass, and Heath Slater & Rhyno will join Goldust & R-Truth in vying for a shot at the Raw Tag Team Championship.

The program between The Hardys and Cesaro & Sheamus continued after their match at Payback, with the champions being laid out in an attack after the match. Cesaro & Sheamus also fled the ring as The Hardys looked to get revenge last week.

WWE hasn’t yet revealed when the winning team will get their shot at the titles, though Raw’s next pay-per-view is Extreme Rules on June 4th in Baltimore, Maryland.

Both Raw and SmackDown will be taped at the O2 Arena in London shortly before they air this week as WWE continues its European tour.

WWE Main Event results: Rhyno in singles action

Posted on by James Cox

The Big Takeaway: Rhyno returned to this show with a win against Titus O’Neil, and the team of Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado entertained against Drew Gulak & Tony Nese in the main event.

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Rhyno (w/ Heath Slater) defeated Titus O’Neil (5:15)

This was Rhyno’s first appearance on this show since last November. This week he is over with the pre-Raw crowd. He and Slater burst out of the curtain ready to fire things up. Rhyno and O’Neil exchange power moves to begin with as O’Neil takes the early going.

As Slater cheers him on outside, Rhyno gets some hope, hitting a shoulder block and then tossing O’Neil over the top rope to the outside. O’Neil manages to reverse things there and gets a near fall after rolling Rhyno back in the ring and hitting a big boot.

O’Neil slows things down with his usual chops and strikes in the corner, but Rhyno gets the heat with shoulder blocks and a belly-to-belly suplex for two. O’Neil hits a knee strike, but he misses a charge and runs into a spinebuster for the win.

Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado defeated Drew Gulak & Tony Nese (6:57)

Gulak comes out with a megaphone and a hand-made sign that says “No Fly Zone” on it. Although it’s an improvement on his normal entrance, it doesn’t seem to either generate heat or a reaction of any sort from this crowd.

Nese and Dorado start things off together with Nese overpowering Dorado in the early going. Dorado then hits a sunset flip and a rana and tags in Metalik. They use a series of quick tags and double team Nese with dropkicks. Gulak manages to shove Dorado off the top rope as we head to a break.

Dorado is maintaining the advantage as we return, but quickly Gulak comes in and stomps all over Dorado. He and Nese work quick tags, cutting the ring in half and isolating Dorado in their corner. Dorado hits the desperation superkick and makes the tag.

Metalik then hits his patented ropewalk elbow drop and Dorado hits a handspring cutter. The heels get clotheslined to the outside and Dorado and Metalik nail them with top rope dives. The finish then sees Metalik come back inside to hit the Metalik Driver on Gulak for the win.

Bray Wyatt switches brands in WWE Superstar Shakeup

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Four more wrestlers have moved from SmackDown to Raw as WWE continues to make roster changes.

After Finn Balor defeated Jinder Mahal, Bray Wyatt appeared on the video screen to announce that he was coming to Raw. He also revealed that he’ll be challenging for Randy Orton’s WWE Championship in a House of Horrors match at Raw’s Payback pay-per-view on April 30th, though Orton remains on the SmackDown roster.

Wyatt previously won the WWE title at Elimination Chamber before dropping it to Orton at WrestleMania 33.

Kalisto, Heath Slater, and Rhyno were also added to Raw as part of the “Superstar Shakeup.” WWE had teased that Slater and Rhyno would be joining the show earlier in the day, saying that former Tag Team Champions would be switching brands.

They join Apollo Crews, The Miz, Maryse, Dean Ambrose, and Curt Hawkins as the newest additions to the Raw roster. No one has been announced as joining SmackDown yet, which figures to happen tomorrow as the two-night shakeup continues in Boston, Massachusetts.

Two more title matches set for the final SmackDown of 2016

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Two more title matches have been set for next week’s year-end edition of SmackDown.

As was announced on tonight’s episode of the show, The Wyatt Family will defend their titles against American Alpha, The Usos, and Heath Slater & Rhyno in a four corners elimination match next week.

The Hype Bros won a battle royal last week to become new number one contenders for the titles, but Zack Ryder was forced to undergo knee surgery due to an injury suffered during the match.

Becky Lynch will also get another shot at Alexa Bliss as she challenges for the SmackDown Women’s Championship next week. Lynch, while disguised under a mask, defeated Bliss in a non-title match tonight.

The final SmackDown of 2016 will also feature a triple threat match for the WWE Championship with AJ Styles defending against Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin. Ziggler was originally scheduled to face Styles in a singles match on the show, but he put his title shot on the line against Corbin in the main event of tonight’s SmackDown. That match ended in a double countout, and Daniel Bryan made the triple threat for next week.

SmackDown seemingly plans to close out the year with a bang in Chicago, Illinois next week. The return of John Cena to WWE TV is also scheduled for the show.

Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt set for WWE TLC

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It will be Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt challenging for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at TLC.

Orton and Wyatt defeated American Alpha in the main event of tonight’s SmackDown to earn a shot at the titles. With some help from Luke Harper, Wyatt got the win for his team after hitting Sister Abigail on Jason Jordan.

After their ongoing storyline had paired him with the Wyatt Family, Orton stood alongside Wyatt as the sole survivors in the Raw vs. SmackDown men’s division elimination tag match at Survivor Series. American Alpha had appeared to earn a shot at the titles on last week’s SmackDown, but they were interrupted by Orton and the Wyatts after their tag team turmoil match.

Also on tonight’s show, it was announced that the SmackDown Women’s Championship match between Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss at TLC will be a tables match.

TLC is scheduled for December 4th in Dallas, TX. The updated card for the PPV is:

  • WWE World Champion AJ Styles defending against Dean Ambrose in a TLC match
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Alexa Bliss in a tables match
  • Intercontinental Champion The Miz defending against Dolph Ziggler in a ladder match
  • SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno defending against Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt
  • Nikki Bella vs. Carmella in a no disqualification match
  • Baron Corbin vs. Kalisto in a chairs match

Rhyno gored in House race

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE wrestler Terry Gerin, who works as Rhyno, one half of the SmackDown tag team champions with Heath Slater, failed to win a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives Tuesday night.

Gerin was running as the Republican nominee in the 15th district, which covers Detroit suburbs like Dearborn, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Taylor and Monroe. After winning in the primary, he garnered 13,452 votes in the general election, or 38.2 percent of the votes, compared to 21,739 for Democrat Abdullah Hammoud with 100 percent of the precincts reporting.

Gerin had played on his pro wrestling career in some commercials, including enlisting help from Kurt Angle in an ad where Angle was telling people to vote for Rhyno.

Rhyno was in Glasgow, Scotland for the SmackDown tapings as opposed to being in Michigan during the election night, and out of the country the last week of campaigning. He’s scheduled to appear at Survivor Series as part of SmackDown’s tag division team.

The Usos vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno booked for WWE No Mercy

Posted on by Joseph Currier

American Alpha returned to television on Tuesday night’s edition of SmackDown, but it will be The Usos challenging for Heath Slater and Rhyno’s tag titles at No Mercy.

The Usos defeated Jason Jordan and Chad Gable in a number one contender’s match to earn a shot at the titles. After they injured Gable’s knee in storyline to keep American Alpha out of the tag team tournament finals at Backlash, The Usos once again targeted Gable’s injured body part on SmackDown.

Gable was able to dive in and break up a pin at one point, but his knee gave out when Jordan looked to make a tag. Jordan instead refused to tag Gable in and tried to take the rest of the match alone, but was pinned after a splash from the top rope.

No Mercy will take place on October 9th from Sacramento, CA. The current card for the show is:

  • AJ Styles defending his WWE World Championship against John Cena and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match
  • Becky Lynch defending her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss
  • Heath Slater & Rhyno defending their SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Usos

Heath Slater’s journey to the SmackDown roster to continue at WWE Backlash

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Heath Slater is one win away from joining the SmackDown roster.

In the semifinals of a tournament to crown the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Champions, Slater and Rhyno defeated The Hype Bros to earn their way into the tournament finals on Sunday at Backlash. Rhyno picked up the win for the makeshift team after hitting the Gore on Zack Ryder.

Despite being a free agent in storyline, Slater was allowed to enter the tournament if he could find a partner. But he would only officially join the SmackDown roster if he won the entire tournament.

Slater and Rhyno are scheduled to face American Alpha for the titles at Backlash. American Alpha quickly defeated The Usos on SmackDown to earn their way to the finals, but The Usos turned heel and attacked Chad Gable and Jason Jordan after the match. And after Gable suffered a storyline leg injury during the attack, his status for the match is in doubt.

Renee Young later gave an injury update on Gable, saying he was questionable to compete in the title match on Sunday. Young teased that Shane McMahon would possibly provide further update on Gable’s condition when he joins her and Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack later.

UPDATE: It was revealed on Talking Smack that American Alpha will not compete in the match on Sunday, and Gable will be out 2-4 weeks after suffering a kayfabe MCL injury. McMahon and Bryan announced that The Usos will face The Hype Bros at Backlash, with the winning team going on to face Slater and Rhyno for the titles later in the night.

The current card for Backlash is:

  • WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose defends against AJ Styles
  • Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
  • Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Nikki Bella vs. Carmella vs. Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss in a six-pack challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Championship
  • Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos or The Hype Bros in the finals of a tournament to crown SmackDown Tag Team Champions
  • Intercontinental Champion The Miz defends against Dolph Ziggler
  • The Usos vs. The Hype Bros for a spot in the finals of the SmackDown tag tournament

Rhyno makes WWE main roster return

Posted on by Joseph Currier

In addition to earlier news that Shelton Benjamin would soon be joining the SmackDown roster, another veteran is joining the brand.

Rhyno made his main roster return on tonight’s first post-draft edition of SmackDown, attacking fellow free agent Heath Slater. Rhyno hit the Gore on Slater, who had come out to demand that Shane McMahon sign him.

Rhyno should be at least somewhat familiar to modern WWE fans, as he has been featured as a recurring member of the NXT roster. He had a semi-regular spot on NXT TV in 2015, and made his return recently in a loss to NXT champion Samoa Joe.

He notably had a previous run with WWE from 2001-2005, but is perhaps best known for his time spent in ECW. Rhyno was the promotion’s last champion before it went out of business in 2001.

The veteran has spent time in TNA, Ring of Honor, and various independent promotions. And he even launched a bid to serve in the Michigan House of Representatives earlier this year.