Bell 2 Bell: Crowning a Man-Beast – Mistake or Opportunity?

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Immediately following TNA’s Bound For Glory PPV wrestling fans all over the Internet were quick to judge or defend the promotion’s last minute decision to crown Rhino the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion. As has been reported elsewhere, Kevin Nash had to be removed from the Main Event the day of the show due to a medical emergency, leaving Jeff Jarrett without an opponent for the card’s championship match. The TNA Booking Committee then proceeded to shock wrestling fans by crowning the former ECW World and Television Champion, Rhino, their new champion.

Many have argued since Sunday night that Rhino is not championship material. Several reasons have emerged explaining some fans bewilderment over the title change. Some claim that Rhino has not been pushed as a threat since TNA’s Spike TV debut. Others argue that he will be viewed as nothing more than a former WWE Midcarder, which devalues TNA’s top prize. Finally, there are some who argue that Rhino is not as deserving as some other roster members because he has not been with the company for very long.

Regardless of whether or not you believe Rhino should have won the title, I do believe that he was the best choice to be the challenger in the Main Event. Obvious choices would have been Raven or Monty Brown since current story-lines point toward inevitable collisons with Jeff Jarrett. However, both of these angles have been developing slowly since the Spike TV debut and placing either man in the Main Event at the last minute would taken considerable steam out of future payoffs for those feuds.

Samoa Joe, another favored contender among Internet fans, would have also been a mistake. He has captured the imagination of fans in the Orlando Impact Zone, but he is a relative newcover to fans on the national stage. Without a doubt, Samoa Joe will one day make a fine NWA Champion, but now was not his time.

That leaves us with Rhino, which is a complicated situation. He made a fine enough contender, but the company’s World Champion? There is a definite conflict in how fans view the Man-Beast. Many remember him as a rising star in the dying days of ECW, a fierce monster, an unstoppable badass, and a World Champion. However, some fans remember him only as a sometimes WWE Hardcore Champion forever stuck in the WWE midcard, jobbing to newcomers and whoever needed a squash under their belt.

I don’t know if putting the belt on Rhino was the best decision to make, but I do know that I went crazy watching that PPV. It was one of the most unpredictable nights of wrestling I’ve seen in years and I loved every moment of it. Only time will tell if putting the belt on Rhino was a mistake made in a state of panic or a golden opportunity seized by TNA to capitalize on talent squandered in the WWE midcard. We cannot change history and this judgement can only be made after we see how TNA plans on handling the new champion’s reign.

They have the chance to really make something out of Rhino winning the title at Bound For Glory. He can be so much more than a transitional champion. His unlikely road to the title makes a very compelling story if told properly.

This was a man who at one time looked as if he could become a huge star in an underground movement called ECW. He was a force to be reckoned with as he held both of their major singles belts at the same time. Then the rug was pulled out from under him when his promotion went bankrupt. With the death of ECW started the death of Rhino’s passion for the business. Employed by a company who never had any intentions of giving him the opportunity to truly prove himself, his personal life started to spin out of control. His love for wrestling had disappeared and soon enough so would his family life. The bottom all fell out earlier this year when his wife filed for divorce, moving his daughter to Germany, and he lost his job.

All of this pressure could have crushed a lesser man. Instead Rhino took some time off and began training for a comeback. During this time of reflection he found his love for the industry again. He used his chosen profession as a means of pulling all of the pieces back together again.

So, after some initial success in TNA he was booked in Monster’s Ball, one of the most brutal and violent matches in wrestling today. He viewed this as his opportunity to show the fans, management, and most importantly himself that he could take it to the next level. All of that training and conditioning for Monster’s Ball served him well as an unlikely opportunity came about due to circumstances out of TNA’s control. Their main event had fallen apart. Rhino saw the opportunity and despite all the physical pain and emotional energy that Monster’s Ball had drained out of him, he gutted out and pulled off the impossible.

He became the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Joining a host of legends such as Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Harly Race, and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. Despite all doubts, many of them within his own mind, he had risen to the next level.

That’s the story as the way I see it… or least the way I’d really like to see TNA tell it. Rhino has proven within the last few months that he can actually cut an effective promo. I’d love to see him deliver a speech such as this, or one of their extremely sharp character packages, only to be cut short by someone claiming that his victory was a fluke. Personally, I’d prefer if it were Abyss and Jim Mitchell. I think a Rhino vs. Abyss main event for the Primetime Special would be fantastic. It would be a great hardcore brawl showing new fans that TNA offers a little something for everyone: high-flying X Division action, solid tag-team wrestling, technical expertise, and even brutal hardcore matches.

Crowning the Man-Beast: Mistake or Opportunity? Each fan will have to decide for him or herself, but the true judge will be time.

~LT3~