Rhyno may have just returned to Impact Wrestling

Tonight’s Slammiversary XVII pay-per-view (PPV), emanating from Gilley’s in Dallas, Texas, has been a pretty by the books show. Entertaining matches, but nothing really newsworthy.

That is until a “mystery man” appeared after the Impact title match.

Brian Cage successfully retained his Impact title against challenger Michael Elgin. Elgin was a sore loser and attacked Cage before turning his eyes to Don Callis on commentary. Big Mike tossed Callis into the ring and was poised to put a beating on him until a masked man appeared, speared... nay gored... Elgin, and the ran off without ever removing his mask.

I mean it’s a dude who’s built like Rhyno, delivers a spear like Rhyno, and has the mannerisms of Rhyno. If it walks like a Rhyno...

This wouldn’t be too noteworthy in its own right. Rhyno has been in Impact prior. But rumor has it that his contract with WWE doesn’t expire for another 10 days.

Now, the reports about his contract expiration could be wrong or they could have worked something out, which would be a very possible option. But why did he wear the mask then? We all know who it is so it’s not setting up some huge surprise. Was that to cover their arses so they can say “No, it’s just a dude who looks like Rhyno” if the expiration date is true and WWE gets angry?

PWInsider, who reported the contract date, reported that Rhyno (probably now known as Rhino), was backstage, so it likely wasn’t someone who just happened to have a very similar build.

We’ll wait and see if anything comes of this. Maybe it’s a one off thing and won’t be an issue. Or maybe Rhyno will be on the roster soon. If he’s still under contract with WWE tonight and they’re angry about it, we’ll likely hear about it.

You can find the results to Slammiversary at the live blog here.