Heath and Rhino

Heath and Rhino are a professional wrestling tag team currently signed to Impact Wrestling.[1] As a team, they are best known for their time in WWE, where they originally formed and became the inaugural WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions as Heath Slater and Rhyno. The team also works on the independent circuit where they are the current XICW Tag Team Champions for Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling (XICW).

Heath and Rhino
Rhino (left) and Heath (right)
Stable
MembersHeath Slater/Heath
Rhyno/Rhino
Name(s)Heath Slater and Rhyno
Heath and Rhino
Billed heightsHeath: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Rhino: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Combined
billed weight
422 lb (191 kg)
DebutAugust 23, 2016
Years active2016–2019, 2020–present

History

WWE (2016–2019)

On the July 26 episode of SmackDown Live, Rhyno returned to attack "free agent" Heath Slater with a Gore.[2][3] On the August 9 episode of SmackDown Live, the two wrestled each other with the stipulation that if Slater won, he would be signed to the SmackDown roster; however, Rhyno defeated Slater. On the August 23 episode of SmackDown, Slater was offered a spot in the tournament for the newly instated SmackDown Tag Team Championship if he found a partner. After struggling to find a partner, Rhyno approached Slater and agreed to be his partner for the tournament.[4] Rhyno and Slater defeated The Headbangers in the first round and The Hype Bros in the semi-finals to advance to the finals at Backlash,[5] where they defeated The Usos to become the inaugural champions, while also granting Slater a contract.[6][7] On the September 13 episode of SmackDown Live, Rhyno and Slater defeated The Ascension to successfully retain the titles in their first defense following Slater's official live contract signing.[8] At No Mercy, Rhyno and Slater retained the titles against The Usos. At Survivor Series, Rhyno and Slater were the team captains for Team SmackDown in the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match, where they were defeated by Team Raw.[9] At TLC on December 4, Rhyno and Slater's tag team championship reign came to an end at 84 days after they were defeated by The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton).[10] Two days later on SmackDown Live, Rhyno and Slater received their rematch, but failed to regain the titles. At Elimination Chamber on February 12, 2017, the duo were the first entrants into the tag team turmoil match for the titles, eliminating Breezango and The Vaudevillains before being eliminated by The Usos.[11]

On April 10, both Rhyno and Slater were traded to Raw brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up. On the June 5 episode of Raw, Rhyno and Slater failed to win the Raw Tag Team Championship against Cesaro and Sheamus.[12] On the October 30 episode of Raw, Rhyno and Slater defeated The Club in an All Hallow's Eve Trick or Street Fight.[13] At the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018, Rhyno participated in the Royal Rumble match as the third entrant, this was Rhyno's first appearance in 14 years at the namesake pay-per-view match but was eliminated by Baron Corbin.

On the December 3 episode of Raw, General Manager Baron Corbin created a match between Rhyno and Slater, where the loser would be fired from Raw. Rhyno lost the match and was subsequently forced to leave the brand.[14] However, after Corbin was removed from power, he returned to Raw to aid Slater against an attack from Jinder Mahal on the December 24 episode of Raw.[15] The following week on Raw, Rhyno and Slater faced Mahal and The Singh Brothers in a losing effort.[16] On July 17, their team ended after Rhyno left WWE.[17][18]

Impact Wrestling (2020–present)

After Rhyno left WWE, he signed with Impact Wrestling and changed the spelling of his name to Rhino (as WWE owns the trademark with the "y" spelling). Slater was released from WWE in April 2020 due to budget cuts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He then made his debut in Impact on July 18 at Slammiversary, now using the shortened name Heath. The duo then began a storyline where Heath did not have a contract with Impact and tried to obtain one, similar to the storyline in WWE that resulted in the two becoming a team in the first place. Their first match as a team with the promotion took place at Victory Road, where Heath and Rhino defeated Reno Scum (Adam Thornstowe and Luster the Legend).[19]

On October 24 at Bound for Glory, both Heath and Rhino took part in an Intergender Call Your Shot Gauntlet match, where the winner could choose any championship match of their choice; however, if either Heath or Rhino won, Heath would earn a full-time contract with Impact Wrestling, but if they both lost, he would be fired. Rhino would go on to win, thus winning Heath an Impact contract; however, Heath suffered an injury during the match.[20]

Independent circuit (2020–present)

On October 10, 2020 at Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling (XICW), Heath and Rhino defeated DBA and Jaimy Coxxx to become XICW Tag Team Champions.[21]

Championships and accomplishments

  • Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling
    • XICW Tag Team Championship (1 time, current)[25]

Notes

  1. Since Rhino won, then Heath also won a full time contract with Impact Wrestling. Had neither Heath nor Rhino won, Rhino would be fired.

References

  1. "Heath Slater Crashes Slammiversary, Reunites With Rhino & Gets Kicked Out Of The Building".
  2. Medalis, Kara A. "Breaking News: Shelton Benjamin, Rhyno return to WWE on SmackDown Live". WWE. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  3. Parks, Greg. "7/26 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  4. "WWE Smackdown Results – 8/23/16 (Live from Uncasville, two new championships to be introduced)". WrestleView. August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 1, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Will The Usos end the fairy tale for 'Beauty and The Man Beast'?".
  7. "WWE Smackdown Results: Winners, Analysis, Reaction and Highlights From September 27". www.forbes.com.
  8. "WWE Smackdown Live Results 9/13/16". Yahoo! Sports.
  9. Parks, Greg. "10/25 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Ongoing, Real-Time Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  10. Wortman, James. "Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt def. SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno". WWE. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  11. Melok, Bobby. "SmackDown Tag Team Champions American Alpha win Tag Team Turmoil". WWE. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  12. Benigno, Anthony (June 5, 2017). "Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus def. Heath Slater & Rhyno". WWE. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  13. Bengino, Anthony (October 30, 2017). "Heath Slater & Rhyno def. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson in an All Hallow's Eve Trick or Street Fight". WWE. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  14. Wortman, James (December 3, 2018). "Rhyno fired from Monday Night Raw". WWE. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  15. Martin, Adam (December 24, 2018). "WWE RAW Results – 12/24/18 (Rollins vs. Corbin, Ronda Rousey defends her title)". WrestleView. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  16. Benigno, Anthony (December 31, 2018). "Jinder Mahal & The Singh Brothers def. Heath Slater & Rhyno (3-on-2 Handicap Match)". WWE. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  17. Johnson, Mike. "RHYNO EXPLAINS WHY HE'S LEAVING WWE". PWInsider. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  18. Ross Sapp, Sean. "Rhyno Says WWE Offered Him Double His Downside Guarantee, Which He Rejected". Fightful. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  19. "Impact Wrestling Victory Road Results: Eric Young Defends Impact World Title Against Eddie Edwards".
  20. "OFFICIAL: Call Your Shot Gauntlet Returns at Bound For Glory". Impact Wrestling. October 12, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  21. "XICW Tag Team Championship". Cage Match. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  22. "IMPACT Bound For Glory 2020 Results: Winners, News And Notes On October 24".
  23. "Best of 2020 Part 2 Recap". Impact Wrestling.
  24. "WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships". Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  25. "XICW Tag Team Championship". Cage Match. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
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