Rhino (real name Terrance Gerin) has just about done it all in professional wrestling.

The man synonymous with using "The Gore" got his first break on the national scene when he debuted for ECW in 1999. He became the television champion and was the last world heavyweight champion when the company went out of business in early 2001.

From there, Gerin’s first run in WWE lasted from March 2001- June 2005. During that time, Gerin won the Hardcore title and the U.S. championship.

Join DAZN and watch more than 100 fight nights a year

He then went on to Impact Wrestling (then known as TNA) from July 2005-November 2010. In his time there, Gerin won the NWA heavyweight title.

After a two-year stint in Ring of Honor (2011-2013) and a brief return to Impact in 2015, Gerin came back to WWE in February 2015. Gerin returned in NXT and then to the main roster in 2016, where he won the SmackDown tag team titles with Heath Slater. But in his last few months with the company, Gerin wasn't getting used often and was getting paid to sit at home. His contract was set to expire in July.

Gurin was offered a new deal, but turned it down. Then at Impact's Slammiversary pay-per-view at the beginning of the month, Gurin while still under contract with WWE, appeared under a mask and attacked Michael Elgin.

Gurin took some time out of his schedule with Sporting News to break the news of him signing a multi-year deal to return to Impact, why he signed the agreement, working with younger talent and why he chose to decline a lucrative contract from WWE.

(Editor's note: This interview was edited for length and clarity.)

SPORTING NEWS: The big news at the moment is that you and Impact Wrestling have agreed to a multi-year deal to return to the company. What does it mean to you?

RHINO: It means a lot on several different things. One, just for the simple fact that it’s a company on the right path for almost two years. They have been moving in a direction where wrestling fans want a company to go in terms of letting the talent be the talent, having bookers booking the matches on the card opposed to writers.

I think a lot of fans are drawn to a promotion like that. Not speaking against other promotions, but you other promotions doing it differently because they’re very successful. But I think there’s nitch where you have to let talent be talent and have enough talent where it's not drowned out too much and where you don’t have enough TV time and run enough shows to use them. It's up to the talent, whether to sink or swim. And Impact because guys have more control when their contracts are up.

SN: How would you summarize your first run at Impact under the Dixie Carter regime?

RHINO: I had a lot of fun. I got a chance to work with guys like AJ Styles, Abyss, Sting, James Storm, even to Rob Van Dam, who was one of my last feuds there. It was a lot of fun. Look at Van Dam now. He’s still so talented.

I’m happy he’s back here and to be in the same locker room as him, especially in a company like Impact that has the mindset of just letting the talent do what they do, and we’ll book them and guide them in a way that will be very beneficial not only to us, but the wrestling fans.

SN: I’m watching Slammiversary last month and this guy comes out in a hood. I’m like, ‘Wait a minute; this guy looks familiar, does this famous spear. I think it’s him. But I know he’s under contract still for another week or so in WWE.’ What happened?

.@MrGMSI_BCage retains the World Championship but CHAOS ERUPTS after the match!



Who is the MASKED MAN?



ORDER HERE: https://t.co/NMkaMOuSvc#SLAMM17 pic.twitter.com/SFQUA6IdFI — IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) July 8, 2019

RHINO: I cannot confirm or deny. But I will go on the record of saying I was still under contract no matter who I worked for. Whether it’s my word or a contract, I will do it justice. But with that being said, Rob Van Dam was also under contract when he appeared on Monday Night Raw for the Reunion show.

So, does Impact and WWE have some sort of backdoor understanding type of agreement? Or was that not me? Or was that me? Did WWE allow me or give my blessings? Because at the end of the day, what are they going to do? Fire me? But at the end of the day, doing business is one of the essential things in wrestling. I try to stress that to younger talent. It’s always beneficial to do good business because it ends up being best for the wrestling business and the fans.

SN: How would you characterize your return to WWE as we didn’t see you much on TV in your final months with the company?

RHINO: I loved it. The last three months of my contract, I was sitting at home. And a lot of people would say it’s a punishment. It wasn’t. It was just business. I can’t say one bad thing about WWE just for the simple fact of that they allowed me to make money. You have to be responsible for your actions.

I think what had happened is when I was going into WWE, I was burnt out because I was running for office. I was on the road making all of my bookings on the indies and then doing the shows on the weekend. Then during the week, I would spend 10 hours a day knocking on doors from 10:30 a.m. until you couldn’t go anymore because it would get too late and you can’t knock on people’s doors amid summer time in the heat and running a campaign and figuring things out. You have to remember it’s just a business.

And I didn’t take that time to go and get in better shape. When I got there, and I’ll be honest with you, every time I went to the ring, I gave 110 percent. But I got lazy. I got comfortable. I didn’t diet. I always went to the gym to stretch and do a little cardio. I really didn’t go crazy. With me, I have to have a low carb (diet), eat every couple hours in small portions because that will keep my metabolism up and workout five days a week. It was unfortunate. WWE never said anything to me. They never said anything to anybody to the best of my knowledge. I just didn’t put in the effort.

Having time off before starting this new venture with Impact made me realize, look back and reflect on what I did wrong, what I did right and what could I improve on and what could I not improve on and what needs work. I think that was a blessing in disguise. Sitting at home proved to be beneficial. Money isn’t everything because I had a downside guarantee.

SN: There was a report out there that you had turned down an offer from WWE that would have doubled your old contract and you turned it down and signed a deal with Impact. Is that true?

RHINO: That is true. Basically, I was talking with Mark Carrano (WWE Senior Director of Talent Relations), and Vince (McMahon) threw out a number. It was double my downside. It was more money than I would have made in wrestling altogether. I love being on the road whether it’s working with independent promotions or with Impact, AEW, or WWE.

My window of being on the road is closing. I realize that. My thing is I enjoy being in the locker rooms and helping people out. My goal is to find the next John Cena, the next Steve Austin or the next RVD. I can’t do that if I’m sitting at home. I’m more beneficial to being on the road.

One of the things I talked to Mark Carrano about is putting in the car with guys that are coming up from NXT or currently in NXT. I don’t need to be on TV. Put me on the live events. I can show up at TV’s and do whatever. A lot of the men and women who get to Raw or SmackDown are very talented in the ring.

I told Carrano, ‘You and I both know it takes a lot of money to get a talent to Raw or Smackdown. And then you’re investing more money in TV time to get them over. And if they mistake in this day of age, they are in trouble due to the social media and are likely to be fired. I can get the talents in the car for a few weeks and teach them the ways of the road and do something like that’.

But I thought I wouldn’t be on the road and be able to do that because there are so many people under contract. So that’s one of the reasons I turned it down. I figured I would throw a stupid number out there and if they bite then if I sit at home, I’ll have to learn how to be happy. But I realized money doesn’t always make you happy. I’m glad they turned down my counter.

They made a counter and wondered if we could meet in the middle. I was like, ‘No, I don’t think we’re going to meet.’ I realized there that I just didn’t want to collect a paycheck and told them we'd just part ways respectfully. There was no heat or anything. At the end of the day, I would have been miserable, and there isn’t an amount of money to make you happy when you can’t do something you love.

SN: You talk about wanting to help the younger talent, and you are doing it right out of the gate in your return to Impact with a program with Michael Elgin. What do you see in Michael Elgin that made you want to work with him?

RHINO: He’s just a powerful individual. He gets it like a lot of people in our locker room. I’ve known Michael Elgin since Ring of Honor. He’s always been a force in wrestling. Whether it’s been on live events or televised events, the guy lives, breathes and eats the gym and wrestling. And that motivates you.

You’re not going to get better if you aren’t facing people better than you. You always want to be fighting from underneath because you become bigger, better, and stronger. I know he’ll make me a better person in the ring because he’s a beast. He’s so strong. It’s insane.

SN: You said earlier that you don’t see yourself wrestling for too much longer. When do you see yourself hanging up the boots?

RHINO: I would like to try for eight years. That’s my goal. Hit 32 years in pro wrestling. I was watching a thing on former NASCAR driver Richard Petty and he drove for 32 years. Along with winding it up, I’d like to get more involved in my community. I own a marina in Monroe, Mich. called Big Daddy’s Boatyard and want to work on that.

I don’t know about becoming a wrestling coach, but I think you owe it to wrestling business to do like autograph signings for the fans or help build another talent by taking more of a behind the scenes approach. These major pro wrestling companies need to help bring guys in to help develop the future behind the scenes. Hopefully, my career ends eight years from now, so I can help the younger generation because I don’t want to abandon the business like that whatsoever.