Why Rhyno Appeared Under A Mask At IMPACT Wrestling Slammiversary 17 Revealed

This past Sunday night's IMPACT Wrestling Slammiversary 17 pay-per-view saw Rhyno return to the company.

During the match between Michael Elgin and Brian Cage for the IMPACT World Championship, Don Callis found himself in the ring with Big Mike seemingly looking to harm him.

Before Elgin could do so, however, a masked Rhyno-shaped man appeared out of nowhere to hit the former NJPW wrestler with a Spear... or Gore.

The Rhyno-shaped man, with his Rhyno-shaped legs on show, would then do Rhyno's taunt before hastily leaving the ring.

It has been revealed by Dave Meltzer on

Wrestling Observer Radio

that Rhyno appeared under a mask due to his WWE contract no-compete period expiring in a week's time.

Rhyno is still listed on the WWE Raw roster page on the company's website at the time of writing.

Earlier this year, during an interview with

Chris Van Vliet

Rhyno himself revealed that his WWE contract expires on July 17 and WWE offered to double his current downside merely to sit at home.

“They actually offered me more than twice my downside but it wasn’t where they would have to use me because the downside is so large and it wasn’t about money it was about me wanting to be on the road work and helping the younger guys kind of like a player coach," said the former SmackDown Live Tag Team Champion.