Rhino almost had one more epic ECW Arena moment under the AEW banner. The former ECW World Champion has now revealed that he was secretly booked for one of AEW’s shows inside the legendary venue, but fans never saw it because Mother Nature got in the way.
While speaking to ROAR Around The Ring, Rhino revealed a story that had never been made public before. As AEW prepared to run the historic ECW Arena in Philadelphia back in August 2025, he was actually supposed to be part of one of the events. The plans, however, fell apart before he could even make it to the building.
“These kids go back and watch some of the stuff you’ve done and they’ll say, ‘Oh, I like the stuff you did with Sandman in the ECW Arena.’ And that’s another thing—AEW went to the ECW Arena. I was supposed to be part of one of their shows. I’m breaking it live here, but my flight kept on getting canceled because of the weather.”
If he actually made it for the show, it would’ve marked another appearance for the company after his surprise ROH World Television Championship match against Nick Wayne in Detroit in May 2025.
The timing of Rhino’s story is interesting because he’ll be back with AEW this week. As reported earlier, the former ECW World Champion is scheduled to be at AEW’s Dynamite and Collision television tapings in Detroit, although it’s currently unknown what role he’ll play during the shows.
Bottom line: fans spent a long time wondering whether Rhino would wrestle for AEW again without realizing they had already come much closer to seeing it than anyone knew. If the weather had cooperated, Rhino’s AEW run last year would’ve included one more walk through the ECW Arena before it was all over.
Would you have liked to see Rhino appear during AEW’s ECW Arena residency? And what do you think he’ll be doing at AEW’s Detroit tapings this week? Let us know in the comments below.
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