MANILA, Philippines – Another professional wrestler is entering the field of politics as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) performer Rhyno is running to become the state representative for his district in Dearborn, Michigan.
Rhyno, whose real name is Terrance "Terry" Gerin, announced his plan to run for political office as a Republican via Twitter on Friday, March 4.
{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's official, I'm on the ballot for State Representative. Hope I make you proud Dearborn, MI <a href="https://t.co/bRYKoV11vv">pic.twitter.com/bRYKoV11vv</a></p>— Rhyno (@Rhyno313) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rhyno313/status/705511163551948800">March 3, 2016</a></blockquote>
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The 40-year-old performer rose to stardom in the now-defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he was the final heavyweight and television champion before its ill-fated revival as a brand under the WWE banner in 2006.
Rhyno had a 4-year midcard run in WWE before joining Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling from 2005 to 2010 and brief return in 2014.
Rhyno popularized the shoulder block tackle known as “The Gore” and captured the NWA world heavyweight championship on October 23, 2005 in TNA, but his reign was short-lived as he dropped the title to Jeff Jarrett two days later.
Rhyno made his WWE comeback in February 2015 as part of the company’s developmental territory NXT, winning against Elias Samson.
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“The Man Beast” was also included in The Dudley Boyz’s feud with The Wyatt Family along with fellow ECW alumnus Tommy Dreamer this past December.
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In his attempt to secure a state representative seat, Rhyno received an amount of support from his colleagues, including former ECW wrestler Rob Van Dam.
{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VOTFORHYNO?src=hash">#VOTFORHYNO</a><a href="https://twitter.com/Rhyno313">@Rhyno313</a> <a href="https://t.co/L67Q8kBmKO">pic.twitter.com/L67Q8kBmKO</a></p>— Rob Van Dam (@TherealRVD) <a href="https://twitter.com/TherealRVD/status/705971586449469440">March 5, 2016</a></blockquote>
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This is not the first time that a wrestler will be testing the waters of the political arena as Jesse "The Body" Ventura notably served as governor of the state of Minnesota for 4 years.
Linda McMahon left her position as WWE’s chief executing officer in 2009 to run unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States Senate from Connecticut, losing to Democratic Party nominee Richard Blumenthal in the 2010 general elections. – Rappler.com