Although it will be another six months before Rhyno can physically return to a World Wrestling Federation ring, he says he wishes he could go back to work right now. Im ready to come back today, but the doctors wont let me, Rhyno told WWF.com in a phone interview from his Detroit home. When they told me I would be missing a year total, they might as well have just told the Pope to give up religion.

Rhyno was indefinitely suspended for storyline purposes the week of No Mercy last October. He had spinal fusion surgery shortly thereafter, and has been off TV ever since, except for a guest appearance on HEAT. The procedure is virtually the same one undergone by Stone Cold Steve Austin and Chris Benoit. In fact, Rhyno even used the same doctor Dr. Lloyd Youngblood of San Antonio.

Rhyno met with Dr. Youngblood last week, and says the prognosis is good, although his rehab could extend another six months. Dr. Youngblood says when I heal, I'll be stronger than ever, Rhyno said. I'm ahead of schedule. Everybody at the World Wrestling Federation told me to take whatever time I need to get through this and put it behind me. I'd rather sit out a couple of extra months and come back better than ever than come back too early and hurt myself, and have this be a recurring problem. He says he never thought that rehabbing after the surgery would be so difficult. When youre on the road a year steady with the World Wrestling Federation, it's so much fun, Rhyno said. Everything seems to fall into place, the money is good its so much fun. Then, everything came to a screeching halt.

I talked to Benoit about two or three weeks after his surgery, and he was sitting and talking and getting better. At the time, I couldnt imagine being in the same boat he's in. I just thought, Wow, thats gotta suck for him. I thought I understood, but until I went through the thing, you cant imagine what another person goes through when they're injured. You can't know the hell it is until youre there.

Although Rhyno says his life has been pretty boring since the surgery, he is happy to report that he's no longer in pain, and that he feels better than he has in a while. What's pain? Our tolerance level is higher than most. I'm definitely not crying like a baby. Except maybe to my wife, he jokes. There really isn't any pain or discomfort. Compared to the pain we go through in the ring on a regular basis, it was never really that painful. The pain I can deal with. It's the pain of having the time off that gets me.

Indeed, Rhyno says that the hardest thing about his rehabilitation is being away from the product that he loves so much. I haven't sat through an entire Federation program since I got hurt, he admits. I've been unable to. I found it hard to watch because I couldn't be a part of it. The first couple of months, when I realized I couldn't be working, I found that harder than the surgery. Rhyno says he may use some of his time off to travel down the East Coast, perhaps visiting the Carolinas, he says.

He admits that one of his biggest disappointments is the fact that he won't be able to participate in WrestleMania X8, coming up on March 17 at SkyDome in Toronto. Last year, I played a big part in Edge & Christian's match, and this year, I was hoping to get a match at WrestleMania, Rhyno said. That's what I was working for; thats everybodys dream. How many people get to have a match at WrestleMania? I was really looking forward to it. And I still am, just because its WrestleMania. Hopefully I can be a part of AXXESS. I hope they don't forget about me.

Rhyno says he may drive to Milwaukee or Chicago for next weeks television events, and that he hopes to be backstage at RAW in Detroit on March 11. But aside from those shows and a couple of personal appearances, hell mostly be spending the next few months getting back into ring shape and preparing for his comeback. I'm glad I can do appearances, still be a part of it, Rhyno said. But I can't wait to get back.