Stone Cold Steve Austin struggled with it. Chris Benoit is recuperating from it. Now, add Rhyno to the list of superstars taken out of the ring due to a neck injury.

While driving from Cincinnati to Detroit Friday afternoon, Rhyno confirmed in a phone interview with WCW.com that two herniated discs in his neck have caused him pain in recent weeks. The injury will keep the young Alliance Superstar out of action for a yet-undetermined period of time. 

It sucks, Rhyno said. It sucks in a lot of ways. When you have something you cherish, appreciate, love, crave, and it's taken away from you ... it hurts in several ways. No matter what it is, your car, your job, your wife, whatever it is. It's painful in many ways. This is the first time it's been taken away from me, Rhyno said he began experiencing pain in his shoulder blades approximately three weeks ago. But the problem became acute two weeks ago when the stinging spread to his triceps. An MRI conducted earlier this week revealed that two of his discs were out of position, putting pressure on his spinal cord. 

Arrangements are being made for Rhyno to see Dr. Lloyd Youngblood next week in San Antonio, Texas, for further evaluation. They will attempt to determine if surgery is necessary. Rhyno could be out as little as a week or as long as several months. Youngblood is the same spine specialist who surgically alleviated similar conditions in Benoit and Austin. 

In addition to the pain, several of Rhyno's co-workers convinced him to have the situation appraised and fixed soon. I've been talking to a lot of the boys such as X-Pac and a lot of the guys have had this surgery, Rhyno said. Austin told me to get it taken care of while I'm young.

No matter how long the injury keeps him out of the ring, Rhyno pledges to stay active within the business. Obviously I have to take things one step at a time, and the sooner I get back in the ring the better, he said. I'll still want to do a lot. I want to keep working as far as doing media days, autograph sessions, on-sale dates, you name it. It'll be hard to watch and not be part of it, but if I do have to sit out for length of time then I'm going to take advantage.

Taking advantage means working with experts to formulate proper diet and exercise plans to ensure that Rhyno is in top physical shape one he returns. I'm looking at the positives, Rhyno said. It could be a lot worse. I'll try to take a negative and turn it into a positive. I'm going to try to learn more about the wrestling business, to see what goes on behind the scenes. There's so much to learn. 

Once I'm ready to start training again, I'm going to try to come back 10 times better than I was.