thegame
June 15th, 2003, 12:22:52 PM
Number 3. Please hit me back with some opinions, as always.
The Whole F'n Show.
Other than Triple H, if ever asked who my favorite wrestler is, I always respond by saying "The Whole F'n Show", "Mr. PPV" ROB VAN DAM. For those of you who don't remember, RVD has been around for a long time now. Back in 1996, I first saw RVD at a ECW show here in Buffalo. In his first match that I saw, he went all out against Perry Saturn, and hit some of his now famous moves, like the "Split'Legged Moonsault," "Van Daminator", "Rolling Thunder", and "The Five Star Frog Splash". I was instantly a fan. For those who take the year 1996 in a historical wrestling contrast, you may remember that things were not well in WWE at the time. With Bret Hart gone on leave after Wrestlemania XII, there was a very small pool of interesting talent to enjoy, and with the departure of Razor Ramon and Diesle to WCW, it looked as if WWE was headed for a slump. With this slump now a reality, I turned to ECW, the new upstart Federation out of Philly, with headline talent like Sabu, Sandeman, Tommy Dreamer, the Dudley Boyz (all 5 of them), Taz, and of course RVD, headed up by The Franchise, Shane Douglas. ECW was years ahead of its time, and at the front of it's new approach was RVD.
Van Dam was a true original. Building on the strengths of Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels and Randy Savage, Van Dam brought the high-risk game to new levels of excellence. His matches in ECW would go for 30 minutes plus, all of which were either spent hitting high impact moves, or gesturing to the crowd. Van Dam took on all challanges, he was giving the chance to have a long title reign with the Television Championship, had a succesfull partnership with Sabu as Tag Champs, and became, along with Taz and Douglas, the man in the company to watch. Van Dam's fueds with Sabu, Jerry Lynn, and Balls Mahony are legendary, and the matches were ones I still remember.
When ECW ended, I had little doubt that RVD would someday make it to WWE. When that day came, I remember jumping out of my chair in excitement for him. In the early days of his WWE career, RVD was cast as a heel, a member of the ECW/WCW Alliance. The problem was, the fans wouldn't boo him. Even after beating face standouts like Jeff Hardy, the fans would still love his style, attitude, and of course, do his great catch phrase whenever he came out. After the Alliance days, RVD has enjoyed much success with WWE. He has won many titles, and has challanged in main event status for the World Title.
In the future, RVD's schedule will slow down some, as his knees are getting worse every year. It is amazing that he can still do the full schedule that WWE RAW writers ask him to run with. I hope that at some time in the future the WWE decides to give RVD a title reign, he certainly deserves one. The great knock on RVD over the years has been his mic work, but when your ROB VAN DAM, what you do in the ring speaks louder than any 3 minute promo.
He really is the Whole F'n Show.
I am thegame
The Whole F'n Show.
Other than Triple H, if ever asked who my favorite wrestler is, I always respond by saying "The Whole F'n Show", "Mr. PPV" ROB VAN DAM. For those of you who don't remember, RVD has been around for a long time now. Back in 1996, I first saw RVD at a ECW show here in Buffalo. In his first match that I saw, he went all out against Perry Saturn, and hit some of his now famous moves, like the "Split'Legged Moonsault," "Van Daminator", "Rolling Thunder", and "The Five Star Frog Splash". I was instantly a fan. For those who take the year 1996 in a historical wrestling contrast, you may remember that things were not well in WWE at the time. With Bret Hart gone on leave after Wrestlemania XII, there was a very small pool of interesting talent to enjoy, and with the departure of Razor Ramon and Diesle to WCW, it looked as if WWE was headed for a slump. With this slump now a reality, I turned to ECW, the new upstart Federation out of Philly, with headline talent like Sabu, Sandeman, Tommy Dreamer, the Dudley Boyz (all 5 of them), Taz, and of course RVD, headed up by The Franchise, Shane Douglas. ECW was years ahead of its time, and at the front of it's new approach was RVD.
Van Dam was a true original. Building on the strengths of Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels and Randy Savage, Van Dam brought the high-risk game to new levels of excellence. His matches in ECW would go for 30 minutes plus, all of which were either spent hitting high impact moves, or gesturing to the crowd. Van Dam took on all challanges, he was giving the chance to have a long title reign with the Television Championship, had a succesfull partnership with Sabu as Tag Champs, and became, along with Taz and Douglas, the man in the company to watch. Van Dam's fueds with Sabu, Jerry Lynn, and Balls Mahony are legendary, and the matches were ones I still remember.
When ECW ended, I had little doubt that RVD would someday make it to WWE. When that day came, I remember jumping out of my chair in excitement for him. In the early days of his WWE career, RVD was cast as a heel, a member of the ECW/WCW Alliance. The problem was, the fans wouldn't boo him. Even after beating face standouts like Jeff Hardy, the fans would still love his style, attitude, and of course, do his great catch phrase whenever he came out. After the Alliance days, RVD has enjoyed much success with WWE. He has won many titles, and has challanged in main event status for the World Title.
In the future, RVD's schedule will slow down some, as his knees are getting worse every year. It is amazing that he can still do the full schedule that WWE RAW writers ask him to run with. I hope that at some time in the future the WWE decides to give RVD a title reign, he certainly deserves one. The great knock on RVD over the years has been his mic work, but when your ROB VAN DAM, what you do in the ring speaks louder than any 3 minute promo.
He really is the Whole F'n Show.
I am thegame