If RVD threw the WWE Championship down in 2006...

[The Rick Jericho]

Does this make a difference for the survival of ECW?

Does it become more rebellious? Does this make the ECW title more prestigious?

RVD dumps the WWE title and they have a tournament Edge or Cena can win. I remember people in the crowd were chanting "throw it down" to no avail.

[Deleted]

The big issue with ECW was the name. It wasn't really ECW at all beyond some token teases in the first few weeks but it was still a hell of a show and by far the best thing WWE had going for most of its existence. Pretty much beta NXT.

[BlackoutCreature]

He should've thrown the ECW Title down. They were a dead company that screwed him out of paychecks during its last days even though he was their only real draw left. Why should he be loyal to them? He finally won a World Title in a major promotion that didn't go out of business a half decade earlier, he should've relished that instead of basking in nostalgia.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

I still believe things would've turned out differently if the cops never busted RVD during that time.

[AlexaBliss4Life]

Dec 28, 2017 20:34:51 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

I still believe things would've turned out differently if the cops never busted RVD during that time.

How so? Ya have my interest.

[golding]

It wouldn't make a difference given how quickly WWE had to discard RVD after he got busted with marijuana.
But he might as well have thrown the WWE championship down with how he put down the title verbally. Remember that he put over the ECW championship as a title that was a great honor that he will wear proudly. The WWE title, on the other hand, it spins...

[The Rick Jericho]

Dec 28, 2017 20:45:46 GMT -5 golding said:

It wouldn't make a difference given how quickly WWE had to discard RVD after he got busted with marijuana.
But he might as well have thrown the WWE championship down with how he put down the title verbally. Remember that he put over the ECW championship as a title that was a great honor that he will wear proudly. The WWE title, on the other hand, it spins...

Found it. He truly was one of the worst WWE Champions of all-time.

[Sephiroth]

Dec 28, 2017 20:43:45 GMT -5 AlexaBliss4Life said:

Dec 28, 2017 20:34:51 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

I still believe things would've turned out differently if the cops never busted RVD during that time.

How so? Ya have my interest.

He was in the midst of what many felt was a long overdue run in the main event, holding both the ECW and WWE titles, having gone over Superman John Cena no less. At the very least I think I can predict his title run was meant to be longer than it ended up being, and I’m inclined to say they had probably intended a program with Kurt Angle before he also got released.

[Juice]

Dec 28, 2017 20:48:11 GMT -5 The Rick Jericho said:

Dec 28, 2017 20:45:46 GMT -5 golding said:

It wouldn't make a difference given how quickly WWE had to discard RVD after he got busted with marijuana.
But he might as well have thrown the WWE championship down with how he put down the title verbally. Remember that he put over the ECW championship as a title that was a great honor that he will wear proudly. The WWE title, on the other hand, it spins...

Found it. He truly was one of the worst WWE Champions of all-time.

That was a sentiment shared by many fans. Myself included. That spinner belt was an eyesore and an insult on anyone not John Cena. The spinning comment was the best thing to come out of this tragically short reign.

[A Platypus Rave]

Dec 28, 2017 21:18:14 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Dec 28, 2017 20:43:45 GMT -5 AlexaBliss4Life said:

How so? Ya have my interest.

He was in the midst of what many felt was a long overdue run in the main event, holding both the ECW and WWE titles, having gone over Superman John Cena no less. At the very least I think I can predict his title run was meant to be longer than it ended up being, and I’m inclined to say they had probably intended a program with Kurt Angle before he also got released.

Yeah, he was probably dropping the WWE title to Edge when he did anyway... but RVD was pretty clearly meant to continue holding the ECW belt.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Dec 28, 2017 20:43:45 GMT -5 AlexaBliss4Life said:

Dec 28, 2017 20:34:51 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

I still believe things would've turned out differently if the cops never busted RVD during that time.

How so? Ya have my interest.

In mid to late 2006 RVD and Sabu were pulled over on the side of the road. The cop noticed something was wrong because of the smell and the fact that Rob was driving without a shirt on. Well long story short they were both detained after the cop found out narcotics in the car.

Here's some of what the police dashcam recorded, youtu.be/Zgxy493QArw

Well within days of the incident, Rob dropped both wwe and ecw titles then got suspended along with Sabu, WWECW suffered because of it, with RVD main eventing the show they were pulling respectable ratings, even beating smackdown, but without RVD for some stupid reason they went with Big Show as the star of the show and everything went to hell.

According to Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, the original plan before getting busted for weed, would've been for RVD to still appear in raw and ecw but lose the wwe belt to Edge in a Screwjob finish, but he was supposed to have a lengthy run with the ECW belt.

I think that after the cops debacle, Vince started to seriously lose faith in pushing ecw guys and going with Big Show was a knee jerk reaction. There were apparently long term plans for RVD before the incident, they were gonna do a show in Battlecreek Michigan, his hometown, and give him a hero's welcome, unfortunately Rob wasn't a professional during his biggest push.

[Sparvid]

But on the bright side, RVD dropping the ECW title gave us ECW champion Big Show.

[thegame415]

It'd be a dumb move on WWE's part. Why disgrace a title you want to promote? Holding it should've been a slap in the face, like a "ha, I have the WWE championship IN ECW".

[AlexaBliss4Life]

I actually was hoping for a custom designed WWE title for RVD without the gaudy spinner setup.

[AlexaBliss4Life]

Dec 28, 2017 20:48:11 GMT -5 The Rick Jericho said:

Dec 28, 2017 20:45:46 GMT -5 golding said:

It wouldn't make a difference given how quickly WWE had to discard RVD after he got busted with marijuana.
But he might as well have thrown the WWE championship down with how he put down the title verbally. Remember that he put over the ECW championship as a title that was a great honor that he will wear proudly. The WWE title, on the other hand, it spins...

Found it. He truly was one of the worst WWE Champions of all-time.

You saying RVD was a bad champ or Cena? Was just a bad twist of fate he got busted.

[Bub (BLM)]

It still cracks me up that WWE punished the guy for getting busted for marijuana. It's Rob Van Dam. You hire that guy under the notion that he smokes infinite pot. It'd be like hiring Quentin Tarantino and punishing him for swearing.

[Woo]

Dec 28, 2017 20:45:46 GMT -5 golding said:

It wouldn't make a difference given how quickly WWE had to discard RVD after he got busted with marijuana.
But he might as well have thrown the WWE championship down with how he put down the title verbally. Remember that he put over the ECW championship as a title that was a great honor that he will wear proudly. The WWE title, on the other hand, it spins...

The title was shit and deserved to be shit on. It was an awesome moment.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Dec 29, 2017 3:28:13 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

It still cracks me up that WWE punished the guy for getting busted for marijuana. It's Rob Van Dam. You hire that guy under the notion that he smokes infinite pot. It'd be like hiring Quentin Tarantino and punishing him for swearing.

According to Rob in a recent youshoot, the McMahons had problems with his weed usage for years, even before the drug tests. Stephanie even once pulled Rob backstage and told him, "it is legal but don't shove it on our faces."

[A Platypus Rave]

Dec 29, 2017 14:51:23 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

Dec 29, 2017 3:28:13 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

It still cracks me up that WWE punished the guy for getting busted for marijuana. It's Rob Van Dam. You hire that guy under the notion that he smokes infinite pot. It'd be like hiring Quentin Tarantino and punishing him for swearing.

According to Rob in a recent youshoot, the McMahons had problems with his weed usage for years, even before the drug tests. Stephanie even once pulled Rob backstage and told him, "it is legal but don't shove it on our faces."

I don't believe she used the word legal... since well it wasn't/isn't (at least not everywhere)

But it was stated by a few people as one of the the main reason they didn't push him as a main eventer they felt they couldn't trust him.

Of course as soon as they did trust him, he was almost immediately pulled over by the cops for it...

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Dec 29, 2017 15:11:15 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

Dec 29, 2017 14:51:23 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

According to Rob in a recent youshoot, the McMahons had problems with his weed usage for years, even before the drug tests. Stephanie even once pulled Rob backstage and told him, "it is legal but don't shove it on our faces."

I don't believe she used the word legal... since well it wasn't/isn't (at least not everywhere)

But it was stated by a few people as one of the the main reason they didn't push him as a main eventer they felt they couldn't trust him.

Of course as soon as they did trust him, he was almost immediately pulled over by the cops for it...

I meant to say that during Rob's earlier years there were no drug tests and everyone could use anything really. Stephanie told Rob that he wouldn't be punished by the company for using weed but still dude you can't smoke in the parking lot lol.