RVD interview

[♥ Bunnyslinger ♥]

www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2722834/Exclusive-Rob-Van-Dam-interview-on-Vince-McMahon-and-the-death-of-ECW.html

Was an interesting read.

[Bub (BLM)]

I was right there with him up until he said that he probably wasn't missing much by not watching ECW. That's incredibly disrespectful to all the guys on that brand that are busting their asses to make it the best wrestling show on TV. Now I just want to see him come back and lose to Christian.

[manstis1804]

That was a good read thanks. I can't help but agree with RVD, Vince's ego killed what could've been something pretty cool.

[noleafclover1980]

I camm B.S. that whole article seems fake as hell. "Well, because I spent the last five years training them to chant 'ECW'. We've got to have credibility Rob and that means we have to listen to the referees." It sounds like some weird kayfabe/shoot hybrid. Plus the parts about thinking Vince made himself ECW champ as a way of showing that he took out a competitor is laughable at best. ECW was never competition to the WWF. They were an indy promotion. If there were such competition, no way Vince would have ever had the ECW invasion angle in the 90's,with RVD and others showing up on Raw. Not to mention years passed in between ECW folding and Vince buying the rights. In summery... NEWZ!

[Deleted]

Nov 11, 2009 19:01:37 GMT -5 noleafclover1980 said:

I camm B.S. that whole article seems fake as hell. "Well, because I spent the last five years training them to chant 'ECW'. We've got to have credibility Rob and that means we have to listen to the referees." It sounds like some weird kayfabe/shoot hybrid. Plus the parts about thinking Vince made himself ECW champ as a way of showing that he took out a competitor is laughable at best. ECW was never competition to the WWF. They were an indy promotion. If there were such competition, no way Vince would have ever had the ECW invasion angle in the 90's,with RVD and others showing up on Raw. Not to mention years passed in between ECW folding and Vince buying the rights. In summery... NEWZ!

The first episode of WWECW got a 2.7 rating. The whole ECW vs. WWE episode they had was somewhere in the 3.0's. Both ECW ONS PPV's sold very well. The Rise and Fall of ECW was the best selling WWE DVD ever and it might still be. (I haven't checked since then) The point is there was huge interest in ECW and Vince did f*** it up.

Plus The Sun is reliable for two things. Page 3 boobs and wrestling interviews.

[stormwrestling]

I miss ECW

[noleafclover1980]

The spoiler thing made me laugh. I loved ECW, but it was never a direct competitor, Vince would never help competition like the way he helped ECW.

[Tiger Millionaire]

The memory of ECW far surpassed what ECW actually was, and this is coming from someone who lived right in the heart of ECW country. It was never ever in competition with WCW or WWF except in the minds of a few who didn't understand the Heyman Hustle. They did have a style that was used, but they were not the first or the only people with that style. Their strongest point was a small legion of fans who spread the gospel.

[Tiger Millionaire]

I told him: "In ECW you have a product that is different, you should capitalise on that difference. That's why the fans like it and are attracted to it."
That's when Vince told me that nobody remembered the old ECW and he created this enthusiasm for this new ECW.

I said: "Wait a second, didn't we bring it back because of the success of the DVD and One Night Stand. Didn't that tell us there's a lot of support still."

He said: "Well Rob, there's a lot of support because they're watching WWE promote ECW. They weren't around back then. People grow up, have kids, things change."

I replied: "That doesn't make sense. Come on Vince, why do you think they chant 'ECW' when we're doing something out there."

He said: "Well, because I spent the last five years training them to chant 'ECW

And Vince is right.

ECW is like the b*****d stepchild and always has been.

What should ECW be considered, Rob? Seriously, at best that is what ECW was, to think anymore is just silly.

[Diamond Dallas Dom]

Nov 11, 2009 18:57:44 GMT -5 manstis1804 said:

That was a good read thanks. I can't help but agree with RVD, Vince's ego killed what could've been something pretty cool.

It's true...just like he did with the WCW Invasion angle and the nWo angle...Vince can never put his ego aside even if it means drawing in ratings

or maybe his ego is just so huge that he never thought that the ECW, WCW, and nWo were popular. I don't know, but Vince has effed up so many good things...

[hollywood]

I most certainly agree with him that Vince never trained fans to chant ECW. They were already doing it, anyway. Apart from capitalizing on it (which was smart), all Vince can say he did was give more fans the opportunity to chant it than would've otherwise.

[dh03grad]

Nov 11, 2009 19:44:50 GMT -5 Tiger Millionaire said:

I told him: "In ECW you have a product that is different, you should capitalise on that difference. That's why the fans like it and are attracted to it."
That's when Vince told me that nobody remembered the old ECW and he created this enthusiasm for this new ECW.

I said: "Wait a second, didn't we bring it back because of the success of the DVD and One Night Stand. Didn't that tell us there's a lot of support still."

He said: "Well Rob, there's a lot of support because they're watching WWE promote ECW. They weren't around back then. People grow up, have kids, things change."

I replied: "That doesn't make sense. Come on Vince, why do you think they chant 'ECW' when we're doing something out there."

He said: "Well, because I spent the last five years training them to chant 'ECW

And Vince is right.

ECW is like the b*****d stepchild and always has been.

What should ECW be considered, Rob? Seriously, at best that is what ECW was, to think anymore is just silly.

Vince is right that the only reason we remember ECW is because of him? Seriously?

[Richard]

Nov 11, 2009 21:40:05 GMT -5 dh03grad said:

Nov 11, 2009 19:44:50 GMT -5 Tiger Millionaire said:

And Vince is right.



What should ECW be considered, Rob? Seriously, at best that is what ECW was, to think anymore is just silly.

Vince is right that the only reason we remember ECW is because of him? Seriously?

Well, he is the reason most of the casuals think of ECW. If not for him making the Rise and Fall DVD, ECW would be a mere footnote in wrestling history like AWA and WCCW.

[A Dubya (El Hombre Muerto)]

Nov 11, 2009 21:45:46 GMT -5 Richard said:

Nov 11, 2009 21:40:05 GMT -5 dh03grad said:

Vince is right that the only reason we remember ECW is because of him? Seriously?

Well, he is the reason most of the casuals think of ECW. If not for him making the Rise and Fall DVD, ECW would be a mere footnote in wrestling history like AWA and WCCW.

I disagree, strongly. Why did the DVD sell so well? It wasn't because Vince McMahon created this product. It had nothing to do with him. It was all about the heart, soul and passion of the people who were around during the time of ECW. It's unlikely that hundreds of people bought the DVD to see Vince's created stars. I don't think any other DVD set (AWA, WCCW, or even the WCW DVD released in 2009) did as well as that one did. So how can you honestly say it's just a mere footnote? If it wasn't for ECW's style being blatantly copied by McMahon during the "Attitude" era, there probably would not even be a WWE right now.

Nobody (in their right mind who understands the differences between ECW and WWE during the mid 90's) can honestly say ECW was not important in wrestling history, and would be just a footnote without Vince's involvement. Remember Mabel winning the 1995 King of the Ring? Yeah........Vince himself even admits the company almost went under in that era.

[dh03grad]

Nov 11, 2009 21:45:46 GMT -5 Richard said:

Nov 11, 2009 21:40:05 GMT -5 dh03grad said:

Vince is right that the only reason we remember ECW is because of him? Seriously?

Well, he is the reason most of the casuals think of ECW. If not for him making the Rise and Fall DVD, ECW would be a mere footnote in wrestling history like AWA and WCCW.

Thats ridiculous. WCCW and AWA were out of business for 20 years by the time WWE put out DVDs about them. ECW was still a recent defunct organization at the time of WWE's DVDs which made the ONS buyrate the 5th highest of the year, which made the DVD #1. You really think RVD received major pops as a heel in 2001 because people remember Mr. Monday Night? Come on.

[Richard]

Nov 11, 2009 22:14:31 GMT -5 dh03grad said:

Nov 11, 2009 21:45:46 GMT -5 Richard said:

Well, he is the reason most of the casuals think of ECW. If not for him making the Rise and Fall DVD, ECW would be a mere footnote in wrestling history like AWA and WCCW.

Thats ridiculous. WCCW and AWA were out of business for 20 years by the time WWE put out DVDs about them. ECW was still a recent defunct organization at the time of WWE's DVDs which made the ONS buyrate the 5th highest of the year, which made the DVD #1. You really think RVD received major pops as a heel in 2001 because people remember Mr. Monday Night? Come on.

What I am saying is that if WWE had the rights to WCCW/AWA/Whatever Company at the time they went out of business and pushed the hell out of them 5 years after they went out of business they way they did ECW, we might be looking a WWE run [company here]. Also, the DVD came well before the PPV.

RVD didn't get heel pops in 2001, he got face pops and, he got those from both the ECW fans and people impressed with his work. Let's not forget, he was fresh off of TV when he came to WWE at that time as well and people were popping for everyone who was showing up.

Here is the thing though, time happens. In the time he was in WWE to the rebirth of ECW, those chants died off. Yes they were still there but, nowhere near what they were or even are now. It took Vince and his promotional machine pushing the DVD, the PPV and, later the show to get that happening again.

[Andrew is Good]

Nov 11, 2009 18:55:12 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

I was right there with him up until he said that he probably wasn't missing much by not watching ECW. That's incredibly disrespectful to all the guys on that brand that are busting their asses to make it the best wrestling show on TV. Now I just want to see him come back and lose to Christian.

It is his opinion, and while it maybe a great wrestling show, the wrestlers on it are often ignored by the rest of WWE. So, it's not like he's wrong. ECW stars are always out of the loop with everything.

[dh03grad]

Nov 11, 2009 19:01:37 GMT -5 noleafclover1980 said:

I camm B.S. that whole article seems fake as hell. "Well, because I spent the last five years training them to chant 'ECW'. We've got to have credibility Rob and that means we have to listen to the referees." It sounds like some weird kayfabe/shoot hybrid. Plus the parts about thinking Vince made himself ECW champ as a way of showing that he took out a competitor is laughable at best. ECW was never competition to the WWF. They were an indy promotion. If there were such competition, no way Vince would have ever had the ECW invasion angle in the 90's,with RVD and others showing up on Raw. Not to mention years passed in between ECW folding and Vince buying the rights. In summery... NEWZ!

ECW got a spot on Raw in 1997 and had a working relationship with WWF because Paul had an agreement with Vince to steer talent to him.

[A Dubya (El Hombre Muerto)]

Nov 11, 2009 22:48:46 GMT -5 dh03grad said:

Nov 11, 2009 19:01:37 GMT -5 noleafclover1980 said:

I camm B.S. that whole article seems fake as hell. "Well, because I spent the last five years training them to chant 'ECW'. We've got to have credibility Rob and that means we have to listen to the referees." It sounds like some weird kayfabe/shoot hybrid. Plus the parts about thinking Vince made himself ECW champ as a way of showing that he took out a competitor is laughable at best. ECW was never competition to the WWF. They were an indy promotion. If there were such competition, no way Vince would have ever had the ECW invasion angle in the 90's,with RVD and others showing up on Raw. Not to mention years passed in between ECW folding and Vince buying the rights. In summery... NEWZ!

ECW got a spot on Raw in 1997 and had a working relationship with WWF because Paul had an agreement with Vince to steer talent to him.

Yeah, I don't believe this is "NEWZ" because I have heard him say the same things on other radio interviews such as Ministry of Slam, and Between the ropes. When his story always stays consistent, it helps his credibility, and comes off as he is just quoting from Vince McMahon. I also have listened to Heyman and Dreamer's shoot about the time of the 1st ONS ppv. Seems consistent to me, so I can buy it as pretty legit.

[Big L]

Interesting can't wait 4 da other part