Will RVD ever be the wwe champion?

[iggymcfly 0]

I just want to say that the time to give RVD the belt was at the 2002 Royal Rumble. Everyone forgets this, but after a Smackdown where RVD got screwed out of the title, he came out and cut a great promo on Jericho. He did show real anger, and everyone was looking forward to a great match between him and Jericho at RR.

 

Also, at the time, RVD had tons of momentum as he had the cleanest win over Austin in the previous six months, was tremendously over, and was a serious main eventer in every way possible.

 

However, they inexplicably pulled the plug on the RVD/Jericho program in favor of a shitty Rock/Jericho program where Jericho lost even more credibility by cheating every way possible, while RVD went back after the Hardcore or IC Title when he was completely ready to be elevated. It was the perfect time for him to get a one month title reign.

 

At Unforgiven meanwhile, RVD hadn't done anything significant in months, the World Title was just being established, and HHH was still fresh off a heel turn. The only reason that the HHH reign tanked as badly as it did was the shitty writing, and choices of face opponents. No one can look good going against Katie Vick-era Kane, oiling up with Scott Steiner, or trying to build Kevin Nash up as a main eventer straight off the injury list.

[Guest GiZ]

Well considering who has the title at the moment, you damn staright RVD should have the world strap at the moment. I gaurantee he's be 5 times more over with the crowd then benoit will ever be. One argument is he's never really been booked too well or been involve with a *major* storyline but still receives great reactions from the crowd. Whether he's putting on solid/entertaining matches or even working the crowd through his various spots. His gimmick reeks of a main event player and he has the ability to wow the crowd with a great "in-ring" style. He maybe fall a bit short with his promos, but hasn't really given the ball to improve on them. He deserves it more than benoit, in terms of popularity but i think him and eddie could have some great matches and storylines.

 

I still can't believe they gave benoit a run with the title over RVD, it's a damn travesty in the professional wrestling biz.

[Guest Loss]

RVD getting the belt at this point would be a travesty. Orton, Jericho, Edge, Christian, Benjamin, Michaels, Cena and even another HHH reign would be better than RVD as The Man right now, on either show.

[Dangerous K89 0]

The "Wrestler A carried Wrestler B to a great match. Wrestler A deserves all credit" thing doesn't go over with me very well. If you see a good wrestling match, it's because you saw two good+ wrestlers go at it. You wouldn't see a good match with Eddie Guerrero vs. Billy Gunn. Maybe an ok match, but not good because Billy Gunn isn't good. It's no coincidence that Rob Van Dam has had so many good matches that a lot of fans consider MOTY candidates or at least stand out matches of the year. Maybe...just, maybe...he is entertaining and can pull off good wrestling matches?

 

Nah, all luck.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

I still can't believe they gave benoit a run with the title over RVD

Well believe it.

 

Considering I came around these parts at SummerSlam 2002 time, and reflecting on the discussions that took place before and after that PPV, I think it's fucking hilarious.

 

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

It's no coincidence that Rob Van Dam has had so many good matches that a lot of fans consider MOTY candidates or at least stand out matches of the year. Maybe...just, maybe...he is entertaining and can pull off good wrestling matches?

 

Nah, all luck.

Well, he must been doing this when I turn off the TV, because he is not having great matches on a regular basis. He's lucky to break ** these days in term of star ratings, and thats when he's not dogging it.

 

The ONLY times he can have good matches otherwise are garbage brawls and spot-fests, and since WWE doesn't do them anymore, he's a duck out of water.

 

So please, list these MOTYC's no one's ever seen, because he didn't have many in the year 2003.

[Guest JMA]

RVD getting the belt at this point would be a travesty. Orton, Jericho, Edge, Christian, Benjamin, Michaels, Cena and even another HHH reign would be better than RVD as The Man right now, on either show.

The keyword is "right now." RVD could easily be brought back to the level he was at during 2001-2002 (well, near the level, anyway).

[Guest JMA]

I still can't believe they gave benoit a run with the title over RVD, it's a damn travesty in the professional wrestling biz.

I'm a big RVD fan, but NO ONE (except maybe Eddie) deserves to be World champion more than Chris Benoit.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

RVD's had two great matches in his entire career, vs. Jericho at Unforgiven 2001, and vs. Eddy at Judgment Day 2002. As for comparing his skills with Ultimate Warrior, RVD in his entire CAREER, has never had a match as good as Warrior/Savage from Wrestlemania VII. I suppose that makes Warrior a great worker too since bad workers can't have good matches. Sure RVD is a better athlete than Benoit, but he's not a better wrestler. And despite being a great athlete (although I would consider those that I mentioned early better than him), if he got into a shootfight with someone like Meng, he would be lighting up in the emergency room. Athleticism can be an asset, but it is hardly the end all of professional wrestling.

 

But time to get the topic back on track. This is a discussion of RVD's drawing power, not about his talent. It is pretty much agreed, except for a few misguided ECW fans, even by big RVD fans like bps21, that he is not a good worker. His drawing power is something that can be debated a lot more easily.

[Guest JMA]

The "Wrestler A carried Wrestler B to a great match.  Wrestler A deserves all credit" thing doesn't go over with me very well.  If you see a good wrestling match, it's because you saw two good+ wrestlers go at it.  You wouldn't see a good match with Eddie Guerrero vs. Billy Gunn.  Maybe an ok match, but not good because Billy Gunn isn't good.  It's no coincidence that Rob Van Dam has had so many good matches that a lot of fans consider MOTY candidates or at least stand out matches of the year.  Maybe...just, maybe...he is entertaining and can pull off good wrestling matches?

 

Nah, all luck.

The Ultimate Warrior was a terrible wrestler, yet he had a great match with Randy Savage. Warrior isn't good in any sense -- so how did the two have a great match? The main reason is because of Savage's incredible carry-job and the retirement storyline. Warrior was also somewhat motivated in this match.

 

The point is that a good wrestler and a bad wrestler can have a very good match because the bad wrestler was carried.

 

Edit: Damnit, Kahran beat me to it.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

No. If anything he should have defeated HHH at Unforgiven back in 2002. That was THE night to give him the strap.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

pssh.

 

RVD's NOT a terrible worker. He's just a horribly unmotivated one. He WAS a horrible worker for most of his ECW stint but he's had flashes of being a just fine "wrestler".

 

The only way to salvage RVD right now is for him to start punking out people.

[Scroby 0]

You Know he's jinx when he couldn't even win the ECW World title when people like Justin Credible could..

 

Actually RVD was suppose to feud with Mike Awesome for the title in a long ass feud, but due to the broken leg RVD suffered while wrestling Rhyno, Awesome leaving for WCW, and RVD doing Black Mask 2.....and for something completely off topic my cat is attacking the smily faces........RVD would have the ECW title.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

that's the point....

 

he's jinxed.

[Scroby 0]

I"m pretty sure he ment that RVD got jinxed because Heyman put the title on Justin Credible first.

[humongous2002 0]

RVD was suppose to get the ECW title off from Awesome but he got injured, then he was to get it off from Justin Credible but he left the company to make a martial arts movie, then in WWE he was suppose to win the title from HHH but we all know that Trips refused to do the job, the guy must be jinxed because ECW and WWE management thought of him as world champion material and according to J.R. back in 2001 "a future main eventer" but that RVD bad luck never fails.

[2GOLD 0]

If RVD turns heel and actually gets some of his life back, then yeah he should get the World title. He gets crowd reactions, he'll put on a good show and considering the condition of Smackdown he's the perfect man to get the belt off Eddie.

 

As for RVD not having the mic skills...everyone thought the Crippler didn't have them until he got to use the damn thing every once and a while. RVD has charisma and most of the time that is the most important thing with a promo is having the charisma and it being well written. Can anyone tell me of an RVD promo that wasn't written like he was a stoner?

 

Alter the RVD character, turn him heel with the Dudleys and let him be the leader of the group. Give the guy a chance before he's doomed a "non draw" and "unable to use the mic".

 

Right now, no his character is a train wreck. With a little time, he could and should be the one to take the belt off Eddie.

[humongous2002 0]

That's all RVD needs, a chance to shine at the top. If he bombs miserably then the anti-RVD smarks were right all along, but if he pulls it off and becomes a top draw (hey, you never know) then everybody is a winner since SD is in need of a top heel/draw.

[Guest Loss]

Oh, don't get me wrong, he's still capable of being rebuilt, but I don't know that he'll ever reach his full potential since the largest window they had closed some time ago. You could say this for quite a few wrestlers on the roster.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

RVD's mic skills are even worse than Benoit's though. And Benoit is merely passable even now. If not for his years of putting on fantastic matches he would be dead in the water outside of Canada. He's the guy who acts pissed off and kicks ass, and he can play that role well. The problem with RVD is that he is too laid back. If he acts like he doesn't care about the outcome, neither will the audience. Jeff Hardy had the exact same problem, and he was never taken seriously as a World Title contender either.

 

I disagree about the heel turn too. RVD's appeal is in his flashy moves, which excites the crowd. If I am wrong and he does have a future as the World Champion it will be as a face. A heel Eddy and face RVD feud would be better than the other way around.

[humongous2002 0]

You are being close minded if you are saying that RVD's mic skills are worse than Benoit's, as much as I like him "the Crippler" can't cut a promo to save his life. RVD's promos in ECW were fun to watch all the time and let's not forget his funny skits with Austin back in 2001.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

as much as I like him "the Crippler" can't cut a promo to save his life.

Of course, that isn't closed minded at all.

 

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

You are being close minded if you are saying that RVD's mic skills are worse than Benoit's, as much as I like him "the Crippler" can't cut a promo to save his life. RVD's promos in ECW were fun to watch all the time and let's not forget his funny skits with Austin back in 2001.

Funny isn't something that will draw in crowds, and his ECW work is extremely overrated. At some point he has to play a serious character in order to be World Champion, and I have not seem him do it successfully. There is little indication that he is capable of it. And like I said, Benoit gets a free pass because of his ring work. RVD doesn't have that luxury.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Alright, I think I got a way for RVD to be pushed. If he could make a successful heel turn with Heyman as his manager, I could see it working extremely well. Not because RVD is a wonderful worker or anything, but simply because I feel he could put on better matches than someone like Bradshaw or the Undertaker with Eddie. Also, if Eddie isn't the champion..........this WILL NOT work.

[Guest Loss]

RVD could get over as a heel if Heyman did his promos. And yeah, eventually, he'd have to be turned face again, but he'd make a decent de facto challenger for Eddy.

[cabbageboy 0]

Actually, RVD's ECW promos were unique in that I had no problem taking him seriously but yet they were quite funny.

 

I'll even admit that RVD isn't that great outside of a hardcore wrestling environment. When he first got to the WWF he was doing his same ECW style match, just condensed a bit for time reasons (which was a good thing).

 

Of course RVD hasn't had a really good match in a long time....how can he? He's either been tagging with Kane, feuding with Kane, or generally being depushed. The one opportunity he's had in the past year was the ladder match with Christian and it was a very good match.

[Guest INXS]

No. Not with his current moveset, that's for sure. WWE have a history of having their main eventers as good brawlers and more recently have tested the water with slightly more technically minded brawlers. RVD doesn't fit into either catergory.

[NYU 0]

So what you're suggesting is.....anybody with a different style of wrestling from the norm shouldn't become a Heavyweight Champion?

 

Before Shawn Michaels, just how many WWE Heavyweight Champions were aerially-proficient?

 

Before Steve Austin, just how many WWE Heavyweight Champions built their matches around brawling and roughneck attacks?

 

There are times when changes can be made in the Heavyweight Title scene, and the federation will look fresher as a result. Wrestling runs into a dead-end if the same style is kept in the title scene. In WWE, RVD is basically one-of-a-kind when it comes to his particular wrestling style, and this should be welcomed in the Heavyweight Title brackets rather than shunned. On the Smackdown scene, how many wrestlers fit the criteria you mentioned? Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker........and not much else. Changes should be accepted readily in a roster that's as weak as Smackdown. If you want to keep the exact same style of Main Event wrestling throughout the next couple of years, that's fine. But then don't complain when the title scene of Smackdown is as stagnant as it currently is. As much as people may not like Van Dam, he really is original......and that's something the Main Event scene of Smackdown sorely needs right now.

[Guest JMA]

I think RVD's promos are fine for his character -- a laid back stoner who thinks he's the greatest. As for his selling, it seems average to me. If you want to see REALLY terrible selling just watch any Mr. Hughes match.

[2GOLD 0]

No one in the WWE sells the DDT like RVD.

 

He makes the DDT look like it could snap your neck in half and kill you.