Is RVD Hated By Most Smarks?

[Guest Kobe24KGold]

Is this why Cena has more fan support in the arenas, and why RVD is getting booed and/or coming out to little reaction?

 

I mean, I don't get it... RVD has been on fire as of late.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Smarks are filling arenas now?

 

If you looked at posts here from '02 and '03, you'd think RVD was some kind of wrestling savior who could carry the whole company on his back if the company wasn't trying to mold him into an idea they already had in their heads. When Lesnar was being God Pushed, people were complaining about how Rob should be getting the push instead. Although much of the faith in RVD as a main-eventer was lost in the wake of the "Mr. Muscle & Fitness" feud that ended with HHH getting the pin and Rob going back to the midcard immediately.

 

Rob is stuck in a tweener role at the moment on TV, and that hurts him because tweeners have difficulty getting over unless they either can talk well like Kevin Nash (whose NWO Wolfpac character was the reason the word tweener was invented) or have the popular support like Stone Cold prior WM13. RVD clearly isn't the face, Vince is determined to let Cena have that spot. He clearly isn't the heel, because Edge is a far better heel promo than Rob could be.

 

As for why crowds don't like Rob but cheer Cena, Cena's overall popularity hasn't waned even when some live crowds have turned particularly smarky and booed him out of the building. Spinner belt replicas are a big mover on ShopZone. The shirts still sell consistantly, etc. Meanwhile, RVD is the only ECW guy consitantly saddled in promos with Paul Heyman, who WWE-bred fans have been trained to boo for years now.

 

At the end of the day, Vince thinks Cena is the future, but he's pretty high on Edge as the next top heel, and he wants to get both guys over without either getting a clear advantage over the other. So RVD is stuck in the center as the sucker with plenty of plenty of belts to drop.

 

 

To compare to past times:

Cena = Trips

Edge = Stephanie

RVD = Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho

[Wrestlefreak 0]

I think he's getting booed/not getting a reaction because of the horrible booking of this whole ECW VS Raw angle. He had the best match at Vengeance with Edge, so it's not because he can't perform in the ring.

[Just John 0]

He's definitely getting booed because of ECW being booked as heels. Also, Cena's popularity is on the rise at the moment.

 

And I thought smarks always hated RVD. I was usually indifferent to him, but now I'm really starting to not like him. He appears more motivated, but he's also lost a lot of speed while still trying to wrestle the way he did 5 years ago. I blame this for the program with Shelton Benjamin bombing and producing subpar matches. They were going for a spot oriented style, but RVD wasn't fast enough and Shelton had to slow down to nearly half speed. Also, that step over heel kick is one of the most consistently poorly-executed signature spots in wrestling.

[Guest Hemme]

I don't like him.

He impressed me in ECW back in '96-'99, but in the WWE he became booooooring, maybe thats not really his fault, maybe he has been held down, however there are so many Indy guys who can do what RVD can & then some, they're fresh & exciting, whereas he isnt.

The guy as WWE(CW) Champion is a joke.

[razazteca 0]

WWE needs to hire all of the indy wrestlers using the name Dragon. RVD vs Super Dragon is PPV caliber!

[Guest Princess Leena]

RVD has always seemed love/hate to smarks, to me. Either you like his "unique" workrate style, or don't.

 

As for most fans... well, RVD is more of a tweener now, so it's hard to judge. Plus, there is still some work to be done to make him legitimate in fan's eyes. He was in nothing feuds for a long time, and it was very obvious that he wasn't motivated for a while... which is why he slowly lost his heat since 2002.

[cabbageboy 0]

This booking won't really matter if RVD simply gets off of Raw for good once he drops the WWE title. In the eyes of the WWE fans though he's somewhat of a traitor, given his constant pimping of ECW and openly wanting to go back. In fact if this new ECW doesn't last he may well be shit out of luck trying to get his heat back (unlike Angle, who was an out of the blue draft pick by Heyman).

 

As far as Smarks go, I'm not sure of the exact percentages on this but I think quite a few net fans like RVD a lot. There are some who seem to really hate him no matter what. And then there are others who find him a guilty pleasure, praising his work when he's on TV in major angles and motivated, but turning on him when he gets jobbed out and is unmotivated. I think Sabu falls into this same category.

 

Comparing RVD to Jericho is a misguided notion however. RVD has already been booked WAY stronger as champion than Jericho ever was. In the past month he's gotten clean wins over Rey (pre title win), Angle, and Edge as well as his more controversial title win over Cena.

[iggymcfly 0]

I'm loving RVD as of late. It's a combination of:

 

1) him being way more motivated and putting on much better matches

2) the fact that he's someone who actually feels fresh on top of the card

3) wanting to see the ECW brand given some credibility

4) him actually getting two wins over my favourite wrestler of all time John Cena

 

I've always been a fan of RVD, but I haven't been really into his character to the point that I'd consider him my favorite wrestler like this since back during the invasion.

[Boon 0]

I mean, I don't get it... RVD has been on fire as of late.

If only...

[Vyce 0]

I'm loving RVD as of late. It's a combination of:

 

1) him being way more motivated and putting on much better matches

 

He's being allowed to work more of a "RVD ECW" style, but that does not necessarily equal better matches.

 

2) the fact that he's someone who actually feels fresh on top of the card

3) wanting to see the ECW brand given some credibility

4) him actually getting two wins over my favourite wrestler of all time John Cena

 

That's actually why I've begun to hate him.

 

I didn't hate him until they put him over Cena and then booked him as the main face of ECW. Only when the big RVD push began did I really start to hate him.

 

If this was five years ago, I'd be down with it, but now I'm not.

[King Cucaracha 0]

RVD is 'fresh'? Maybe 5 years ago.

 

I'm a little too hard on RVD sometimes. I used to be a big fan back in 1999, when he was cool, and 2001 when he was actually fresh. But now, he's just another worker living off of past glories. His gimmick is outdated, he relies on running through trademark spots too much (when people mark out because you bust out a German Suplex, you know you're in trouble), he's pretty weak on the mic aside from when he's playing the 'cool' guy. It's been the same crap over and over for too long and he's grown stale.

 

Maybe he's not as bad as I think and maybe I'm just jaded because back in 1999 he was a breath of fresh air. But I just don't care anymore.

 

He's no AJ Styles. He's no Matt Sydal. He's no Jack Evans. He's no Sonjay Dutt even. His gimmick is based on being super athletic and super agile, a daredevil, a human highlight reel. His gimmick is 5 years out of date.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

RVD is 'fresh'? Maybe 5 years ago.

 

I'm a little too hard on RVD sometimes. I used to be a big fan back in 1999, when he was cool, and 2001 when he was actually fresh. But now, he's just another worker living off of past glories. His gimmick is outdated, he relies on running through trademark spots too much (when people mark out because you bust out a German Suplex, you know you're in trouble), he's pretty weak on the mic aside from when he's playing the 'cool' guy. It's been the same crap over and over for too long and he's grown stale.

 

Maybe he's not as bad as I think and maybe I'm just jaded because back in 1999 he was a breath of fresh air. But I just don't care anymore.

 

He's no AJ Styles. He's no Matt Sydal. He's no Jack Evans. He's no Sonjay Dutt even. His gimmick is based on being super athletic and super agile, a daredevil, a human highlight reel. His gimmick is 5 years out of date.

 

 

RVD has been as good as he was a few years ago, almost.

 

And the other guys don'thave Rob's charisma, that's it.

 

Plus RVD was around before those dudes, so he's more over. Like Rey, not the best cruiser/luchador, but he's seen as th best.

 

why? charisme and longevity, plus he's been burning it up latley as well.

[Vyce 0]

Rob really doesn't have THAT much charisma.

 

Carlito, for example, is a guy who smokes (no pun intended) RVD when it comes to charisma. And let me remind you-all that I've been very critical of Carlito, arguing several times that Carlito is a guy who I think is pretty overrated by smarks when it comes to being super-charismatic.

 

King is pretty spot on, IMO. RVD's basically doing the same gimmick he always has. The problem is, the gimmick is pretty stale at this point. If you're not an ECW or RVD fan, it's kind of wearing thin.

 

I don't hate Cena. I kind of like the guy, actually, and think he SHOULD be protected as the number one guy, so I don't know.......seeing them put RVD, who's chance to be a main eventer / superstar has pretty much passed like five years, over Cena just bothers me. If you're going to use Cena to put someone over, let it be someone like Edge to really cement him as a main event heel. Don't waste it on RVD.

[Guest burth179]

I don't like him.

He impressed me in ECW back in '96-'99, but in the WWE he became booooooring, maybe thats not really his fault, maybe he has been held down, however there are so many Indy guys who can do what RVD can & then some, they're fresh & exciting, whereas he isnt.

The guy as WWE(CW) Champion is a joke.

 

Yeah that was well put. I liked RVD in the old ECW, but I can't stand him now.

 

Let's see get Punk pushed...

[NoCalMike 0]

Wrestling-skills aside, to Claim RVD is the same character currently, that he was in ECW is ludicrous. People think because RVD throws in a "smoking" reference here or there that it equals being the same character.