RVD released early?

[RedJed 0]

Possible we saw the last Van Dam WWE appearance tonight on Raw?

[cabbageboy 0]

Wasn't RVD already advertised for ECW tomorrow night in a rematch from last week? Don't kid yourselves, this concussion crap is the reason they'll use to justify his jobbing on the way out, maybe culminating in him being totally destroyed by Snitsky at ONS.

[Boon 0]

Randy Orton ended RVD's career. Eat that, smarks!

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

Is he really leaving, or just taking an unpaid vacation then coming back?

[Lil' Bitch 0]

RVD should have just jobbed to Orton last night. I don't see what the big deal is here.

[Downhome 0]

From WWE.com:

 

Rob Van Dam out indefinitely

By Bryan Robinson

Written: June 4, 2007

 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After suffering his second concussion in less than a week at One Night Stand, Rob Van Dam will now be out of action indefinitely, WWE.com has learned.

 

Last night, RVD competed in a Stretcher Match against Randy Orton with a concussion. He somehow managed to win the battle, but Orton may have won the war with a post-match attack that included a DDT on the concrete floor and then a vicious punt to his head.

 

In a challenge on Raw last week, Orton gave Van Dam the concussion and then subsequently vowed to make the ECW Original suffer the same fate as Shawn Michaels – leave One Night Stand on a stretcher. Orton may have ended HBK’s career last month at Judgment Day after taking advantage of his previous head injury.

 

It has been rumored for months that Van Dam was going to take time off from ring action to allow nagging injuries to heal. It now appears that he will have no other choice. There are also rumors that he may never be able to return to the ring.

 

...i.e., RVD will be kept off of TV until his contract runs out or until he signs a new WWE contract.

[Taker666 0]

Wow, what a way to end your WWE career. getting your ass kicked by Randy Orton, of all people, on a nonthing PPV.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

Wow, what a way to end your WWE career. getting your ass kicked by Randy Orton, of all people, on a nonthing PPV.

 

It could've been Snitzky.

[cabbageboy 0]

Hey, I'll take it. At least he didn't job to Orton and came out looking better than Michaels did at the last PPV, considering he actually rallied to win the match and HBK just fell on his face.

[mfn 0]

As much as I loved RVD, I'm glad he was gone. He was never his ECW self in the E, but I can understand why.

 

CM Punk is all I've got left on WWE television.

[cabbageboy 0]

You know, now that I think about it RVD spent more time being buried or depushed than he did being used well in WWE. Here is a guy who managed to be one bright light in an ugly time in wrestling (namely the Invasion angle) only to be depushed for a while. Then he got the IC title, feuded with Eddie and Benoit as well as the debuting Lesnar and was perhaps the most popular wrestler around. Then of course by late 2002 he got buried big time and to be honest I can't think of anything all that notable he did in 2003, 2004, or 2005 with the exception of the Christian ladder match on Raw for the IC title (though he was hurt for all of 2005).

 

And you know what's funny? When he returned in 2006 and started getting pushed harder the fans bought into it with ease. Think back to the WM tourney final with RVD/HHH/Big Show and how insanely over Van Dam was in that match, or at how he was very well the most over guy on the card at WM in Chicago. Whereas the top faces like Cena and Rey got trashed on that PPV by the fans, Van Dam was mega over.

 

When all is said and done though RVD has to be considered something of a tragic hero. After finally overcoming years of bad booking, injury, and politics he was on top of the world with both the WWE and ECW titles and an entire new show (ECW) that was his vehicle to get over, only to then have his longtime weakness, pot smoking, wreck it all.

 

I don't know what Van Dam has left in the tank. Maybe he is through for the most part. But a part of me hopes that he ends up in TNA and that unlike the various WWE rejects there he is booked right and can bring TNA to a new level of popularity.

[RedJed 0]

Hey, for what its worth, he could have really been buried to the max, and at least they gave him a minor rub on the way out last night. Plus I much would have rather seen him put over Orton over a guy like Snitsky too. At least their is POTENTIAL for something out of Orton if he gets his shit in order completely. Snitsky has zero potential and upside to him.

[cabbageboy 0]

He didn't put over Orton....he WON the stretcher match. Possibly the strangest booked match of the year, considering it required a guy who is being pushed for a feud with HHH to lose to a guy leaving the company, and also made the #2 face on Raw (HBK) look like a tool in the process.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

He didn't put over Orton....he WON the stretcher match. Possibly the strangest booked match of the year, considering it required a guy who is being pushed for a feud with HHH to lose to a guy leaving the company, and also made the #2 face on Raw (HBK) look like a tool in the process.

 

 

Given the age difference above the rest, a concussion would affect the older HBK much more than it would affect the younger RVD...*and* HBK has had a bad storyline concussion before. Not sure about RVD.

[Scroby 0]

Not to be a nitpicker, but is it offical RVD is actually gone from the WWE or are we just assuming he is due to the whole "out indiffently" thing?

[Downhome 0]

No one knows for sure, but like I said before, I think it's safe to say that they're now going to keep him at home either until his contract runs out and they just let him go, or until he signs a new deal. Either way, he seems to be done for now.

[Ultra Violence 0]

Or... They're giving him the break he requested.

[mfn 0]

Or... They're giving him the break he requested.

Hmm.... Never thought of if that way. I hope you're right, because I would like to see him get one last decent title push before he jobs out the rest of his career.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Or... They're giving him the break he requested.

If they let RVD go and stay away for a while, which just happens to be the length of time he wanted off in the first place, and then come to terms and sign him back again, it would allow both sides to get what they want without having to do what they don't want. RVD gets his time off and comes back with a raise, and WWE get to re-sign him without RVD's time off being part of the deal, and they save face.

[King Cucaracha 0]

I found it amusing that browsing the news sites, I saw the headlines "RVD out indefinately" and "WWE to make matches more realistic" pretty much side by side.

 

Ba-dum.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

Or... They're giving him the break he requested.

If they let RVD go and stay away for a while, which just happens to be the length of time he wanted off in the first place, and then come to terms and sign him back again, it would allow both sides to get what they want without having to do what they don't want. RVD gets his time off and comes back with a raise, and WWE get to re-sign him without RVD's time off being part of the deal, and they save face.

 

It's one of those non-moves that if it pans out, the WWE management come off looking like geniuses

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah this could go one of three ways:

 

1. RVD could end up like Chris Jericho and just chill for a long while, with it constantly being up in the air what he's going to do next. WWE comes off looking neither good or bad here.

 

2. RVD could take some time off as speculated, then in 6 months or so he can come back to WWE fresh and ready for one last run. WWE management looks brilliant since they conceded nothing and Van Dam came back.

 

3. RVD could sign with TNA and get a big push. This makes WWE looks like morons considering they didn't really use Van Dam to create a new star and really didn't even job him on the way out.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yeah this could go one of three ways:

 

1. RVD could end up like Chris Jericho and just chill for a long while, with it constantly being up in the air what he's going to do next. WWE comes off looking neither good or bad here.

 

2. RVD could take some time off as speculated, then in 6 months or so he can come back to WWE fresh and ready for one last run. WWE management looks brilliant since they conceded nothing and Van Dam came back.

 

3. RVD could sign with TNA and get a big push. This makes WWE looks like morons considering they didn't really use Van Dam to create a new star and really didn't even job him on the way out.

 

4. RVD signs with TNA and they botch his push. Within 6 months he's just another wrestler for TNA. WWE looks like geniuses for letting RVD go when they did.

[BruiserKC 0]

The fact that Taz and Joey Styles mentioned that they wished RVD the best on his condition makes me believe RVD is re-signing after his time off. Why else would they say anything at all...otherwise RVD would not be brought up at all, IMO.

[humongous2002 0]

If RVD's career is going to be mishandled then let it be with WWE than a bush league company like TNA.

[cabbageboy 0]

The disturbing aspect of TNA is that a lof of these guys get misused while getting a big push. Think about that one. Christian is getting a big push in TNA, but hasn't quite ever seemed like a guy who should win as much as he wins. Has the guy EVER lost in TNA? Angle is someone else that TNA has yet to figure out (not that WWE ever did either really). Angle has essayed a comedy goof, a smarmy American hero, and now in TNA a raving lunatic tweener. But has any of this ever really been a major money drawing character?

 

If TNA can't figure out how to book RVD then they are truly morons. Christian is a guy who quite honestly isn't a believable main event guy, due to either his size or years jobbing in WWE. Angle has never seemed at home fully in any character. But RVD? Die hard fans certainly believe in him as a main event guy (especially somewhere like TNA) and his character has been very over for nearly a decade.

[Scroby 0]

Raven is the best example of how TNA can really screw someone up..... Twice. Sadly, I think TNA would pretty much do the same to RVD as they did with Raven.

[cabbageboy 0]

Well, Raven was a bit easier to screw up. Let's face it, Raven hasn't been relevant since about 1999 when he walked out on Bischoff at that meeting and went back to ECW. WWE did nothing with the guy in his 2000-2002 run (though his hardcore match with Rhino at Backlash 2001 was excellent). Raven was also about 41 when he signed with TNA.

 

Jeff Hardy has shown that a guy can go to TNA for a while, then come back to WWE and not get buried.

[Toxxic 0]

How is Raven easy to screw up? The guy's great on the mic, and he might be getting on but there's few better when it comes to knowing how to construct a match. Granted his horrendous weight gain was problematic, but that occurred after they'd been misuing him badly for ages.

[cabbageboy 0]

Well, let's see: WCW didn't let the guy past midcard status. He went back to ECW and was mostly injured and/or cashing the paycheck until he could go to WWF. And then he didn't do much outside of the hardcore division in the WWF.

 

And I actually quite enjoyed Raven's first TNA run aside from the jobbing to JJ. His feud with the New Church was one of the best things the promotion has ever done.

 

There's no excuse for TNA to blow it with Van Dam. Hell even if they brought him in and gave him the typical "WWE castoff mega push" like Christian has gotten, it'd work. RVD is actually an ideal guy to give a huge undefeated push to since he was very successful with one in the past in ECW.