RVD On ECW, Bret Hart & A Return?

[straight_edge76]

Rob Van Dam recently spoke with Fanhouse.com, here are the highlights…

On The Spirit Of ECW Returning: It's gone. Those wrestlers, those of us who carry on that spirit will take it with us wherever we go, but it's not a small flame waiting to ignite again, it's not.

On Bret Hart Coming Back: I think it was really good for Bret. I know he's been wanting to return for a long time but didn't think that it was realistic, so these special circumstances of him showing up there for a limited time, the fans were obviously very excited about seeing Bret back in the WWE. It was huge. On a night when TNA had talked everybody into checking out their first Monday night show, it made them split back and forth to see Bret as well.

On Helping To Spice Up Wrestling: I would say bring back the day of the jobber. When I was a fan, when I was younger, wrestlers were larger than life because I would watch them totally annihilate some local scrub, some guy that was in the ring, I didn't know who the jobber was. We called those enhancement matches and they hardly ever do them anymore. That to me was how you build the wrestler, and when I found out two of these superstars would be battling each other, whether it was near me at a live show or when it was on Saturday Night's Main Event, that was huge and it drew great interest and enthusiasm because I got to see these two big wrestlers who I've seen just destroy everybody actually face each other. Ever since Monday Night Wars, every single match from the bottom to the top of the card seems like it has to be main-event quality -- superstar vs. superstar, superstar vs. superstar -- and then you gotta find a political way to go into the finish, you know, to try to deck one guy while doing what you want with the other. It's a bunch of bulls**t I think. You know, I really think that the enhancement matches were what brought everybody into WWE in the '90s.

On His Possible Return To The Ring: I mean, it's possible that I could be interested in either TNA or WWE if it was the right amount of work vs. pay ratio. That's basically what it is, and I haven't had that deep of conversations with anyone yet, really. So I don't know if it's out there or not, since I haven't been the active one out there pursuing, you know, the information comes to me as it comes when they're reaching out to me.

Source: http://www.prowrestlingscoops.com/article/266792040.php

Thoughts?

 

[MizMasta3000]

Can't identify with his philosophy of the jobber. I think that there are a lot of "enhancement matches" tbh

 

[Airfixx]

^^^If you were watching in those days you'd know what he was getting at and what he says about it making the superstar v superstar stuff all the more monumental is true (look at the reactions to even the lowest of low card guys in those days!) but IMO there's no turning back unfortunately.

 

[xtremebadass]

RVD has been a little media whore these days always doing interviews and always manages to tease a comeback.

 

[Airfixx]

^^^Same as Rock then yeah, only without the Hollywood gimp factor...?

 

[straight_edge76]

^^^If you were watching in those days you'd know what he was getting at and what he says about it making the superstar v superstar stuff all the more monumental is true (look at the reactions to even the lowest of low card guys in those days!) but IMO there's no turning back unfortunately.

Yeah I remember as a kid (a very young one at that) taht the only time you ever got to see two established guys wrestle was at PPV's and the occasional match on Monday Night Raw. I remeber back in the mid 90's it seemed like the WWF/E had like a show on every day lol.

 

[MizMasta3000]

I know that back in the day, just about every match was a main guy facing a local guy. But when I was watching, I saw a lot of that too. Mainly on Heat or Jakked (Velocity)

 

[straight_edge76]

What RVD was talking about was back in the 80's and early 90's If I am not mistaken that is how Matt & Jeff Hardy both got started in the WWF/E.

 

[Airfixx]

TBH I think RVD's recollection of the time-frame is a bit fucked... We're talking 80's Superstars Of Wrestling & Wrestling Challenge here.

By the mid-90's things had started to shift... I mean think back as far as '93.. Janetty v Michaels classic IC-match, Perfect v Flair (Loser leaves town) for example on weekly TV... NEVER in the 80's. The WWF champ would NEVER wrestle on TV (Aside from SNME).

 

[MizMasta3000]

Yeah I watched thise matches. But When Punk got started, he jobbed to Val Venis on Heat. I'm saying that that aspect of wresatling hasn't changed much

 

[Airfixx]

^^^Let it rest. You clearly have no insight into what RVD's talking about.


Titbit for the younger fact-fans... The classic so-called 80's jobber, Brooklyn Brawler, appeared at both WM 5 & 6.

 

[straight_edge76]

Yes, quite a few big names like Punk, Styles, Joe and the like had all jobbed on Heat or one of the secondary shows but I think that Punk's match was well before his time with the WWE had even started, they were mere tryouts. It wasn't like the WWE didn't know what Punk could do in the ring.

 

[Airfixx]

Or put another way, Punk wasn't there to make Venis look amazing and thus wasn't what RVD refered to as an "enhancement" talent.

 

[straight_edge76]

Exactly because I think that by that time Heat was broadcasted online?

 

[Airfixx]

I couldn't tell you, but whilst I'd hate to come across as conceited, at this point I am the only person in this thread that actually KNOWS what they're talking about cos I am actually old enough to have regularly watched the shows in question and seen/felt the 'effects'.

...And before you go 'there' MM3000, don't insult my intelligence by saying something like "...Yeah, but I watched some of that stuff on YouTube".