Rob Van Dam is a legend of the ring. He helped build ECW into what it was, and after that he did exceptionally well in WWE, eventually beating John Cena for the WWE Championship at One Night Stand at the Hammerstein Ballroom in 2006.
That night in particular has gone down in history because no one expected it. It doesn’t mean it didn’t happen though, and really it did a lot to cement RVD’s legacy in the industry.
He had a penchant of delivering high octane matches and his martial arts style and the fact that he looked almost identical to action/adventure superstar, Jean-Claude Van Damme made for quit the recipe for success throughout the mid to late nineties and beyond.
via NostalgiaMania – Wrestling /YouTube
He went on to have epic runs in TNA/Impact and as stated his legacy is set for years to come. Lately he has been a voice in the world of pro wrestling, offering his opinions here and there.
Perhaps most notable in the last year were the interviews he gave in regards to the “The Plane Ride From Hell” episode of Dark Side Of The Ring on Vice, in which he corroborated a witness’ story, that alleged that Ric Flair had harassed her during the ill-fated flight documented in the episode.
And most recently, he went into AEW as a company overall, and what he originally thought of the company at its inception in 2019, and he went into what he thinks of one of its greatest stars, MJF, all while speaking to Sportskeeda. Here’s some of what he said:
“When they first came out (AEW), they just stood as good a chance as everybody else in my mind because even though I heard they had a lot of money, this guy owns (the Jacksonville Jaguars); even with all of that, that wasn’t anything new. Happens all the time, every once in a while somebody comes up and they think they’re going to be the next big thing and usually, they have one show, if that, and then they’re done…
AEW started and I thought they were just going to be another one of those companies, and they certainly weren’t. It’s amazing that they draw as many fans as they do and that’s on TV and in person. The crowds are so much bigger than IMPACT Wrestling or a lot of the independents outside of WWE. So they’ve stepped up and they really are the next big thing…
(MJF is) super committed from what I understand, he was at a comic convention of some kind and on his own without the production crew behind him or anything, he walked into a room full of black people but they had a black person on stage and he said, ‘Does anybody have any questions on Black Lives Matter?’ Like, what a heel. He’s just committed; he doesn’t laugh at himself or break character that I know.”
For MJF, praise like this from such a legend must be amazing to hear, although he’d never admit it. He keeps up with kayfabe even when it gets uncomfortable for anyone watching. But deep inside, when he hears this, he’ll shed a tear and be touched, I’m sure…or then again, perhaps it’s just wishful thinking on my part. But it seems it’s just this that RVD likes about the young star, so MJF should definitely keep up with what’s quite obviously working.
Domenic Marinelli is an author and freelance writer/journalist. His work has appeared in The Sportster, E-Wrestling News, Pro Wrestling News Hub, CFL News Hub, XFL News Hub, Ringside News, Daily DDT, USFL News Hub, Slam Wrestling, as well as other print and internet publications. He is the author of Generic V, Summer of the Great White Wolf, His Old Tapes (stories & poetry), Across a Dark River in Palermo and so many others. He lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. https://linktr.ee/AuthorDomenicMarinelli
