Necro

RVD Shoots Hard On Not Wanting WWE 'Invading' ECW PPV
By Matthew Boone

06/02/2005 - The following is an interview excerpt from Rob Van Dam's appearance on "Byte This!" on WWE.com last night:

Rob Van Dam is BT’s first guest and BT plays a clip of him wrestling Bam Bam Bigelow in ECW before welcoming him to the show. He tells us that he is doing “excellent.� He says that he underwent surgery on his ACL and meniscus in January and was told that it would take 6-12 months to heal. He opted for the six, he laughs. “Come on, twelve months. That’s for normal people.� He doesn’t look at this as coming back from an injury as his knee was already bothering him for a while with a torn meniscus. But then, in his last match, it somehow found its way into his kneecap, which obstructed any movement whatsoever, requiring immediate surgery.

He is happy that he went to James Andrews for the procedure, a man that he and the other WWE superstars put their bodies in the hands of all the time.

As he recuperates, he will also continue to do his infamous stretching, which he considers a safety insurance between him and another injury, “besides the fact that I’m the toughest guy in the company,� he smiles. He is already up and about, moving, being able to jump around, and land on his still-healing leg, throwing punches with dumbbells as he does so. “I’ll be back to my superhuman self in no time.�

But he wasn’t only rehabbing at home this whole time. Rob was also at a few comic book conventions, at celebrity signings, and some appearances for WWE, like the one he did in London, before going off to Mexico for a little much-needed vacation with his wife. And now that he is in town he is able to spend more time at his Five-Star Comic shop in LA. And since Wrestlemania was in Los Angeles this year he was able to have such notables as Spike Dudley, Kane, and then Bret Hart, “which was historical.� His shop recently moved out of the Lakewood mall into Lomeda to allow them to expand more. Its grand opening is set for June 23rd and Rey Mysterio will be on hand to sign autographs.

Although RVD likes being more of a singles wrestler, he loves the creative opportunities that only surface in tag team bouts, like when he teamed with Rey Mysterio before his injury. Rob tells us that he hasn’t enjoyed a partner like Rey since teaming with Sabu. Rey, RVD professes, is, “one of the coolest guys, in person, that I know, in and out of the business… He seems to want the same thing out of a match that I do, in the same way of giving his body to entertain the crowd.�

The hosts compliment RVD, telling him that he is on a role. Rob then looks at his watch and, hey, “Speaking of rolling, it’s 4:20 guys... Oh, that’s a different one, never mind, we won’t go there,� the aficionado jokes.

RVD is immensely pumped up for the ECW One Night Stand pay per view. For the people who have never witnessed the promotion in its glory days, Rob guarantees that they are going to love it. But, “This pay per view is going to be an extreme success and it’s going to be because of the hardcore ECW fans, there’s no doubt about it. That’s why I went to Vince with this idea six, seven, months ago and said ‘You have to do this. ECW is over, it’s huge. Just one night only, we don’t need any storylines going into it. Just ECW alumni only. The guys that were there that felt that passion, that shared that energy with the crowd, let us go again for one night.’�

However, as much as RVD wishes that it stays pure to the ECW of old, there will be a slew of other WWE wrestlers going along with Eric Bischoff for some added exposure. RVD comments, “I don’t know who all is going to be there besides the ECW wrestlers. I understand that there’s going to be some kind of Invasion, talk of some wrestlers there for some kind of Invasion angle. My opinion on that is that those guys are definitely not going to be drawing the ratings for this pay per view. They are definitely not selling any seats. Nobody’s coming to see them, they have no business being there. This pay per view is going to kick ass. It’s going to be ECW-style, thanks to Paul Heyman, because he is the only one that understands enough to make the authority of decisions on putting this thing together. He’s the only one that understands the ECW crew. You can’t come in from outside the box and start throwing ideas around and really know what’s going to work. This is going to kick ass. It’s going to be historical. And for that night, consider me to be ECW, all the way.�

A program that he might consider working for the pay per view is one against Rhino, who wore RVD’s TV championship when an injured Rob had to drop it after successfully defending the title for two years. “Of course, I would also love to wrestle Jerry Lynn again,� a guy who he feels brought out the best that RVD had to offer every time they stepped in the ring together.

Rob loved the RVD DVD. He is stoked on how well they edited his matches into what he was discussing during his interviews. Even the trailer was put together better than he could have imagined, he praises. And this is a huge compliment to the editing crew, especially, he admits, since he is usually so particular about how production captures him. For example, he tells us, he always takes case when video cameras shoot too close to him, not capturing the full length of his wide jumps. Or when it is too far away to really catch the impact of his kicks. But this time no complaints, as the DVD was a huge success. He also thanks the fans for making it a top seller.

As far as the draft lottery approaching, “I didn’t like it last time, I got comfortable on Raw. I liked the live TV.� He was Mr. Monday night and had to switch to a taped, edited down show. But, when he made the switched he reasoned that at least his “homies� Booker T and Rey Mysetrio were there to keep him comfortable. Of course, they might switch over to Raw also now, so that might be cool if he does switch. Whatever the case, he wouldn’t want to be left without them because if his friends are around while he works, it makes his job better, he feels.

Rob goes, but not before plugging the new telephone number for his 5-Star Comics store, which happens to be (310) 326-5-RVD.

[Source] Wrestling-edge.com

AudioSavior

He didn't have any problem when he was on the ECW side and invaded. Nor did he have any problems when WWE flashed $$$ in front of him and offered him a contract. I am a huge fan of ECW but it no longer exists so I don't know why he has to complain. He should be happy it is being kept close as possible to the real thing.

bubble monkey

If it was being kept as close as possible to the real ECW, there wouldn't be any non-ECW wrestlers invading the thing.

AudioSavior

I am sure it will only be a small part of it and it may be pretty cool to see. It will add more to it and make it more like an ECW show rather than a PPV. A storyline can add to the mix of it all.

Tyler Durden

WC Hall Of Famer

They've obviously done something right for me since this is a PPV that I definitely didn't want to see, and have changed my view to the point where I'm really looking forward to it. I think mainly because it's (hopefully) going to be something different and although we do have TNA, in the UK we get that a month late. I'm hoping Vince lets the wrestlers really go and doesn't constrain them in the way we know they do with the WWE undercard on PPV's.

As for RVD, hell he talks a load of rubbish 1/2 the time anyway. This was probably one of those times. Cool guy though!!

Bouchie

Look for RVD to be fired shortly.

Chewy

Oh well that would be another nail in WWE's coffin and another good star that TNA steals

AudioSavior

Nail in the coffin? THat's funny. Like TNA could take out WWE lol.

Bouchie

Yeah.lol

TNA will never be a serious threat like WCW was. They just don't have the funding.

Chewy

I personally think its gettin bigger and bigger and more well known....But this topic is for another day kids.