RVD Recap from OFF the Record

[Resident Evil]

http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=11175&p=1

 

 

 

 

ROB VAN DAM TALKS ABOUT VINCE MCMAHON, ECW, HIS INJURY AND MORE ON 'OFF THE RECORD'

by Dave Waknuk @ 10:40:00 PM on 6/24/2005

 

 

Rob Van Dam One on One Interview

Off The Record with host Michael Landsberg ? June 24, 2005

 

Michael Landsberg welcomes RVD to the show and states that RVD is a tremendous talent in the ring but wrestlers do not really compete, like pro sports, as you need someone to endorse you to make it to the top. He asks Rob if that pisses him off. Rob says that in a way it does but those are just the rules of the game. Rob says he is not frustrated now but his fans are frustrated for him. He said that when he first came into the WWE, he was extremely frustrated with the restrictions placed on him. However, he thinks he?s adapted his style to the new perimeters and boundaries.

 

Landsberg reads an old quote from RVD saying ?To tell you the truth, I don?t want to fit in. I?m not a fan of a lot of other wrestler?s work.? Rob said that is absolutely true and when he started, he always wanted to do different types of moves than everyone else. Landsberg asks Rob if it bugs him that the WWE continues to push older guys because they are established stars instead of guys like RVD, who are far more dynamic & athletic in the ring. Rob said it is bothersome but it?s not just the WWE. Throughout his career, he always found that the older wrestlers, who were comfortable and set in, were scared that he would come in & change the style, making them work harder. He said that they don?t need to be afraid because they have their own thing, regardless of what RVD does.

 

When asked who he respects in the ring, Rob mentions Rey Mysterio. He also mentions Chris Benoit, saying when it comes to ring skill, he could be the best. He remembers when he was in Japan, back in 94, watching Benoit and thinking that Benoit was phenomenal.

 

RVD is asked what wrestling needs to do to get the push back to the top. RVD says it?s an easy one. He says that wrestling needs to go back to enhancement matches. He says they have gone away from them during the Monday night wars, where now, every match on the card is a main event. He states that the current matches hurt one main eventer as much as it helps another, plus it always become political & complicated in how the match ends. He said that with enhancement matches, even if fans know who is going to win, the superstar gets to put on an exhibition to the fans and show them everything they can do, against someone who doesn?t want to get themselves over. He says that if those matches are meant to feature RVD and all his ?kick ass? moves, then maybe you?ll want to buy a ticket to see RVD fight another established main eventer. He says that the business needs to go back and showcase the wrestlers as the big superstars they are.

 

Micheal Landsberg asks that if RVD was to book a match for himself on Monday night, what he would do. He said that he would fight a television matches against a ?Bill Jones?, a local enhancement talent and would come out ?smokin?? & get to show off all of his moves. He then mentioned Paul London, who he called ?really good? and said that he would build to a match with Paul London because while Van Dam gets to show what he could do, he would also bring the best out of London, at the same time.

 

He said that he has opinions on the business and he should as he?s been in the business for 15 years. RVD says he?s not as much of a risk taker as you?d think because his feel of comfort is much wider than someone else and that makes him feel comfortable enough to do it.

 

Landsberg asks what he thinks of Kurt Angle's comments that ?ECW almost ruined the business as a whole. Fans started to expect to see everyone go through tables and get hung by barbwire. It just pulled the business back years and years.? RVD said that he never used barbwire and said that ECW was out there. He said they gave an alternative style to the fans and basically said, if you like what we?re doing then come and check us out. Van Dam said that the truth was most wrestlers couldn?t actually do what the ECW guys were doing. He said that Kurt stopped by ECW, ?maybe looking for a job? and maybe it wasn?t for him. Rob said a lot of wrestlers came and left ECW because of the physical abuse their bodies would take was heightened, even above what a pro wrestler usually deals with.

 

Michael Landsberg asks about injuries and mentions how when one wrestler ?raises the bar?, that the other wrestlers feel that they have to raise the bar as well. Rob said that they think they have to keep up but the wrestlers shouldn?t feel that way because if they have something to offer to the business, then that?s what they should do. The big risks are what RVD does and he states that ?I don?t want anybody else doing my moves anyways.?

 

Rob says that he physically feels fine now and that he had his ACL & meniscus repaired. RVD said that he did not hurt his MCL and jokes ?But my MCL is fine. Dude, you should see my MCL.? He said his knee was bothering him for 4 years but wrestler?s don?t have time to get hurt. Rob says that for him ?hurt? means that he can no longer compete, not just bumps & bruises. He said that he gets ?hurt? very rarely and this is only the second time that he has had to sit out and it?s the first surgery he?s had.

 

Rob said he was not scared that his spot would be gone when he got injured but did realize it was a possibility, as he brings up the WWE releasing Test. He thinks that they could have cut Rob while he was off but he doesn?t think they will. He said that he?s sitting home, collecting a cheque and realizes that someone in the company could be looking at that but doesn?t worry about it.

 

When asked what RVD watches on TV, he said ?Scrubs.? Rob states that he does not watch the WWE product because it doesn?t make his priority list. He said he?d Tivo his matches and study them but he does not enjoy watching the program or watching other guys he works with, doing their job. He doesn?t want to take his work home with him. He then says that there is a lot of the product that he doesn?t enjoy, like the ?soap opera storylines?. Van Dam says that everyone that knows him, knows that he tries hard to run away from stuff like that and just wants to be known for his ring work. He says he understands why storylines are needed. He says that someone that doesn?t have the athletic skill that he has, needs those storylines. He says that everyone has their niche in the business and his is for being ?one of, if not the most athletically gifted wrestlers in the business.? He said that is why he?s not on TV right now and if he was a character, he?d have to be right back on the show, from blowing out his knee.

 

Landsberg quizzes RVD about ?RVD 420?. He says that brings him back to 1998 and it means to him and his fans (especially the young ones) that it?s time for RVD to kick ass. Landsberg keeps quizzing about the ?420? part but Rob just says that it means whatever a person wants it to mean. Landsberg asks Rob if it means he?s a Grateful Dead fan, as they go to break.

 

RVD discusses what he thinks when he?s about to pull off a big move and says that he just hopes that the ropes or ladders don?t give way before he leaps off and he doesn?t slip. He believes that if he something does go wrong, he?s tough enough to pay for it and it?s just one of the consequences of his style.

 

Landsberg asks if he thinks RVD needs to be protected from his self and asks if Vince is responsible for his health. Landsberg asks if he wants someone on the outside to look out for his safety. Rob says that he is more comfortable working at a faster pace, than a slower one and doesn?t need someone to monitor him. He says that the last thing that he wants to do is go out and do what everyone else does, like a clothesline or a leg drop. He?ll do a leg drop but add a 360 to it because nobody else does.

 

The risk of injuries in the ring is brought up, such as the injury of Chris Candido. Rob said that it surprised him that blood clots from a surgery could kill someone so quick in the year 2005. He said it really puts his recent surgery in perspective and was very surprised that an infection could have that result, in these modern times. RVD mentions Droz about how one freak move could put a ?tough son of a bitch? in a wheelchair and those thoughts like that go through wrestler?s minds. He says that anyone that says that wrestlers don?t really get hurt should take one body slam and they would change their opinion.

 

Rob quickly mentions the ?Van Dam Lift? and how difficult it really is, before they go to break.

 

Rob said that he loves watching his highlights and that nobody can bring the action that he does. Landsberg says ?Except maybe Edge.? RVD explains that Edge is a guy who looks back at ECW and regrets that he wasn?t there. Rob said that ECW changed the business and if they hadn?t, Edge would have never had a TLC match.

 

They then go into the ?often imitated? word association that always happens on Off The Record.

Edge ? ?Canadian?

Stone Cold ? ?Red Neck?

Paul Heyman - ?Genius?

Vince McMahon ? ?God?. Rob says he has nothing but respect for Vince and that he is the best role model in the world, for the entire locker room.

Jerry Lynn ? ?Skillful?

Sabu ? ?Genocidal? F

onzie - ?Right down the middle, daddy!?

 

Rob then talks about his love of comic books and how he got involved with opening his own store. He then plugs his store?s website, www.5starcomics.com as the show ends.

[sek69]

I never can understand why some people get fired by WWE for not kissing Undertaker's ass at the proper angle, yet RVD can pretty much call everyone in the company an asshole and never seems to get any heat for it other than being held to the midcard.

 

I mean, it's not like I think anything he says is wrong, but I'm amazed there hasn't been any punishment handed out to him by now.

[goodhelmet]

Dude, it is right there in your face...

 

Vince McMahon ? ?God?. Rob says he has nothing but respect for Vince and that he is the best role model in the world, for the entire locker room.

[sek69]

Yeah he's not quite crazy enough to kick Vince in the balls yet, but he certainly has said less-than-flattering things about people who have the power to get him shitcanned but for some mysterious reason haven't.

[Guest Cam Chaos]

He makes off colour comments but he is one of their most reliable and least injured performers who is consistently over and sells lots of merchandise. I think they hold the view that he's entitled to his opinions as long as he does his job on TV and in the ring to their satisfaction. He dodged the Edge comments pretty handily.

[Guest CanadianChick]

Yeah, Rob may insult some backstage powers enough to not get pushed and to get crappy angles, but he's smart enough to praise Vince to no end and not get fired. Sure, he's milling around in midcard, but he's still collecting a pay check.

 

Also, I think why he doesn't get *too* much heat from insulting HHH is because Trips is a heel. Seriously, wasn't Vince's reaction to Heyman's HHH not working Tuesday night comment that it puts HHH over? Maybe the company feels an over face like RVD will get a top heel like HHH over by bad mouthing him. Of course, most fans who bother to listen to RVD's outside of wrestling interviews are smarks, but hey, maybe Vince doesn't realize that.

[Loss]

Rob Van Dam, if released, could be the top star of a new company that competed against them. He's too over for them to fire, so the ball is sort of in his court.