Matt D Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 Greg Gagne is so much better than Van Dam that it's not even funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 Hey Matt, look what I found, we had this exchange at the time: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?s=&a...t&p=5513216 That was literally the last time I thought about RVD. Would be interested to see if people who have been generally more pro-RVD like anarchistxx and maybe Jingus would agree with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 On a side note, has anyone got the full listings for 6/9/95? Would be interested to see the rest of the card. Full show never appeared, did it? I have vague memories of Coey maybe reviewing it, but I probably made that up. From prowrestlinghistory.com June 9, 1995 in Tokyo, Japan All Japan Budokan Hall drawing 16,300 ($1,000,000) 2. Satoru Asako pinned Mike Anthony (6:58). Why was Mike Lozansky of all people an exception to the "no foreigners who toured for smaller promotions" rule NJPW & AJPW had that kept Samoa Joe of out of NJPW years later? Unless it's a different Mike Anthony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 Hey Matt, look what I found, we had this exchange at the time: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?s=&a...t&p=5513216 That was literally the last time I thought about RVD. Would be interested to see if people who have been generally more pro-RVD like anarchistxx and maybe Jingus would agree with you. Next time I buy a wrestling comp, it's that Bock on Tour one Bix apparently did that they mention at the end of that note. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 The only other time I recall RVD having his hair out (well, forced out) was with a match with Jerry Lynn in ECW. He has basically had the same hair style since 1996 at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted June 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 Would be interested to see if people who have been generally more pro-RVD like anarchistxx and maybe Jingus would agree with you. The amount of AWA I have got round to watching would probably struggle to fill ten discs, and it was all in 2005/2006, so I'm not really in a position to comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazeUSA Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 I was always a RVD supporter during his ECW TV Title run, WWE started watering down his style a short time after he got there (Im not saying they didn't push him or anything because they pushed him huge, just saying they watered down his style & performances) but once he went to TNA that & they totally killed him for me, I don't think he will be anything more than a mid-card enhancement guy to help get newer younger guy's over this time around but I guess time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Staples Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 I was always a RVD supporter during his ECW TV Title run, WWE started watering down his style a short time after he got there (Im not saying they didn't push him or anything because they pushed him huge, just saying they watered down his style & performances) but once he went to TNA that & they totally killed him for me, I don't think he will be anything more than a mid-card enhancement guy to help get newer younger guy's over this time around but I guess time will tell. I might be in the minority, but I don't think watering him down was that bad a thing. It certainly stopped the useless showboating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete1992 Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Loved RVD as a kid. I remember that he was one of two guys I made a sign for for a WWE house show in Binghamton, NY (the other being Brock Lesnar). The more I've watched of him the less I think of him which is the opposite of Sabu right now for me. There are still some RVD matches I really enjoy but it seems less like him making a strong effort into making it work but more him and the other guy going into car crash mode without the match becoming a mess. Oh and saw RVD vs. Sami Callihan last night. Callihan looked like he gave a damn. RVD looked like he felt good about stuffing 500+ into an American Legion. There is a problem there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 I can remember the few female posters at TSM going crazy when his ponytail fell out during that Benoit match. <_> Anyway I was a big fan from about 96-98 but his last few years in ECW were defined by a lot masturbatory matches and spots. His matches were too long and they went overboard on commentary talking about how great he was. His WWE stuff was fun in 01 and 02 but anything past that he clearly didn't give a shit anymore. He seemed kind of whiny during this time also. Kind of like Joe became after his initial push in TNA. I think he can have a few fun programs when he returns but I doubt they will ever push him to the top again because of his age and his propensity to get in legal trouble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 I'll be honest I really want to see RVD work Cesaro, because Cesaro is a freakishly good base and I could see RVD bumping/selling the fuck out of his big power spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted June 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 RVD as a base for Mark Henry or even Ryback would be ridiculously fun, he bumps for simple offence so well and those guys are also good at making conventional stuff look emphatic. They should also throw him in some wild six man tornado tags with The Shield, he thrives in that chaotic environment. RVD is all about, a. how motivated he is b. how he is used If you expect him to work twenty minute standard wrestling matches it will probably be boring. Give him a sprint or something where he can go off and be creative, it will be more interesting. They should also bring back that arrogance he had to his character that they phased out from about 2002 onwards. Once you make him the usual smiling WWE face he loses the edge that made him popular in the first place. He is naturally a conceited, laid back character so it is a lot more natural when he plays himself on television. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chess Knight Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 I really want to see RVD sell the Cesaro uppercut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazeUSA Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 I was always a RVD supporter during his ECW TV Title run, WWE started watering down his style a short time after he got there (Im not saying they didn't push him or anything because they pushed him huge, just saying they watered down his style & performances) but once he went to TNA that & they totally killed him for me, I don't think he will be anything more than a mid-card enhancement guy to help get newer younger guy's over this time around but I guess time will tell. I might be in the minority, but I don't think watering him down was that bad a thing. It certainly stopped the useless showboating. yeah lol, well when your 15-16 years old the arrogance & showboating was cool.... now it's lame to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted July 9, 2013 Report Share Posted July 9, 2013 I don't remember anything else of RVD's run in All Japan that was terribly interesting. I recall liking him vs Kikuchi. exception to the "no foreigners who toured for smaller promotions" rule NJPW & AJPW had that kept Samoa Joe of out of NJPW years later? At best that was a case specific situation with Joe. Never heard it applied to AJPW before though, the story I always recall was it just being New Japan that allegedly had the issue. Either way, there were numerous times it happened before & plenty since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 Why was Mike Lozansky of all people an exception to the "no foreigners who toured for smaller promotions" rule NJPW & AJPW had that kept Samoa Joe of out of NJPW years later? Unless it's a different Mike Anthony? Didn't know this was a hard rule. A number of folks toured with IWA before later working for All Japan or New Japan. Gladiator moved from FMW to a high profile AJPW match. Not saying it was common, but suspect we could think a bit about them and come up with some. Is this an 00s rule? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 I was reading along with the '91 Observers while watching the Yearbook, and Dave mentioned that the Japan Big Two had a policy of not poaching talent from the existing indy promotions, and that guys who took tours with W*ING and FMW and the like risked not being able to get booked with a bigger company. Maybe it was some sort of response to SWS and it dried up when that closed up shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 No, it was a perception thing. At least in the more modern example with Joe it was common to hear NJPW felt NJPW had "the stench of Zero-One" or "the taint of Zero-One" or something like that. I talked to TJ Perkins about it a fair bit in the recent podcast we did. It definitely goes back to at least the beginning of the modern Indy era in Japan: As Pete alluded to, some of the USWA guys who toured with W*ING in '91 killed legit All Japan prospects that they had on the table. Obviously there are exceptions, like Gladiator (came in during AJPW/FMW relationship), Sabu (in demand cult star), Jericho (came to NJPW via WCW), but Lozansky isn't exactly the type of guy they'd make exceptions for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ditch Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 The baffling thing about Joe is that he went from untouchable to "hey let's have him pin Misawa and get a title shot with no build whatsoever" in late 2007. Right now the rule seems to be done away with, if Kenny Omega is any indication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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