[2000-08-06-ECW-Hardcore TV] Rob Van Dam vs Kid Kash

[soup23]

A quintessential RVD match with the some good and mostly bad. The opening is really intricate spots off of armdrags and roll ups with some stuff looking cool and other stuff looking a little mis timed. Regardless, none of it makes a whole lot of sense. Worse than that though is that it leads directly into the "lets do a big spot outside and then you do one" sequence of RVD matches that always take forever. When the action goes back inside, it gets better with Kash doing a sweet triple jump rana but overall this felt like a RVD exhibition instead of an match with real stakes attached to it. **

[GSR]

Just as I thought they were redoing the opening of RVD vs Jerry Lynn from Hardcore Heaven, Van Dam swerves me with an impressive gorilla press slam/standing moonsault combination.  Of course he doesn’t follow up on that, preferring to climb the turnbuckles and showboat to the crowd.  More spots from the RVD/Lynn match, more posing from Van Dam.  This is so infuriating to watch!  Kash sits RVD on the middle turnbuckle to counter the monkey flip but is too high on the spinning kick.  Van Dam sells it anyway, getting tangled up in the ropes before falling to the concrete.  Perfectly executed slingshot rana to the floor by Kash.  He whips him into the guard rail, however as he charges Van Dam uses his momentum to throw him into the crowd.  RVD drops him sternum first across the rail then comes off it himself with a guillotine leg drop.  For some reason he starts selling, Styles desperately claiming that it took more out of it did him than Kash, and then gets caught by a Kash superkick, conveniently collapsing onto a chair.  Great springboard plancha over the guard rail and into the front row by Kash.  Clothesline off the middle for a near fall, ditto after the German.  Double jump springboard rana that was even better executed than the slingshot version.  RVD catches the kick, steps through and lands a spinning heel kick.  After being on the back seat in the match for the past few minutes he’s back bloody posing!  I’m done.  The finish comes after Van Dam blocks the ‘Money Maker’, he then straddles Kash on the top rope, Fonzie holds the chair in place, Van Daminator off the top (with showboating both before and after!) and finally the ‘Five Star’ frog splash.

I definitely got an ‘exhibition’ vibe here, as if they were trying to get as many standing ovations as possible from the fans in attendance.  While the opening parts were taken direct from the Lynn/Van Dam match, the work wasn’t as crisp.  Things pick up when Kash is in control and his flying is a joy to watch, but this was RVD at his worse when it comes to playing to the crowd, posing and showboating.  I’m starting to wonder how many more of his matches I’ll actually bother with from this point on as I get frustrated by him pretty much every time out.