24.01.2008, 22:17
Rob Van Dam gab der Baltimore Sun ein sehr langes und interessantes Interview ueber alle moeglichen Dinge. Unten ein Auszug daraus was RVD von der “neuen“ “ECW“ haelt.
-Rob Van Dam Interview Part 1
-Rob Van Dam Interview Part 2
-Rob Van Dam Interview Part 1
-Rob Van Dam Interview Part 2
Zitat:Question: What did you think of the new ECW before you left?
RVD: When it was brought back, that was like my last real serious run of inspiration. Really, I didn’t even want to go to WWE in 2001. I knew that it wasn’t my favorite style, my favorite showcasing of my abilities, but it was definitely the best business move. At the time, there was nowhere else to go anyway – ECW was gone, WCW was gone. So, when I first came in I was seriously frustrated trying to adapt. I wanted to leave so many times. I would call my wife and say, “That’s it. I’m getting on an airplane. I’m out of here.” And I managed to adapt, and I dare say I stuck to my guns a lot and they adapted as well to me. When I first came in, they wanted me to change in a lot of ways that I wouldn’t change and I can’t change. Because of that, I feel like [WWE] gave in because the audience pushed me. They didn’t expect the audience to take to me like they did, so eventually they started getting behind me a little bit. But, of course, there still were limitations on how far they’d get behind me. But, for the most part, the whole time that I was there, I didn’t enjoy traveling. It was every day going to another town that I didn’t want to be in.
And there were different cycles of this frustration, where I would get motivated. When Vince liked the idea of doing the ECW pay-per-view, ah, I was as high as a kite. I was so happy. We get to be seen the way we want to be seen again, but on WWE’s stage. The whole world gets to see what we can really do. I was injured – that [stunk] – but it was still a great night. And then we came back and did it again the next year, and I realized not only was it a huge success, but now it’s something that could be annual, that the fans are going to be counting on, and they talked about bringing it back fulltime. Once I wrapped my head around the idea that this could work as a third brand if we got the originals and if we recruit only the young guys that could handle the extreme style that Paul Heyman could showcase, because he was always so good at that – making superstars out of guys that were just tossed to the side by the other promotions – this could work. We had the one match, Smackdown vs. ECW, and I wrestled Rey Mysterio, and everybody was calling me, my friends and family, saying, “Man, you look happy again. You could tell that you were excited to be in the ring, you were having a good time.” And it was true.
A little while later when they started killing the spirit of ECW, my passion came down. I was telling them, “What you’re doing is going to destroy ECW. ECW fans won’t get behind this.” And I was hearing ridiculous things such as, “Rob, people don’t remember the old ECW.” I’d say, “What are you talking about, Vince? Why do you think they chant ‘E-C-W?’ ” “Well, because I trained them to do that over the last five years when they see something extreme.” How do you argue against something like that? I can’t say I know what’s better for global business, because WWE is like Coca-Cola, recognized around the world. But I knew that ECW was something special, it was something different. And I knew it was that spirit that was the thing not only that would interest me and keep my passion going, but would also draw like-minded fans. It would make wrestling cool again. [Vince] would say, “No, I never had any intentions of making this like the old ECW. People move on. They get married, they have kids. Nobody remembers that.” Well, then why did we bring back the originals? Why’d we do this off the success of that pay-per-view? And I heard this: “Rob, for all I know, those 2500 fans in New York at the Manhattan Ballroom are the last of the old ECW fans.” I mean, at some point, you tap. I tapped out. My passion tapped out. My desire to be there tapped out. And so how do I feel about the new ECW? It’s something that I wanted to be a part of so bad that I walked right out the exit.