STW #97: Rob Van Dam in the WWE

[@DoctorBastard]

Skip blah blah 17:20.

[@wesleyballard6735]

Doctor Bastard thanks doc

[@travismcdonald6576]

Doctor Bastard You mean the free plug for the network show. Lol

[@shane-irish]

Na i like to listen too everything

[@chadpugh1490]

Thx sir.

[@SilverWealth_Draper_Mint]

Thanks

[@Noveliss]

RVD my number 2 favorite wrestler of all time only behind Great Muta. When I was a kid I stayed up until 3 AM to watch ECW, that's the only time they showed it. The Whole F'N Show!!!

[@POW1E19]

I would wake up at 3 am to watch ECW too!!! Great times!!

[@albreal]

Same here. 2 am on the Spanish channel for me!!

[@bigwobs8040]

The first moonsault I ever saw was the Great Muta...green mist! Red mist!! Loved watching Muta!! 👍🤢🤮

[@paulwidit3792]

@@POW1E19 dam that late? I didnt know about ecw until I got older I was watching wwf most of the time cause I only had those networks that showed raw and smackdown

[@subgrappling805]

The smoke in the background for RVD is a fantastic touch. In my opinion, Rob is one of the coolest guys the business has ever seen. His promos were always cool. His in-ring work was absolutely world class and as innovative as anyone’s ever has been. Out of the ring he’s funny, personable, charming and one genuinely nice guy. It’s tough to not like him, as seems to be the sentiment of the people that he worked with over the years.

[@Cornbreadjonez]

Him bringing up so much that hhh booked himself over rvd constantly is killing me haha. Love this stuff

[@wayneconway1]

He should have been one of if not the biggest star of WWE in the 2000's. Looking at his matches with Jerry Lynn when he was a younger guy, he showed that if they'd used him with the very top guys he could have had spectacular 30 minute main event matches with the top guys.

[@actuallynotsteve]

RVD vs. Jerry Lynn for the TV title at (I think?) Living Dangerously 99 was one of the best matches I've ever seen...if it's the one I'm thinking of, they go for 20 or 25 minutes with a flawless match and Lynn is declared the winner by decision. Lynn demands for the match to restart because he doesn't want to win by decision and RVD takes it after maybe 5 minutes, and it's incredible. These dudes do not get enough love for their seriously hype series of matches that go way beyond the standard ECW thing.

[@tonygucciano6875]

100%

[@albreal]

Yeah, Rob was great. Like a high flying Brett hart. Natural charisma, good catch wrestling, high spots are great.

[@alsolarose2758]

Aaa!

[@gregjohnson2824]

Pronouns pal…..god damn

[@petersandas3]

"The rumor and innuendo is that everytime HHH showed up to catering he demanded to pedigree Rob Van Dam" I lost my fucking mind. 😂😂🤣🤣

[@TheSportsCourier]

Peter Sandas Died 😂

[@DeanMoxley87]

You know there’s truth behind that. Trips hated RVD because when he finally joined WWF/E people in the locker room gravitated towards Dam & Trips was jealous. The promo on Raw where Dam rips in to Trips & vice versa was unscripted. I’ve listen to Rob shoot on Trips & yet here Bruce kinda makes out it was just business. Trips is a moron & lets be honest if he wasn’t married to Steph, he’d never have had the run he had from 2001. He returned after 8 months out with his knee injury & came back to a big ovation. But if it wasn’t for marriage by 2005 Trips would have been gone.

[@1ZosoLZ]

Lmao

[@robrico129]

Bruce: "what is wrong with looking good?" Conrad: "Well when you figure out how to do that, let me know!" LMFAOOOOOOOOOO... Hilarious!

[@jamesvigg2680]

#savage

[@tthomaselli2]

I still can't help but laugh at 25:19 when I hear Bruce Prichard say "He was the shiz-nit." about Rob Van Dam. To this day, that part still makes me laugh...

[@jasonswearingen403]

I like Bruce & believe him on most things. However it really disappoints me to hear people say that RVD "wasn't over". The guy came in to the company as part of a heel group & got some of the best crowd reactions at that time. Before they knew if he was even going to WWE he was put in the first Legends of Wrestling video game, solely based on his ECW career. RVD was over before he even came to the WWE, & its really sad & pathetic for Triple H & Vince to say that he wasn't over enough to be put in certain spots. No one in their right mind would think that. Triple H was jealous of Rob, plain & simple.

[@GD-1982]

Stephanie probably had a real crush on rvd and hhh never has the balls to approach his colleges face to face so yeah he helped bury rvd

[@Youdoxxikill]

Yea what a crock. I was 8 in 2002 and RVD and Rey were the 2 most over non originals.

[@thegoldenfool]

iirc Legends of Wrestling was supposed to be Acclaim's third ECW game, but then ECW went under during development, and they had to rewrite the game by plugging the leftover free space on the game's roster with alumni wrestlers who weren't signed to the WWF at the time, and RVD was the only notable ECW personnel who was still a free agent during the final stages of the game's development, so Acclaim kept him in after the game was complete and set to release.

[@vandamwtc]

Imo he needed to stay heel and needed a mouthpiece..cough** fonzie.

[@miamimagicians]

RVD

[@robak2250]

The 420 Leg Drop explanation given to Vince and relayed to Cole is probably one of the funniest wrestling stories I"ve ever heard. 4 legs and the combined shoe size is 20 (8 + 12). Hahahahaha. How did Vince believe that?

[@samuswilliams4576]

The whole fuckin show RVD ! Thanks fellas wasn't too fond of recent topics but you got me back especially on 4/20 lol

[@MarkieMX]

RVD was so unappreciated by corporate and HHH. Seriously. Him and Booker T just never got that stardom level they deserved.

[@GD-1982]

Facts

[@Dredsed]

"Corporate" wasn't even a thing then you mark ass casual

[@Thecallmemisterajp]

I think it's funny that you had Austin, Rock, Taker, and Angle among others who seemed to be so giving to Rob, but HHH seemed to be the only one to really have the issue. Says a lot.

[@TheSportsCourier]

RVD had a very underrated 2001.

[@jossoid]

TSC News - The Sports Courier he got wrestler of the year that year. Not that underated

[@TheSportsCourier]

jossoid Oh I recall him getting recognition in PWI in 02. Both great RVD years!

[@edwardmiguez6608]

@@jossoid No he didn't.

[@philiphaller1018]

He was arguably the most over guy on the roster back then.

[@theirishinsanity86]

9Kmkmo

[@fredbuckswwe2kepicgameplay]

Nobody flies HIGHER than ROB VAN DAM...

[@xanderthagreat8460]

God did

[@13Lazyrus]

I like the smoke background in the video. Nice touch for RVD.

[@Chris-ct1xy]

This is how you stay in WWE good grace's don't say anything bad about Hunter!

[@robrico129]

I think ive said this alot, but Im SOOOO happy I found out about STW w/Bruce! Really enjoy the show and look forward to new content every week, thank guys!

[@chadpugh1490]

I love these biography shows. Waaaaay better then focusing on payperviews.

[@jarrodwilliams8033]

Im glad you guys got on the network , and for everyone asking for watch along episodes im sure the network execs are aware that whatever shows are coverwd on the podcast are among the top viewed on the network ,that bein said i trust you guys have good ideas coming soon

[@JDWanko]

"Why do people vilify Vince?" "Dude, this is gonna screw with my marriage!" "We make MOVIES, DAMMIT!"

[@Sos4real]

i am grateful to hear an in-depth breakdown about RvD in the Federation. A lot of Bruce defending, Hunter this is always a great bonus lol. Perfect day to cover Rob thanks guys.

[@WalkingEpi]

WoW. Love hearing and learning these back stories. Thank You for sharing!

[@tthomaselli2]

I hope Bruce Prichard & Conrad Thompson can start recording future episodes of this podcast the way they recorded this one, for example.

[@greyjedi6430]

Not even rvd fan been on my KZbin for ages can't believe I listened to it from start to finish was glad I did

[@deckarobinson2768]

These podcasts have become the highlight of my week Keep them coming boy's R.V.D WAS AWESOME

[@jaredtucker6879]

Funny how Bruce and Conrad seem so much happier and into the podcast back then lol

[@dadman9799]

“The Whole Fucking Show” intro for ECW is one of my favorite intros of all time. Definition of badass

[@seano79]

RVD was the man in the late 90's early 2000's. I still remember being psyched for RVD Jeff Hardy at Invasion and they stole the show. Classic match. Still bugs me that Shane Mcmahon stole the Van Terminator. I'm glad Conrad calls out HHH in this one. I stopped watching for a while when HHH was always champ. It got way too predictable and the matches weren't that great. WWE fucked up by not pushing more of the WCW and ECW guys instead of burying them. I could see how the whole weed arrest ruined everything. When I was younger I was a huge fan of the ECW guys and wondered why some like Raven didn't get pushed more. Now I get it. You can't have people all fucked up on drugs as the face of a billion dollar company.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Shawn Michaels was completely trashed on drugs during his time on top - times do change but if someone is good enough - especially back then - their issues would be overlooked and actively suppressed. That said - it was only weed. RVD stopped doing any other drugs long before that.

[@thegoughandbordenfamily8234]

@Aaron Shane's a queef

[@leafonhead777]

I feel like it all comes down to RVD's lack of mic heat. His character worked, but it had limited range, and he wasn't ever a storyline powerhouse. His push with Rick Flair and HHH was about the best he could ask for, but wasn't able to take his character to the next level. A perfect example of how in WWE mic skill and character will take you farther than athletic prowess alone. You can only be a five star athlete for so long. But with great character skill you can become a Rick Flair, or Mick Foley. And that's how you move up on a big way. Sooner or later your body is going to give out, and if you don't have the mic skills to back it up you have very little future in the company. The reason Shawn got so far is because when his body couldn't keep up with his old style, he could transition into a storyline powerhouse. Rob just didn't have that. Probably would have been better for him in Japan, where they really care about the skill and athletic prowess above all.

[@whitecreamcascade5924]

RVD was resistant to learning how to work with the WWE creative process. Understandable in that he didn't like the storyline ideas they were trying to go with, but ultimately, you have to work WITH them and be less stubborn. IMO he was too stubborn and didn't do his part to help earn their trust.

[@treytorres7]

Had to roll up for the rewatch...I know Mr. Monday Night would approve!

[@delbertprince5302]

I have a picture with Rob Van Dam from a TNA show in Brooklyn.....

[@headtrauma911]

37:44 1st time vs jeff hardy on Raw, Ecw 1st Ppv Mr. Monday night

[@stephentot5011]

RVD....one of the best wrestlers I've seen

[@xUnrealWarriorx]

Perfect timing #Mr.420 #Mr.MondayNight

[@ghostface2222]

happy that Daniel Bryant gave ufc fighter diego sanchez credit for stealing that "yes!" chant

[@carolynbuckley8733]

Been saying that for year's.

[@marmcd2003]

47:00 "Has a run with the ECW Title" Uh no he didn't, he had a run with the ECW TV Title for hundreds of days. Never had the world title until it was WWE/ECW

[@tammyforbes2101]

That was pretty smart to put powder under the Mat to give it an effect! Smart thinking there!

[@rashaunwilliams78]

Best podcast ever!!!

[@DeanMoxley87]

1:32:10 Triple H buried RVD to Vince Thanks Bruce !!

[@anthonynoriega3602]

Id love to have a toke session with "RVD". I bet he has stories for days.

[@CarterHayes77]

ONE OF A KIND!!!

[@jimspence882]

Good for you guys, love the show

[@SonicAlchemy13]

I'm watching you Szatkowski..alllllllways watching!

[@shane-irish]

As soon as rvd enters royal rumble hhh pedigree's his ass

[@PlayingwithOurstuff]

Rob Van Dam smoked me out at my highschool when TNA performed at Amsterdam NY. He talked all about his movie Wrong Side Of Town.

[@shawnprivate5322]

They was pulled over in my hometown of Ironton..

[@ReesesCupsAreGood]

RVD was the action hero of wrestling. They dropped the ball in 2001. He could of been a major player.

[@bradwatkins7564]

Funny, Ken Sullivan is also quoted as using the "Some must die so that others may live" line too.

[@davidbevans9583]

hell yeaaaa. yes, the pantera sold me, conrad speaking is like gold but prichard is platinum. i love youuuuuuuu

[@devonshelton4911]

David Bevans pantera is the greatest metal band of all time

[@Rschr101]

Hell yeah!

[@tthomaselli2]

Was that Conrad Thompson saying "Fuck you, Bruce!" at 2:54?...

[@SlyCarey]

Happy 420

[@juanperezvargas6655]

Sly Carey yay a 420 post where 2 internet bad ass's ain't fighting trying to seem tough 😂

[@bdot187um]

Sly Carey ha

[@Jeffrey-v5s]

This just popped up and started playing. Did WWE used to sponsor the show?

[@NotTheRealJoker]

Do a WCW invasion show please

[@larryloudner6257]

Joker they just released the WCW Invasion episode! Check it out. Great Listen!

[@ThePhonominal1]

Only the pvv invasion

[@kingofwrestling9758]

I love it when they talk about shit that sucked.

[@NickTaylorRickPowers]

Someone from Vancouver please Is there an out of order jukebox or was everybody messing with Bruce ?

[@Lynn_Shae0915]

Bruce- It’s his team Conrad- he didn’t lay down

[@FoolishFlock]

the thumbnail picture! to this video! is F'N!! hilarious!!!!!..... Hahahaha!!!.. Lolz!!!.. ; )

[@vampirascoffin870]

hhh reign of terror buried rvd!!!!!! raw 2002-2005 dark boring ages of RAW! as hhh on top

[@josephboza7448]

I agree with Bruce, Rob is hall of fame worthy. He has had a career that fans will remember for sure. Rob took 3 years off just doing indy stuff before he committed to TNA. Rob had an underwhelming 2001 in my view. His work in that year was awesome but its not talking about much here. Also, I think Rob was screwed from Day 1 cause of the fact that he came from ECW and had that label it took years to wipe away. Wrestlemania 23s match for Rob was unforgettable, cause it had a bad slot in the match order. It was right after Undertaker defeating Batista for his first world heavyweight championship.

[@cubah1]

RVD is not the only wrestler who did not want to Job, it feels like every wrestler ever had an issue with jobbing at one point.

[@dougeaton8799]

That was my question @ 3:40:10

[@flashpointblank4914]

2 years later there hasnt been a new episode on wwe network.....

[@christopheranderson410]

Just listened to the episode, you should make a shirt "Let the F In!". Love the podcast.

[@moffjerjerrod1579]

In the restaurant business that jukebox rib is when you send someone to another restaurant and tell them to ask for the ‘long stand’ that you had lent to them and need back urgently and don’t come back without it. Then that restaurant lets them stand there a long tine then someone tells them they lent it to another restaurant and they go there and are made to stand there a long time then they are told that restaurant lent it to another restaurant and they go there…doot doot DOOT!

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

I love how Bruce immediately clams up when they get to RVD's first Royal Rumble. If you listen very intently with the volume turned up all the way, you can hear his butt hole pucker as he struggles to come up with excuses for why something happened that does not fit at all with the prior trajectory of RVD - after previously stooging himself off by admitting HUNTOR didn't like him.

[@shawnmckahan165]

Great

[@StonyHeatbag]

Happy 420 MOTHERFUCKERS. Just about to spark up and listen.

[@billyray5232]

Stony Plain Heatbag Ummm...how old are you? 12? Time to grow up kiddo...

[@StonyHeatbag]

cool orb video on your page Billy. LOL. look everybody. its some pathetic loser on the internet trying to be a sjw.

[@billyray5232]

Stony Plain Heatbag AWWW THE BIG BABY IS TRYING TO BE TRENDY AND RIDE THE WEED BANDWAGON....MAN UP, YOUR TO OLD TO BE TRYING TO SHOW OFF AND SOUND COOL...IT'S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN FATASS, STOP WHINING AND THROWING BABY TAMTRUMS..

[@billyray5232]

Stony Plain Heatbag Hahahaha gonna cry? C'mon, cry for me...hahahha

[@billyray5232]

Stony Plain Heatbag Poor little troll, tried to sound cool and ended up getting a verbal beat down...be glad it's only verbal to...

[@koreysmith4874]

Yes!! RVD 'the whole fukin show' one of my all time faves!

[@chrisdeavers8576]

Well looks like I'm getting the WWE network again ... you think maybe Tony and Conrade will get a show also ? #WCW

[@travismcdonald6576]

Chris Deavers No way.

[@scottyb003]

Times were a changing. Ron Burgundy had never heard that song!

[@Eric-wu7bp]

They forgot to mention that RVD Returned for one night at the 2009 Royal Rumble match

[@mr.mellow4093]

RVD this dabbs for you!!! 👄💨💨💨💨💨💨💨

[@theungreatkahli]

Nice 👍🏾✌🏾️🌿💨

[@daedaethomas47]

😤

[@PopeBrandonBrownson]

One small correction that I haven't noticed already in the comments- Rob Van Dam was ECW Television Champion for over a year, not ECW Heavyweight Champion. He didn't win that until WWECW, and we get to that.

[@williamschaeffer409]

one of a kind

[@LukeMSmith-ou8gh]

Whether it's in the ring or 420, nobody gets as high as Rob Van Dam.

[@handsomelee9568]

I find it so funny the people that come on here and complain about a FREE show.........FREE!!! Lol

[@richieray6092]

Bruce and Conrad still doing it?

[@CeemPlay]

420 leg drop

[@dtill5322]

You heard the story behind that gimmick for him to use it in the WWE? Lol was too funny cause Vince didn't want him calling it 420 due to MJ.

[@mitrisaosefh9610]

Get the damn hands up 😂 love Rob

[@michaelforsythe9350]

Conrad ask's Who did HHH like @ the time & who did he feel that should go over? The answer is that HHH thought that HHH should be put over. I don't get how HHH & Vince couldn't see that RVD was over. The guy was getting huge pops every match ever since the first time he ever came out in the WWE & putting on great matches. What's not to see?

[@officespace7777]

I think you should do some watch alongs on the network.

[@andrewberube8973]

I hope you guys do an episode on Randy Orton

[@DarkLordofTheSith69]

The watch alongs could be a problem as the network doesnt allow playback on more than one device...and I wonder what everybody said no to except Kevin Dunn ..got to be macho man ploughing Stephanie or a benoit show

[@jerransperarman9411]

Good podcast

[@TheRustedShackleford]

Did they ever do a show about the Smackdown after 9/11?

[@secondpower993]

Watched Something Else To Wrestle on the WWE Network - as soon as that was finished, I tuned straight into this. #IUsedToBeOver

[@brianspellbergio4502]

if you're not sixteenth you're last!! greetings from the best city in the world Buffalo

[@daedaethomas47]

Bills 2 Superbowl

[@Tburt-mx5kg]

there were no planes bruce. you know that. grip shakes.

[@WildBillCox13]

Bruce: take it from an ex-exotic dancer (and current superstar sleeper in self written and performed music and as a kick-ass novelist): Naked is when you DON'T want to be seen sans clothes. Nude is when you DO want to be seen (or don't mind being seen) without clothes. Thus we have "Nude Models" rather than Naked Models and Nudist Camps, instead of Naked Camps, and Nude Beaches*, instead of Naked Beaches. *And, no. I don't mean "Beeches".

[@pauldaly3797]

Rob van dam 🙌

[@strathroyaaron]

Yes because we all celebrate on April 20th that RVD & Rey between them have 4 legs, and that their combined shoe size is 20 lmbo

[@LakeKyle_]

You guys pick the jams for your ads

[@lordtrigon1733]

I thought Austin should’ve teamed with RVD at Mania X8 against the Outsiders, their history in 2001 made it an interesting team up and Rob was over enough to hang with the other 3, holding down an obvious star that could make you $$ makes no sense.

[@JDWanko]

Wait, I thought Bruce said that the writers on RAW were also the writers on SMACKDOWN! There were not RAW or SMACKDOWN writers?

[@jimil6639]

RVD should’ve gone thru with the Steph angle

[@theanthonylonettishow]

I guess that is why SVR 08 didn’t feature RVD.

[@78bcat]

It's fascinating how a guy like RVD in WWE can be so obstinate about telling stories, not liking what he doesn't like, thinks his in ring stuff is more important than anything, etc and Bruce is 100% apologist....but somebody like AJ Styles exhibits the same traits in TNA and he "just didn't get it". This dynamic really explains why/how nobody but WWE succeeds in no small part because everybody is a know-it-all chief outside WWE, but in WWE they're all contributing indians.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

"...everybody is a know-it-all chief outside WWE, but in WWE they're all contributing indians. " ECW was a small promotion, Heyman inspired an environment of "contributing Indians" - what happened to them, again? A lot of people got fucked by the "chief" - that's what - the indies REQUIRE a different dynamic than the WWE, which is a guaranteed contract, money, etc for a set duration of time. Not a lot of other promotions can offer that so how are you realistically going to ask somebody you pay a hundred or so bucks-a-show every month or couple months, to be a larger "contributor" when they wont get much of anything in return? You've got it confused, unfortunately. The fact they succeed (or did succeed) is what motivates people to be communal contributors - not the other way around.

[@TennesseeJoshua]

Best show on the network! And thats the bottom line....

[@chrisgrissom3610]

HAPPY 420 dayyyy!!! Well,you know...

[@rasheenbrown8601]

Gallows,Anderson, and Albert would disagree about going to Japan and returning as a bigger star

[@davey3884]

Chuck Norris was a huge star a decade before anybody had ever heard of Jean Claude Van dam, get your facts straight Bruce..

[@bugzmunny2724]

Amen