Is RVD Really the Best Option?

[It's Damn Real!]

I'm sorry, but RVD is a fucking dull [face] champion.

Yup – I said it. Dull.

2 lacking zest or vivacity : listless <a dull performance>
4 lacking in force, intensity, or sharpness <a dull ache>
5 lacking sharpness of edge or point <a dull knife>
6 lacking brilliance or luster <a dull finish>

I know Rob Van Dam the wrestler packs more pop than C-4 (), and that there are few men in the industry who can put asses in the seats (or pull them out of them at the snap of a finger for that matter) like he can, and I am well aware that he's one of the most popular wrestlers on the planet, but I just can't help but feel that not only are his talents are being absolutely wasted because of the lack of a legitimate top-tier heel to bring out the best in him as a face in his current incarnation the way a more intelligent & cerebral heel would be able to do, but the very idea of him as the top babyface in the company is a failure in need of rectification.

Hear me out&#8230;

What is RVD most well-known for? Being "The Whole Fuckin' Show", right? Well, doesn't it seem most logical that anyone who considers themselves (albeit in character) as the entire show should most closely be characterized as sycophantic and narcissistic? I mean, since when are sycophants and/or narcissists acceptable qualities for a babyface in professional wrestling? Let's face it &#8211; it's not as though RVD is being booked as a tweener here. Were he, I might buy the argument that a degree of narcissism would be acceptable the way it was for more famous anti-hero types before him like Steve Austin and Scott Hall and more recently with Randy Orton and Edge. He's obviously being booked as the company's top babyface, so am I to really believe that the best possible option for a top babyface in the company is/was and more importantly continues to be RVD? I'm inclined to believe otherwise.

Prior to the concession of defeat and the return of iMPACT! to Thursday nights, believe me, I fully understood the rationale behind putting the strap on RVD over AJ Styles, as as great of a performer as Styles is, the iconic value of RVD was in fact more marketable at the time, but since the concession of defeat and the return of iMPACT! to Thursday nights, does that value retain it's continuity and sale? Personally, I don't really think so.

Let's face it &#8211; TNA is uncontested on Thursday nights, so it's not as though they need to be pulling out any more rabbits from the proverbial hat here. Solid booking and story lines would in fact sell the show IMO as a viable alternative were either to happen, so why is RVD truly the best option for TNA WHC still? While I appreciated (note the emphasis on past-tense) the efforts of management to capitalize on the notoriety of such a big name in the industry, the failure of the company as a whole was still prominent, and by no means IMO should the blame be absolved from RVD's feet any more than it is/was any number of the other top performers in the company. While poor booking and writing were undoubtedly the primary causes for the death of the Monday Night Wars II, IMO the idea that a number of characters were being booked as they were &#8211; including RVD as a top babyface and AJ Styles as the top heel were just too drastic and unbelievable to allow for the idea of either to really take root.

Call me crazy, but I was always led to believe that simplicity equates success, and simplistically speaking, heel champions bring the most out of the face performers in any wrestling company, which is exactly why heels tend to hold onto title belts for longer durations than faces. Factor in the fact that most of the company's top-tier talent are faces or face-tweeners right now (Anderson, Hardy, Pope, RVD, Abyss, Hernandez, etc.), and IMO the need for a heel champion really manifests as not just suggestion anymore, but more along the lines of necessity.

--

That said, it's Q&A Time!

&#8226; What do you think of the idea of RVD as a face, and do you think he's a better face or heel?

&#8226; Do you think RVD is the best option for TNA WHC right now?

&#8226; If not, who do you think the best option is, and are they face or heel, and why?

 

[ABMorales787]

Thats the main problem with TNA's booking right now. They have no heels. The ones they do have are either inexperienced, like A.J Styles, Mr. Anderson and Sting or have been exhausted as heels have nowhere else to go. Kurt Angle being the main example. I find it great that TNA has so many big names that still have worth right now, but how can they be properly utilized if they have nobody to feud with? At Sacrifice Jeff Hardy faced Mr. Anderson. This is actually the second time they feud.

I really think the problem here is just some bad luck booking for TNA. All of the talent with name value that was available recently are all babyfaces. JBL was never much of a main event guy even if he was awesome on the mic, but he retired. Scott Steiner and Booker T weren't that big in TNA. Batista just got released and in my mind he will just be a problem if TNA gets him. For now TNA is gonna have to ruff it hard while the likes of Mr. Anderson, Matt Morgan, Desmond Wolfe, Eric Young and a hopefully heel LAX Hernandez grow and solidify themselves. Until then Sting and AJ Styles are all we got for RVD to work with. You gotta remember as well that RVD didn't just get the belt because he was the most popular, but because AJ's run was also reaching its limit. He's TNA's longest reigning champion. He feuded with pretty much everybody. Something had to be salvaged for the future, so they gave Van Dam the strap. And in the order of wrestling, it tends to be heel champ, face champ and so on.

 

[Tiger Chaos Theory]

--
That said, it's Q&A Time!

While I agree, RVD's current title run has been pretty boring, I'm would not call it bad just yet. He is about to go toe-to-toe with the biggest heel in TNA in Sting. "But Tiger, A.J. is the biggest heel!" No, he isn't. Sting is coming in for a shot at the title while Styles is working another upper midcard program. Therefore, Sting is the biggest heel. And aside from the hilarity of attacking someone wearing a mask of yourself, the feud/angle started very well last thursday IMO.

• What do you think of the idea of RVD as a face, and do you think he's a better face or heel?

No disrespect to you at all (You know I e-love you) but the very idea that RVD should be a heel is quite frankly, idiotic. While RVD is an egomaniac (in real life too if his twitter is any indication), it is very possible to be a sycophantic babyface so long as you do what RVD is doing, speaking well of your opponent, but acknowledging you are still better. He should not be a heel under any circumstance.

• Do you think RVD is the best option for TNA WHC right now?

• If not, who do you think the best option is, and are they face or heel, and why?

This is a difficult one to answer. In the context of where the show is at this exact point in time, yes, I believe so. Had this been before Lockdown, I would probably no, but here we are. No one can really take his place besides maybe Hardy. Angle isn't gonna do, he's working another interesting angle on his own away from the WHC. A.J. played had good run, The Pope shouldn't be holding the title just yet, and the same goes for Anderson. Sting winning it would be pretty interesting if TNA booked it even slightly well so we'll see.

 

[ABMorales787]

This is a difficult one to answer. In the context of where the show is at this exact point in time, yes, I believe so. Had this been before Lockdown, I would probably no, but here we are. No one can really take his place besides maybe Hardy. Angle isn't gonna do, he's working another interesting angle on his own away from the WHC. A.J. played had good run, The Pope shouldn't be holding the title just yet, and the same goes for Anderson. Sting winning it would be pretty interesting if TNA booked it even slightly well so we'll see.

To my opinion, I would much rather have a long and slightly boring run with ROb Van Dam than with Sting. I realize he's a heel, but TNA relies on him way too much. Not to mention all of his TNA title runs have been weak. I say that until the new flock of talent can solidify themselves, RVD should remain champion. He's a guy the crowd can connect to no matter who he feuding with. I kinda enjoyed the interaction he had with Jeff the night he won the title and I think TNA should look into expanding that story for a bit.

 

[Tiger Chaos Theory]

To my opinion, I would much rather have a long and slightly boring run with ROb Van Dam than with Sting. I realize he's a heel, but TNA relies on him way too much. Not to mention all of his TNA title runs have been weak. I say that until the new flock of talent can solidify themselves, RVD should remain champion. He's a guy the crowd can connect to no matter who he feuding with. I kinda enjoyed the interaction he had with Jeff the night he won the title and I think TNA should look into expanding that story for a bit.

I agree, Sting carries the load a bit too often for TNA, but he is retiring soon so I don't see the harm in him winning the title OR entering into a feud with a slightly dull RVD. I would actually prefer if they feuded since it would allow the other storylines to develop a bit more. A good feud could definitely get RVD out of his dull title run.

 

[ABMorales787]

I agree, Sting carries the load a bit too often for TNA, but he is retiring soon so I don't see the harm in him winning the title OR entering into a feud with a slightly dull RVD. I would actually prefer if they feuded since it would allow the other storylines to develop a bit more. A good feud could definitely get RVD out of his dull title run.

This is the problem with the run. RVD finished the feud with AJ. Now he feuds with Sting. If the feud isn't long enough there will be nothing else for RVD to go with. Maybe work with Desmond, but after Sting there is little hope for the run. All of these feuds have been rushed. Way too rushed. Much more fast than when AJ was champion. TNA isn't pacing itself and is going through stories way too fast. Not only will it affect RVD and his current run as champion, but any other champion to come after him.

 

[mister_b1LL]

That said, it's Q&A Time!

• What do you think of the idea of RVD as a face, and do you think he's a better face or heel?

• Do you think RVD is the best option for TNA WHC right now?

In Order:

RVD is a face is great. Always has been. I personally have never seen RVD as a heel, and frankly I wouldn't want to. He is an effective face simply because of the fact that he's drawing people into TNA. He at least is one of the main reasons I watch TNA. Being the "Whole F'n Show" could been seen as a very prideful gesture, but like somebody else said, he pulls off being a face by acknowledging how good people while still maintaining that he is the best.

I personally do think for now RVD is the best option for TNA WHC. RVD has been in the main event spotlight before so he knows how to deal with it. Having him as Champion allows some time for the other younger talent to build themselves up without having to take on the difficulty of being World Champion.

 

[Yomommma]

Van Dam has always been a bore. Sure, he does some flips and stuff, but he's so slow in the ring his moves look extra fake. When hes on the mike, I sometimes wish I had some paint to watch dry. I really don't or have ever seen what you sheeple think is so great about RVD.

 

[daddyJ_t]

u want a good fued out of rvd, bring in an oldschool ecw opponant. bring in sandman or the ageless sabu as a hell.have them attack him backstage, pose as a masked cameraman, make his life hell and then BAM. let them duke it out. hell even raven would do.

 

[Attitude_Raven]

it's the best option, until TNA builds the new generation of main eventers, they will have to rely on former world champions (RVD, Angle, Hardy, AJ, Joe...).
anyways i see a bright future for many of the young guys, at least in the TNA scenario.
Pope and Anderson, just like The Rock, have the crowd feeding from their hands.
Hernandez and Morgan are the next in line (besides Pope and Anderson) for a world title push, and probably the next big men feud that could get epic since Goldberg vs. Lesnar.
Neal and Terry, as much as the smart marks love to hate them, are over with TNA crowd as babyfaces and improved a lot this year, besides they were trained by TNA stars to be in TNA (yeah, Terry started in a WWE territory, but he was shit before training at Team 3D Academy, so it doesn't count).
Wolfie, well, his character gets more and more interesting everytime, he's playing an awesome, and i mean AWESOME, heel. i mean, acting a false crime scene, cutting another guy with a broken glass, fans shouldn't be cheering him, but i know, there's still smarks on the Impact zone that cheer the guy simply because of his technical skills.
Young got really solid since his World Elite stuff, his brief face run was great in some and way had emotional tension, then his heel turn joining the nWo, really cemented his heel status, i'm enjoying his new "cool freshy douche" character, the guy's gold on the mic and can bring good matches...

so well, until those 8 guys are ready to break into the world title scene, TNA will have to rely on RVD and other former world champions.

 

[MisterRob]

The only time I've ever enjoyed anything RVD has done was in ECW where he WAS a heel. His character is entirely heel-driven, works best as a heel and has heel traits. It's not that I don't buy him as a baby face, it's that I find him boring as hell as a baby face. His promos are drab, his character is bland, and I've never been a fan of his wrestling. I don't really see how he's the best option to be World champion right now.. he's not bringing in a new audience, he's never been a proven draw (because he's not one) and he's certainly not offering compelling storylines or even matches. There are far better options then RVD (who I believe was a desperation choice), but the problem with TNA is that they're so inconsistent and impulsive that they change everything good when it's going well. Just look at Mr. Anderson; he IS the best heel in TNA (and far better then Sting) and now they're watering him down and they look to be changing what was working about him. AJ Styles needs to be the FACE of the company, and they need to develop better heels; Anderson being the main one.

 

[PhD]

The only time I've ever enjoyed anything RVD has done was in ECW where he WAS a heel. His character is entirely heel-driven, works best as a heel and has heel traits. It's not that I don't buy him as a baby face, it's that I find him boring as hell as a baby face. His promos are drab, his character is bland, and I've never been a fan of his wrestling. I don't really see how he's the best option to be World champion right now.. he's not bringing in a new audience, he's never been a proven draw (because he's not one) and he's certainly not offering compelling storylines or even matches. There are far better options then RVD (who I believe was a desperation choice), but the problem with TNA is that they're so inconsistent and impulsive that they change everything good when it's going well. Just look at Mr. Anderson; he IS the best heel in TNA (and far better then Sting) and now they're watering him down and they look to be changing what was working about him. AJ Styles needs to be the FACE of the company, and they need to develop better heels; Anderson being the main one.

I agree with this. More than anything, it seems they put the strap on RVD to justify the ******ed salary he is getting, and the only reason it was him instead of Hardy (who is probably getting the same or bigger salary and who we can all agree is a much bigger draw) is because Hardy's ring work has been really bad since coming back, plus he might end up in jail any day.

I can understand why people like RVD's cool, laid-back face persona, but it just comes off as limp to me at the moment. His moveset is so rote at this point, and his style is so lacking in intensity, that his matches come off as especially fake to me. If we're to believe the basis of pro wrestling is a simulated fight, it'd be nice to see RVD selling a credible offense by looking like he actually gives a shit when he's in the ring.

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

Right Now, I think RVD isn't a good champion. He just came into TNA about three months ago. Sure he's been in WWE and in ECW, but there both different from TNA. I like RVD, his in ring ability is great, but I find his segments and promos really boring. RVD was never great (BUT GOOD) on the mic. I wanted newer faces in TNA to win the world champion. Desmond Wolfe deserves it. His less then 3 minute match for the title against RVD was really bad. Rob Terry and Matt Morgan deserve a shot at glory. Sting is great, but he`s 50 years old. He should get some normal feuds like the one he had with Jeff Jarrett. RVD should`ve established himself more, Desmond Wolfe already did with Kurt Angle. Rob Terry already did with his Freak attitude. Matt Morgan was in TNA for YEARS already. Rob Van Dam is great, but he should`ve waited a little bit until he won the title. AJ Styles was such a great champion, everybody loved him, until Ric Flair came and now people treat AJ Styles undeservably as a joke. I didnt like TNAs direction during March.

 

[Attitude_Raven]

AJ Styles needs to be the FACE of the company, and they need to develop better heels; Anderson being the main one.

and some guys keep on saying that, AJ is an AWFUL babyface, i mean ¿if you're a good guy you have to cry, suck up to the fans and have the opponent to make you look utter-weak? the guy gave much better promos and matches as a heel, he looks more solid and much more confident, but i guess some guys want him face because he's a high flyer and kids like that kind of stuff.
Anderson and The Pope are/can be much better faces, the crowd generally wants someone cool to cheer for, a casual fan sees AJ cutting a promo as a babyface and can't help but feel sorry for him, he allways talks about how he's nothing without the fans, he bursts in tears and tries to be the "goody two shoes", most fans don't like that.

 

[nightmare]

tna did the right thing with rvd, he just needs a good fued to get some mic time in, hes never been a big promo guy, its nt his style cuz he dosent have to say much to get the crowd going. rvd proves it in the ring. look at taker, he barely cuts promo's anymore. he dosent need to.

rvd needs a good feud to build up with, this aj thing just isnt cutting it, dont think sting will either. best options= 1) use the ex ecw roster to build a storyline. already brings history and drama to the fold plus tna can get away with destruction ecw was known for b\c vince's pg ratings bore dosent even come close. 2) rvd -vs- joe would blow the roof of the impact zone. put em in a last man standing or an ultimate x. that would easily be a 30 min match and they can go at it like no other.

 

[MisterRob]

and some guys keep on saying that, AJ is an AWFUL babyface, i mean ¿if you're a good guy you have to cry, suck up to the fans and have the opponent to make you look utter-weak? the guy gave much better promos and matches as a heel, he looks more solid and much more confident, but i guess some guys want him face because he's a high flyer and kids like that kind of stuff.
Anderson and The Pope are/can be much better faces, the crowd generally wants someone cool to cheer for, a casual fan sees AJ cutting a promo as a babyface and can't help but feel sorry for him, he allways talks about how he's nothing without the fans, he bursts in tears and tries to be the "goody two shoes", most fans don't like that.

I've never seen AJ Styles do any of these things as a face, so I haven't a clue what you're talking about. In fact, ironically, AJ Styles has always been like RVD as a face, only he does it better, he's much younger, his matches are far better, and he's the original face of TNA and should've remained so. They basically turned Abyss into a Hogan, AJ into Flair, and RVD into AJ. Doesn't much make sense, does it?

 

[akash]

nope. In my opinion the decision of taking title off the AJ was nothing but a desperate move by TNA. he was getting into the groove and definately needed a lengthy title reign.i know many of you will say that it was seven months long but that was not all in AJ's heel persona. Randy Orton also constantly remain in title picture during his turn as viper.thus AJ should definately have belt till BFG.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

I think it's because it's TNA...there are simply too many people and the World Champion is hardly recognised...we see more backstage segments off wrestlers who hardly wrestle..they have to really be on top of things when it come to the world champion...like when styles was champion..or angle...the show was all about them..

 

[akash]

I've never seen AJ Styles do any of these things as a face, so I haven't a clue what you're talking about. In fact, ironically, AJ Styles has always been like RVD as a face, only he does it better, he's much younger, his matches are far better, and he's the original face of TNA and should've remained so. They basically turned Abyss into a Hogan, AJ into Flair, and RVD into AJ. Doesn't much make sense, does it?

Quite right.AJ was super over as a face and have always been and the reason why RVD get that super ovation against the likes of joe and AJ is because of AJ's heel persona.I know many will disagree with it but neither Jeff
hardy nor other ex wwe guys have that connection with crowd witch AJ had as a face.on any given day a face AJ can give better matches and can get better reaction from crowd.you can obviously look for it when AJ won title at NO SURRENDER.

 

[akash]

I think it's because it's TNA...there are simply too many people and the World Champion is hardly recognised...we see more backstage segments off wrestlers who hardly wrestle..they have to really be on top of things when it come to the world champion...like when styles was champion..or angle...the show was all about them..

it looks like you have never watched impact as the crowd reaction which RVD gets can clearly show who the world champ is.Orlando crowd clearly loves him and now really buying the heel persona of AJ thus it will really make his face turn more valuable.

 

[akash]

tna did the right thing with rvd, he just needs a good fued to get some mic time in, hes never been a big promo guy, its nt his style cuz he dosent have to say much to get the crowd going. rvd proves it in the ring. look at taker, he barely cuts promo's anymore. he dosent need to.

rvd needs a good feud to build up with, this aj thing just isnt cutting it, dont think sting will either. best options= 1) use the ex ecw roster to build a storyline. already brings history and drama to the fold plus tna can get away with destruction ecw was known for b\c vince's pg ratings bore dosent even come close. 2) rvd -vs- joe would blow the roof of the impact zone. put em in a last man standing or an ultimate x. that would easily be a 30 min match and they can go at it like no other.

RVD feud with most wrestlers wouldn't help if the feuds are not given time.AJ-RVD feud should have atleast got two months but nope.so what the storylines need is time.

 

[shattered dreams]

I think RVD is the best choice for champion right now. The high point of TNA in recent memory was the build to his title win on impact. Just because sometimes he is not as exciting as he used to be does it mean that someone else should carry the strap. They gave AJ a long heel run. Now they are giving a mainstream name that can still work decent+ a face run. Seems about right. AJ had to lose the belt to a face and the more established the name the more it helps AJ retain the momentum he built up. It produced a great moment for the fans and now they have to build RVD up so that when he loses the title it means something. RVD has been doing this character a long time and has had solid success with it. His mic skill can get by as a face but as a heel the laissez-faire stuff just does not work. The simple all good vs all evil is a dying breed in pro wrestling and in the smark age it was bound to happen sooner than later. John Cena seems pretty cocky to me but that does not mean he should be a heel. The point of a face is to get the crowd to cheer for you no matter what and RVD is good at that. There was no one else anyway. Maybe they build to a RVD-Anderson feud eventually, veteran face that has heel qualities vs up and coming heel with face qualities. Interesting dynamic there. By nature of RVD's attitude it allows him to have feuds with faces as well (that is another reason he is a good fit if you are worried about roster makeup). I think a Hardy-RVD spotfest for the title would pique peoples interests. RVD-Sting does have a nice dynamic to it as well where Sting needs a crowd favorite to play off of. So there are matches out there work.

 

[maar130]

Well, to answer the OP questions.

ON the first one, RVD has heel trails, and sometimes has heel antics, people tend to deal with him as a face, during the Invasion angle he acted like a heel but most people bought him as a face.

In his personality he could heel antics but if he continues to wrestle the way he does people will buy him as a face none the less.

SO I really don't think he can really become a full fledged heel unless he changes completely his wrestling style and with out that, he won't be RVD.

Is he the best option for WHC? Well right now he seems to be, with other you will need to built some credibility because none of the heels right now, out of AJ and Sting (who had been WHC before on several ocassions) has any credibility what so ever, Desmond Wolfe for expample has a lot of fans, but from storyline record he has as muh credibilty as number one contender as Madison Rayne has as champion...NONE....Desmond loses all the time and get squashed, same as Madison who only singles victory is over Tara and the next show, she lost again.

So right now it was either AJ or RVD, Jeff can get a hold on that because he has legal problems, as soon as he gets out of it, he will get some gold, that is for sure, but right now RVD seems to be the best ption, which also reflects the lack of deep of the TNA roster into building a credible face to get that belt.

 

[Optimist Prime]

I personally think Rob Van Dam is a bad choice right now. With all the hatred for Hogan, Hall, Nash, Flair, etc. I don't see how they're all bad and the mediocre 40 year old "never really was" is good.

I have no problem with Rob Van Dam as an Intercontinental/US champion caliber guy...but making him the face of a company at this stage of the game is borderline embarrassing. He's never been anything major...and he's even older than he was before. So by the majority of everybody's standards in here...we should tie him to the stake and light the match. For whatever reason...a boring, no personality, not-as-old-but-still-pretty-old Rob Van Dam is acceptable or even in some cases "a great choice for world champion and face of TNA" but icons of the business (albeit a tad older) are condemned?

I actually liked the AJ Styles/Ric Flair role for a whole. Unfortunately, the Hogan/Abyss angle ruined it completely...but had that not happened...AJ/Flair would have been great. The lack of a real solid face of the company is a problem. AJ Styles used to be but now there really isn't anybody. Jay Lethal maybe? I don't know. Rob Van Dam and other older guys (Jarrett, Angle) are the only faces in the company it seems. Probably because it's harder to be a good guy than it is a bad guy (when you have absolutely no personality).

Anyway, I hope I summed up my big No regarding the question whether RVD is the best answer. He's certainly not the best answer...but unfortunately...he's the only answer they have (as a face) right now.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

To be perfectly honest, I think that RVD is really the only other choice that TNA could make at this point. AJ Styles had been a very good face champion, fans bought into it because Styles seems very natural as a babyface and he's long since been thought of as the face of TNA Wrestling. As a heel, I haven't bought into him and he was turned from a strong face that could win against anybody to a weak champion that could hardly win at all. Aside from RVD, who is really left in TNA that would be believable as TNA World Heavyweight Champion?

Jeff Hardy isn't going to be champion until we all learn whether or not he's going to to prison on drug charges.

Samoa Joe has been MIA for months and has been without a strong, stable feud since he returned.

The Pope D'Angelo Dinero is out injured and you have to question if he's even remotely ready to be champion.

Kurt Angle only returned to TNA last week, though I expect him to be TNA World Heavyweight Champion yet again by the middle of the summer.

Ken Anderson gives great promos and is over with TNA fans, but he loses just about every match that he's in.

Matt Morgan is still firmly entrenched in the TNA tag team scene for some odd reason even though he doesn't have himself a parter and will probably be feuding with Hernandez when he comes back.

So who does that leave really? Ric Flair? Hulk Hogan? Scott Hall? Kevin Nash? Eric Young? Jay Lethal? Yeah, I can really see either of those choices going over really well.

When it comes to promos, I find RVD pretty boring. It's just not his strong point but he's really the only legitimate choice TNA could make at this particular time.