Rob Van Dam: X Division Champion Of The World

[ABMorales787]

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In a nice twist, Bound For Glory opened with Zema Ion vs Rob Van Dam. But that's not the nice twist. The nice twist is that RVD won the match and the title. He is the first veteran wrestler of "high caliber" to capture the title since Samoa Joe won it in 2009. What will this mean for the X Division now that "The Whole F'N Show" is it's new flagship?

To me, it means working with guys like Kenny King, Jesse Sorensen and other young prospects. Win or lose, that's a rub for these guys now that they have a former 3 time World Champion to fight with.

 

[T2KFreeker]

Love him or hate him, RVD is the goods. Even at his age right now, he can still put on a great match and can put over younger talent. On the books, the guys a multi time tag champ, a multi time Hardcore champ, a three time World Heavyweight champ, and not to mention, the longest reigning Television champ in ECW history as well as one of the wrestlers at the time to really hold onto a title for a long time and add some prestige to it. Say what you will about Rob Van Dam, but the dude was awesome when he was ECW TV Champ and if he can be allowed to work the same kind of magic with the X-Division title he did with that run, you should see some great matches down the road. I just hope they don't turn right around and hand the belt back to Ion. I don't like him and most people seem to feel the same way.

 

[HBsam31]

We will definitely get some great matches from him in the X division, and the rub the younger guys will get from working with him will only make things better. I hope we get to see some shades of the RVD of old in this run. I expected him to take the title, and I think it will be good for the division that he did.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think this is really good news for the X-Division. It has been struggling since A Double moved up to the main event and became World Champion, and Zema Ion was given the opportunity to carry the X Division belt and didn't really do much with it. RVD is a major star and having him as the champion immediately makes the belt look more important.

He has pretty much done it all in the business and it will only be good for wrestlers like Kenny King, Zema Ion and Jesse Sorenson when he returns to work with someone like Van Dam, who although getting older can still put on a great match. People actually care about Van Dam, while Ion was still pretty much a nobody and so hopefully more interest will be shown in the X-Divison now Mr PPV is the champion and he can produce the goods with the title and help to bring the division back to its glory days.

 

[anvilx8]

Good. This will probably revive the division. TNA has failed at trying to rebuild the x divison. When it was at its best it was about "no limits". Any weight class, etc.. but they keep trying to make it a cruiserweight division (probably not realizing thats what theyre doing). Ion is a good wrestler, but he isn't title material

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If TNA can't get it together to do something with the X Division now that RVD is the champion, then maybe they should just scrap the X Division and the title altogether.

A lot of people have been wanting to see RVD in the X Division since he came to TNA. With his high flying style and athleticism, it does seem to be where he'd most fit in. RVD also has name value and brings a certain degree of star power to the X Division that it hasn't had in many years. Even though RVD is fairly uncharismatic and has a dull character persona, he's still RVD and he still has lots of fans.

Now all TNA has to do is to actually put some energy towards some opponents for RVD to feud with in the X Division.

 

[SpecialFNK]

this is great news for the X division. finally a name in the division fans can know.
that Aries guy dominated the division, but seriously who was there in the division that was any competition at the time? a whole bunch of nobodies. good wrestlers with high flying exciting moves, sure, but no one your general audience really knew.
I think it's good to see RVD in the X division, however I think it was too soon for him to win the title. there was absolutely no build up at all. RVD came out just this past Thursday and said he wasn't in a match at BFG, so they should have a match. I thought it would have been better to have Zema do some heel move and cheat to retain his title, but then RVD could get a rematch and then win at next months PPV. at least have some story to it.
but this division definitely needed help, and RVD is just the first step. they need more names and better competitors. especially considering the X division champion can cash in that title to get a world title shot at next years Destination X.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Excellent choice on TNA's part here. RVD will do wonders for the division as the X Division Champion. Now that a former multi time World Champion is holding the belt it will have a feeling of importance again. Plus, it also means the horrible Zema Ion is no longer holding the belt. He was absolutely awful. Granted, Austin Aries is a tough act to follow and no matter who was the next champion they were going to have a hard time maintaining the momentum of the belt and the division, but Zema Ion just sucked. I don't see why he was even the champion to begin with.

This could be good all across the board. The belt's prestige can now begin to return and RVD will have something to do for a while. RVD can put on good matches and make his challengers look strong in the process. I hope he has the belt for at least a few months, getting fans excited early into the show on PPV events and Impact. After he has been champion for a while they could begin looking for who can take the title, and hopefully it's not someone who sucks like Zema. This is a large step forward for a division that had taken a step back in quality, so my fingers are crossed that TNA do not mess this up.

 

[kor420]

Hope this is a sign that the x-division is going to start picking up now. RVD suits the x-division perfectly, even though i wanted him to hold the TV Title, this would of my second choice.

TNA Did a great job last night, i just want to go and give everyone a great big bear hug that made last night a huge success!

 

[UFOcalling]

So what ever happened to the X-Division's weight limit? I thought Bischoff gave the X-Division a 225 lb weight limit (or 215/220 lb, or something like that), back when Immortal was still around. I think it was when Abyss first lost the X-Division title, and Bischoff announced the weight limit on the very next episode of Impact.

According to wikipedia, RVD's "billed weight" is 237 lbs. If you type "rob van dam weight" into google, the result is 244.7 lbs. Did TNA do away with the weight limit, or is TNA just going to kayfabe RVD's weight?

Either way, I like RVD as the XD Champ. My first thought was that RVD will hold the title until TNA's Destination X PPV in 2013, where he'll be able to "trade in" the XD Championship for a WHC shot like Aries did in 2012. Remember that Aries said he wanted it to be an annual thing, where the X Division Champ would be able to do that every year. I was wondering if TNA would have Zema Ion hold the title all the way until Destination X 2013, and now I have an answer.

I think that's the main reason the XD title was put on Rob (to challenge for the WHC at Destination X 2013), other than the great matches we'll see in the future (RVD vs. Ion 2, RVD vs. Jesse Sorensen, RVD vs. Kenny King, etc). Hopefully RVD will breathe new life into the XD, and maybe the division will go back to "no limits" instead of the dumb weight limit that was put on it.

I think TNA finally realized that the XD Championship always was their second tier championship (kinda like the WWF's IC Belt, before the brand-split), and hopefully it will go back to that. Or maybe they just decided to put the XD Belt on Rob for the time-being, while they try to build up the TV Belt's credibility with Joe. Either way, I'm glad to see the XD Belt on Van Dam's shoulder, and hopefully he'll have a nice long run with the belt. In fact, I'm almost banking on the fact that he'll hold the title all the way until Destination X 2013, where he'll trade the title for a shot at the WHC.

 

[RawIsJericho]

They should have never tried to put a weight limit on it, the X Divisions motto used to be "It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits", so lets just forget that whole adding in a weight limit thing ever happened and move along.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

According to wikipedia, RVD's "billed weight" is 237 lbs. If you type "rob van dam weight" into google, the result is 244.7 lbs. Did TNA do away with the weight limit, or is TNA just going to kayfabe RVD's weight?

Well if you remember at Slammiversary Hogan took the weight limit off for Samoa Joe when he faced Aries. But if I remember rightly it was a "one night only" stipulation.

Now as for RVD the previous Impact, Hogan told him he could have a match with any other guy. I guess Hogan's blessing to challenge anyone "overrides" the weight limit.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

They should have never tried to put a weight limit on it, the X Divisions motto used to be "It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits", so lets just forget that whole adding in a weight limit thing ever happened and move along.

I agree. It took the X Division and turned it into a glorified cruiserweight division, just with a flashy name.

Even though most of the wrestlers to ever compete in the X Division could be labeled as cruiserweights, the lack of a weight limit did introduce larger wrestlers into the scene sometimes. It didn't always work out for the best, look at Abyss' time in the X Division after all, but the possibility was there for bigger & talented guys to be part of it.

It's true that Hogan lifted the weight limit rule a while back. There hasn't been any talk or mention of it in a long while. With RVD as the champ, I think that TNA has just quietly let the weight limit thing quietly die. RVD might be listed at 237 lbs but I think that's a work weight rather than his actual weight. In actuality, I'd say that RVD is right at the 220 lb mark.

 

[AdamFury]

I can't stand Zema, and not because he's a good heel, I just think he sucks. His character is lame, and he's bland in the ring. He's TNA's John Morrison at best, maybe not even that good. I know they were looking for Jesse Sorenson to return and take the title off him, but i'm glad we didn't have to wait that long.

Yes, RVD is on the down side of his career, but even his worst efforts entertain me more than Zema's best efforts. They should have put the title on Kenny King to begin with.