Rob Van Dam's greatest opponent?

[CM Steel]

With 4:20 coming up in 24 hours from now...I just had to make a post about wrestling superstar Rob Van Dam! And ask, who was RVD's greatest opponent? Now I'm not say who was RVD's greatest feud. But who was the guy who went toe to toe with the "whole fuck'in show" and came out the match looking as good as RVD win or lose?

If I had to put in my two cents with an answer, it would have to be against...Jerry Lynn. Just because of the history these two have with one another and they both told good stories in the ring against each other. And who can forget RVD's special move "the 4:20"? Rob Van Dam is a living legend right now in wrestling!

But in your own opinion. Who was RVD's greatest opponent?

 

[Aquaman6686]

I'm going with Edge. His match with Rob Van Dam stole the show at Vengeance 2006, and I still believe it was a HUGE missed opportunity on WWE's part not to book them in a long, lengthy feud for the WWE Championship. Then again, RVD and his drug habits are to blame for ending his title reign so quickly, so who knows what kind of amazing feud we would have gotten if he could have kept his act together.

 

[mythofdob]

There is only one answer here, Jerry Lynn.

It doesn't matter if it wasn't done in the big show, they have had great matches in ECW, TNA, and a bunch of smaller shows for the last 15 years. The series of matches they had in ECW over the TV title was great. The "5 more minutes" match is still one of my favorite.

 

[Vintage]

Hmmm..

Well I'd have to actually say it's Sabu. While the feud with Jerry Lynn were some of the best matches he's ever had, Sabu was the Anti RVD.

Sabu would do anything, especially if it involved hurting himself to hurt RVD during their matches. It's almost as if was trying each and everytime to hurt himself more than the last match they had. He really busted his ass vs RVD and RVD did the same. I think those matches are really the only reason why Sabu has the status he did get because he was never a talker or a ring technician. I also think Sabu might be the one person that has the highest w/l rate against no job Rob. There is someone I'm forgetting that he also had some great matches with.. I want to say Tajiri but I'm not 100% sure it was him

 

[merlconn13]

jerry lynn hands down but i'd say sabu is a close second. them two, when not being a killer tag team had some great matches one on one. esp during the whole respect angle where he wouldn't shake sabu's hand

 

[Vintage]

I'm going with Edge. His match with Rob Van Dam stole the show at Vengeance 2006, and I still believe it was a HUGE missed opportunity on WWE's part not to book them in a long, lengthy feud for the WWE Championship. Then again, RVD and his drug habits are to blame for ending his title reign so quickly, so who knows what kind of amazing feud we would have gotten if he could have kept his act together.

I'm sure WWE didn't care about the Weed. They knew that about him well before even offering him a contract and I know he didn't stop for his physical.
Sabu on the other hand was caught with vicodin which not so bad in the bigger picture but the WWE champ and pills = the wrong kind of bad press for that time period.
Honestly, Vince wasn't probably too high on RVD to begin with, many people before and after him have gotten slaps on the wrist for worse

 

[theBec2101]

Good thread. RVD was one of my favorites all time. Anyway I would have to say Jerry Lynn as well. But I wouldn’t disagree with Taz, Sabu, or Edge. J Lynn and RVD just meshed very well because J Lynn was very talented especially for ECW at the time. Those two didn’t have to get busted open and bleed and wrap then selves in barbwire all the time. They could actually put on a WRESTLING match with a bit of extreme rather the other way around.

Taz, I know he can wrestle as well but I don’t think he moves well. But boy could be throw people around with various suplexes. But Taz'z greated opponent was Bam Bam Bigalow. Then with Sabu, you just pretty much expected as hardcore can get. Not the greatest of a wrestler so to say, but he put it all out there even skin sweat and blood.

Then you have Edge. But to pick Edge it is not that fair. Cause you may not know the other 3 as well. Edge you could say one of the best ever maybe in someone’s top 10's of all time. Not saying he wasn’t a great opponent but if think about it Edge is almost everyone he faces greatest opponent. His skills in the ring and his promos and how he could build the story are off the charts.

Now I may get heat. But I think Cena should be up there. For two reasons he was the top guy at the time and he dropped the belt to him. 2nd how he dropped it was pretty amazing and the arena. That whole thing before the match was great and the fans were awesome. I am not saying greatest wrestling opponent but great story, great arena, timing, and RVD got the Belt.

 

[Esodess]

Did you guys forget about Lance Storm? Those ECW matches were epic. I understand that the Jerry Lynn matches were great in their own right, but Lance was far more technical than Lynn.

 

[CripplerBenoitFan]

I think Sabu was his all time greatest, although it's not all about match quality in my decision. Sabu and RVD have the most history. That love/hate relationship is one of the most entertaining things to ever come out of ECW. I see a lot of that in early Team Hell No and I love it. Two guys that hate each other's guts and bury each other constantly, but when it comes to work they get it done in spectacular fashion. Then when they wrestle each other it's that much more meaningful.

If I were to go on pure match quality it would have to be either Storm or Lynn. Definitely. I was a huge RVD fan back in the day. I still am, he's in spectacular shape for his style of wrestling.

 

[Judah's Lion]

RVD truly is one of a kind. and i've enjoyed many of his feuds and matches throughout the years and different companies for which he has worked.

i can definitely agree that his feuds with Jerry Lynn and Sabu were great and that these were two of the greatest, if not the top two greatest, opponents for RVD.

outside of ECW and in the WWE, there were several feuds that i thought were really fun to watch. Jeff Hardy and Christian both come to mind. their ladder matches were really awesome. even Tommy Dreamer inside of WWE was a good opponent for RVD.

Edge could have been so much better, but as others have stated, it was just bad timing with RVD getting busted and losing the title.

and lastly, Chris Jericho. these two had one of the best matches in the history of Monday Night Raw and could have had an outstanding feud. but it seemed to never go anywhere which, in my opinion, could be considered another huge missed opportunity.

 

[HBsam31]

Storm and Lynn run neck and neck for me. Lynn stands out just a little more because of the exposure the matches got, and Lynn coining himself The New F'N Show, but as was mentioned Storm was more technical than Lynn and they put great matches on in their own right. Between the two I would say my favorite by a hair was Jerry Lynn.

 

[BigDaddyKewl]

I didnt watch much ECW until some of the DVDs came out. But I remember his match against Jeff Hardy at the 2001 Invasion had some amazing spots. It was RVD first real WWE match and he really proved that he was a player on the big stage. They had a couple more matches at Summerslam, Raw and on Impact. Its to bad they didnt get to work together more TNA. I think they could've had a good feud in TNA during Jeff Hardy's heel run in 2011.