Rusev VS RVD

[Broski_of_the_week]

After watching last nights RAW, the match between RVD and Rusev was ok. Merely OK. What really ruined it for me was the commentators reaction. So here is Rusev, a man who has beaten Xavier Woods countless times, R-Truth, Heath Slater, Big E and a slew of other nobodies... and when he beats RVD clean, its just another win!

Admittedly, RVD has been ruined since his return, but this is a man who is the face of ECW, a former WWE champion and a massively over talent and he is beaten clean by a relative nobody who I honestly doubt will ever reach the levels of popularity RVD had in his prime. Cole, Lawler and JBL should have been selling this as the coming of a real force in the WWE but they couldn't have possibly sounded less interested in the result!

I know this is more of a rant than a topic of discussion but to actually start some debate, i'll ask a few questions here that you can ask or maybe ignore and go on your rant in reply:
A) Should they have built the result up as I believe they should have or is RVD too far buried to really matter anymore?
2) Will that result actually propel Rusev to real success or was it completely pointless in the grand scheme of things?
iii) Is ROH's commentary team of Kelly, Mcguinness and Corino 400x the team that work RAW atm? (I watched Best In The World last week and it was soooo good not to hear about every worker 'unloading' on their opponent 20 times a match!)

 

[Sundar]

I was kind of shocked too. I hate the fact that Rusev got a clean win over RVD and how it was treated like just another win.

a) I think they should have built it up more.
b) I believe it will. Despite the fact that many of us had predicted that Rusev's gimmick was too oldschool, with Lana at his side, he is probably the top heel right now. He may even get hot enough to have a feud with the likes of Cesaro or even Brock Lesnar sometime if they are looking to turn either of them babyface.

 

[Slash-LN]

This isn't 1998. Beating Rob Van Dam doesn't mean anything anymore. He's a guy who is rounding down the end of his career who for the most part is there for up and comers to have matches with because he can still hit his known spots and the 30 year olds in the crowd will pop for them.

What's the last impressive win Rob got?

His one win over Cesaro?

Outside of that he's traded wins with Alberto Del Rio and he's beat Jack Swagger and Damien Sandow. That's going back to 2013 because he's lost the majority of his matches this year that weren't tag team matches.

When a guy is consistently losing one on one matches it doesn't really make it a big deal for someone beating him.

Wrestling is a "what have you done for me lately?" business and Rob hasn't done much.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

This isn't 1998. Beating Rob Van Dam doesn't mean anything anymore. He's a guy who is rounding down the end of his career who for the most part is there for up and comers to have matches with because he can still hit his known spots and the 30 year olds in the crowd will pop for them.

What's the last impressive win Rob got?

His one win over Cesaro?

Outside of that he's traded wins with Alberto Del Rio and he's beat Jack Swagger and Damien Sandow. That's going back to 2013 because he's lost the majority of his matches this year that weren't tag team matches.

When a guy is consistently losing one on one matches it doesn't really make it a big deal for someone beating him.

Wrestling is a "what have you done for me lately?" business and Rob hasn't done much.

I pretty much have to agree with this. RVD's WWE glory days have been over for the better part of a decade, he's well into his 40s and he no longer wants to wrestle a full time schedule. I definitely don't agree that RVD has been "ruined" since his return because there are very few effective ways to use RVD based on how his deal is structured. He wrestles for 3 months, takes a hiatus for unspecified periods of time, comes back to wrestle for another 3 months and so on and so forth. As a result, you're not going to see RVD have title runs or main eventing major ppvs. I mean, you can't elevate a part time guy in such a fashion. The most effective way to utilize said part timer is to use him to elevate younger talent.

RVD still has his name value, that's why WWE wanted him. While he may not be in his prime, he's still in great shape and is still more than capable of putting on quality matches. However, RVD has NEVER been this mega star in WWE and, generally speaking, never really was. I think there's a POSSIBILITY that he could have been in WWE had he not gotten busted for possession of Vicodin without a prescription and 18 grams of pot while he was simultaneously ECW & WWE Champion. Vince was embarrassed, justifiably so, and had finally given in and given RVD a shot at the top with it blowing up in his face.

I do agree that the commentators could have done a better job out there, they could have hyped Rusev's victory more considering RVD's history. However, when it's all said & done, it's not really that big of a deal when you get right down to it. If RVD was a full timer on the roster, I think his overall use in feuds & matches would be stronger than what we're currently seeing. Therefore, Rusev's clean victory over him would've felt more important.

 

[Pedigree1]

Beating RVD these days,may not mean much as it used too,but its still RVD.. RVD is a man in his forties,doesnt wrestle full-time anymore,but for someone his age he is in great great shape.. His glory days are behind him,but he is over 40 so that much is expected..

True the Commentators could have done a better job,in Fact one could argue they were being sort of disrespectful towards Mr Monday Night aka The Whole Bleeping Show.. But maybe they would have had a different tone,had RVD been wrestling full-time..

 

[Mustang Sally]

RVD still has his name value, that's why WWE wanted him.

That's for sure. He spent a lot of his waning time as a "wrestler to be reckoned with" in TNA....and sitting at home taking care of his ailing wife. By the time he was ready to come back, he was old and tired.....and packing a gut that makes his ring maneuvers look unseemly, imo. Still, he's Rob Van Dam and WWE was able to come to an agreement with him; some decent dollars to pave his way toward retirement.....in exchange for becoming an enhancement talent. He uses his past glory to put over young bucks while using his "spot freak" style to thrill fans who remember his ECW days.

Then, there's Rusev. While many fans rail against still another anti-American gimmick, I like this one, even though I was sort of predisposed against him at the start. He operates in the ring better than I thought he would....and I'm liking what Lana brings.

So, yes.....I believe RVD is too buried to make much of a difference anymore in pro wrestling. Yet, he can still serve a useful purpose, and WWE has paved the way for him to do it.

Sure, 10 years ago, we would have sneered at the thought of a performer like Rusev beating Rob......Van......Dam.

But it's no longer 10 years ago.

 

[OYDK]

I'm OK with the fact that the commentators treated Rusev's victory over RVD like just another win because honestly, who really believed that RVD was going to win that match? Cole, JBL, and King are not stupid, and they're not going to insult our intelligence by acting as if it's an actual surprise that this 28 year old Belorussian monster defeated a 40+ year old Rob Van Dam. Was it a big win? Sure. The biggest win of Rusev's career? Probably. But by treating RVD as the underdog, the commentators are putting Rusev over as this unstoppable beast much like they did with Brock Lesnar.

When Lesnar debuted he pretty much handed both Hardy's their asses while JR and King were talking about how, it wasn't smart for Matt and Jeff to get in the ring with Brock because he's dangerous, merciless, and so on. Same goes for Rusev.

Now if we were talking about Rusev pinning somebody like Daniel Bryan or Roman Reigns, than that is a completely different story, but unfortunately RVD is nowhere near as big a star as he used to be.

 

[MartialHorror]

I thought this match sucked and I'm beginning to think that Rusev should stick to squash matches. His first fight against Big E was alright, but the second was mediocre and his clashes with RVD and Reigns were both boring.

RVD's style just didn't mesh well with Rusev's. Oddly, my favorite Rusev match was 'Rusev vs Sin Cara'. It was a squash, but within that short period of time, Sin Cara's athleticism was well utilized. Because RVD's match went on longer, it just dragged.

I feel like I only complain about RVD these days, but I do respect the guy for being able to do what he can at his age. But I don't see the point of WWE keeping him around if they're just going to have him job to everyone of potential relevance. His matches haven't been that good to justify it. The only exception has been his brief feud with Seth Rollins.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

If rumors coming out of Ukraine are true and the Russians just shot down an airliner... Then Rusev and Lana are done... Just like Hassan...

The match with RVD was functional... Was never going to be a clinic.. RVD is a stepping stone... Nothing more.

They cant use him for more due to his short stints. He doesn't have the intangible Jericho has to make a big push stick.