Vince wanted RVD as a heel and Heyman Guy

[Just Do It]

Sports Illustrated have put out an interview with RVD in which Rob states when he returned to the WWE they wanted him to be a heel and a Paul Heyman guy. In many ways Rob was one of the original Heyman Guys for shoot, and Heyman has said many times RVD summed up ECW the most.

“The office wanted to put me with Paul and turn me heel,” explained Van Dam. “But I already have one foot out the door in wrestling, so why change to a heel when I’m on my way out? I’ve been so willing to stay strong and stick to my guns for so long when it comes to my beliefs. I’m a symbol to people for a lot of different things, and changing me to a heel, at the last minute, could change that.”

Similarly, Jeff Hardy’s heel turn with TNA in 2010 left a bitter taste in Van Dam’s mouth.

“I thought the Jeff Hardy heel turn was stupid before they did it and thought it was stupid watching him spit at the fans and the little kids who loved him,” said Van Dam. “That’s a traditional thing that the office looks at as money, but I don’t know I agree with it.”

I think Rob made the right call, it would have been a flat turn as hardcore fans would have cheered him anyway, so what's the point? What do you think?

Here's the full Sports Illustrated interview, it's a really good read http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/11/09/rob-van-dam-paul-heyman-interview

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Nobody cares about RVD returns, when they should, because he hasn't done anything different in over 15 years. His look, persona, move set, everything is stale. A heel turn would help massively.

Regardless, I believe this about as much as I do Ryback saying he was supposed to face Styles at Mania.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

This is interesting, because I remember listening/reading a Heyamn interview, where he said that he wanted RVD as the heel and CM Punk as the ECW Champion going into WM 23, with RVD challenging him there.

But Vince wanted Bobby Lashley as the champion. So which means that Vince wanted Lashley vs Van Dam according to that.

I don't know. I think Van Dam should have turned. Why not? It would have been something different and a new way to reestablish his career as a top guy, after that Marijuana incident. Van Dam was always a kind of guy that was fine with his spot, he didn't want much and wanted a peace of mind.
If Van Dam was feeling okay with his place on the card, then who am I to judge?

 

[FromGlasgow]

Seeing as his return seemed to go nowhere and just fizzled out I think it would have been more interesting having RVD turn heel which would have had the possibility of one last major run.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Having RVD as a "Paul Heyman Guy" would have, at the very least, gotten people's attention and generated buzz. For me, a heel turn may well have been the best thing to happen to RVD because, let's face it, the guy hasn't changed, altered, updated or evolved anything about himself for the better part of 20 years. RVD circa 2000 was special because he was innovative inside the ring and did things that you simply didn't see. While his personality and charisma was limited to his "Rob Van Dam" pose, the guy still stood out in the ring. Ten years later, RVD was really kind of just another face in the crowd as there were a lot of guys on our televisions capable of doing what he was doing, minus the splits, and had more personality than a middle aged stoner who sounds like he's baked 24/7.

A heel turn wouldn't have invigorated his career to his glory days, most likely, but I think it would've made him more relevant than ultimately a nostalgia act back simply to lose nearly every match he had.

 

[LBGetBack]

Nobody cares about RVD returns, when they should, because he hasn't done anything different in over 15 years. His look, persona, move set, everything is stale. A heel turn would help massively.

This is why RVD is where he is everytime he comes back and why Jericho is where he is right now. There was a time when the two were basically equals in stature.

 

[rmp0012002]

RVD is the kind of guy that would even get cheered as a heel. His style never changes whether he is a heel or face. He was a heel in ECW but the only thing that changed was he had Fonzie as his manager or the angle with Lawler. He's an original Paul Heyman Guy but him and Paul would have been great together. I don't think he was pushed much in his last run as he had returned from TNA. RVD knows his place and doesn't stir the pot but whatever side of the fence he'll be cheered.

 

[OYDK]

Are we talking RVD's original return after he came back from TNA? Because if we are, I think it would have been pretty stupid to turn him upon his debut. There was still a ton to get out of him as a returning hero and no way were the fans going to boo him after a 4 year hiatus. After his title program with Del Rio ended would have been the best time to do it in my opinion. He started rapidly losing momentum and a heel turn likely would have kept him at the top of the card for at least a few months more.

I guess I could understand RVD's point of view, but as has been mentioned, you have to change it up eventually. And who knows, maybe a change could have revitalized his career. Matt Hardy is living proof of that.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Like Rey Mysterio , RVD went through the same boring routine in every single match for most of his career, after ECW especially. Turning him heel might've helped for awhile, but that stale routine would remain the same.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I can't remember the timing of this but I do remember RVD having a very successful return that went bad quickly. Maybe his stance against turning heel was part of this. I don't know and am not sure I am remembering right.

If he were to turn heel he would have needed a lot of help. Was this during Punk's championship run? If so RVD would have worked as a heel who occasionally cheated for Paul and Punk. They could have replaced Ryback with RVD when he eventually got tired of Paul and Punk's shit and had a decent feud.

Otherwise I don't see how RVD succeeds as a heel. His character and act always screamed face and he never showed much flexibility as a performer.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

I'm about confused about Rob's timeframe here. Maybe it's the 420?

He talks about having "one foot out the door" in wrestling, which in 2006-2007 would make sense if he was talking about WWE, but he says wrestling. RVD went on to have an Indy and TNA career.

Paul left WWE in late 2006, and Punk wasn't pushed to the ECW title until mid-2007, so unless Heyman was negotiating a return, that also doesn't make the most sense.

If RVD has one foot out the door of wrestling, that places this heel RVD idea around 2013-2014. That also makes sense for the timefram of Heyman Guys aka jobbers to the stars not named Lesnar or Punk.

RVD is either collapsing time here or remembering things differently. Either way I'm sure they pitched heel RVD with Heyman at some point.

At least it would have been different than RVD jobbing the way he did after his high profile arrest in 2006. They barely did anything with him on the C Brand that was ECW 2006-2007.

Heel RVD 2013-2014 would have at least been interesting, regardless if it worked or not. Heyman would make more sense as a manager here and would have been better than feuding with Del Rio or The Real Americans.

RVD's style doesn't suit a heel, but why not reinvent yourself? Look at what Jericho did to prolong his career with reinventions?

 

[LegendKiller716]

RVD should have turned with Paul and faced CM Punk. Punk vs Axel killed all Axel's momentum, Ryback as a Heyman guy flopped, and Punk vs Brock Sucked.

And for everyone saying RVD woulda git cheers no matter what, go back and watch his run on the Network. He wasn't getting cheers as a face. RVD vs Del Rio was God awful.

Punk shoulda won a feud between himself and RVD/Heyman with no mention of Lesnar. Punk goes over and moves on to bigger things. Maybe if he got some momentum after this he'd still be with the company. RVD could've went on as a heel on a loosing streak ultimately blaming Heyman for holding him back like he did in ECW and RVD could've turned back face for a big reaction and put over Lesnar on his way out.

They way things were playing out around MITB I thought RVD was gonna turn and align with Paul, so yeah I believe they wanted him to turn, and I think he should've. I think RVD was wrong here

 

[Radical]

Some guys just aren't really well suited for heel turns.

Some long time babyfaces can be reinvigorated and energized by heel turns but for some it just doesn't work.

Doesn't work for Rey Mysterio and I think RVD is another guy who it wouldn't work so well with.

RVDs style is exciting and his personality is laid back and casual and that's why he's been a comfortable face for his career.

A heel turn would mean he has to up his intensity on the mic and in the ring in terms of a more vicious move-set which just doesn't seem something that would work well for RVD.

A guy like Seth Rollins can do both even with a high-flying style but doesn't work so well with a guy like RVD who doesn't really come across with an evil edge even if he wanted to as a heel.

And hey, if RVD is happy with where he is in his career and he's been able to live a comfortable life off of it then more power to him.


Some guys WANT to change things up and so heel turns are just waiting to happen.

For example, a guy like Dean Ambrose who has been face since The Shield breakup will go heel sometime and he probably looks forward to it. Timing isn't quite right but surely it'll happen.

But Kalisto, I don't think he's going to be heel ever. And that's NOT a bad thing. Nothing wrong with an accepted career babyface you can count on.

 

[LBGetBack]

Some guys just aren't really well suited for heel turns.

Some long time babyfaces can be reinvigorated and energized by heel turns but for some it just doesn't work.

Doesn't work for Rey Mysterio and I think RVD is another guy who it wouldn't work so well with.

RVDs style is exciting and his personality is laid back and casual and that's why he's been a comfortable face for his career.

A heel turn would mean he has to up his intensity on the mic and in the ring in terms of a more vicious move-set which just doesn't seem something that would work well for RVD.

A guy like Seth Rollins can do both even with a high-flying style but doesn't work so well with a guy like RVD who doesn't really come across with an evil edge even if he wanted to as a heel.

And hey, if RVD is happy with where he is in his career and he's been able to live a comfortable life off of it then more power to him.


Some guys WANT to change things up and so heel turns are just waiting to happen.

For example, a guy like Dean Ambrose who has been face since The Shield breakup will go heel sometime and he probably looks forward to it. Timing isn't quite right but surely it'll happen.

But Kalisto, I don't think he's going to be heel ever. And that's NOT a bad thing. Nothing wrong with an accepted career babyface you can count on.

Thing is, RVD was a pretty great heel at one point a long time ago. Yeah, it's hard to see.....which goes to show how stale he's been for a long time. Can't even picture him doing anything else.

What did he have to lose by switching it up at that point? If it flopped, who cares? His last run was boring and uneventful anyway, and he wasn't even all that over or popular after the initial return. Sometimes you've gotta try things. Like I said earlier, look at Jericho. He's switched it up a bunch of times. But people thought he was done after his last few face run returns which were just so-so....he went heel and found a whole new character, which has elements of things he's always done but is also very fresh. He's had one of the best runs of his career, and has created a ton of new catch phrases that are so over.

 

[ShinChan]

We can only speculate now if a heel turn could have worked for Rob Van Dam.

But it surely would have enhanced his career in a certain way. A heel turn can do wonders as proved in the past. Even if it wouldn't work with Rob Van Dam, it surely would have showcased us another side of his personality. Which is still better than having a same role continuously.