10 Major WWE Stars The Internet Completely Turned A Corner On 3

3. Rob Van Dam

When ECW was becoming really popular, the internet wrestling scene was just starting out. It was the late 1990s. Everything ECW did was seen as cool by the fans because Paul Heyman was a booker with a vision while they did such an awesome job of telling stories. One of the guys that the forefront for ECW was Rob Van Dam, who was as popular as any wrestler in the late 1990s.
He was the guy that people were talking about in a “did you see what he just did?” kind of way. I can remember when he debuted the Van Terminator for the first time. They created so much buzz for it and it was the coolest thing ever.
The cool factor of RVD carried over when he went to WWE in 2001 too. Within a few months he was one of the most popular guys in the company and even in main event storylines with Steve Austin. It lasted for a few years, but then he got stale.
When WWE brought back ECW in the mid-2000s he had a career revival too. He may have been as popular as ever at One Night Stand 2006 when he beat John Cena for the WWE Title even though he was stale before that. Once that title win wore off, he was stale again. Eventually he left WWE to go to TNA, where he was also hot for a while. That didn’t last long either.
RVD’s return to WWE last year was built up well although when it was obvious he was just there to put over the young guys the fans just didn’t care. It also hurt when WWE kept calling him “innovative” even though he was doing the same spots for the last 15 years.
To those same fans that thought RVD was the coolest back in the day, they think of him as an older guy in his early 40s that is way past his prime. They’re probably right about that, but they should also show some more respect for what he’s done in his career. Once again it’s a case of “what have you done for me lately” with RVD.

via www.whatculture.com