Despite being a top star for violent renegade promotion ECW, Rob Van Dam is not a fan of the type of product Jon Moxley and AEW are offering wrestling fans.
After debuting in 2019, AEW got off to a very fast start. They offered a different and more adult alternative to WWE. They channeled the Attitude Era and delivered content wrestling fans had been clamoring for over the last decade. It was a prosperous time for the brand.
However, when WWE changed management and started giving fans what they wanted, it took a chunk out of AEW’s fanbase. It also didn’t help that All Elite Wrestling’s storytelling became more scatterbrained over the last couple of years. With television ratings and ticket sales plummeting, AEW has decided to shift the strategy of their company.
To get fans back and target a certain demographic, AEW matches have started to get more violent. Things hit a new peak- or low point- during a recent edition of Dynamite when world champion Jon Moxley was suplexed on a board filled with nails. It led to a gruesome moment with a bunch of the nails stuck in the former WWE champion’s back.
Rob Van Dam hated Jon Moxley spiked board spot on AEW Dynamite
It was a divisive moment in the business. One person who was surprisingly not a fan of it was multi-time ECW and WWE titlist Rob Van Dam. He aired his grievances about AEW’s recent content during a new edition of his “1 of a Kind with RVD” podcast.
“That’s not wrestling to me. Obviously, it’s sacrificing a lot for the business,” he said [h/t Wrestle Purists]. “I mean, that could be said about it. But the more AEW has been doing stuff like that, the more personally I feel like I would rather be associated with WWE than AEW.
“A couple of years ago, it was like, man, they’re growing. They’re trying things to get up there, and then there’s a feel that the inmates are running the prison.”
ECW was a hyper-violent brand, and Rob Van Dam took part in some of its best matches. It could be viewed as another wrestling old-timer just not appreciating the modern business. But ECW was decades ahead of its time. It is still interesting that a top star of the promotion is not digging the level of violence on AEW shows.
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