WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam discussed the PG era of WWE in his podcast.
“I wasn’t super comfortable with that era, and then maybe I felt like I had tighter cuffs on me than I really did. You know, that might have been how that affected me. Because like a lot of people, it would come across to the fans, like, ‘Dude, they’re not letting you be, you know, RVD from ECW. They’re not letting you do any of your s**t’. But then I would know, ‘Well, I only have three and a half minutes for my whole match and you know, chairs are legal here.’ So of course, you’re not going to get the same RVD.”
“Everything about ECW was different, but I think it all started with the fact — as far as my approach to the match, my vibe, my rhythm, whatever, I had no thoughts of time in my mind. I thought like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna walk around the ring a little bit. Maybe I’ll go to lock up, and then maybe I’ll just instead roll under the rope and go do some thumbs and high five some fans or whatever. And take my time, get everyone and then come back in. Okay, now I’m ready.’ With WWE, it just seemed like the whole agenda was about live TV and about getting everything done by that boom! That finishing mark.”
You can check out the complete podcast below:
