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Post by cordless2016 on Aug 15, 2022 12:55:32 GMT -5
We all know the story of RVD from 2006. The guy was in the middle of a push-of-a-lifetime, only to get pulled over that summer and busted for possession of weed. He was quickly stripped of both the WWE and ECW titles, suspended for a month, and went back to floundering in the midcard before leaving the WWE a year later due to being “burnt out.”
But what if he wasn’t pulled over? Does RVD continue to be pushed as a top star? Does he get to a point of pushing Cena for the top-face spot in the company (similar to Jeff in 2009)? Does he eventually drop the title to Edge like he did, and solely become the focus of ECW? Does ECW’s trajectory as a show change, or does it still morph into a “developmental” show? Does he still leave the WWE a year later, or does he stick around due to still being at the top of the card?
A lot of what ifs had RVD not been pulled over and had his push ended prematurely.
I think RVD still eventually drops the WWE Title to Edge since the WWE seemed determined to give us that Cena/Edge feud, and I still think ECW eventually morphs into what it eventually was, but I do think RVD would have remained a main player in the main event. Had he proven he could be trusted in that top spot, I can see him eventually moving back to Raw or SmackDown in a prominent role. Does that stop him from leaving a year later? No way to say, but it may have swayed him towards staying if he knew he was still booked as a top guy.
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Post by CM Tusk on Aug 15, 2022 13:07:28 GMT -5
Honestly, I think they would have just had Edge win the triple threat at Summerslam and moved on to Edge vs Cena while RVD continues to work in ECW feuding with Big Show. Wouldn’t be surprised if the original plan was for RVD vs Kurt as the first major ECW champion feud but Kurt leaving threw everything off and RVD getting pulled over just completely killed all plans.
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Post by The Brain on Aug 15, 2022 13:27:49 GMT -5
I can see em losing both belts at SSlam that year to Edge and Show respectively.
A good run with the ECW belt wouldve been a nice nod to original fans but this was Vince's version so you know he would want to get it on a WWE guy quick.
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mrassbillygunn
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Post by mrassbillygunn on Aug 15, 2022 14:14:33 GMT -5
He would have lit up and got pulled over the following week.
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Post by cordless2016 on Aug 15, 2022 16:57:34 GMT -5
He would have lit up and got pulled over the following week. Officer: “License and registration, please.” RVD: “Everything’s cool, dude.” |
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Post by theoutlaw1999 on Aug 15, 2022 20:19:32 GMT -5
RVD was unfortunately just a prop to help revive ECW. Edge and Cena was all they cared about and Vince wanted Big Show as champion.
He fulfilled his usefulness and was stuck on ECW.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Aug 15, 2022 22:07:54 GMT -5
I think RVD would have lost the WWE Title first before the ECW Title. I could see RVD vs. Big Show at SummerSlam for the ECW Title. Because I remember Sabu pretty much took RVD's spot for ECW stuff once RVD got suspended.
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Post by k5 on Aug 15, 2022 23:05:23 GMT -5
the time to run with rvd was 2002/2003. have him be the guy to finally take down hhh. by 2006 the product’s tires were spinning and the cracks were showing.
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Post by hbkjason on Aug 15, 2022 23:49:34 GMT -5
I still wish they put the title on him at No Mercy 2001, even if it was just for a couple of weeks. RVD was so over in 2001 to 2002 that they could have had a legit main event star on their hands with the right booking. He got incredibly over on his own during the Invasion and pretty much got cheered no matter who they put him against.
As for the 200 run, while I think it may have ran a little longer, no doubt they would have gotten the title off him sooner than later, Vince really wanted to bore us all to tears with that terrible Big Show ECW Title run.
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Post by Kill Em' All on Aug 16, 2022 0:11:24 GMT -5
I think Edge gets the belt at Summer Slam, and the Cena feud still goes forward. RVD runs as ECW Champion for a little bit, and I think the timeline isn't too off. Maybe Rated RKO never happens?
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Post by jason88cubs on Aug 16, 2022 17:18:12 GMT -5
He would have been titleless by Summerslam
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Post by Evil Abed on Aug 16, 2022 17:29:48 GMT -5
I believe the original plan was for the Triple Threat between Edge/Cena/RVD to happen at Saturday Nights Main Event. No doubt in my mind RVD drops it to Edge there, so Vince can have Edge/Cena at Summerslam.
Not sure what the long term plan for the ECW title was and im not sure Vince cared. Best guess is Heyman probably costs RVD the WWE title due to him not listening to his direction (ala Brock in 2002) and I assume the plan was probably Angle to be the heel ECW "handpicked" champ before he split, so they had to resort to Big Show.
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TheEvilDoink1987
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Aug 17, 2022 22:17:06 GMT -5
Even if he didn't get pulled over, there was no way WWE was going to move forward with RVD as THE guy in 2006. He was surely going to be a main event player on the relaunched ECW, but it was officially the Cena era in WWE and there was nothing that was going to stop that locomotive.
2002-2003 would have been the prime time to pull the trigger on RVD. It never happened unfortunately.
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Thunder Chunky
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Post by Thunder Chunky on Aug 18, 2022 12:44:27 GMT -5
Things worked out like it should have.
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TheXtremisT
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Post by TheXtremisT on Aug 21, 2022 17:01:24 GMT -5
He would have gone back to midcard by 2007 either way.
He was just more of a free spirit and Vince didn't like that.
He would have feuded with the Big Show on and off in 2006 for the ECW title, then dropped down the card. Because Vince didn't "get" RVD and he and creative just didn't know how to push his character at the top. Heyman did, hence why RVD was being pushed. But Heyman was losing power as the months went on and RVD would have slipped back to the rut he was in from 2003-2005 before his injury.
The best we saw outside of true ECW was during 2001. He was MEGA over and they then turned him into a stoner face with no edge. He should have portrayed a cocky but badass face with elements of his ECW character.
I'm glad he had a decent 2002, but he got absolutely wasted by Triple H during their feud in September 2002 and then he was given nothing substantial until 2006. Complete waste of potential just because he wasn't favoured by Vince....
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Post by ASR (therockisback) on Aug 22, 2022 10:58:42 GMT -5
He would have lost the WWE Title to Edge or Cena quickly... maybe he’ll still hold the ECW Title for long or he would have still lost it to Big Show anyways.
I would have loved to see em hold both belts for at least the rest of 06.
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Post by JokerFC on Aug 25, 2022 10:49:55 GMT -5
I genuinely feel he would have lost the WWE title quickly(July or August) and it would have been used to further spur on the Edge vs Cena feud in some way or another.
With the ECW strap? who knows? very difficult to predict or talk about really.....Sabu was subbed in fopr RVD with Show but Sabu wasnt RVD... hadnt got the tenure with Vince so ya never know...
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TheXtremisT
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Post by TheXtremisT on Aug 25, 2022 11:23:11 GMT -5
I genuinely feel he would have lost the WWE title quickly(July or August) and it would have been used to further spur on the Edge vs Cena feud in some way or another. With the ECW strap? who knows? very difficult to predict or talk about really.....Sabu was subbed in for RVD with Show but Sabu wasnt RVD... hadnt got the tenure with Vince so ya never know... You know I have thought about this and have come up with 2 possibilities for the ECW title/RVD as champion: Either: - RVD gets turned on by Heyman at Summerslam, when he does the 4th July turn at the ppv instead. Drawing major heat and making RVD chase. Or: - Knowing what we know about Vince's style of booking and how much he didn't care for RVD, and conversely seemed to on/off love the Big Show.... I could foresee RVD being the challenger for the title going into Summerslam. I'd lean towards the latter. As I can never foresee a scenario where RVD is a champ for more than 1 month. Interestingly, RVD has revealed that creative proposed to him that he turn heel when siding with Heyman, but he turned it down because he knew he wanted to step away and thought it was pointless to turn heel at that stage and especially since he thought of himself as a role model for young fans.... Sounds a bit weak of an excuse but I'd more than welcome a cocky pre-WWECW/Invasion era style RVD again. Dude was money. |
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Post by LK3 on Aug 26, 2022 5:44:56 GMT -5
I imagine he would’ve dropped the WWE Title for the Edge/Cena feud to happen as it did, and I’d like to think he would’ve carried the ECW Title for quite a while as the face of the brand.
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Post by JC Motors on Aug 29, 2022 7:15:23 GMT -5
RVD was unfortunately just a prop to help revive ECW. Edge and Cena was all they cared about and Vince wanted Big Show as champion. He fulfilled his usefulness and was stuck on ECW. That's just what he was a prop |
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