Rob Van Dam on the AEW product: “I think the inmates are running the asylum”
While speaking to Wrestling with Rip Rogers, WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam talked about his issues with modern wrestling. Here is what RVD had to say…
“Even your moves: if the setup for a move you want to do in the ring takes so long that it kills the whole match and kills the feeling of competition, then don’t do it because it exposes the business.
And now it’s so obvious watching the guys, the young guys. And, you know, especially in the smaller company of the two, I’m getting heat for bashing AEW, and I’ll talk about that in a second, which I don’t do. But that is a place where it seems more like the inmates are running the prison, you know? And it’s always been that way. I think that’s the idea with them: the boys have more control and power.”
RVD later stated the following…
“I think the inmates are running the asylum. I think that’s what AEW is about: the wrestlers get to do more of what they want. And that’s why there’s more variety, and that’s why, overall, in the big picture of things, it’s going to be a different style that to me is more amateurish, just like backyard matches than WWE, who seems to be going back to telling stories with the wrestling, keeping it simple and making it make sense. It was getting so out of hand for a while.
With AEW, they burned someone’s house down, and I’ve never liked that. When someone put staples in their face and stuff, it’s been around a long time. It’s never been my thing.
So, you need to learn what a hypocrite is. If you’re calling me a hypocrite, I’m the opposite. I’ve always been consistent.”