During a latest episode of Rob Van Dam’s podcast, “1 Of A Kind”, he engaged in an interesting discussion about the ways ECW Originals had to adjust to WWE’s modifications when the brand was revived in 2006. The topic of the infamous ECW zombie along with various other subjects also came under discussion.
Take a look at some noteworthy snippets from the podcast here:
Discussing how the original ECW participants had to reconcile with the adjustments initiated by WWE during the brand’s revival, Rob Van Dam shared: “The very essence that made ECW stand out was the very thing they were eliminating by setting rules. In the beginning, they proclaimed before every show that ‘ECW implies anything goes!’. This could’ve been a unique approach to settle disputes. When I first realised that — and as you alluded to Bob Holly, amongst others, were exceptional ECW wrestlers. They weren’t part of the original lineup, but Paul [Heyman] had the foresight that they possessed what it would take. Some of those guys were cool. However, my concern was with those who weren’t even part of ECW wrestling in ECW shows. This was nothing less than a toxin in my perspective as it was simply baffling. I remember hearing about the likes of Matt Hardy and Kane, along with others being on. I felt that getting these guys into ECW, creating a storyline, would’ve made something extraordinary.”
Speaking about the unconventional characters and the ECW Zombie during the initial ECW relaunch days, Rob Van Dam explained, “Initially, it was intended to be a Martian, but was later transformed into a zombie. I had no information about lasers. This was something I heard in my daily discussions with Paul [Heyman] about how they were planning to bring in seven really bizarre elements. He said, ‘I can manage to convince them to drop four, but three we’ll have to accept.’ The days were filled with such exchanges, and one of them was, ‘They want to have this Martian character but we have managed to convince them to let Sandman cane them so it won’t be as awful.’ ‘Okay. But why a Martian?’ ‘Because it’s the Sci Fi Channel.’ Eventually, it evolved into a zombie.”
Watch “1 Of A Kind With RVD Ep. 81: The WWE Style” below for more of Rob’s thoughts: [embedded_content]