Rob Van Dam, the renowned professional wrestler, recently shared his experience regarding his latest appearance on the preceding week’s ECW-themed WWE NXT edition, staged at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena.
Moreover, Van Dam remembered and reflected on Vince McMahon’s resuscitation of ECW under WWE’s banner during the early 2000s. He perceived this to be McMahon’s strategic plan to resurrect ECW only to metaphorically tear it down as an assertion.
Rob Van Dam, pithily known as RVD, voiced out his personal observation as, “When WWE brought ECW back, there was several times there that could have been taken as evidence that they were just bringing it back to destroy it. I mean Vince [McMahon] was wearing the belt, and they changed all the OG’s with The New Breed… To me, they were making a statement there, and I know Vince didn’t like it when the fans would chant ECW during his shows when some of us [that] are represented were in the ring.”
ECW marked its end of operations in 2001 owing to its failure to secure a new national television deal. Later, in January 2003, the WWE claimed the company’s assets through bankruptcy. Nonetheless, ECW maintained its official existence until 2007.