No wrestler represented the ECW spirit more than Rob Van Dam when he seized the opportunity presented to him. The diehard fans fell in love with the unique nature of Van Dam’s wrestling style. One fascinating tidbit about RVD’s ECW career was that he found more success as the TV Champion without winning the ECW World Championship until the WWE version.
Paul Heyman realized that Van Dam’s TV Title reign was too good to end and let it go for about two full years. Instead of trying to force RVD’s mid-card title reign to end and move him into the bigger title scene, Heyman went with what was working. Van Dam did something nearly impossible in wrestling when he made the TV Championship more important than the ECW Championship for his reign.
RVD's TV Title Reign Was Perfect Timing
The fan support of Rob Van Dam started to grow shortly before his TV Championship shot against Bam Bam Bigelow. Paul Heyman realized that Van Dam was getting ready to join the Mount Rushmore of ECW main eventers with the likes of Shane Douglas, Taz, Sabu and Tommy Dreamer. However, the ECW Championship picture didn’t have room for RVD at the time.
Heyman pulled the trigger to have Van Dam defeat Bigelow for the TV Championship in a special moment. The great match convinced fans that RVD was indeed the next big thing, which added importance to his early title defenses. Van Dam delivered new moves consistently that left the audience in complete awe.
The variety of opponents for RVD made him a beloved performer with the ability to thrive against Lance Storm, Balls Mahoney and Spike Dudley without sacrificing the things that made him great. Van Dam associated great matches with the TV Championship and fans wanted to see him face anyone with talent.
RVD Stepped Up During A Weak Time For ECW World Championship
The timing continued to work out for Rob Van Dam’s TV Championship reign when the ECW World Championship was off television for a few months. Shane Douglas suffering an injury prevented him from defending it in that time. Paul Heyman didn’t want to vacate the belt since Taz beating Douglas was the story set up for many months.
Even the ECW Championship reign of Taz didn’t connect the way it should have since he verbally agreed to join WWE to cut it short. Heyman realized that fans were starting to prioritize Van Dam’s TV Championship defenses over the ECW Championship following these variables. The ECW Championship was used to elevate new talents like Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka while RVD provided reliability with his title.
Van Dam continued to have show-stealing performances with the mid-card title as ECW flipped the script. The TV Championship was the hottest thing in the company and the world title was used to create new stars and build new storylines. Only a select few wrestlers would have been able to step up with a mid-card title to that level and it cemented Van Dam as the face of ECW at the time.
RVD's Legacy In Wrestling
Rob Van Dam was an obvious WWE Hall of Fame pick, but the reminder that his peak came with the ECW TV Championship is all one needs to remember. ECW gave Van Dam the ball to run with and he hit a home run. Many wrestlers would have wanted to drop it faster and aim towards the world title, but RVD has admitted that he took pride in the TV Championship as his world title.
The legendary rivalry with Jerry Lynn showed just how important the mid-card title became to the fans of ECW. Lynn was already moving up the card, but he completely broke out during his series of matches with Van Dam. Fans were split with RVD always winning out at the end since he was bulletproof to the fan base.
Everyone thought Lynn would be the one to dethrone Van Dam since he came close and was knocking on the door of the main event scene. Paul Heyman continued to book RVD victories with his TV Championship reign reaching a total of 700 days and 121 defenses. The reign ended when Heyman was forced to vacate the belt due to a Van Dam injury.
ECW had a lot of highs and lows with differing perspectives today. RVD’s time as the TV Champion is among the few generally loved memories of the time. The great matches and magical momentum of Van Dam made the TV Title the most prestigious in ECW and among the most respected in ANY wrestling promotion of the time.