Rob Van Dam – Step Down
I'm trying to remember the last time I considered myself a Rob Van Dam fan. More than a little ironically, I type that while wearing an RVD shirt (TNA sent it to me, and I'm out of clean laundry). Remember ECW One Night Stand? Hands down the best night in Rob's career. He was never more over, on a bigger stage, than during his feud with John Cena. The WWE's drug policy being what it was, and Rob being who he is, that didn't last long. But for a brief glimmer – not unlike Jeff Hardy's run at the top – he was THE guy, and the driving force behind an attempted reboot of the ECW brand. I blame Paul Heyman.
This whole part-timer deal is starting to weigh on me. It's not that I don't like seeing Rob Van Dam, it's just that quite obviously the creative team doesn't consider these guys crucial to the program. Nor should they. That's had an effect on how we see RVD, much like it had an effect on the way we see Chris Jericho. Brock Lesnar has to be the only guy that actually came out BETTER for his part-time status with the company.
But hey – RVD won a Beat the Clock challenge this week on Raw! He's first in line for a title shot! Except it's a title match he can't possibly win. He knows it, Bad News Barrett knows it – more importantly, the people considering the value of Payback know it. Despite a win this week, Rob gets a step down because we all know he's being fed to an up-and-comer on PPV next month. AND THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. Just don't ask me to care about RVD in 2014, because they've made it impossible.
