ECW: RVD the Fan's Savior?

Well, we're T minus 6 days and counting....

Just about everything that could go wrong with the ECW PPV that WWE is hosting at the Hammersmith Ballroom on 6/12 has....at least as the fans who are the backbone of ECW are concerned...

WWE writers have gotten ahold of it, instead of it being solely in the hands of Paul Heyman, which is where it should be...and as such now there are Non-ECW Raw and SmackDown performers slated to be at the pay per view to "shut it down"...

Fans have been, and ARE, going NUTS. Could Vince McMahon and company really be trying to sabotage a one-shot ECW PPV before it even got off the ground? A number of online columnists, not to mention my better half, have launched a very plausible conspiracy theory: That the WWE has done its very best to sabotage the PPV from almost the very beginning, and try to turn fans from buying it. Then, they can point to the internet fans they loathe so much -- the HEART AND SOUL of ECW fandom -- and say "See, you guys didn't even buy the PPV! You don't really want ECW back, and you've now proven it..the PPV was a bomb!" And then Vince and company can smugly walk away and never have anything to do with ECW ever again.

It's a plausible theory, one of several floating around on the net, and easily the most horrifying - that Vinnie Mac would sabotage his own PPV just to make a point.

That is until this past weekend.

Enter Rob Van Dam.

In an interview published this weekend in the UK's Sun newspaper, RVD openly took people - including Vince McMahon in a roundabout way - to task for the way they were behaving when it came to the upcoming PPV. It was RVD who allegedly convinced the WWE to do the PPV in the first place, so naturally the events of the past two weeks have him understandably angered and confused.

Asked by the Sun about the PPV, Rob responded thusly:

"There will definitely be attempts to sabotage the possibility of ECW reaching any stage of progression. There has been all the way, even back before ECW did the Invasion angle. It will always be a problem because there are certain voices higher-up that like to flatten out anything that could jeopardise their stronghold, rather than seeing the overall benefit to the industry of something like this. So, for sure, there is going to be some turbulence and some swimming up stream. But this show has a strong possibility of finishing as the third biggest PPV of the year. And if that happens there's one guy in the office who is really good at making decisions and has the best interests of this business in his heart. His name is Vince McMahon. He's the guy that I want to talk to not all the minions around him, who have their own agendas for their own reasons. If this crowd goes off with the 'E-C-Dub' chants, and they will, and if more people buy this then all the other WWE products - then you can be sure I will be bringing you an ECW PPV next year."

When the Sun asked about the Raw and Smackdown contingents set to show up, Rob didn't mince words:

"Those guys are definitely not going to be drawing the ratings for this PPV. They are definitely not selling any seats. Nobody's coming to see them and they have no business being there.The original plan was to have only ECW alumni on this show. There is no place for somebody pretending they're hardcore when they were never there, whether they've got a sledgehammer in their hand or not! The WWE writers are taking part in the show, but us true hardcore ECW guys will vote out anything ridiculous they try to add to it. The fans can feel secure in the fact that this is totally going to be ECW for the ECW crowd. Regardless of what you read on the Internet, this show is all about Paul Heyman and it has to be. Even if the WWE only give Paul one tenth of the say so, then we're all going to carry out his plans anyway - because we agree with him. That's what sets us apart from the rest of the locker room!"

Now, so far, there is a lot of crazy goings-on, and it's obvious that RVD knows what John Laurinatis, Stephane McMahon, and Triple H are up to. And he's out to make sure that they don't succeed in destroying ECW once and for all.

IF You believe one of the several conspiracy theories, that is...

And that theory is once again looking very good after this weekend.

Once again, RVD Was at the bottom of it.

In the Sun article, he mentioned that it was imperative (my word, not his...heh heh heh) that Joey Styles be the play by play announcer for the PPV. Joey himself said on his site, 1Wrestling.Com, that he'd been contacted but that was it.

So after bringing it up in the Sun interview, Rob went one step further: he went on the LAW radio show Sunday evening, and made the announcement that Joey Styles HAD reached an agreement and WOULD be at the PPV doing his usual Play By Play.

WWE is said to be very ticked at RVD about this, because it was supposed to be a surprise - Joey had signed over two weeks ago to do the show.

Now, normally, I can understand that line of thinking. It WOULD have been a pleasant surprise to hear Joey call the matches. But then you have to think down the conspiracy road a bit...and realize that it was NOT in the best interests of the ECW PPV to keep it a secret.

Why?

Because now more fans will probably order the show now that they know that Ross, Lawler, and Cole are no part of it; they now know that their old pal Joey is on board and will be doing the job. Joey's play by play was the heart and soul of ECW, and in many ways, Joey is the person that most fans associate with ECW, because he is the one who was on screen more than anyone else.

Some would say that RVD is risking his career by speaking out. Some would say that RVD is risking the wrath of Princess and her court by speaking out. And while the latter is probably true, especially in the case of "Mr. Sledgehammer", the former is not necessarily true. And I think RVD knows it. He'd rather risk being jobbed for a year or two to make sure that ECW's fans get what they want, what they paid for , and what they DESERVE. Because he KNOWS Vince wouldn't DARE release him. Not with TNA getting ready to launch on Monday Nights. Not at the risk of RVD making a fool (ok, a BIGGER fool) out of Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

There IS Hope for ECW: One Night Stand. Here's to RVD, and the risks he's taking, whatever they may be, to make sure that ECW's fans are NOT disrespected, but rather get the PPV they were originally promised and that they so richly deserve.