Rob Van Dam's success in ECW resulted in him getting respect on the same level as WWE and WCW stars despite not having the same platform. 2000 was among the best years for the business due to WWE’s success. However, other promotions witnessed ups and downs with many fans viewing ECW as better than the more mainstream WCW at the time.
WWE witnessed names like The Rock, Mick Foley, and Steve Austin being top faces at various points. WCW didn’t have the fan-favorite stars with much momentum in that calendar year as they trended downhill. The popularity and fan connection of Van Dam helped him reach new heights in his career. RVD deserved to be viewed as the best face in wrestling outside of WWE in the year 2000.
Rob Van Dam Took Over ECW
The ECW fan base had a strong love for quite a few face wrestlers, but their connection with Rob Van Dam grew to another level. Paul Heyman losing true top names like Taz, The Sandman, Terry Funk, and The Dudley Boyz by 2000 hurt the company’s momentum. However, Van Dam certainly filled the gap by getting more of a spotlight as the most over star.
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The matches of RVD felt like the main event, even when he wasn’t the one closing the show. Van Dam’s iconic ECW Television Championship reign continued to deliver must-see matches every time he defended it. The rivalry between RVD and Jerry Lynn became the hottest thing in ECW. Few wrestlers had momentum at the level of Van Dam outside of WWE.
Heyman likely would have seen ECW go under a bit sooner if not for the magic of RVD carrying the product. A real argument could have been made that Van Dam was the best wrestler in the world. It helped that RVD was loyal to ECW and chose them over making his move to WWE or WCW. The company bleeding top stars witnessed Van Dam give them consistency to keep things afloat.
WCW Posed Little Competition To ECW At The Time
The downfall of WCW reached new lows in 2000 from which the company never rebounded. 1999 was a negative year for WCW, but they were still doing strong numbers. Unfortunately, the entire year of 2000 was a decline with fan interest lower than ever. WCW tried rebranding with both Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff running the show together during the New Blood angle.
Even that chapter ending and Russo gaining more power led to the disaster growing stronger. The only top faces for WCW in that year to deserve contention among the top of the industry are Sting, Goldberg and Booker T. Sting was booked poorly with weak feuds against Vampiro, Jeff Jarrett, and Lex Luger causing him to lose momentum.
Goldberg missed half of the year due to an injury breaking his hand from punching a limo window and returned in a heel role. Booker was WCW’s best story of a longtime wrestler finally getting his shot in the main event picture. However, the product was so bad that fans were still tuning out with a generally negative reaction to shows. None of the WCW faces had the same appeal as Rob Van Dam did in ECW.
RVD’s Defining Run
WWE having access to both ECW and WCW talents in 2001 showed just which talents were over in the bigger picture. Most of the WCW names missed the mark and were the main reason for the Invasion flopping. Even though many top WCW legends opted to let their contracts run out, the company was still on national television with a far bigger outreach than ECW had at the time.
Rob Van Dam still had more fan support and became the biggest star of The Alliance in WWE. The fan support from ECW made Van Dam come off as a major free agent injecting life into the Invasion storyline after a rough start. RVD was able to ensure his stock was at its highest even when ECW, unfortunately, went out of business and closed shop in early 2000.
ECW allowed Van Dam to become the face of the company by doing things his way. RVD expressed frustration with his WWE career due to how comfortable he felt in ECW. The matches and character of Van Dam were who he wanted to be in wrestling – a laid-back stoner who did innovative things in the ring. 2000 was the year that RVD outshined everyone in WCW to become the most popular wrestler outside of WWE by staying true to his vision.
