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Since leaving Impact Wrestling as a full-time wrestler, Rob Van Dam has become one of the premier spectacle performers on the indies, working matches all over the professional wrestling world – and AEW – while getting to appear on shows alongside stars who have blown up considerably over the past few years, including Dante Martin, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, and Jacob Fatu, the newest member of The Bloodline on WWE.
Though RDV hasn't worked a match against Fatu yet and may never get to now that he's a member of the WWE Universe, he's been incredibly impressed with the “Samoan Wearwolf's” fast-paced, high-flying style in the ring, as he explained on his 1 Of A Kind podcast.
“Yes, I have. He's very good. I was very impressed with him. I saw him in LA at PCW, Pacific Coast Wrestling. I was there, and I was very impressed with him,” Rob Van Dam explained on his 1 Of A Kind podcast via Fightful. “For being a big dude, I like the way that he does the double-jump springboard moonsault, and that just stuck out in my mind. Obviously, he does a lot more than that, and he's a really good wrestler. He's been around for a while, making a lot of noise.”
While there have been conflicting reports about when WWE will debut Fatu, with WrestleVotes suggesting that the promotion is holding back putting the “Samoan Werewolf” on television because he could upstage Solo Sikoa while Ringside News has debunked that claim, in the end, it's safe to say WWE secured a good one in the former MLW Champion, as he's an incredibly charismatic individual who can back it up in the ring. All in all, an A+ signing for WWE.
Rob Van Dam is open to joining AEW on a more full-time basis.
Speaking of 1 Of A Kind with RVD, Rob Van Dam's podcast, “The Whole F'N Show” also commented on his personal run in AEW and how it feels to be a part-timer with the promotion who works a match every six or so weeks.
Would RVD consider taking on a bigger role in the promotion? You bet, but in the end, he isn't 100 percent sure what direction he wants to take his career moving forward, as there are pros and cons of being a part-timer and of being a full-timer at this stage of the game.
“I would like to think that I'm open to any conversation. So anything's worth considering. Let's hear what you got in mind, whatever. But no, I don't have any of those talks. What you see is what you get, and that's all anybody is talking about. All anyone is talking about doing, let me put it that way, Rob Van Dam explained vis Fightful.
“One thing the fans don't take into consideration that I do, it's cool having time off and I don't want to be full-time, anything like that. But it is a big disadvantage, being in the ring, because no matter how much conditioning that I do, there's no wrestling conditioning like wrestling. So if I was wrestling like every week, instead of sometimes every six weeks, maybe eight weeks, whatever, then you would have a little bit even more fluid RVD. So for people who haven't thought about that, that are like, ‘Well, he might not quite be what he used to be,' and whatever, I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm not saying I'm not 53. But I am saying that's something you probably don't even think about is that it's a big advantage when you're in ring condition because you're in there doing it. That is one thing that I think about when I think about working weekly or under contract with an actual job versus just taking the shots here and there. There's pros and cons obviously to both.”
At 53 years old, RVD has over 34 years of experience in the squared circle, with over 1,800 matches wrestled and an incredible 18 different title reigns for an astounding 1,962 total day reign as a champion in ECW, WWE, TNA, AEW, and beyond. If “The Whole F'N Show” believes that he can keep going on one more full-time run as a member of a professional wrestling promotion, then he should 100 percent sign up for the spot, as fans would certainly love to see him feud with Chris Jericho under his “The Learning Tree” gimmick and show off his talents against the young high-fliers AEW has to offer. If, however, he wants to work a show once every month or two, then hey, no one is going to complain about the ECW legends for staying part-time, as eight RVD matches a year is better than no RVD at all.
