Unless you live under a rock, you know that WWE will be presenting another ECW “One Night Stand” pay per view on June 11, 2006. You also probably know that there are definite plans to operate Extreme Championship Wrestling as a separate brand within the World Wrestling Entertainment empire. Paul Heyman has been given 100% control of the product, house shows are being booked, former stars are getting contracts, and a buzz is being created in the online wrestling scene.
The latest chapter in WWE’s ECW brand revitalization saw Rob Van Dam cash in his Money in the Bank title shot for the main event match at One Night Stand. Hey, they need a championship belt if they’re going to be their own promotion, right? So now the question becomes, how many of you really think that Vince McMahon would allow his beloved WWE Championship to go to an ECW wrestler as the start-up for the new company? Not likely…let’s not forget that this is the man who let his ego get the better of him during the WCW “invasion” of WWE by not letting any of the WCW talent get over in the long-term.
In my view (and as the title of this column asks), this is where Rob Van Dam has a chance to become the new Shane Douglas; and Vince McMahon has a chance to rewrite a bit of history that he had no control over in the early 1990’s. You see, the first ECW Champion was crowned when Shane Douglas won the NWA Heavyweight Championship, but threw the belt down, declaring himself the ECW Champion. This propelled the small, Philadelphia-based ECW into the national wrestling spotlight, albeit a small light at the time (thanks to the then-WWF’s dominance of the major wrestling markets).
Is it so far-fetched to imagine Rob Van Dam doing the same thing with John Cena? Remember, Rob Van Dam never really got over with the WWE bookers and always has an “extreme” feeling to each of his matches. And wouldn’t this play perfectly into Jean Paul Levesque’s ultimate plan to keep himself in the title picture?
Let’s think out loud for a moment: John Cena loses to Rob Van Dam, but RVD throws down the belt, declaring himself the new ECW Champion (by the way, a great feud is set-up here for when Rhyno returns claiming he was never beaten for that title, thus reigniting their previous ECW feud). Then Vince McMahon goes on RAW the next night reaming out Cena and the fans continuing their turn on him – at the same time, McMahon declares the WWE Championship vacant. Levesque comes in as the knight in shining armor, wins some pseudo-tournament, restores the dignity to the WWE Championship, and racks up title number eleven in the process.
It could happen – ECW needs a new champion and a new “Franchise” for their show and Levesque has to find a way to get the title belt around his waist. It works out perfectly for everyone (except those of us who change the channel whenever “Time to play the game” starts blaring over the sound system). Well, except John Cena, but at this point, he’s been ruined thanks to another “too much, too soon” push by WWE.
So folks, be on the lookout at One Night Stand for some type of controversy with Rob Van Dam’s title shot. Something is going to happen that will allow Heyman and the gang to launch their own promotion and still leave WWE with their championship.
That is, of course, unless the unimaginative WWE Creative Team finds a way to goof this up, too.
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