WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam is viewed by many fans as one of the biggest influences on modern wrestling. Alongside his late friend Sabu, Van Dam is credited for introducing more high-flying offense into matches, which is more common today than ever. Sitting down for an interview with the Toronto Sun, though, Van Dam shared his belief that many of the key aspects of his style haven't been replicated.
"What I notice when I watch wrestling now is that they don't have the same mindset that we had. It's changed so much along the way," Van Dam said. "In the early '90s, if I was wrestling a veteran when I was a young green kid, ... there's no way I was going to go up to them like nowadays. 'Okay, I want to grab your hand and then I'm going to go walk on the top rope. Don't try to pull me off or anything just base me.'"
Van Dam said that he was always taught that his first priority should be to "protect the business," meaning to maintain the illusion of reality as much as possible, both inside the ring and outside of it. He feels that today's wrestlers are more focused on performing specific spots that they think are cool, no matter how outlandish they may be.
Both Van Dam and Sabu trained underneath The Sheik, Sabu's uncle, who was one of the most prominent wrestlers in the midwestern United States for many years. Van Dam indicated that The Sheik taught him a lesson that many of today's performers never took in.
"I don't see that they believe they're actually in the middle of what they're in," Van Dam continued. "That's what I got taught from The Sheik. As soon as you walk through the curtain, you've gotta have that mindset that boom, everything is turned on. I'll turn it off when I'm done. And these guys, it seems more like a hybrid of off and on when they're out there."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Toronto Sun and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
