WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam has opened up about what it was like working with younger AEW wrestlers. His criticism goes beyond the company’s preference for hardcore wrestling and dangerous spots.
Speaking on the “Rip Rogers” podcast, RVD discussed the creative freedom he got during his AEW appearances. But he admitted that adapting to the younger generation wasn’t easy. The former WWE Champion said:
“No, of course I have say in what I’m doing, but I’m still there to do a job. You know, it’s been almost a year. It was last April, the last match that I had with AEW. I wrestled four or five times for them. Each time was a one-match deal.”
“So, even though I have my say-so, I’m in there with like three young kids that totally are from a different school. Their ideas, the way they wrestle, the way they approach the match, their mindset, everything that they want to do is so different than me and my times that it’s barely compatible, I think, to an extent.”
“Like, I’m wrestling around them, and the stuff that they’re doing either doesn’t make sense, didn’t make sense back in our day, or it’s something that I don’t prefer.”
RVD also claimed on the podcast that the differences between generations have become increasingly difficult to ignore. However, he acknowledged that wrestling has evolved and questioned whether his own philosophy still applies today.
The Hall of Famer explained that performers need to understand how their moves affect the flow of a match. According to RVD, unnecessarily long setups can damage the competitive atmosphere. He also pushed back against criticism that he was attacking AEW, while questioning the creative environment within the promotion. RVD said:
“And it’s like, you know, I could try and teach them, but am I right, or has it just changed and it’s not the way it was anymore? You know what I mean? Because that’s the truth. The way wrestling is right now, it is the expression that the artists are giving us.”
“And even your moves. If the move that you want to do out in the ring, if the setup for it takes so long that it kills the whole match and kills the feeling of competition, then don’t do it because it exposes the business.”
“And now it’s so obvious watching the guys, the young guys. And, you know, especially in the smaller company of the two, I’m getting heat for bashing AEW, and I’ll talk about that in a second, which I don’t do, but that is a place where it seems more like the inmates are running the prison.”
“You have to go with consistency on that because they have good matches, but in order to be the best, you have to consistently have the best matches regardless of who you’re in the ring with.”
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