Background: Rob Van Dam, after spending years toiling in the indie wrestling scene, WCW preliminaries, and Japan, made his Extreme Championship Wrestling debut with little fanfare, but a lot to prove. RVD’s opponent was future “Hardcore, Chair-Swinging Freak” Axl Rotten following Rotten’s disgusting, violent war with Ian Rotten.
Hardcore TV
Philadelphia, PA
January 5, 1996
Rob Van Dam vs. Axl Rotten
Rotten, though impressed with Van Dam’s martial arts abilities, didn’t appreciate avoiding roundhouse kicks; backing RVD into the corner to show him what wrestling really is. Rotten was looking to turn this into a brawl early, but was taken down by a high cross body block. Van Dam’s target was Axl’s torso, chopping and punching Rotten rather theatrically. Rotten simply head-butted Rob to counter his attacks, getting cheers from the blood-thirsty fans who not only enjoyed the stiff strike, but also a t-bone suplex and some clubbing forearms. A sick clothesline almost turned RVD inside-out prior to scaling the ropes for a diving elbow drop. Van Dam moved out of the way, utilizing a series of strikes that was topped by a leg sweep into the big splash for a near fall. Rotten rolled to the floor, but found no haven was RVD somersaulted over the top rope to take him down to a nice response from the once apathetic crowd to Rob. Leaping side kick-standing moonsault press was Van Dam’s follow up attack before he slammed Rotten in position for the split legged moonsault. RVD was able to hold his opponent down for the three count.
Winner: Rob Van Dam (6:45)
Is It A Classic: You would’ve never guessed the Rob Van Dam seen here would become one of ECW’s biggest stars. Though he obviously had talent, the fans weren’t into his style of wrestling until he started diving. Rotten did a great job showcasing his underrated talents while giving RVD a solid debut in the process. Not a great match, but a nice starting point for Van Dam in ECW.
