Rob Van Dam Looks Back On Time In Newer WWE Incarnation Of ECW

The legacy of ECW will live on forever in the minds of wrestling fans as the Philadelphia-based promotion became arguably the most influential company of its generation during its peak, meaning that when it went bankrupt in 2001, there was a loyal fanbase. In 2006, those fans finally got their wish as WWE brought ECW back as a third brand, and after two successful One Night Stand pay-per-views in 2005 and 2006, things looked promising. However, that promise didn't last as WWE's version of ECW has been considered one of wrestling's biggest failures.

During a recent edition of the "1 Of A Kind" podcast, ECW legend Rob Van Dam looked back on his time on the brand and admitted that it started strong, but ended up being destroyed. 

"When we first brought ECW back, it was cool," RVD said. "People forget, at first, you know, I had some great matches in the new ECW, with the likes of Test, Bob Holly, Big Show, Sabu. People forget about some of those, like the first few months, and then, yeah, they just destroyed it. Maybe they always wanted to, or maybe they was split, maybe some of they wanted to do this, some of they wanted to do that, and maybe some of they wanted to bring it back just to bury it."

RVD was the first ECW Champion of the brand's new era, awarded the title by Paul Heyman for beating John Cena for the WWE Championship at One Night Stand 2006. Van Dam's reign with either belt didn't last long as he was forced to drop both titles on back-to-back days in July 2006 following his arrest for the possession of drugs.

Please credit "1 Of A Kind" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.