RVD Addresses Comparisons To WWE's Riddle
As a guest during an interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling, WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam spoke about talent in WWE that reminds him of himself at a young age. Someone who has continued to be compared to Van Dam has been former United States Champion Riddle, and RVD spoke about the comparisons between the two.
"I like Matt, he's a good guy and I can see the influence and why people would say that," RVD said. "The style that I used to do was fought against by the office a lot and now people flip over the top rope to the floor so much that it's not really as exciting. I think it's harder to stand out nowadays, especially when you're trying to stand out with your moves. Matt has his own unique style of MMA that he brings. I used to wrestle barefoot when I started out too also, but yeah, he's definitely a character that everyone is going to remember."
Just before last year's WrestleMania 37, RVD and Riddle met on WWE's The Bump, where Riddle hyped up RVD before his WWE Hall of Fame induction. Prior to that, Riddle did an interview with WWE India where he revealed he'd like to face RVD somewhere down the line.
Fast forward to 2022 where RVD revealed he talked to WWE about coming back for an appearance at the Royal Rumble, leaving the door open for a potential RVD vs. Riddle match down the line.
Continuing to talk about his influence on this generation of wrestlers, RVD believes he's had a major impact on all wrestlers in WWE. When talking about who he views as the "RVD in WWE today," Van Dam said everyone has some sort of influence from him.
"Almost all of them," RVD said when talking about who he sees in WWE as the next RVD. "I think that I was one of the strongest influences on today's generation. A lot of fans, even if they think they remember the main event big pushes of Stone Cold and The Rock, sometimes when you mention RVD and you think about it you're like, 'yeah, he was my favorite.' I always get told I was everybody's favorite wrestler and it was because I was different, so that's also very rewarding."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.