Sometimes your long dormant level of markdom for a certain wrestler will up and take you by surprise.
I was a little interested when I heard that TNA was bringing in Rob Van Dam. I used to be a pretty big RVD fan, but by the end of his WWE run I 'd lost interest. To be fair, my interest towards wrestling in general was waning, at that time, as it has periodically over the past 5 years. WWE's booking does share some blame because last I remember RVD was jobbing habitually to Randy Orton and Kane.
Anyway his split second squash of Sting in his TNA debut was explosive and exciting. Although, I have mixed feelings about Sting's prolonged beatdown afterwards; but hey, the Stinger had to reclaim some lost heat.
But the match last night between RVD and Jeff Hardy vs. Beer Money Inc. was well-paced and phenomenal! Easily the best match I've seen in months. I caught myself saying "wow" out loud a few times. I completely marked out for the "Five Star" Frog splash and the springboard moonsault.
It's weird because earlier in the evening I was watching The World's Greatest Wrestling Managers and they showed a clip of Bill Alfonso accompanying RVD and Sabu to the ring.
I'd completely forgotten about Fonzy, and man, I don't know how because what a spectacle these three dudes were!
An acrobatic stoner named after a B-movie star in cheesy, tie-dyed tights paired with a scarred Lebanese man from "Bombay" Michigan wearing Arabic garb, who just happened to be the most insane, reckless maniac to ever work in the ring, fronted by an angry demented looking troll with a whistle who brought chairs, carnage and mayhem wherever they went and seemed unstoppable at the peak of their ECW run. They earned extra points from me by smashing ICP at a house show (I believe).
I was a huge mark, but it never dawned on me how visually insane they truly were until I looked at that clip with fresh eyes.
In another coincidence, visuals were something mentioned over and over on the Managers' disk, particularly in reference to Jimmy Hart and Jim Cornette, but the most stark evidence was provided by Alfonso, Van Dam and Sabu.
More on managers and psychology soon.
Welcome back, RVD.
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