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A WWE legend was promised that he would be the 'new Sting' of a major promotion.
Rob Van Dam became a household name due to his in-ring antics in ECW, enabling him to get over with his fans, and his popularity carried over into his WWE run. At one point, he was the most popular star on the roster when he became the WWE and ECW Champion.
Following his WWE run, RVD went on to sign with TNA Wrestling. Although he won the TNA World Championship and the X Division Championship, the major part of his run in TNA was forgettable.
RVD returned to TNA Wrestling in 2019 for a very brief run. During a recent episode of his 1 Of A Kind podcast, RVD looked back at both his TNA runs and said that he was promised to be made the new Sting' of the promotion.
“One time he [D’Amore] was saying, ‘You know, we’re going to be doing some things. I see a spot for you here in TNA.’ He came out here to Las Vegas and we met at the Nerd bar, and he had a spiel to give me, ‘I see you as being like our new Sting, where you’re the veteran, we don’t have to work you to death,”‘ recalled RVD. “At the time, my back was bothering me, and I let him know upfront, ‘Right now I’m a little banged up.’ And we had a good talk. Obviously, it went well as I got hired and was there.”
He further went on to say:
“Looking back at it, how was Scott to work with? It was fine. But I feel both of my runs that they respected me too much to talk to me,” said RVD. “I always thought that they weren’t using me in a way they would get their money back out of me. I never put my faith in it being a long-lasting thing.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
Sting is set to have his retirement match at AEW Revolution 2024
Sting has had a legendary career in wrestling. From his initial days in WCW to his long run in TNA and his current resurgence in AEW, The Icon has seen it all. However, his epic career is about to come to an end soon.
Last year, The Icon made a shocking announcement that he was competing for the final time at AEW Revolution 2024. A few weeks ago, it was revealed that his final opponent would be The Young Bucks. Win or lose, it will be the end of an era at AEW Revolution.
It will be interesting to see if The Icon and Darby Allin are able to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship at Revolution.
What are your thoughts on RVD's comments? Sound off in the comments section below.
