TNA's Greatest Matches: Rob Van Dam Review

TNA's Greatest Matches - Rob Van Dam Review

As a way of trying to garner new viewers with their debut on Destination America, TNA has began airing a "Greatest Matches" series. Each show is one hour long and highlights one specific wrestler. I've caught bits and pieces of the episodes for Kurt Angle, but this episode featuring Rob Van Dam is the only one I've managed to catch in full. Thus why I decided to review it.

1) Rob Van Dam vs. Sting - TNA World Championship Match - Slammiversary 2010
In 2010, I stopped watching wrestling all together so this was my first time seeing this match and any match from RVD's TNA World Title reign for that matter. From what I've heard, his reign was pretty lackluster and sadly, this match exemplified that. Thankfully, I didn't expect much going on so this didn't really disappoint me per say. It was one of those matches that was included on this show solely for star power, I think. After about 10 minutes that featured some brawling in the crowd and basically just an exhibition of moves from RVD, the ref gets taken out by accident which allows Sting to hit RVD with the bat. This brings out Jeff Jarrett who evens the odds and allows RVD to get the win. Lackluster match. I sure hope this wasn't the main event on this particular PPV. If it was, I feel sorry for anyone who paid for this.

Match rating - **1/2

2) Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Mr Anderson vs. Abyss - Victory Road 2010

Four way matches are almost always fun and this was no different. All three men went after the bigger man in Abyss early on however it soon turned into an every man for himself type of match up. We got some good action during the match involving all three men and while this wasn't a great match that's worth going out of your way to see, it was a solid four way bout that's easy to enjoy so I can't complain.

Match rating - ***

3) Rob Van Dam vs Sabu - Hardcore Justice 2010
This is the only match on this show that I've seen before. Although, I HAVE seen it, I haven't reviewed it or offered my thoughts on it so here we go! TNA decided to do an ECW reunion of sorts in 2010 and named the event "Hardcore Justice". The original main event was supposed to be RVD vs Jerry Lynn, but Lynn was unable to compete so we got Sabu vs RVD instead. This match was very fun to look back on simply for the nostalgia and seeing these guys hit all their signature spots. It wasn't on the level of their original matches from the late 90's however it was certainly a fitting finale if this is indeed the last time they ever face off. Chair shots, tables, and Bill Alfonso. If you liked their ECW encounters, this is something you'd probably enjoy and want to see.

Match rating - ***1/4

 Overall thoughts: In all honesty, the only match selection I agreed with here was the Hardcore Justice 2010 bout with Sabu. It's the only bout here that exceeded three stars and it barely did so. I can understand wanting to have one of RVD's World Title defenses on here as well though so that's 2 good choices. I don't think the Sting match should have been included simply because it's nothing special. Sure the star power may intrigue some people, but I would have rather seen them pick one of RVD's X Division bouts against someone who's currently on the roster like Kenny King or Zema Ion. A new fan would see it, be impressed and have a reason to tune in to Impact whereas they would see Sting and be like well, that was nice to look back on. None the less, this was a decent show that I don't regret checking out so if you like RVD and are looking for something to watch, it's something I'd try to check out if they air a replay. If you missed it, don't worry, you didn't miss much.

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