Rob Vam Dam - The Whole F'N Interview
November 10, 1999
by RichInKC

RichInKC: Speaking of recent news, a few people have returned to ECW, such as Raven and Sandman. What are your thoughts on their return and, as the Whole F'N Show, can you remain the Whole F'N Show now that they are back?

RVD: I think that it is very good business for ECW to have Raven and Sandman back in the company. The fans, the hardcore fans, are pleased. I saw Tommy Dreamer, Raven and Sandman all standing in the ring together a few nights ago and I realized that was the original clique long before RVD ever hit ECW.

It is good that we have some more depth in our company because with Taz and the Dudleys leaving, I look around the locker room and get concerned because there's not a lot of guys still there that have stuck through all the hard times. I don't see myself as a founder of the company by any meansÖI'm just the best.

So, it's really good to have Sandman back. He is a great example of Extreme, in one manner. Rob Van Dam is Extreme in a completely different manner. My fans that come up and hold up signs that say, "I Came To See RVD", "RVD Put My Ass In The Seat Tonight", those fans know that I am Extreme by working extremely hard. I give 110%; although I have got to admit what looks like 110% to them looks like that because I have twice as much ability as a normal wrestler. That doesn't mean that it isn't always 110%. Sometimes it is 105%. I always give it all that I got.

Why hold back when they paid to see me and they want to see what I got. It takes a little longer to show what I got. My matches are a little longer and usually by the end of my matches I have fought through the crowd, 45 minutes go by, my outfit is sometimes ripped, I've always got beer and nasty shit all over me from laying on the floor outside, pieces of the table sometimes sticking out of my ass. When I beat the guy, and I always do, at the end of my match and the fans all give me their applause, there is something going on there. There's a message from the fans that says Rob Van Dam gave them their money's worth. They paid to see me and they're happy about the purchase, it was a good investment, and that is something that nobody can take away from me. I hope that Raven and Sandman, in their own corner of the room, can help ECW grow in its own way. Of course, our paths will cross and I'll kick their asses, too, but definitely it will not interfere with Rob Van Dam being the Whole Fucking Show.

RichInKC: I've noticed that the ECW audience, to a great degree, makes the show. They stand out from the audiences from the WWF and WCW. Perfect example, you don't see the fans from the other two federations singing along with the entrance music for their favorite wrestlers. You don't hear chants of "Welcome Back". What do you think has caused that closeness between ECW and their fans?

RVD: When I was first coming to ECW, I knew by reputation that the crowd in Philadelphia, and the people out on the streets of Philadelphia by the way, are a brutal people. From what I understood, and remember up to that point I had only been a dimple faced smiling baby face, it was understood that the fans were going to eat me up up there. I was looking at what they top babyfaces were and they were guys who were pierced up wearing dark, grungy clothes, looking nasty. Ok, things were kind of backwards. I studied the crowd and the reason that Rob Van Dam is so over right now is that I have figured the crowd out. I know what they want, so I give it to them. I give them what they pay for.

The crowd at ECW is a very hardcore crowd. They've seen WWF, they've seen WCW, and they've seen enough of it. They expect us to go a little bit over. They expect us to give a little extra, and they know they get it. They respond by chanting "ECW! ECW! ECW!" and that is like a pride our crowd has because they appreciate what we give them. You will never see fans at a WCW show chant "WCW! WCW!" You never hear it in the WWF, either.